We sometimes try to distinguish between the divine and human
aspects of Christ. We say that in the
desert his divine nature restrained his appetites and desires, while his human
nature felt hungry and weary. His divine
nature healed people and performed numerous miracles; his human nature felt
power go out of him at every miracle.
His divine nature redeemed humanity on the cross; his human nature endured
the most terrible agony. Yet is such a
distinction between divinity and humanity valid? Can we actually see two quite distinct
elements in the person of Christ? When we
look at ourselves we can distinguish between the physical and spiritual aspects
of our nature. We know that at times
life becomes a battlefield as the spiritual and the physical aspects struggle
for supremacy. Yet it would be wrong to
say that the spiritual aspect should defeat and destroy the physical; rather we
want harmony between the two. Our physical wants and desires should not be
suppressed or ignored; rather they should be satisfied within the framework of
morality which the spirit dictates. We
should understand Christ in a similar way.
It is not a question of his divine nature conquering and destroying his
human nature; rather he revealed how human flesh and blood can live in perfect harmony
with God.
No comments:
Post a Comment