Monday February 1st, 2016 Hebrews 2:14-18
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 sacrifice of atonement for the sins of the people. (verse 17)
One of Christianity’s theological conundrums is that Jesus is both fully human and fully divine. We must encounter our faith in this mysterious paradoxical wonder. For Jesus to be human would mean he suffered from life’s stresses, responding imperfectly. For Jesus to be divine would mean that he lived in oneness with the divine mystery, living his life knowing his future as well as ours (thus living non-anxiously). It is, through the Holy Spirit’s mystery, “both/and.” He saves us because he was human. He saves us because he was/is God.
Embracing these truths as both/and helps us grow into the reality that God loves who we are now, the imperfect, striving, stressed out humans we are, because we are also made in the divine image. We are both human and destined for divine embrace.
May we stay in the paradox as Jesus did, forgiving ourselves our human imperfections and striving to be who God created us to be.
Mysterious Holy Trinity, help us to both not rest on our laurels and believe we deserve your grace, and also to never refuse that grace, for we are your heirs, made in your image. Amen. — LCS
Contributed by Either/Or?Both/And
One of Christianity's theological conundrums is that Jesus is both fully human and fully divine. We must encounter our faith in this mysterious paradoxical wonder. For Jesus to be human would mean he suffered from life's stresses, responding imperfectly. For Jesus to be divine would mean that he lived in oneness with the divine mystery, living his life knowing his future as well as ours (thus living non-anxiously). It is, through the Holy Spirit's mystery, "both/and." He saves us because he was human. He saves us because he was/is God.
Embracing these truths as both/and helps us grow into the reality that God loves who we are now, the imperfect, striving, stressed out humans we are, because we are also made in the divine image. We are both human and destined for divine embrace.
May we stay in the paradox as Jesus did, forgiving ourselves our human imperfections and striving to be who God created us to be.
