JESUS’ HUMANITY
Then Judas the Iscariot, one of his disciples,
and the one who would betray him, said,
“Why was this oil not sold for three hundred days’ wages
and given to the poor?”
[…]
So Jesus said, “Leave her alone.
Let her keep this for the day of my burial.
You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.”
I can almost imagine some scenes in the New Testament between Jesus and His apostles as scenes from a sitcom. I can visualize the apostles looking around with cartoonish confusion every time Jesus cleverly responds to attempted entrapment by the Pharisees, or in this case, attempted entrapment by one of his own apostles.
I like to think that I would somehow understand the true meaning behind Jesus’ words, but I suspect if I had been in the apostles’ shoes, I’d have been just as easily stumped.
Today’s Gospel especially reminds me of that. Reading Jesus’ words “You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me”, left me feeling distinctly uncomfortable and confused. My first thought was “Sorry, but hasn’t serving the poor kind of been Jesus’ whole message?” The subtext of that thought was, “Who does this guy think he is, that his desires would be more important than the needs of the poor?
Well, obviously… he’s Jesus. And He is that important. It seems insane and inappropriate that I could ever forget that, but perhaps Jesus’ divinity is something I’m more aware of in my head than in my heart.
When I try to imagine conversation with Jesus, He seems like the most remarkably calm, perfect, spiritual... robot. I know logically that He is both divine and human, but His divinity is so perfect that I can’t wrap my mind around it. Because I can’t comprehend Jesus’ perfection, it seems impossible that someone so divine could understand my humanity.
Fortunately, today’s Gospel also subtly reminds us of Jesus’ own humanity. Jesus is not spending time with just anyone in the days before His crucifixion; He is spending time with Lazarus, Mary, and Martha - His friends. I can’t think of anything more human than leaning on friends in a time of hardship.
I suspect it is impossible to fully comprehend Jesus as both the divine Son of God and a human who experienced suffering, pain, and disappointment. I am grateful, however, that we have the gospels to remind us of Jesus’ complexity. As we move forward in Holy Week, let us meditate on both the divinity and humanity of Jesus.
Who is Jesus to me? Do I see both His divinity and humanity?
Bethany Poythress