Sunday 22 June 2008

Who is Jesus Christ for me?

Historical: Born around 3AD in Palestine, he was a Jew of the Davidic line. He died in 36AD, after a few years of miracle working and wisdom teaching. He lived within the Roman Empire and his teaching is an amalgamation of Hebrew religious thought and Greek philosophy. A native of Galilee, a Hellenised area of Palestine, he probably trained as a carpenter but was certainly educated in the local synagogue. His knowledge of the Prophets in particular was exceptional. He was crucified for coming into conflict with the Temple authorities in religious matters.
Religious: Part of the Trinity, the Son, God who came down from heaven in order to take on human flesh, and in so doing, redeemed humanity from its sinfulness. After his death on the Cross, Jesus Christ was resurrected on the third day, conquering death and sin in the process. His Kingdom has now come, and sin is defeated. He inspired the establishment of the Church through the first apostles, with Peter having a special leadership role. He continues to act in human lives though his Spirit.
Sexual: His sexuality is something controversial, especially due to such books as the Da Vinci Code, but I believe he was human even in his sexuality, meaning he did have sexual urge, though he did not fall to the temptation. I do believe he was celibate like the Essenes he was clearly influenced by. As for my relationship in term of him, while I cannot rule out some homoerotic attraction, I do not believe it is the strongest part of my attraction to him. I have not felt a very sexual attraction to Christ, unlike we see in saints such as Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross, and Gerhard M. Hopkins, but I see him as like a family member that I do not allow a sexual relationship to develop with. I could be kidding myself.
Ideal: Jesus is my ideal, and I want him to be my everything. What are the traits that I have seen in Him through Scripture, Tradition and Prayer that I wish to emulate? The emphasis on love: I want all my actions to be loving which means, while acknowledging sinfulness in myself and others, knowing that I and others are deeply valued by God. Wisdom; Jesus had an amazing amount of knowledge of the Scriptures and knew how to deal with people as individuals. I must also develop my religious knowledge, but more importantly, I want to reach people as the individuals that God loved. Sacrifice; Jesus emphasised the sacrificial nature of love, which shows me that pain in living is inevitable. Freedom from fear, while Jesus was probably afraid, he would not let it conquer him, not even in death. I wish to be free from fear as well. Jesus’ loving, without a doubt, is his most important quality, and by seeing how he loved can show me how to live.

1 comment:

Kimberly said...

Your blog is wonderful. It is great to see other people dedicated to our Lord blogging.
Blessed be God forever!

Kimberly
Awesome God Blog