Does God look human?

 

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Was He human?

 

John said to Father Ignatius, "I really don't understand Jesus ..."

"What is it that you do not understand?" asked the kind old priest gently.

"Well, I believe in God," replied the teenager, "but I don't understand how Jesus could be His Son. God wasn't married."

Father Ignatius knew that he had to tread carefully. Obviously, a lot had not been taught clearly during Catechism classes.

"How would you describe God?" he asked in a kind voice, smiling a little.

"Well ... He's a Spirit, isn't He?" said the young man, "a bit like a ghost. No one has truly seen Him. He is painted in old paintings like an old man with a beard, but Sister Anne said that this is to help us visualise Him."

"Sister Anne is right," continued the priest, "God is a living Spirit, inhabiting a spiritual world all around us. The angels are spirits. Devils too. Also the Holy Spirit and Jesus too."

The boy nodded as Father Ignatius continued.

"When we recite the Credo we say: I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, and born of the Father before all ages. God of God, light of light, true God of true God. Begotten not made, consubstantial to the Father, by whom all things were made.

"Note the words born of the Father, meaning He was born, not made or created just like God created us. Jesus is consubstantial to the Father, which means of one substance as God. That is Jesus is also a Spirit, the same as God. Jesus has always existed as a Spirit just like God has been.

"Now these words were not just invented by the writers of the Credo. The people who met at the first ecumenical council of churches in Nicea in the year 325 wrote them down after much prayers and debate. 

"These are also the words of Jesus Himself. Often He said that He was and is the Son of God. 

"You will also remember that during the Baptism of Jesus the Holy Spirit appeared like a dove and a voice from Heaven said, 'This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased!' "

The boy nodded again.

"The same happened at the Transfiguration," continued the priest, "a voice was heard from the cloud said, 'This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Listen to Him!' 

"God, and Jesus, confirmed several times that Jesus is the Son of God. He was born as a human, through the Holy Spirit, so that we might get to see Him and recognise Him. 

"As you said, John ... God is an invisible Spirit, and so is Jesus, as He has always been. But He was born as a human baby so that He might grow amongst us and we get to know Him better. He was made flesh for our eyes to see, and our ears to hear Him and His message."

"Did He have the same feelings as us?" asked the young boy.

"Yes, I believe so," replied Father Ignatius, "when He was beaten and tortured at the Crucifixion He felt the same agony and pain that any of us would have felt. He had the same emotions as us. He felt compassion for the people He met. Sadness at the death of Lazarus. He felt tired and fell asleep on the boat. He was thirsty and asked the Samaritan woman at the well for a drink. Yes, I believe He had the same human emotions as us albeit He is God at the same time."

"Why did He not marry?" asked the boy then bit his lip.

The priest did not react, but continued gently.

"I believe that as a human He shared the same human emotions as us. Remember the devil tempted Him in the desert with similar temptations he would use to us. If you are God's Son as you claim you are jump from this temple. Turn these stones into bread. Why don't you worship me? I can offer you much in return. I suspect that if chocolate had been invented at the time, Satan would have tempted Him with this too.”

The boy smiled as the priest went on.

"I guess Jesus may have had some feelings for women as any human would have; but being God at the same time He knew that His mission on earth would have been jeopardised in this respect. 

"He knew, well before He was born as a human, what His mission was and how humanity would treat Him. He accepted this as the will of God and as an eternal sacrifice for us all. The Old Testament is full of prophesies about Him and His mission; at least 300 of them have been fulfilled in His lifetime and death and Resurrection.

"I think that one way to understand Jesus is that He was, when on earth, a human with the soul of God. He was as He has always been, a Spirit just like God, but in appearance residing in a human body.

"That being said, however, there is one truth which we as Christians believe and from which there is no flinching doubt or hesitation ... Jesus is the Son of God. He was not just a teacher, a wise man, a prophet or whoever else some people would wish to describe Him or believe. Time and again He asked those around Him Who they believed He was; and every time He corrected them and said He is the Son of God. 

