Lent day one: Jesus

Who is Jesus of Nazareth? The first and most important thing we can say about Him is that He is God*. It is also true to say He is the Son of God, but let there be no confusion: the Son of God is in fact God. John writes at the beginning of his gospel that "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God." And without the Word, nothing was made that is.

There's more to say about Jesus' divinity**. But I'll forego that to avoid running long. Suffice to say, when I think of Jesus of Nazareth I often have to remind myself of his identity as God so that I can understand the implications of every thing Jesus did when He walked the earth. When Jesus was born in a feeding trough, God was born in a feeding trough. When Jesus walked the earth, it was God walking the earth. When He spoke to sinners, God spoke to sinners. When He challenged the religious authorities, God challenged the religious authorities. When Jesus allowed Himself to be betrayed, God allowed Himself to be betrayed. When Jesus endured bloody violence, God endured bloody violence.

When Jesus died, God died.

It can all seem rather overwhelming to think about, but that's the genius of the Word of God taking on human form, participating in the human life that He created with the Father and the Holy Spirit so long ago. Whereas before, God was a distant and intimidating figure, whom only Moses could approach by climbing the mountain, now God is right in front of the face of humanity, as one like us. Instead of an eternal abstraction, we can now call Jesus our Friend, as He calls us his friends. Like a friend, we can get to know Him over time. As in any friendship, we can share experiences with Him that bring us closer to Him.

He even makes it possible for us, through the suffering we encounter day by day, to share in the experience of His suffering, the suffering that redeems humanity. That is what the 40 days of Lent are all about. It's not just an arbitrary exercise in self-mortification. It's about putting forth the sometimes uncomfortable and even painful kind of effort required in order to strengthen any relationship.

*If dear reader does not happen to be Christian, then we may say that Catholics and Christians consider Jesus of Nazareth to be God. The discussion of whether he truly is important, but for purposes of these reflections I will forego it.