Friday, August 05, 2011

Did Jesus know it all?

I don't believe Jesus knew everything; and I mean more than just not knowing the day nor the hour of his own return. Is it possible that Jesus was not omniscient? Why does the Bible tell us Jesus grew in wisdom if he indeed was the ultimate provider of wisdom?

The bigger question is: What did it mean for God to be human? Many Christians believe, as I did once, that God’s humanity just meant he had a physical body—like God wearing clothes made of flesh or something bizarre like that. Well, we would add that he breathed air, felt pain … you know, more detailed physical stuff.  And that whole deal about Jesus being tempted like any other man? This is where any thought processes on the topic should ignite some good and challenging conversations about the humanity of God, but it seldom does. Yes, Jesus was tempted like us ... but he’s God and he did not give in to temptation ... and that’s the incarnation boys and girls, Sunday school class over.

I believe the key to understanding God’s humanity lies in our understanding of what it means to be human at all. So how do we define our humanity? If we can at least have an honest attempt at a good answer to this question, then we just might have a little more insight into the meaning of the incarnation.

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