If Jesus was alive today, which breakfast cereal would he eat? Personally, my favorite is Capn’ Crunch. Few people like original Cap’n Crunch but I find those sweet scrumptious morsels even more desirable than my favorite meat Spam. On a serious note, I think Jesus DID eat breakfast. The 2nd reading this week hints at how Jesus is a lot like us. There is commentary following the 2nd Reading and the rest of the readings are at the bottom.
Reading II
Phil 2:6-11
Brothers and sisters:
Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God something to be grasped.
Rather, he emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
coming in human likeness;
and found human in appearance,
he humbled himself,
becoming obedient to death,
even death on a cross.
Because of this, God greatly exalted him
and bestowed on him the name
that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
God Assumes Humanity
Jesus was God. God created everything on Earth. He created everything for man. He created mountains for us to see. He created animals as a gift to us. He created man and woman as a gift to each other. He made life possible for each one of us. He knew the risks involved in making a creature that could think on its own. God knew that his creature could even grow to hate his Creator. Yet our God is a loving God. He has given us everything even though we have done nothing to deserve it. He has given us life.
Now God knew that we had screwed up the world and we were drenched in terrible sin. So he decided to come to Earth to rescue us from this sin. This same God that created the Earth “emptied himself” and “humbled himself” by becoming human. Why is it an act of humility to go from having unlimited power to being human?
In Genesis, it says that whatever God said, came true. His word is so powerful, that all he has to do is say something and it happens. God is more powerful than we can imagine. Yet when God became human, he took on the vulnerability, frailty and weakness of humanity. He was born an infant. As an adult, he probably ate breakfast. Can we even fathom how ridiculous it is for God to eat breakfast? Why should he have to eat breakfast or drink water? After all, he is God!
Jesus’ Humanity
I would compare God becoming human to me becoming an ant. I don’t want to be an ant. I don’t want to eat what ants eat, and I don’t want to die easily like ants do. Like you or I becoming and ant, God assumed every bit of humanity including its limitations. Humanity restricted God even though Jesus was God. In Luke 2:52 it says that Jesus “advanced in wisdom”. That means that he got smarter. So just like you and me, he was well……. Not as smart when he was a toddler compared to adulthood. Most likely, he was drooling on his clothes and chewing on his mother’s new shoes as well! In Mark 6:38, Jesus asks “how many loaves do you have? Go and see”. Our Catholic faith tells us that Jesus’ human knowledge was true human knowledge and thus “could not be unlimited”(CCC 472) We should also keep in mind that because Jesus was begotten of the Father, he was the only human ever that knew the Father completely. Jesus remained God and human at the same time out of his own free will. He accepted all restrictions of humanity.
But don’t be scared of this teaching, because you have believed in Jesus’ true humanity ever since your baptism. As Christians, we MUST believe that Jesus was fully human! Otherwise, his death was not real and so it would be meaningless and fruitless. As it is, Jesus’ death was as real as ours is because he was as human as we are. And so, his suffering was real suffering, his human fear in Gethsemani was real human fear, and his death was a real human death with real human blood. He cried real human tears at Lazarus’ death. We should keep this in mind when we feel as though God does not understand us. We should remember in our times of suffering that God knows precisely what it means to suffer greatly. His willingness to become human is a display of his greatness and just how much he loves us.
In this reading, Paul says that he “humbled himself”. If we think of Jesus as a toddler and we picture Jesus eating breakfast and shedding real tears, and CRYING in an itchy manger, it is very easy to understand that when the same God who made Heaven and Earth took on this silly, vulnerable, weak humanity, he truly “humbled himself”. God knew that it was necessary to become human. He did it because he loves us. And so with all of our hearts, minds, and souls we should “exalt him.” At the name of Jesus, our knees should bend and we should be reverent at this most holy name of the God who so loved the world that he gave his only Son.
This Week
This week is called the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. When Jesus died on the cross, he paid the price for sin and he made himself an offering for our salvation. Without the cross, we would be doomed. With the cross we are saved. During this feast, we must keep in mind that WE are responsible for Jesus’ death on the cross. Without our terrible sins, the crucifixion would have been unnecessary. Those men who crucified Jesus did not understand as we understand that Jesus is Lord. Yet, we do know who he is. So when WE sin, we hammer the nails into Jesus’ hands and we whip him across his back again and again. For those present at the crucifixion, Jesus said, “forgive them Father for they know not what they do.” Yes, Jesus killers didn’t fully know what they were doing or who they were killing. However, we don’t have the same excuse. It seems to me that we DO know what we are doing when we sin, and we DO know WHO we are hurting. And, so the sin we see everyday should fill us with absolute disgust. We should vow now to never again willingly lay violent hands on Jesus.
The Point
· God lowered himself when he became human for our sake
· God shows us how much he loves us by becoming a lowly human
· With each of our sins, we crucify Jesus again by refusing to love him back.
Real Life
Reading 1
Nm 21:4b-9
With their patience worn out by the journey,
the people complained against God and Moses,
“Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in this desert,
where there is no food or water?
We are disgusted with this wretched food!”
In punishment the LORD sent among the people saraph serpents,
which bit the people so that many of them died.
Then the people came to Moses and said,
“We have sinned in complaining against the LORD and you.
Pray the LORD to take the serpents from us.”
So Moses prayed for the people, and the LORD said to Moses,
“Make a saraph and mount it on a pole,
and if any who have been bitten look at it, they will live.”
Moses accordingly made a bronze serpent and mounted it on a pole,
and whenever anyone who had been bitten by a serpent
looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 78:1bc-2, 34-35, 36-37, 38
R. (see 7b) Do not forget the works of the Lord!
Hearken, my people, to my teaching;
incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
I will open my mouth in a parable,
I will utter mysteries from of old.
R. Do not forget the works of the Lord!
While he slew them they sought him
and inquired after God again,
Remembering that God was their rock
and the Most High God, their redeemer.
R. Do not forget the works of the Lord!
But they flattered him with their mouths
and lied to him with their tongues,
Though their hearts were not steadfast toward him,
nor were they faithful to his covenant.
R. Do not forget the works of the Lord!
But he, being merciful, forgave their sin
and destroyed them not;
Often he turned back his anger
and let none of his wrath be roused.
R. Do not forget the works of the Lord!
Gospel
Jn 3:13-17
Jesus said to Nicodemus:
“No one has gone up to heaven
except the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man.
And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert,
so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.”
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son,
so that everyone who believes in him might not perish
but might have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world,
but that the world might be saved through him.
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