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Christ: Divine and Human
Written by Most Reverend +Bennett D. D. Burke
People in Christ’s day wouldn’t believe He was divine. Today we don’t want to believe he was human. Maybe this explains why we do such a poor job living up to His example.
We’ve all heard a child say something like, "When I grow up, I want to be like Michael Jordan," (or some other sports figure or pop-culture celebrity). But how would we react to a child who said, "When I grow up, I want to be like Jesus."? Many of us might chastise the child, reminding her that Jesus was God, and that she couldn’t really be like Him. But saying that, we’d be forgetting that Jesus was also human. We’d be forgetting that He experienced doubt, fear, sorrow, and pain, just like we do. And most importantly, we’d be forgetting that He came to us in the flesh not just to die, but to show us how to live. In fact, the Bible tells us in many ways that He expected us to grow spiritually, and to seek the kingdom not someday in the future, or somewhere else, but now, and within ourselves. Why else would he tell us, "Take up your cross and follow me," (Mark 8:34), or "The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! Or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.", (Luke 17:20,21) or "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect." (Matt 5:48). And the challenges Jesus place before us in regard to loving our enemies as well as our neighbors, and caring for the least of his children, are numerous and unmistakable in His intent for us to take them literally, and make them part of our daily lives.
Now, I’m not for a moment suggesting that we shouldn’t see Jesus as divine. But by seeing Him only as divine, and not also as human, it’s too easy to let ourselves off the hook ("You can’t expect us to be like Him! After all, we’re only human, you know. I mean, don’t you see? Jesus was God! How could we possibly be like Him?"). As an example even closer to our lives, look at the recent reactions to the deaths of Princess Diana and Mother Teresa. Why did so many seem to be touched more deeply by the former than the latter? Some commentators suggested that we could more easily relate to Princess Diana as being human, as being "one of us," while Mother Teresa was nearly a saint, and therefore too remote from the reality of our lives to see ourselves in her, or her in ourselves. And if we can’t see ourselves in someone like Mother Teresa, how then can we see ourselves in Jesus?
But I believe that’s exactly what Jesus wants us to do...to see ourselves in Him, and to see Him in ourselves, to "Abide in me, and I in you." (John 15:4). This, of course, presents His greatest challenge! For if we choose to be like Him, we would have to work hard every day to let go of our greed, selfishness, anger, and hate, as well as many of our old habits, comforts, and self-delusions. We might even have to give up arguing about religion, especially "who’s right and who’s wrong," and instead start truly loving all of our neighbors, and all of God’s children (see Luke 10:29-37 and Matthew 25:31-40).
Today, many of us who don’t really "get" the teachings of Jesus don’t want to think of Him as human. We might just have to follow His example, creating the kingdom of God within ourselves, right here on earth.
The Most Reverend +Bennett D. D. Burke is the LCCI Bishop of the Diocese of Arizona and Pastor of Our Lady of Peace and Hope Liberal Catholic Mission in Tucson.
People in Christ’s day wouldn’t believe He was divine. Today we don’t want to believe he was human. Maybe this explains why we do such a poor job living up to His example.
We’ve all heard a child say something like, "When I grow up, I want to be like Michael Jordan," (or some other sports figure or pop-culture celebrity). But how would we react to a child who said, "When I grow up, I want to be like Jesus."? Many of us might chastise the child, reminding her that Jesus was God, and that she couldn’t really be like Him. But saying that, we’d be forgetting that Jesus was also human. We’d be forgetting that He experienced doubt, fear, sorrow, and pain, just like we do. And most importantly, we’d be forgetting that He came to us in the flesh not just to die, but to show us how to live. In fact, the Bible tells us in many ways that He expected us to grow spiritually, and to seek the kingdom not someday in the future, or somewhere else, but now, and within ourselves. Why else would he tell us, "Take up your cross and follow me," (Mark 8:34), or "The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! Or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.", (Luke 17:20,21) or "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect." (Matt 5:48). And the challenges Jesus place before us in regard to loving our enemies as well as our neighbors, and caring for the least of his children, are numerous and unmistakable in His intent for us to take them literally, and make them part of our daily lives.
Now, I’m not for a moment suggesting that we shouldn’t see Jesus as divine. But by seeing Him only as divine, and not also as human, it’s too easy to let ourselves off the hook ("You can’t expect us to be like Him! After all, we’re only human, you know. I mean, don’t you see? Jesus was God! How could we possibly be like Him?"). As an example even closer to our lives, look at the recent reactions to the deaths of Princess Diana and Mother Teresa. Why did so many seem to be touched more deeply by the former than the latter? Some commentators suggested that we could more easily relate to Princess Diana as being human, as being "one of us," while Mother Teresa was nearly a saint, and therefore too remote from the reality of our lives to see ourselves in her, or her in ourselves. And if we can’t see ourselves in someone like Mother Teresa, how then can we see ourselves in Jesus?
But I believe that’s exactly what Jesus wants us to do...to see ourselves in Him, and to see Him in ourselves, to "Abide in me, and I in you." (John 15:4). This, of course, presents His greatest challenge! For if we choose to be like Him, we would have to work hard every day to let go of our greed, selfishness, anger, and hate, as well as many of our old habits, comforts, and self-delusions. We might even have to give up arguing about religion, especially "who’s right and who’s wrong," and instead start truly loving all of our neighbors, and all of God’s children (see Luke 10:29-37 and Matthew 25:31-40).
Today, many of us who don’t really "get" the teachings of Jesus don’t want to think of Him as human. We might just have to follow His example, creating the kingdom of God within ourselves, right here on earth.
The Most Reverend +Bennett D. D. Burke is the LCCI Bishop of the Diocese of Arizona and Pastor of Our Lady of Peace and Hope Liberal Catholic Mission in Tucson.