![Stained glass at St John the Baptist's Anglican Church [1], Ashfield, New South Wales. Illustrates Jesus' description of himself "I am the Good Shepherd"](https://favs.news/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/WIK_041813_jesus1.jpg)
This question has been at the forefront of my thoughts recently. With Christmas nearly here, I have been thinking about the birth narratives and how things would be different if they did not exist. I have also been thinking about the power of words. Is there power in Jesus’ words because he is (believed by many to be) the Christ or would his words be just as powerful if they were spoken anonymously?
Further, how would our actions change if we “removed” Jesus’ divinity? When reading the Beatitudes, there is much “…blessed are those who…_____…for they will…” And we often assume that Jesus is speaking about heaven or some life beyond this one. But what if Jesus, in reality, were speaking about the here and now and expected that our actions would change accordingly?
I believe that Jesus intended his words to lead to immediate action. Using the example of the Beatitudes again, anyone of privilege hearing Jesus’ words would feel searing poignancy, knowing that the opposite of a blessing is a curse. The shame of living in excess should lead (or should have led) to living more simply so others could simply live.
The death of the human Jesus, to me, becomes even more commendable if his divinity is on the back burner. Many cling to the idea that Jesus had to die as atonement for humanity. But the human Jesus died because he was unwilling to recant his words that gave the poor and marginalized a sense of humanness. These same words indicated that those with wealth or power were not worthy of blessings but, rather, of shame.
“No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”
Jesus laid down his life because he spoke on behalf of the marginalized and was unwilling to back down from his position In and of itself, is this act not divine?
Kyle,
Leaving the divinity of Jesus behind is what liberal theologians and clergy have been doing for some time now, in addition to being repulsed by the atonement. What immediately comes to my mind is the Holy Spirit through Paul, when He says in I Cor. 15:19, “If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.” To leave aside the Deity of Jesus Christ is to ignore the wisest counsel to the believer to ” destroy speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.” I want with all my heart to love, serve and obey He who is my Lord and my God.