My point of view about all this is Jesus was a boy before he was a man and a man before he was defined as a Christ or God. However, we do a great disservice to mankind to Deify Jesus because by doing that we prevent others from becoming like him by making him unreachable.
I believe many people have done similar things to Jesus on earth. It's just that his is the story most told now and for the last 2000 years. But, that doesn't mean that there have not been many others like him on earth for thousands and thousands of years. Historically this is true whether people want to think about this or not. And there will be many others like him on into the future also.
The Bible Unlocked: When Jesus met Christ
| Huffington Post | - |
After
the enormous response to my last post, I want to share some more of the
story about why Jesus and Christ are two different entities.
The Bible Unlocked: When Jesus met Christ
After the enormous
response to my last post, I want to share some more of the story about
why Jesus and Christ are two different entities. They do become one
eventually, in full maturity, in a similar way that a child grows in the
womb, is born, and develops into an adult over time.
What is the point of
understanding the process of Jesus taking into himself the Christ you
may ask? Isn’t it simpler and easier just to worship the one being and
be done with it? In fact why even differentiate between God, the Father,
Christ, and the Holy Spirit?
If the detail is not important, why does the Bible have so much detail?
Surely not so we can boil it all down into a few basic ideas! What is the point of that?
We unlock the Bible
when we look into the detail and see its place in human evolution, and
in our own lives — that is its point and purpose. The Gospels tell us
quite clearly that Jesus began his intimate relationship on this earth
with Christ at his Baptism when he was 30 years of age. For this reason,
the Gospels of St Mark and St John begin with the baptism of Jesus. St
Matthew and St Luke begin with the birth of Jesus and that is a story
for another time.
It is also interesting to note that Jesus is not referred to as the “Son of God” until after the baptism.
A thorough study of
all four Gospels shows that each writer looks from a different angle at
the life of Jesus; the first time their views coincide is with their
accounts of the baptism.
“Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.” Mt 3:3, see also Mk 1:2-3, Lk 3:4-6, Jn 1:23
The baptism of Jesus is celebrated each year on the sixth of January with the religious festival of Epiphany. The word epiphany is a combination of two words, epi, meaning on, to, and phainein,
meaning to show. Epiphany then means to manifest, to come into view. At
the baptism of Jesus, facilitated by John the Baptist, the physical
appearance of the mighty Cosmic Christ Spirit manifested. How did it
manifest? Like a dove. Let’s look into that.
In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens opened and the Spirit descending upon him like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “Thou art my beloved Son; with thee I am well pleased.” Mk 1:9-10
We find three main
points in the accounts of the baptism; heaven opened, spirit descended
as a dove, and the Son of God announced. The dove is the sign of the
Holy Spirit, always the precursor to the Son, as the Son is the
precursor to the Father. St John explains:
“These things I have spoken to you, while I am still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. Jn 14:25-26
If Christ was
already present in Jesus why send the dove / Holy Spirit? We can look at
these beings as The Trinity, or we can look at them individually to see
the different work each one does. We can also ask, if Jesus and Christ were one being all along, was this baptism necessary? Also, why was it suggested that John the Baptist might be the Christ? Read what St Luke says.
As the people were in expectation, and all men questioned in their hearts concerning John, whether perhaps he were the Christ, John answered them all, “I baptize you with water; but he who is mightier than I is coming, the thong of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor, and to gather the wheat into his granary, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” Lk 3:15-17
Jesus was no
stranger to these people; he was part of their life working as a
carpenter. If Jesus and Christ were one, why would people say John might
be Christ? Luke also says they “were in expectation” which means they
knew something was going on, just as we sense something is going on in
our own lives at times.
What was going on
here was the entrance of the mighty Christ being into the earth, or at
least the beginning of the process. It was begun by the Holy Spirit.
Jesus was the most pure person on the whole earth able to withstand the
power of these heavenly beings. Taking the Christ into himself took
three and half years. It wasn’t until he was nailed to the cross,
immobilized physically, that the Christ could enter fully into him,
right into his bones — which is why which is why “Not a bone of him
shall be broken.” Jn 19:36
Understanding
these details can give us a greater sense of expectation during Holy
Week as we walk to the cross with Jesus knowing him more completely.
Image: The Baptism of Christ by Carl Heinrich Bloch
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