Strange things are afoot at the Circle K.  Wouldn’t it be MOST EXCELLENT to meet Jesus in person, like, because you had a time machine?!

You could finally find out what LITERALLY happened, and Jesus could just answer all your questions and tell you what the score will be for this year’s March Madness Final Four so you could win SO many bets!  He would look like all the fan-fiction paintings of Jesus, would speak our language, and know how to finish your Doctorate Level Quantum Physics exam.

But what does it mean when the Church asserts that Jesus was not just “all God” but also “all human”?  Did the one who humbled himself to obedience, even death on a cross, not also empty himself of other things as well?

At the very least, it means that God chose to enter humanity at a particular time in human history, to a particular people, with particular expectations. Every year I teach confirmation, one of the big take-aways for kids is that A) Jesus was not ‘white,’ B) Jesus did not speak English, C) His name sounded more like “Yeshoa.”  Seriously, kids are astounded that Jesus didn’t speak English, a language that wasn’t even invented yet when he was around.  Most non-triumphant!  Even if you could just show up in a time machine, I seriously doubt the historical Jesus would magically know how to talk to you in English.

Do you tend to focus more on Christ’s humanity, or on his Divinity? What might you be losing by emphasizing his Divinity at the expense of his humanity, or vice versa? What is lost when we imagine Jesus as an English-speaking European? What is gained when we reclaim the Jewishness and Middle Easternness of Jesus of Nazareth?

With only a few weeks remaining in Lent, how are you leaning into the limits of your own humanity to prepare your soul for an encounter with the crucified/risen Messiah?

Fun Theology Words for the day:

Hypostatic Union – Not just the way your pants and socks cling together after you take them out of the dryer, the Church asserts that Jesus is fully God and fully human, all bundled up in one person: Jesus of Nazareth.

Kenosis – “self-emptying,” based on Philippians 2:5-11, the Church believes that Christ “did not consider equality with God something to to be grasped, but emptied himself to obedience – even death on a cross.”  This does NOT mean that Jesus was ONLY human.  The Kenosis of Christ is also a pattern for Christian living, where we sacrificially empty ourselves to obedience to God.