My Chemical Romance - Helena

And its time to go crazy again...Simply put...I love this video...its insane..period...one of the commentary at the youtube actually said: I want my funeral to be like this. =]...Hahahaha

The Son of Man, the Son of God

I had described the nature of humanity, and also about Godliness in my previous articles. In the later, I had also mentioned that we human should “reach Godliness and still retain our Humanity at the same time”. And that example can be found in Jesus at least for us Christians and others that care to learn about Him without being a Christian (And I personally think same goes for other examples for other religion). Jesus is our example (as Christians) of how we human suppose reach our Godliness, to earn our salvation.

While we have always referred Jesus as God, we shall not forget that He took his first breath as a human being. That is why He always referred Himself as “The Son of Man” because He was indeed born with flesh and blood, with every limitations of a human being, with hunger and thirst, with insecurities and fear. If He had not felt hunger and thirst, then His fast would’ve been meaningless. Had He not bleed and wounded then He wouldn’t had suffered when He was tortured. Had He be fearless then He wouldn’t had “grieved and agitated. Then He said to them, ‘I am deeply grieved, even to death” (Matthew 26.37 – 38, NRSV) and “threw himself on the ground and prayed ‘My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me” (Matthew 26.39, NRSV) in Gethsemane the night before crucifixion. So He was indeed afraid of God’s trial, as we all humans are, and thus said by Him to His disciples at that same night “Stay awake and pray that you may not come into the time of trial; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26.41, NRSV), and taught to His disciples to pray “And do not bring us to the time of trial, but rescue us from the evil one” (Our Father; Matthew 6.13, NRSV), as a way to teach us that one shall realize one’s limitation as a human being and not to become arrogant with a blind bravery.

Jesus has an intimate relationship – and oneness – with God which enabled Him to called God as Father, and thus we called him “The Son of God”. I don’t have to describe His powers in abundance of miraculous deeds that He had done. Those are very eye and ear-catching and a bit – if not too – “overly popular” that I bet not a single Christians (and probably many non-Christians) that aren’t familiar with it. Even though there are many symbolic messages presented hidden in those miraculous deeds, few are recognized and I will not discuss them here. More importantly, as the “Son”, He has within Him God’s love which I had tried to describe as love that “even extends beyond our understanding of love itself” kind of love. The God’s love within Him enables Him to said “Not to resist an evildoer, and if anyone strikes you at the right cheek, turn the other also” (Matthew 5.39, NRSV), but not out of merely a crybaby – blind patience and conflict avoidance, instead “To approach an adversary in the same way as this adversary may be approaching us: who is the wicked one?” (Commentary by Pastoral Bible). That is why Jesus ask us “Why do you see the speck in your neighbour’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye?” and told us to “First take the log out of our own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbour’s eye.” (Matthew 7. 3 – 5, NRSV). These messages clearly teach us to see things in broader perspective instead of our own personal narrow perspective in right or wrong, because there is a big chance that our opponent is reacting toward the situation exactly the same way as we are, thus both are just following our “human nature” and either both are wrong or both are right and neither should be judging the others because both see things only from their own egotistical perspective.

Jesus even described God’s love in such extreme by saying “Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven for their sins and whatever blasphemies they utter” (Matthew 3.28, NRSV). And the Commentary by Pastoral bible goes like this: “The God whom Jesus knows is aware of how far human stupidity can go and doesn’t feel offended by so many ridiculous or blasphemous words habitually used in our society”. It is an awareness of His (God’s) creations stupid and ugly nature – again, not a crybaby sweet patience out if nowhere, but a kind of love that is beyond our ability to accept. And if this still can’t give the clue about God’s love, I don’t know what else can.

Now after a long babbling about why Jesus called both human and God at the same time, I will cut this straight. It is because He was able to reach God’s love even when born as a human that He is an ideal “teacher” for us in search for God. His presence is a proof that we Human can earn our salvation and reach the previously impossible God that is within us. Thus the birth of Jesus spread as “Good News” because finally God has shown us that human can reach salvation. That is also why we called Jesus our “Savior” because by His teaching, He show us the way towards salvation. And also, through His birth God has fulfilled what has been written “So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them” (Genesis 1.27, NRSV), so it has always been our purpose in this world as human to become the Image of God and Jesus fulfillment had shown us the way, and proved that it can and must be done.

And why is it that when He was crucified, it is said that He has paid for our sin to God? It was because He had made a stand for the word of God that was taught through Him. During His whole life, He had been the messenger of the word of God which didn’t suit the religious authority at that time. He was consider blasphemous by the Jewish priests who at that time struggled hard to kept the authority at their hand during Jewish oppression by the Roman empire. So the torture and cross are consequences of the way that He had chosen, and He had no choice but to face it. By “drinking from His cup” (Matthew 26.42, NRSV), He had fulfilled God’s movement in spreading the teaching toward salvation. By making a stand for the cross, He had showed that the spreading of the teaching shall not be suppressed and defeated by worldly fear of pain and death. The word of God shall remain timeless in its value. He had than finally “kept the salt from losing its taste, and put the light on the lampstand” (Matthew 5.13 – 14, NRSV). The tales of crucifixion and resurrection are very ear and faith catching thus so wildly popular and easily acknowledge by many. By acknowledgement of this story alone, one at least has kept an access toward the teaching – the word of God – even when it is merely believed and not immediately understood. So that is why by being crucified, He is said to have repented for our sin. Because He showed that the truth of the teaching shall defeat pain and death, and He had also kept the teaching alive and He made it widespread, so that we humans may forever have the access to the word of God and the knowledge of salvation that will freed us from our Sin.

That said, “when we human poop at the wrong place without wiping our own ass, instead of cleaning our mess instantly and wiping our ass for us, Jesus has taught us to poop at the toilet and to wipe our own ass”. Not the most suitable parable – I made it myself, what can you expect –, but hopefully you got the message. Jesus death wasn’t meant to instantly erase our Sin, but instead to keep the teaching alive and made it widespread so that we Human may forever have the access to it and thus may be freed from sin by earning salvation through constant learning and understanding of His teaching.