Fully Human Fully Divine Michael Casey (Based upon the Gospel of Mark)

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Prosper Pitts
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1 Fully Human Fully Divine Michael Casey (Based upon the Gospel of Mark) Divine Humanity One of the clearest statements of faith concerning Jesus of Nazareth is that simultaneously he is fully divine and fully human: perfectus Deus, perfectus homo. The words are easy to say, yet they contain a great mystery. The humanity and divinity of Jesus do not subsist side by side and independent, like chalk and cheese. Instead, humanity and divinity coincide in a single person so that the actions of Jesus are simultateously the actions of a human being and the actions of God. For this inconceivable conjunction, the ancient theologians coined the unusual term theandric belonging to both God and man we need to recognize that we are dealing here with a reality that is beyond our immediate experience one that surpasses our ability to explain it with any certainty As a consequence, a clear understanding of the wonder of God s enfleshment is necessary if we are to come to grips with the equal wonder of our own divinization.

2 At the time the Gospels were written, the humanity of Jesus seemed self-evident. Jesus was a man who lived and died; he belonged to a particular family, was formed in a particular culture, and was heard, seen, and touched by his contemporaries Jesus was no more than an extraordinary man Jesus is ranked with other spiritual giants, such as Abraham, Buddha, Confucius, and Mohammed: all of them are accepted as great historical personages; all of them are religious giants, all of them are undoubtedly human. the assertion of Jesus divinity is an unavoidable stumbling block to those outside the integrity of Christian faith. The New Testament consistently affirms that there was more to Jesus than mere humanity it is necessary to affirm that there is nothing unseemly in the fullness of divinity dwelling bodily in Christ, because it was with this end in view that human nature was designed God became completely human, omitting nothing that belongs to our nature. He was without sin, because sin does not belong to our nature. It is hard for us to admit that our flawed humanity is the nearest thing to God on earth and that what gives humanity its special character is precisely its possibility and desire to become ever more like God. If

3 we misunderstand Jesus, it is not only because we have no comprehension of what divinity means; too often we have lost sight of what it means to be human and so we have not given to humanity its rightful place in our spiritual life. The Fathers of the church saw the humanity of Christ as a bridge between us and God but it was a bridge on which traffic passed in both directions. Christ became human so that we might become divine, that we might see and learn from him the infinitude of love of which the human heart is capable. Mark presents him as a man engaged in many ordinary activities. Jesus seems to have left Nazareth and has a house in Capernaum. His relationship with his family is, at least, ambiguous. Although he has loyal followers, he frequently goes off on his own into the wilderness or the mountains. He gets hungry, he eats, sleeps, is so busy that he misses mealtimes, shows himself comfortable with plain speaking, he spits, he sighs. Jesus prefers to teach elliptically using parables and images drawn from his own shrewd observations He loved, he knew anger, grief, compassion, amazement, indignation. in

4 Gethsemane, he was distressed, upset, and weighed down with sadness. The Marcan Jesus is not a wimp; he could be stern or strict, make demands, refuse requests and even be insulting, and Peter was very severely rebuked. Jesus magisterial style is often indicated by a certain irony in his dealings with his feckless followers: affection and patience with just a tinge of exasperation at their slowness to pick up their message. We note also a complete fearlessness in confronting those who opposed him. Mark presents him as a tactile man, at home in his body. As a result Jesus is also a companionable person; he moves around in a group, the press of the crowd often creates difficultiesand he seems always ready to share the jostling intimacy of a communal meal. Despite Jesus fame and his attractiveness to common folk, his contemporaries were scarcely overawed by his presence.jesus is challenged repeatedly by the religious establishment and his adversaries were not afraid to insult him, often to his face. The enfleshment of God encourages us to accept, love, and understand our own carnality, with all its limitations. We are flesh and our journey to spirituality

