Jesus was wonderfully human!

By Fio Mascarenhas, SJ

At Christmas we celebrate the incredible fact that the second person of the Holy Trinity became a human person. But many Catholics still look one-sidedly at the Founder of Christianity – as someone Divine – but Jesuit spirituality focuses on helping all to improve our relationship with the real Jesus – the Human-Divine “Son of God,” and “Son of Man.”

The rich Gospel of St Luke, the evangelist par excellence, presents the human face of Jesus in a most lovable way. We fully believe that Jesus is a Divine Person who, about 2000 years ago, by God’s will, obediently became a Human Person; and that after about 3 years of endearing ministry in the Palestine of those days (Galilee, Samaria and Judea), he willingly died on the Cross to save humanity, and was raised again three days later on Easter Sunday. Therefore, he has been constituted the Savior and Lord of all peoples, to whom every person must “bend the knee” in worship, and joyfully proclaim “Jesus is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” 

But perhaps most disciples have forgotten (in practice at least), that Jesus is also, a wonderfully Human Person, our very own elder Brother and that our vocation and mission is to manifest to the world that Jesus is my personal model in life by trying to pattern my mindset, my values, and my inter-personal relationships on this human Jesus’ mindset and relationships. 

Let us take “a fresh look” at this Jesus, at our truly human brother. Did he laugh often? Did he cry? Did he get angry often? Did he enjoy being with people? Did he actively reach out to the needy? Did he ever experience great fear – when, where, of what? Did he have close friends – both female and male? Was he dim-witted or intelligent? What about his character – was he a weak person, or was he a trustworthy leader of excellent character? 

Perhaps most disciples have forgotten that Jesus is also a wonderfully Human Person, our very own elder Brother.

For a Christian, to take Jesus as Model means not just manifesting piety, or religious fervor, or charismatic gifts, but it means growing up to become a person of “Christlike character.” St Paul chose this very word to refer to the work of the Holy Spirit in a Christian: “Suffering produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us” (Rom 5:3-5). A major part of the Holy Spirit’s activity in ‘Jesus the Human Being’ was the fashioning of his sterling character: “Jesus increased in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favor” (Lk 2:52, also 2:40). This means that Jesus, in his humanity, was being continually empowered by the Spirit to become mature in his special messianic character. 

To form Jesus’ character, the Holy Spirit needed, and generously received, Jesus’ personal cooperation: his intense personal prayer life – daily seeking to be alone with his Father for hours at a time early in the morning or late into the night – his 40 days in the desert struggling against worldly temptations; and his frequent “pondering” on the word of God as found in the OT. In fact, Jesus became so familiar with Scripture that he was able to quote spontaneously from it as occasion arose – in the Nazareth synagogue “he unrolled the scroll and found the place where it  was written” about his mission (Luke 4:17); when asked about divorce he at once quoted from Genesis (Mark 10:5-9); and in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt chapters 5-7) he quoted from the Mosaic Law but ended by asserting something quite new, “But I say to you…” etc, etc. 

Today too, God’s Spirit is hard at work, trying to fashion the character of every human being, for in the final analysis, what the Spirit wants is to recreate the whole world of human behavior, for God’s greater glory. St John Paul II explained well:  “The Church is supremely aware of the reality of the inner man, of what is deepest and incorruptible. Under the influence of the Holy Spirit, this inner ‘spiritual’ man matures and grows strong …The hidden breath of the Divine Spirit enables the human spirit to open in its turn before the saving and sanctifying self-opening to God. Through the gift of grace, man enters a ‘new life,’ ‘he lives according to the Spirit’ …The Triune God transforms the human world from within, from inside hearts and minds …and enables man ever more fully to find himself through a sincere gift of self” (1986 Encyclical, The Lord and Giver of Life, n.58). 

These words of Pope St John Paul II are true not just in a general way but firstly, about the work of the Spirit in the human Jesus – about his growth “in stature, and wisdom, and in divine and human favor.” 

Did he laugh often? Did he cry? Did he get angry often? Did he enjoy being with people? Did he actively reach out to the needy? Did he ever experience great fear – when, where, of what? Did he have close friends – both female and male?

Therefore, in our quest for the real flesh-and-blood Jesus, let us look with fresh eyes and new insight at the many Gospel passages which we may have read before, but perhaps only superficially. Let us read them again slowly, contemplating the scenes using ‘application of the senses,’ entering into the feelings of Jesus as he interacted with the different persons mentioned in this or that passage, and so capture the richness of each Gospel encounter. 

Yes, the wonderfully human Jesus is waiting to be discovered by more Catholics, and more Jesuits. Wouldn’t you like to be one of them?  As a first exercise, re-read slowly the comic story of Jesus and Zacchaeus, and have a good laugh at the way St Luke presents the encounter! Also ask yourself, Did Jesus use an angry, scolding voice when he said to Peter, “Why did you doubt!?” etc. etc… And to Thomas, “Put your hand in here…”? etc., etc… And to the woman accused of adultery: “Go and sin no more!” etc, etc.

---