Reflection 1: Jesus as God?

“Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” – which means, “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken Me?” ~ Matthew 27:46

No person willingly marches to their death. No one willingly places themselves in such torture that bodily functions begin to shut down do to the damage. No normal human-being chooses the hour and manner of their death, nor chooses who will betray them. No mortal man nor woman or child would be able to exhibit such faith in an afterlife, let alone accomplishing a self proclaimed resurrection. No man has ever done any of these things to the precision of Christ Jesus. Now if by chance these things where accomplished they would not have been done for the sake of all mankind if a normal human was doing it, rather wouldn’t it be fair to say the reasons would have been far less loving, perhaps a tad more selfish. Why would anyone be so concerned about salvation for others. Especially those who would be strangers, after all the Chief Preists where not so concerned, nor was the Kings and Queens that came before and after the birth and death of Christ. See when we break this down only God would be so concerned, only Satan would be concerned, and only those who do Gods bidding would understand this fact. In fact the Bible tells us only the men and women of God where concerned about salvation, and they understood the function of sacrifice. So in this event of our Lord’s death we must take note that no normal man and woman, clergy, rulers, and or those people who believed in nothing were all blinded by this basic mortal need to be saved, because the separation between God and man was so great that that only illustration which comes close would be to reference the distance between one galaxy to another. The sheer volume of testimony recorded in the Bible not to mention the volume of prophecies which Jesus full filled points to only one thing, that Jesus is the Son of God, and in that statement is God and one third of the full power of God. It is hard to wrap ourselves around this fact but even Jesus proclaimed that His ways are not our ways.

“45 From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over the land. 46 About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” – which means, “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken Me?” 47 When some of those standing there heard this, they said, “He’s calling Elijah.” 48 Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a stick, and offered it to Jesus to drink. 49 The rest said, “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to save him.” ~ Matthew 27:45-49.

Even until the last second the Sanhedrin mocked Jesus, their remarks about calling forth a prophet to save a living God was more than just insulting, it was and in and of itself blasphemy. The same act they accused Jesus of they committed within the final seconds of our Lords life. The Romans who executed Jesus would have a far better chance to be saved than those who mocked Jesus in these final moments.

“50 And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.” ~ Matthew 27:50.

In Matthew we see the last and final remarks of the Sanhedrin, or the Chief Priest, and those who supported them in the prosecution and then execution of Jesus play an extraordinary role in the human saga of denial, failure to believe, and in the utter lack of faith in God. In no other text can it be found other than in the remaining three Gospels were man so utterly failed to believe in the might of God. For they lived and saw his miracles, they witnessed him speak, preach, raise the dead, heal the sick, and make the blind see, the maimed walk, and the sinners be forgiven. In no other time period had any human being have such access to God, to feel his presence in their lives with such a personal touch as when Jesus walked the Earth, and still they refused to believe. In a way that says something about our man made religious beliefs, our since of justice, and the laws we pass. For these things have something more sinister about them, they serve only a few men’s interests leaving everyone else out in the dark. In comparison to Jesus the men who falsely accused Him, who spat upon Him, who knowingly rejected Him suffered more than Our Lord and Savior because they were influenced and deceived by Satan. The old adage that makes a stab at defending the Sanhedrin and in their disbelief in offering the question, (how were they to really know that Jesus was the Son of God in the face of so many who claimed to be the messiah, most of which lived in the same time period as Christ Jesus), leaves all who dare to ask or believe this question to be true in such an utterly defenceless position in full view of all the facts it would be embarrasing to even ponder. For after reviewing the life of Christ this question can not be properly supported as none of the other fake messiahs accomplished in their lifetime what Jesus did in four years. None of them where as concerned about man’s salvation as Jesus, and none of them went to the lengths to peaceably accomplish man’s salvation as did Jesus.

“44 It was now about the sixth hour , and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, 45 for the sun stopped shinning. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. 46 Jesus called out with a loud voice, ‘Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.‘ When he had said this, he breathed his last.” ~ Luke 23:43-46.

In the Gospel according to Luke, those final words of Jesus was proceeded by darkness, as he clearly states, “the sun stopped shining”. This text makes a reference to the curtain of the temple tearing in two halves, symbolizing the ending of the Old Testament Jewish Laws of Moses, and the starting of a New Convent between man and God. In this moment just prior to Luke’s Gospel accounting in chapter 23:46, and Matthews accounting found in chapter 27:49 The Gospel according to John tells us that when Jesus cried out and then was offered the sponge filled with wine vinegar our Lord made the most awesome proclamation before everyone and for all to hear for Jesus uttered,

“30 When he had received the drink, Jesus said, ‘It is finished.’ With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.” ~ John 19:30

All of these final words from Jesus just prior to his death proves he was sent to accomplish his mission, and part of that mission was for him to die. In all of these words from Jesus we find that he is focused on one task and that is mans salvation. So again I must state, no mortal man would have willingly sacrificed himself for other men’s sins nor to save their immortal souls be we, members of the human race would have never been able to carry out that mission. In this thought our walk with God can become close again because of the sacrifice of Jesus, who had Godly strength, direction, and who is and of himself God.

Amen

May God be with you and bless you all the days of your life.

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Brother Brian

Brother Brian currently serves within the Archdiocese of Los Angeles Catholic School System. He is currently in his twentieth year of teaching.

0 thoughts on “Reflection 1: Jesus as God?”

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