Jesus fully human and fully divine

by EVA PEARCE

"No way did Jesus sass His parents." This statement, in a recent letter to the editor of The Evangelist (referring to the Dec. 24-31 "Good News for Kids" column), was made by an obviously staunch supporter of the divine Jesus who perceived a little sass as sinful. This seems wholehearted yet one dimensional.

Sin violates God's law of love and moral principles. As a culture, we've convoluted this law of love and morality to include avoiding hurting others' feelings. If Jesus sassed His parents, it could be interpreted as sin- more specifically, breaking the fourth Commandment, for don't we view "sassing" as disrespectful or dishonorable?

As Bible stories scrolled through my mind, I identified a plethora of times that could be perceived as Jesus violating the law of love. Based on our own tender hearts and our limited understanding, Jesus' displays of anger, disappointment and chastisement could be perceived as sinful.

Jesus physically displayed anger when He overturned the tables of the money-changers in the temple. Numerous times, Jesus accused others of being hypocrites, and even resorted to name-calling: "You brood of vipers!"

Jesus asked His mother what concern it was of hers (and His) that the wine was depleted at the Cana wedding feast. In Matthew 13:46-50, Jesus appears to devalue Mary's relationship by elevating the kinship status of strangers to that of mother and brother. Sounds pretty sassy to me.

I recalled when four of our five children were teenagers. My husband perceived their banter as disrespect and sass. I received the banter as an opportunity for bridge-building and growth.

It's all in the perspective. Their repartee was not sin; it was an invigorating opportunity to grow in knowledge and understanding of ourselves and each other. If the child Jesus "sassed" his parents, it was not sin but a normal part of growing up.

As an adult, He obeyed the greatest commandment: love God with all your heart, soul, and mind. He strove to relay this message, to show us the way. But we humans are a trying lot. Can anyone blame Jesus for losing His temper with us? We forget that although divine, Jesus had a human nature.

Jesus' actions and words were never sinful. Rather, He was expressing and teaching love and morals to a thick-headed people and He didn't mince words in doing so. That is the humanity of the divine Jesus revealed.

The essence and beauty of a personal relationship with Jesus is that He is, for you, who you need Him to be. A perfect Jesus, one who experienced no human emotions or shortcomings, would cause me great despair. Personally, I like Jesus with a little spunk. Then I know there's hope for me.

(Eva Pearce lives in Nassau and attends the Church of the Holy Spirit in East Greenbush.)

(03/04/10)