“‘No, Lord,’ she said. And Jesus said, ‘Neither do I. Go and sin no more.’” (John 8:11).
I have been thinking about the humanity of Christ.
As a Perfect Human, Christ needed to learn and develop and grow.
And I have been thinking about who helped Christ – the God-Child with His learning. After all, God chose to be Incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Blessed Virgin and to be born as a Baby and to grow as a Child and to learn how to be.
And I have been thinking about this learning of Christ – after all Christ is God Himself and it is no easy thing to TEACH God. So, who did God entrust with the education of His Son?
Well, to His Parents of course.
And WHAT did those parents teach the Son of God?
Well, when the Blessed Virgin was asked by the Angel whether she would accept the role as Mother of God – despite very serious life-threatening implications of saying YES – she said YES…
“‘I am the Lord’s servant,’ Mary answered. ‘May your word to me be fulfilled.’ Then the angel left her.” (Luke 1:38).
And later – when Christ was in the Garden of Gethsemane He remembered this FIAT of His Holy Mother from the time prior to His Conception and He prayed in the same way…
“Going a little farther, He fell with His face to the ground and prayed, ‘My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from Me. Yet not as I will, but as You will.’” (Matthew 26:39).
And this was the prayer of His Mother when God asked Her to Drink from the Cup of His Choosing so that His Will could be accomplished through Her submission to Him… And in this way, the Son of Man had been learning obedience from His Mother during the course of His Earthly life.
But this was not His only learning…
He was also given a Foster Father from whom to learn in the person of Saint Joseph.
When Saint Joseph was told that His Wife was Expecting the Son of God, he was not rash. He was not unkind. He was compassionate. With great care he thought a bout what he had been told and deliberated what to do. In other words – he PRAYED about this revelation. And when God answered his prayers through the Angel who appeared to him in a dream, he LISTENED to God and acted accordingly…
“Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.’” (Matthew 1:19-21).
And it was this compassion of Saint Joseph that the Son of Man learned. For He was kind to the people who were sinners – never condemning them, only condemning their sins…
“‘Teacher,’ they said to Jesus, ‘this woman was caught in the act of adultery. The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?’ They were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him, but Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger. They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, ‘All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!’ Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust. When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman. Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, ‘Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?’ ‘No, Lord,’ she said. And Jesus said, ‘Neither do I. Go and sin no more.’” (John 8:4-11).
And I have been reflecting on these learnings of Christ from His parents. For it seems to me today that I should be setting a much better example for my own children. And for that, I must ask the Holy Parents of God to intercede for me…
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.
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