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the person of Jesus Christ - Coggle Diagram

- - - - JC says "the Father is greater than I"
  - - - for some theologians, this demonstrates that Jesus knew that he was fully God
  - - - in Greek thought, 'Son of God' means elevating a human to become a divine being
      - in Jewish thought, the 'Son Of God' was a chosen King, someone selected to carry out God's will to free Israel
  - - - in both Genesis 1 and this story, order is brought to creation and as a result, fear and chaos subside
    - - an example of this would be in the account of healing a blind man
        
        this story could really be about the contrast between faith of the man healed and the scepticism of the Pharisees
        
        the one who is blind sees the truth, while those that can see are blinded blinded to the truth, so sight becomes a metaphor
  - - - this could argue that JC is the second Adam, restoring the harmony of the created order found in the Garden of Eden
    - - for some Christians, Jesus' miraculous resurrection is the ultimate demonstration of his divinity
- - - - another approach is to say that as a human, Jesus was fully aware of God
      - if Jesus s seen as the new Adam, then is in a relationship with God that mirrors that of Adam and God before the Fall
        
        that is to say, a harmonious relationship in which there is no barrier between God and Jesus
      - other theologians argue that since Jesus was human, he cannot have been fully God
        
        such theolgians note that Jesus says "the Father is greater than I"
    - - some theologians ague that Jesus healing a blind man and walking on water demonstrate Jesus' divine power - he is able to perform tasks impossible for an ordinary human being
      - his aibility to perform 'might works' indicates a situation more than just a human being
    - - are many passages where Jesus talks of his relationship to God.
        
        in John's Gospel, Jesus uses the phrase "I am" on numerous occasions
        
        this echoes the name God gives himself when talking to Moses; "I am who I am"
        
        Jesus also says, "Whoever has seen men has has seen the Father" and "The Father and I are one"
        
        for some theologians, this demonstrates that Jesus knew that he was fully God
    - - in the story of Jesus walking on water, Jesus echoes the 'Spirit of God hovering over the face of the waters' Genesis 1
        
        in both Genesis and this story, order is brought to creation and as a result, fear and chaos subside
      - others argue that these accounts show Jesus' authority to give special insight into the nature and kingdom of God
        
        this story could really be about the contrast between the faith of the man healed and the scpetisicism of the Pharisees
        
        the one who is blind sees the truth, while those that can see are blinded to the truth, so sight becomes a metaphor
        
        an example would be in account of healing a blind man
    - - both of these meanings were influential in early Christian thought about the. true nature of Jesus
      - can be understood in different ways
        
        in Greek thought, means elevating a human to become a divine being
        
        in Jewish thought, was a chosen King, someone selected to carry put God's will to free Israel
    - - another idea is that Jesus' resurrection points us towards the resurrection of humans on judgement day - we could argue that Jesus is the second Adam, restoring the harmony of the created order found in the Garden of Eden
      - this opens us up to the restoration of the harmony between God and humanity
      - the resurrection can be argued to show Jesus' authority as the Son of God - for some, his miraculous resurrection is the ultimate demonstration of his divinity
- - - - we ask God not to hold our sins against us but to forgive us of those sins, and in turn, we should do likewise to others
      - reinforces message of repentance and forgiveness - 'Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us'
    - - father immediately restores him his place in the family and celebrates his return. he lets go of any anger or resentment at his sons actions
      - bu the elder son holds on to his anger and resentment
      - the father welcomes his son with open arms
      - demonstrates repentance and forgiveness through the reactions of the father and the elder son to the younger son's. return
      - father has to coax the elder son into welcoming home the returning offender
    - - JC Is very critical if the Pharisees, persistently accusing them of hypocrisy and legalism
      - his particular annoyance with them is that they focus on the minutiae of the law at the expense of the purpose of the law
        
        Jesus accuses them of hypocrisy and of being 'whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful but inside they are full of the bones of the dead and of all kinds of filth' Matthew
      - also found In JC's teachings: inner purity and moral motivation
    - - found in the teachings of Jesus
      - repentance (Greek = metanoia)
        
        we can see in the the Parable of the Prodigal Son
      - forgiveness (Greek= aphemia) means 'to let go'
        
        it is principally used to explain forgiveness as the clearing of debt
    - - Jesus' conclusion is that we should 'be perfect, therfore, as you Heavenly Father is perfect' Matthew
      - in Sermon on the Mount, JC intensifies the ale of Moses' prohibition of murder and adultery
        
        JC argues that 'if you are angry with a arbiter or sister' or if you look 'at a woman with lust' you have already committed those actions
        
        it is no longer sufficient to keep the law the way the legalistic Pharisees do. we must pay attention to the inner motivation for our actions
    - - this image is reinforced when JC frequently talks of Mosaic law with statements such as 'You have heard that it was said'
      - in it the writer presents JC as teaching about God's law on the side of a mountain. this. presents JC as the new Moses, highly significant image to his Jewish audience
      - JC also talks of his mission to 'fulfil' the laws of Moses rather than 'abolish' it
- - - - he challenges the pharisee fro his attitude to this marginalised woman - he does this through his critique on the Pharisee for his behaviour and praising of the woman's behaviour
      - here JC liverate the woman from her sins through forgiveness
    - - Jesus criticises religious law for taking precedence over compassion. bye doing this hew aims to liberate his audience from this legalistic [approach)
      - by praising the actions of the Samaritan, Jesus reinforces the preeminence of compassion in the law
      - JC's Jewish audience would know that touching a dead body renders someone as 'impure''
      - JC challenges conventional thinking in a number of ways.
      - he also challenges (and so liberates) the audiences suspicion of the Samaritan
    - - JC arrived on a donkey and not a horse, liberating the crowd from their rxectaions of him as a kingly liberty - suggests that JC was not going to be who they expected
      - then, by heading to the temple and Turing over the tabled, he indicates his main focus is the religious authorities - again liberating the people from their expectation that he would free them from Roman occupation
      - his entry into Jerusalem and the cleansing of the temple
    - - in healing her, JC liberates her from both the illness and the marginalisation she faced
      - In the story, JC liberates a woman fro an ill ess that blighted her life for 12 years, as menstruating woman, she would have also been viewed as impure and shunned under Mosaic law
      - JC praises the woman's faith and speaks directly to her
        
        in doing so, he is challenging Mosaic law and those in the crowd to alter their treatment of such an 'outcast'
    - - JC was particularly critical of the religious authorirties, especially the Pharisees, but also critical of values and behaviours of the society in which he lived
      - for many Christians, JC' challenge to the political and religious authorities of this time presents him as a liberator
- - - - the clearest claims of of Jesus' divinity (such as the 'I am') come from John's Gospel, which may have been added later by writers
      - JC clearly understood himself as a prophet and Messianic figure (a ruler sent by God) - he refers to his fulfilment of prophecy many times. the OT does not suggest the Messiah would be divine so why would JC think of himself as such?
      - we cannot use the Gospel evidence to conclude that JC thought he was divine , the stories are stories of a human being and radical preacher
    - - earliest tradition in NT, Paul's lettters, indicate an assumption that JC was divine
      - JC was keen not to overwhelm his audience and s want dto keep his divine actions a secret especially at the start go his ministry, this 'Messianic Secret' is found, for eg, in Mark
      - JC lost in temple as a child, when found he says to his parents 'Didn't you know I had to be in my Father's house?' temple = God\'s house so suggesting God is his Father