Wavicles And The Light Of The World

Jesus, the Light of the World, was perfect man and perfect God. It is one of those mysteries that drive some people wild. How can such a thing be? It’s hard enough to imagine someone being perfect man; how can such a one be perfect God as well?

Thinking about Jesus being the light of the world gave me an idea. Light, it turns out, seems to be both a particle and an electromagnetic wave, depending on how we observe it. By this I do not mean to suggest that our choice of observation technique changes the nature of light (though there are people who assert something like that), but that different methods of observation yield different understandings of the nature of light.

I’m not going to try and explain the physics; you can Google the phrase “light particle wave observations” or check the Wikipedia entry for photons for more information (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photon), or if you are interested in a more in-depth explanation, read Richard P. Feynman’s classic book QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter.

One Thing with Two Different Natures

The point is that there are phenomena in the physical world that seem to be one thing with two different natures.  This, of course, proves nothing. We can, however, think of it as a metaphor for talking about Jesus.

No metaphor or analogy constitutes a proof (though you’ll find plenty of people who behave as though it does). Metaphors illuminate and clarify, and they may even point us in the direction of some kind of proof (for things that are provable, at least).

Some of the mysteries of the Faith are essentially unprovable, in part because of their often apparently paradoxical nature, in part because of the more general principle that if anything too definitive about God were provable, it would interfere with our free will to choose to believe and obey.  (I realize that’s a big, provocative red flag I’m waving here, so perhaps I can deal with it another time.)

What this metaphor first illuminates for me is how both natures of Jesus appear in the Gospel accounts. When He does ordinary, human things we see His human nature – worrying His parents, dealing with His mother’s demands, dealing with quarreling friends, weeping before a tomb, and even reconciling Himself to a seemingly impossible task in the Garden of Gethsemane.

We also see His divine nature, not just in miracle tales but in His insight into the hearts of others, such as the rich young man who asks for advice and receives his ultimate test; silencing His critics with answers that reach more deeply than they thought possible; and managing a crowd bent on rough justice after being outraged at His claim to being the Messiah.

Passing Unseen Through A Mob

Let us look at the latter example, found in Luke 4: 28-30. After claiming to be the one spoken of in Isaiah 61:1-2, He met with incredulity.  He answered with the following result:

When the people in the synagogue heard this, they were all filled with fury.

They rose up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town had been built, to hurl him down headlong.

But he passed through the midst of them and went away.

This is an astonishing story. How is it that He passed unseen through an entire crowd bent on killing Him, apparently vanishing? The scripture doesn’t say anything about the crowd being stricken with blindness. It seems He just walked through them and they did nothing.

If we accept that Jesus was indeed perfect God and perfect man, it becomes possible to imagine that the crowd, having rejected the totality of who He was – and is – became incapable of perceiving any part of Him at all. They had eyes but could not see, just as predicted in the Psalms (115:5-6 and 135:16-17) Isaiah (6:9 and 42:20) and Ezekiel 12:2.

We cannot say God did not warn us!

Totality Or Nothing

This is a terrifying cautionary tale because it seems to teach that we must accept the totality of who Jesus is, or we risk receiving nothing of Him at all.

So much for treating Him as “a really great teacher” or “a really exceptional prophet!”  He is perfect man AND perfect God and we ought not to pretend that He was or is anything less than who He really is: the living Son of the living God – perfect man and perfect God.

Physics does not prove that this statement is true, but it does show us that the physical universe confirms for us that dual natures are possible – even necessary.

This is the part of the Resurrection we may sometimes forget; the Jesus we read about is not someone who rose and went away; by virtue of His divine nature He is always present. As He existed with more than one nature, we must use more than one approach to fully perceive Him.

Which means we must remember something that has been commented on many times by far wiser folk than me: the difference made when we read those Gospel accounts with our hearts as well as our minds. When I apply my mind to the Gospels I learn a lot. But when I read them with my heart open to the divine nature of Jesus, the Word made flesh has a chance to speak to me directly. Jesus had a nature we cannot comprehend through one path alone; we must use all of our hearts, minds, and souls.

Because Jesus Lives, We Can Know Him

My Grandfather died over 20 years ago. I can tell you about him. You can research and read about him – the bridges he built, and the things he did.  You can know quite a bit about him if you want to. But you cannot get to know him; he is gone. And being only human, he cannot be reached.

Unlike my grandfather or our other departed loved ones, the Resurrected Lord lives. The divine element of His nature blends His life from his human days to His immortal presence now and forever into eternity. We can know Him directly, not just know about Him.

We only have to use the proper methods of observation to perceive His divine presence:

• Diligent reading of the scriptures with an open heart and an open mind.
• Regular prayer, again with an open heart and an open mind.
• Regular study of work designed to help us grow in our love and discipleship.
• Paying attention to homilies, to those who pray with us, and to that still small voice that comes after the storms.

I have used light as a metaphor, but it is more than that. In addition to being the Word made flesh, Jesus is also the Light that shines forth in the darkness.