Detachment
The Humanity of Jesus
Books by Theme
As creatures of flesh and blood, we need the support of material things in order to attain to spiritual realities. God knows this, and it is what explains the whole mystery of the Incarnation. We need to see, to touch, to feel. Jesus Christ’s visible, physical humanity is the expression of God’s wonderful condescension toward us. Knowing what we are made of, he gives us the possibility of reaching divine things in a human way, touching what is divine by human means. Spirit has become flesh. Jesus is the way to God for us. St. Philip asked Jesus, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied,” and Jesus answered, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” ( Jn 14: 8-9).
There is a great and very beautiful mystery here. The humanity of Jesus in all its aspects, even those that are apparently humblest and least important, is for us an immense space for communion with God. Every aspect of his humanity, each of his characteristics, even the smallest and most hidden, each of his words, deeds, and gestures, every stage of his life from his conception in Mary’s womb to his Ascension, brings us into communion with God the Father if we receive it in faith. By exploring his humanity like a piece of land that belongs to us, going through it like a book written especially for us, making it our own in faith and love, we grow steadily in communion with the inaccessible, unfathomable mystery of God.
- Time for God, pp. 58-59