Do you who are reading this believe that Jesus the Christ is not only human but divine? Do you truly believe in the divinity of Christ, that he is the Son of God, a belief that caused him to be rejected and violently put to death? The rubber is hitting the road as we enter Holy Week and we are being challenged to once again look at this “man” named Jesus, beaten and executed by the religious leaders and Roman authorities because he identified himself with God as God’s Son....to see beyond and within his humanity, divinity.
Blasphemous words to countless people around the world up to this day. For those who can only see in Christ his humanity, his being a human being, a beautiful and great human being, to identify him with God is the ultimate betrayal of faith and reason . I’m afraid that many people who call themselves Christians no longer believe in the divinity of Christ. Sad. Even scandalous.
How can anyone who does not believe in this central belief of Christianity, its heart and soul, stand with integrity at the creed and recite those words of belief: “God from God. Light from Light, true God from True God, begotten not made one in being with the Father?” These are the words that got Jesus killed; these are the words that have caused millions of Christians to give their lives in martyrdom, unto our own day.
Holy Week can only be transformative if one surrenders in faith to Christ’s identity as fully God and fully human. One who is simply human cannot save, cannot forgive, cannot rise from the dead, cannot create a unity in the human family; and the Cross has no power whatsoever.
Easter is the most important Feast of the Church because it dares to celebrate the scandalous truth of Christ’s identity: the LORD, the God-human, the Christ IS RISEN!!!! And we are destined to RISE with Him.
Peace,
Fr. Frank