“I have come to believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God…”

What is the Incarnation? The union of the divine nature of the Son of God with the human nature in the person of Jesus Christ. The Son of God assumed our flesh, body, and soul. He dwelt among us, like one of us, in order to redeem us. His divine nature was substantially united to our human nature. [1]

Incarnation comes from the Latin incarnatio that means “in flesh”. The Spanish word carne, means meat or flesh. The incarnation is God “becoming flesh”. Because God became flesh, He is able to feed us with His very flesh in the Eucharist.

How is the Incarnation like a handshake, a kiss, a word? A handshake is physical, but it is not just two hands grasped together. A person can hold their own hands together, but it is not a handshake. A handshake is more than physical, it communicates something spiritual; a relationship between two people. A kiss hopefully does not just communicate the physical but communicates the emotional as well, something deeper. A word is spoken, which is a physical thing, but the word transcends the physical, pointing to something deeper; the spiritual.

We can ask two questions to better understand the mystery of the Incarnation. If we ask Joe, “Who are you?” He will answer, “I am Joe”. What if we ask him, “What are you?” He will answer, “I am a human.” Now, ask these same questions to Jesus. Who are you? “I am Jesus”. What are you? “I am God! I am human! Jesus is a who (Jesus) with a what, what (God and man).

Martha said to Jesus, “I have come to believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God…” What did she believe before? She believed and knew Him to be human. It was only at the end of His life and after a long meaningful friendship that she came to believe that He was the Son of God. The question, “Who is Jesus?” has intrigued the world. The Church spent the first five centuries clearing up this question for the faithful and the world. The first four ecumenical councils of the Church answers the question, “Who is Jesus Christ?”

This is an excerpt from the Catholicism Series. Fr. Barron helps us better understand how Jesus wanted to help us better understand fully who He was.

Nicaea I (325) – Condemned Arianism. It defined the Son of God as consubstantial with the Father, formulated in the Nicene Creed which we profess at Mass. Arianism says that there are not three persons of the Holy Trinity, but that there is only one person, God. It therefore states that Jesus was not a divine person, but was created by the Father. Jesus, therefore according to Arianism, was only human and not divine.

Does anyone still believe that Jesus is human but not divine today? This is still believed by Jews, Muslims, Jehovah Witness, Mormons and others.

Constantinople I (381) – Condemned the Macedonians who denied the divinity of the Holy Spirit. It confirmed and extended the Nicene Creed. Macedonians attacked the divinity of the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit. The counsel explained that Jesus gave His Spirit, the Holy Spirit, to the world. Christ is divine; therefore the Spirit that proceeds from the Father and the Son is also divine.

Ephesus (431) – Condemned Nestorianism, which held that there were two distinct persons in the Incarnate Christ, a human and divine. It defended the right of Mary to be called the Mother of God. We believe that Jesus is one person, not two persons. He is one person, with two natures. Mary is not the mother of two persons, but rather one person. She is the Mother of Jesus and since Jesus is God, she is the Mother of God. She is called the Theotokos, the God-Bearer.

Chalcedon (451) – Condemned Monophysitism or Eutychianism by defining that Christ had two distinct natures, and was therefore true God and true man.

How powerful and real is the person of Jesus Christ that it took 418 years after His death to figure Him out! People debated, fought and even were willing to die, to answer the question, “Who is Jesus?” The Church founded on Christ and the Apostles always knew and believed who Christ was, and it was through Her councils that She confirmed the person and nature of Christ to the world.

The question of Jesus’s humanity and divinity was already being asked and the teaching of the Apostles was already being challenged. Saint John’s Gospel, which was written by Saint John between 90-100 AD, in the first chapter clearly states the teachings of the Apostolic Church on this matter.

Read the following verses: John 1:1; John 1:14; John 1:29. What do these verses say about the divinity of Jesus, the humanity of Jesus and the saving mission of Jesus?

John 1:1 – “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”Who is the Word? Jesus is the Word. If we replace the word “Word” with Jesus, the verse reads: In the beginning was Jesus, and Jesus was with God, and Jesus was God. If Jesus is the Word which we believe that He is, then Jesus is God. This verse is proof of the divinity of Jesus.

John 1:14 – “And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth.” This verse using the words “flesh” and “dwelling” means that Jesus, who is God, became man. Did He lose some or all of His divinity in becoming flesh? No. Saint John says “we saw his glory”. This “glory” is His divinity, which is “full of grace and truth.” Who else is called “full of grace”? Mary, the Mother of God is called “full of Grace”. She was preserved from original sin at the Immaculate Conception so that she, as the vessel, “full of Grace”, would bear the Savior of the world, who is “full of grace and truth”. John 1:14 is proof of the humanity of Jesus and that this humanity in no way diminishes His divinity.

John 1:29 – “The next day he [Saint John the Baptist] saw Jesus coming toward him and said, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.’” This verse tells us not just who Jesus is, “the Lamb of God” but what He will do, “takes away the sin of the world.” There is only one person, who can take away the sins of the world. This one person must be both human and divine. He must be human, so that He can suffer and take on our sins. He must be divine, because the sacrifice has to be pure and without sin.

The theme of the humanity of Jesus, the divinity of Jesus and the saving mission of Jesus is seen throughout the Gospel of Saint John. Saint John, as the last Gospel writer, wanted to clear up any confusion that arose in the early Church regarding the person, nature and mission of Jesus. Saint John was also the last Apostle, and thus, the most credible witness to the person, nature and mission of Jesus.

ACTIVITY – Scripture Find
Today’s Gospel, taken from the Eleventh Chapter of Saint John continues to affirm that in deed, Jesus is both human and divine. What are examples of Jesus’ humanity in the rising of Lazarus? What are examples of Jesus’ divinity in the rising of Lazarus? What are examples of the saving mission of Jesus in the rising of Lazarus?

Examples of Humanity:
Jesus “loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus” (verse 5)
And the Jews said, “See how he loved him” (verse 36)
And Jesus wept. (verse 35)

Examples of Divinity:
John 11:4 – When Jesus heard this he said, “This illness is not to end in death, but is for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”
John 11:25 – I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live.
John 11:27 – I have come to believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.
John 11:40 – Did I not tell you that if you believe you will see the glory of God?
John 11:42 – I know that you always hear me; but because of the crowd here I have said this, that they may believe that you sent me.


Saving Mission:
John 11:8 – The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just trying to stone you, and you want to go back there [Jerusalem]?”
John 11:16 – So Thomas, called Didymus, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go to die with him.”

The Mission of Christ is to go to Jerusalem and die for the sins of the world. It was clear to the disciples, especially St. Thomas, that going back to Jerusalem meant certain death for Jesus and those who went with Him. This saving mission was first spoken of in John’s Gospel by Saint John the Baptist, when he said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” The miracle of the rising of Lazarus from the dead was in Bethany, which “was near Jerusalem, only about two miles away.” [1] Raising Lazarus, so close to Jerusalem, was a clear indication that Jesus was not running away from His mission. The miracle would have further driven his enemies to a hatred of Him, thus sealing His fate.

[1] Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J.; Modern Catholic Dictionary
[2] John 11:18