"When Jesus asked 'Who do you say I am?'  Simon Peter said, 'You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.' Jesus replied, 'Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in Heaven.'

"This is Divine affirmation that God, through the Holy Spirit, opened Peter's mind and made him understand that Jesus is the Son of God.

"Let there be no doubt about that."

Jesus - As human as you

 

I want to talk about Jesus. In your opinion, was/is Jesus God, or was/is He human?

I believe Jesus is God. He has always existed as a Spirit. He did not begin to exist when He was born as a baby on earth. When He was born that's when He became human. 

So He is 100% God and has always been. And He is 100% human and has been so since He was born from a Virgin.

Why? Why was He born as a human?

So that we might get to know God. So that we may meet Him on a level playing field. Another human just like us. So that we might learn from Him, listen to Him, talk with Him, and witness His Divine power through His many miracles; including being raised Himself from the dead by God His Father.

But here's another question on which to ponder. As a human, did Jesus share the same feelings, emotions and other human attributes like us?

When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. “Where have you put him?” He asked.“Come and see, Lord,” they answered. Jesus wept. (John 11:35)

As Jesus approached Jerusalem and saw the city, He wept over it and said, "If only you had known on this day what would bring you peace! But now it is hidden from your eyes" (Luke 19:41)

Jesus was inside the boat, sleeping with his head on a pillow. The followers went and woke Him. They said, “Teacher, don’t you care about us? We are going to drown!” (Mark 4:38)

While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with Him and His disciples. (Matthew 9:10)

Now He had to go through Samaria. So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as He was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon. (John 4:4-6)

In the passages above we read about Jesus weeping over the death of Lazarus, and over Jerusalem; we read about Him sleeping, eating with other people, and even feeling tired that He needed a rest. All human attributes that we would not associate with a Divine God.  

If you go to a Catholic church you will see on the wall the Stations of the Cross. The various scenes they depict are not Biblical. They just show in various images how Jesus, a human being, must have felt on the way to Calvary to be Crucified. In the Stations of the Cross we see Jesus falling three times, tired from the beatings He received and from carrying the heavy Cross. 

In all the scenarios I've mentioned we see Jesus experiencing human emotions.

Why? Why was it necessary for Jesus to feel and experience human emotions? As God, surely He could have lived amongst us as a God, and be totally unaffected by human emotions. Totally unaffected by our sorrows about someone's death. Totally unaffected by hunger, tiredness, and pain.

Why did He really need to experience all these things?

Because He wanted to share in our humanity. By sharing in the many things that we go through in life Jesus unifies Himself to us.

You know when someone is grieving about something, and you say, "I know how you feel!" You can't really know how they feel unless you too have experienced the loss of a loved one, experienced a divorce, experienced losing your job, experienced poverty, sickness or the many things that we associate with those less fortunate than ourselves.

Jesus has experienced all the emotions we go through in life. When He says,  “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28), He knows precisely how we feel when life gets too much for us. When we are not only physically tired, but mentally and spiritually tired too. When we can't go on any more because we're going out of our mind with all the problems that surround us - personal problems, family problems, financial problems, relationships, or even the world's problems which are daily in the news media. 

Jesus knows how it feels when we're spiritually at a low level and our faith falters and we begin to doubt.

He too experienced this when praying in the Garden of Gethsemane when He uttered His agonizing prayer, “Abba, Father, for you all things are possible; remove this cup from me; yet, not what I want, but what you want.” (Matthew 26:39).

He experienced doubts when about the ninth hour He cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46).

Jesus knows exactly how it feels to be physically, mentally and emotionally tired. How it feels to be ill, in pain, without hope, without love, alone, and in despair.

That is why Jesus was 100% human. In order to experience how we feel in every aspect of our lives.

Remember that, next time you are feeling low and in need of His help.