Who is this human? Could Jesus have been fully human?
To be true to ourselves as human beings, we first have to get honest about our Lord's humanity, too. Could Jesus be more human than we previously thought? I worry that we have turned into agnostics who spiritualize the Christ to the point that we miss the humanity of Jesus. I don't intend to overlook Jesus' divine nature, but to integrate it with who he was on earth as a man. That is our own struggle in reverse, trying not to overlook our human nature, but integrating it with who we are in the spiritual realm.
The real Jesus took life seriously - there were lives and souls at stake; the Father's will was being acted on; there was the seriousness of sin and the cross to bear - but there is indication that he did not take life solemnly. Yet, he felt human emotion to its deep and demanding end.
Through his humanity, we can be drawn back to the holy, divine Jesus, who today still longs, understands and has compassion for us. Through his humanity, we can understand the depth of our calling for community and communion with the Lord and each other. Jesus spoke explicitly of our kinship relationship to God and of the unifying nature of that relationship. He understands the need to feel love and belonging, relief and release.
Thus, an authentic Jesus emerges. Part of his ministry was to be like us, to know what it felt like to be human and to demonstrate emotional wholeness. With authority, he can lay claim to understanding our lives, our suffering and our joy.
To rest in that claim gives us a chance to claim our own humanity as the very cause for our spiritual development. I propose that to be more like Christ might be found in being more human, not less. Let's not live a pious and passionless existence; Jesus didn't.
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