Week 7 Easter, Tuesday (Eve of the Visitation)

Ps. 132; Isaiah 11:1–10; Hebrews 2:11–18

The wolf shall live with the lamb,
the leopard shall lie down with the kid,
the calf and the lion and the fatling together,
and a little child shall lead them.
The cow and the bear shall graze,
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp,
and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den.
They will not hurt or destroy
on all my holy mountain;
for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea. (Isaiah 11:6–9, NRSV)

Since, therefore, the children share flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared the same things, so that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death. For it is clear that he did not come to help angels, but the descendants of Abraham. Therefore he had to become like his brothers and sisters in every respect, so that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make a sacrifice of atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself was tested by what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested. (Hebrews 2:14–18, NRSV)

Looking at these two passages above, and meditating on the mystery of the Incarnation, I was suddenly reminded of a beautiful video I recently watched, that did a great job of tying together the Old Testament and New Testament stories. I’m sharing it below, and although it doesn’t relate directly to the passages in today’s Book of Common Prayer readings, it does tell a similar story.

I am especially struck today by this sentence from Hebrews: “Because he himself was tested by what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested.” That is perhaps the most beautiful part of the Incarnation, our identification with a person who, though we also believe He is God, shared our human experience fully.

Jesus’ humanity and divinity meet, and the idea seems to be that eventually, the union of God and humankind in Christ will lead to a restoration between heaven and earth. The result? The quotation from Isaiah above paints a beautiful picture of what that restoration could look like.

I often read complaints that “liberal Christians” don’t want to acknowledge the divinity of Jesus. But I worry equally that many Christians don’t really want to acknowledge the humanity of Jesus. For many of us, Jesus becomes this nebulous figure, who lives in our hearts, to whom we take our troubles. We may argue with skeptics, to try to convince them that He was indeed God, all the while missing the importance of His full humanity. For, if Jesus had not been completely human, if the agony of his crucifixion and death had just been a divine bit of dramatic playacting, then wasn’t God really just going through the motions? One of the earliest threats to orthodox Christianity was the denial of Jesus’ humanity: some of those early heretics had a problem grappling with the Incarnation. Often, we moderns seem to have much the same problem.

Awhile back, I had a discussion on my front porch with some Jehovah’s Witnesses. They never quite answered my questions about the divinity of Jesus, but maybe I should have also asked them what they thought about the humanity of Jesus. After all, the JW’s translation of the Bible mistranslates John 1:1 to read, “ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god.” If Jesus was “a god,” but one who was somehow less of a god than God, then the whole balance of Christian faith is knocked askew. One of the reasons why I would never embrace the Jehovah’s Witness faith…

May I keep in mind today the wondrous mystery of the Incarnation. May I accept the paradox of the concept of a Savior who was fully God and fully man. May the knowledge of this mystery continue to bring me closer to God each day…

O God, who didst wonderfully create, and yet more
wonderfully restore, the dignity of human nature: Grant
that we may share the divine life of him who humbled
himself to share our humanity, thy Son Jesus Christ; who
liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.