God And Human

FRI., OCT. 9, 1992, 6:36 PM
CLARION PLAZA, ORLANDO

Part of your group’s discussion in your Bible study group this week centered on Paul’s assertion that I, as Jesus, gave up My being as God to become fully human. Other Scriptures declare or suggest that I did not give up My nature as God while I lived as Jesus. In your Western way of thinking this doesn’t make sense. It must be one or the other… or some combination, which would mean that I was not fully one or the other. So you must incline yourself to think in another, more relevant, way.

In simple terms I was fully and completely God and fully and totally Jesus of Nazareth, a mostly rather common human man. I was not part one and part the other. My Whole was great, and it was not the sum of parts. There wasn’t a moment of life, even from conception, when I was not fully God. I, the Holy Spirit, came upon Mary, with her tacit permission, creating a human zygote, which contained the fullness of My nature, as both Holy Spirit and God Almighty. And yet I remained fully the Holy Spirit and fully God, undiminished.

As I developed in the womb I was fully God as I grew as a small human. As I was born the angels recognized Me, naturally, but so did the shepherds, which would not have been expected. And yet I was a baby, a young boy, a lad, and, finally, a young man, learning, working, and being just a carpenter’s son in Nazareth. I was fully God, and yet My time had not yet come. I did not have the trouble you can imagine being both human and divine. I knew how to be both, but I needed the actual human experience.

Then My time came. I went to My “cousin,” John, baptizing in the river. He was reluctant to baptize Me, for he had a good perception of Who I was and that I had no sin of which to repent. Yet I caused him to see that this must be the act to commence My ministry. It now can be seen as the symbol for infant baptism… baptism while there is no sin committed.

I then was freer to be the human who preached, and the God who healed. I created wine out of water, and I drank it with the other guests. I walked on the water, and I calmed a storm. I also walked, wore clothes, and ate common food. I preached loud sermons, and soft. I had long discourses and short conversations. I washed My disciples feet, and I blessed the bread and wine. I didn’t alternate. I didn’t think about it. I just knew, perfectly, when to act as Jesus and when to act as God.

Then came the time for sacrifice. I was both God and man. I anticipated the pain and humiliation. At the same time I was already feeling exalted. It was a delicious time. I could easily have been released, by human means… and certainly through My God powers. I went to the cross. I suffered. I was lifted up. I hurt. I felt no pain. I cried out. I was rational, loving, and forgiving. And then My body died.

I was free to be fully God only, but I gave Myself the luxury of “sticking around” awhile, appearing in body, but no longer bound to earth as a human. I came to the disciples. I came to the men on the road to Emmaus. I came to Paul. And all through the ages I have come to humans in a wide range of situations. And I always will. Some still see Me and recognize Me, as Peter did.

Your situation is different, and yet there is an important similarity that you must recognize and ponder. You are an ordinary man, by earth standards (even a peasant, as you sometimes assert). You are a professional in an unimportant field, by earth standards. You have some talents, and you have had some honors, but you are not an ideal man, and certainly not sinless.