THE INCORUPTIBILITY OF GOD:Like Father, Like Son.

This Lectio Divina (Philippians 2:5) came about when I ask the Holy Spirit the question: How is it that Jesus (human and divine natures) knew about his mission and purpose on earth? Remember, I only write what I think the Holy Spirit said. I am not claiming to be correct, only that I received and passed on to you to do with what you will.

Where did Jesus get all those ideas (most of which are not contained in Scripture but were taught to the disciple?. Who was Jesus’ teacher, and where did he get all those wonderful ideas? Certainly, because many people wrote them down, the inspired ideas came through each author and the life experiences of each person as they focused on The Christ Principle. If Jesus was a Rabboni (teacher), where did he get his ideas to pass on to others?

The answers I received from the Holy Spirit have been staring at me for nearly seventy of my eighty-one years on this earth, and I failed to pick up on them. They are in no order and without much elaboration (I will add water to this concentrated orange juice from God for the rest of my life on earth). Some ideas from my Interview with the Advocate (Lectio Divina) follow.

God is incorruptible, living in unapproachable light. This light is pure energy, the energy of pure love, the energy of pure knowledge, and also pure service (sharing love with the Father and Son). God the Son taking on human nature is not as easy as we make it sound. Humans have a way of always assuming so many things based on what we (the individual) know about the words we use. Jesus was like us in all things but sin, so he had to learn those lessons that would lead to fulfilling his mission.

Jesus was born into incorruptibility because Mary had been overshadowed by the Holy Spirit but had human nature just like us and was exposed to the effects of Original Sin. I think it is important to view Christ from the viewpoint of humanity because Scriptures point out the lessons Jesus had to learn as a part of the education of God the Son. This is where I am absolutely awed by the sophistication of The Mystery of Faith. Jesus had to learn what it meant to be an obedient son of the Father from the viewpoint of his human nature, and the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, one God, were his teachers. To feel what we feel like humans, to experience failure, frustration, friendship, fidelity, and betrayal is part of the life we all lead. It was no different for the humanity of Christ.

Read the passage from Philippians on how St. Paul addressed this seeming paradox. I use the complete text for you to read because I want you to do as I do when pondering the depths of Scripture.

GOD BECOMES ONE OF US

“5 Have among yourselves the same attitude that is also yours in Christ Jesus,^*

6 Who,^* though he was in the form of God,^d

did not regard equality with God something to be grasped.^*

7 Rather, he emptied himself,

taking the form of a slave,

coming in human likeness;^*

and found human in appearance,^e

8he humbled himself,^f

becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross.^*

9Because of this, God greatly exalted him

and bestowed on him the name^*

that is above every name,^g

10that at the name of Jesus

every knee should bend,^*

of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth,^h

11and every tongue confess that

Jesus Christ is Lord,^*

to the glory of God the Father.ⁱ

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/philippians/2

Jesus was God but emptied himself of his divinity (The Mystery of Faith) to assume our nature. For Jesus to fulfill his mission to be a ransom for the many, He had to feel what we feel, experience pain and rejection, suffer the humiliations and disappointments of those who mock and hurl insults at us. While being one of us in all things but sin, he would have to learn his mission from The Father, in a way teaching himself what it meant to redeem the sin of Adam and Eve. Learning for humans comes through practice and study and is not infused. It takes time to ponder all of us. I suspect this is why Jesus had to pray about what the Father wanted him to do during the hidden years, where he was obedient to Mary and Joseph. Jesus learned obedience and humility from Mary and Joseph, just as we learned, by doing. Ironic that Jesus’ human nature had to learn to “fear of the Lord,” while his divine nature was what he had to fear.

The Father, as part of being paternal, teaches his son, Jesus, what it means to be human. The Gospels describe the lessons Jesus learned as part of his training in becoming human. I think the story of Jesus sitting in the Temple and learning from the elders and teaching them is placed in this strategic position for readers to realize that Jesus has a father on earth (Joseph), but also a heavenly one that is incorruptible. This lesson is not only for Jesus but for his mother and foster father, and ultimately for each of us. Use this Sacred Scripture to feel what Jesus felt about his mission on earth. What is the profound significance of Jesus at the age of twelve teaching in the Temple and telling us that His Father is God?

The Boy Jesus in the Temple.^*

41Each year his parents went to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover,^p

42and when he was twelve years old, they went up according to festival custom.

43After they had completed its days, as they were returning, the boy Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it.

44Thinking that he was in the caravan, they journeyed for a day and looked for him among their relatives and acquaintances,

45but not finding him, they returned to Jerusalem to look for him.

46After three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions,

47and all who heard him were astounded at his understanding and his answers.

48When his parents saw him, they were astonished, and his mother said to him, “Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety.”

49And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”^*

50But they did not understand what he said to them.

51He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them; and his mother kept all these things in her heart.^q

52And Jesus advanced [in] wisdom and age and favor before God and man.^r

WAYS JESUS IS LIKE HIS FATHER

1. He likes to create things. Both God and Jesus were builders as part of their skill set.The Father like to begin crafting matter and time, spriinkled with live creatures. God puts His DNA on everything He touches, which is why everything progresses with purpose toward its intended finality. All matter, time, physical energy, the universe of the mind, all have several things in common. Everything that is has a beginning and an end. Within that beginning and ending, matter corrupts, the mind has human reason and the ability to choose. What was Jesus’ profession? He was a builder of things. He would have a concept in his mind and an intended outcome (what would the table look like?)

2. Jesus learned to love (in his human nature) from the Father and Holy Spirit (his divine nature). The interesting thing about how Jesus learned how to love is that he was like us in all things except sin. Philippians 2:5-12 has an interesting phrase that goes

Who,^* though he was in the form of God,^d

did not regard equality with God something to be grasped.^*

7Rather, he emptied himself,

taking the form of a slave,

coming in human likeness;^*

and found human in appearance,^e“

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/philippians/2

What strikes me as challenging about this phrase is the notion that, for Christ to experience the full effect of humanity, divinity has to keep from interfering so Christ can legitimately choose good or not so good (Jesus could not choose anything sinful), in order to feel the passion, death, and resurrection plus the agony in the Garden.

3. Jesus was a teacher, just like his Father. Although God spoke through the Law and the Prophets, things were not progressing as planned. God sent His only begotten Son to show us the way, what is true, and how to live life in such a way as to become adopted sons and daughters of the Father.

uiodg