5 is dogged by difficulties. We do not have to regret this rocky road because God has designed us in this way. Jesus is one of us, and by word and example he guides our homeward journey. To us, as to the disciples, he says simply: Follow me. Jesus Baptized in the Jordan John s baptism was a public and external rite that expressed an inner change of disposition, and had as its effect the remission of sins. It was a penitential act. Those who were baptized confessed their sins without dissimulation or denial in the presence of a vast multitude. the Messiah s first public appearance is as a participant in a communal ritual intended to remit sins. What does it mean that Jesus numbered himself among sinners? There can be no denial that the purpose of Jesus life was to deal with sin the meaning of Christ s life is to be found in his breaking down the barriers of resistance and hostility that separate us from God, and which find concrete expression in our inhumanity to one another what Jesus has done is to destroy the

6 universal inevitability of sin and to offer us a freedom that is both prevention and cure. Sin is self-perpetuating isolation; salvation consists in the restoration of relationship. The initiative comes from God our own efforts are futile. We cannot go to God, so God s Son has to visit us where we are, and to remain with us while the homeward journey is completed. at this moment, Jesus was acutely burdened by sin not as the result of any personal transgression or deflection of will, but simply as the effect of his total solidarity with sinful humanity. He instinctively understood the reality of what recently has been termed social sin. Each of us carries the burden of every sin that is committed; by every sin we are diminished and infected. This being so, it is possible as a member of a sinful race lovingly and gratuitously to accept responsibility for sins to which one has never given personal assent.we can make amends we can try to minimize the ongoing pain caused by reprehensible actions we can choose out of love to absorb within ourselves the venom of others sin and experience its effects and, thereby, to shield them from the consequences of their own actions. Throughout his

7 career, this is what Jesus did. Because he reached out to the marginalized, he was charged with consorting with sinners. It is true; he manifests a preferential option for the wayward. He saves them by sharing their lot. Not primarily by preaching or teaching but by being for them Immanuel, the God of compassion in their midst. He is the one whose heart was large enough to make him want to carry the sin of the entire world. St. Paul says: For our sake, God made Christ who knew no sin to be sin so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Cor 5:21) Jesus consciousness of sin coincides with his sense of total solidarity with all humanity. Without speculating about how Jesus of Nazareth conceptualized it, his self-awareness was always and necessarily an awareness of self-in-relation fundamentally with the Father in the Spirit but, as a consequence of the Incarnation, also inclusive of all humanity, sinful though it was. In assuming our humanity, Jesus embraces it in its totality. In coming to baptism, it is as our representative and the mysterious bearer of our collective guilt that Jesus seeks forgiveness.

8 At the very moment when the death-dealing power of sin seems triumphant, God intervenes. Several things happen. The bowl of the sky is split so that there is no longer any obstacle to traffic between heaven and earth. The Spirit descends upon the new Adam, and Jesus is addressed by a voice from heaven, affirming that he is God much loved Son in whom his Father finds delight. These words are a statement that in Jesus the whole sinful mass of humanity is accepted and loved by God despite sin, there is no separation between heaven and earth, between God and the human family. Nothing, not even sin, can separate us from the love of God. Even while we are sinners, God s love is undeviating and God s Spirit acts tirelessly. Jesus Tempted Mark s accounts of Jesus baptism and temptation are located in Judea and are outside the geographical scheme he has used to order his Gospel. This choice of location may be because they represent two permanent polarities in Jesus consciousness; on the one hand, a sense of affinity with God and sonship, on the other, a prevoluntary resistance to God that will come to the fore especially in Gethsemane. What we see in the

9 temptation of Jesus are the same two elements that figured in his baptism: divine sonship and solidarity with a sinful people. sonship and temptation are two faces of the same reality. For Jesus to live consciously as God s Son here on earth necessarily involves a struggle. To be with God means contending with Satan who, in the Old Testament, is not so much an anti-god but the adversary of humanity, the recorder and accuser of every misdeed faith allows us to affirm God s unconditional love without denying or dissimulating our own guilt. We are, at the same time, sinners and yet saved Jesus lifelong temptation was to allow his mission from the Father to become dormant, to do nothing, to spare himself the trouble, to take life easy. What a sin of omission would that have been!

Luke 3:21-22 Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, and the Holy

Luke 3:21-22 Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and