5. The Unconditioned Becomes Conditioned: God Becomes Human
According to Buddhism, “unconditioned” is a world without birth or death, without beginning or end, without cause and effect. On the contrary, the “conditioned” world is a world of impermanence, of phenomena created by causes and conditions, birth and death and transformation.
With such a concept, according to Christianity, the unconditioned world is the upper world.
The Trinity
Jesus, when talking to Nicodemus, said, “If I tell you about earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has gone up to heaven except the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man” (John 3, 12-13).
No one knows the knowledge of the upper world, and if anyone tells you, it is only the people in that world who tell you. And that knowledge is also very difficult to understand because it does not follow common logic. A temporary example shows us: we cannot understand information in the quantum world, where an object is both here and there at the same time, meaning that if we use the prism of space and time like the world we live in, we will not be able to conceive it.
Jesus came from above, from the upper world, and He told us that God exists in three Persons. Although there are three Persons, there is one God. According to human logic, we cannot understand. Even a smart mind like Saint Augustine cannot answer. That is why we call it a ‘mystery’. In fact, the things we cannot understand in this world are because nature did not design us to have that ability. The quantum world or black hole is the closest to us and is also matter without space and time; how can we conceive it, without going through the prism of space and time. Jesus, who came down from heaven, said: “No one knows the Son except the Father; and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him” (Mt 11, 27).
We do not know much about the Father. Through the Bible and what Jesus said about the Father, He is the self-existent God, creator of the universe and all things, omniscient and omnipotent, provident of all things, a gentle and merciful Father. He is love but also very just and upright, and hates sin.
A person in the Trinity is the Holy Spirit. We know Him by the revelation of Jesus: “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit” (Mt 28, 19). “The Spirit of truth, which the world cannot accept, because it neither sees nor knows it. But you know it, because it remains with you, and will be in you” (Jn 14, 17).
The Holy Spirit was most evident on the day of Pentecost, in the form of tongues of fire resting on the heads of each person as they prayed together: “When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all in one place together. And suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire house in which they were. Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them. And they were all filled with the holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim” (Acts 2:1-4).
A problem arises as to the relationship between the unconditioned world and the conditioned world. How can conditioned things exist? How can nothing come into existence?
Lao Tzu in the Tao Te Ching said, “The Tao gives birth to one, one gives birth to two, two gives birth to three, three gives birth to all things.” In a way, all things that are born are divine.
Confucius said, “The creation of things from nothing is the way of heaven.” Confucius realized the self-generating morality of the immaterial world and that people in the material world must have morality to know the way of heaven and the mandate of heaven.
According to Christianity, God created the universe from nothing from the beginning. Nothing becomes everything because of His power. This world was designed and created by Him. It is the creation created by Him. Creation is a product of love because He himself is love.
A question that arises for us is why, from ancient times until now, the Creator has created all things so beautiful and splendid, but He Himself does not reveal Himself for us to admire, or at least dispel the doubts of atheists about their origin? Surely He knows well the eternal disputes between believers and skeptics about His presence.
Indeed, from ancient times until now, people only know about God’s existence through logical reasoning of reason, but no one has seen His face.
Therefore, countless idols have been formed: lime pots, rocks, cows, mountains… People crave something perfect and solid, to lean on for their fragile existence.
God hides himself
Confucius said: “Heaven says nothing. Yet the four seasons keep changing, and all things keep being born. Heaven says nothing.” (Analects, chapter 17, section 18)
Why is that? The answer is very simple:
God is the absolute reality, which humans cannot think of. If God is here, in that image, it is just a lowly idol.
Lao Tzu was right when he interpreted the meaning of the word “Tao”, which, according to him, is the absolute reality: Tao is a wonderful principle, unthinkable, boundless, unchanging, without beginning or end, which existed before the creation of heaven and earth, from which the universe was formed, and cannot be named by language.
Confucius believed that there was an absolute Tai Chi, but because that principle was too profound, human intelligence could not reach it, so he only considered how it worked, which is the theory of I Ching.
In the Old Testament, while Moses was tending sheep on the mountain, he saw a fire burning in a bush and heard a voice saying: “Do not come near! Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground … Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God” (Ex 3:5-6). Moses asked God who He was, so that he could tell the Jews. God answered him, “I am who I am” (Ex 3, 14).
Elsewhere God says: “You cannot see my face, for no one can see me and live” (Ex 33, 20).
Thus, do not expect to see God and understand the heavenly world because it is illogical and foolish when we only live in the limited physical world, the mortal world.
God becomes human
“No one has ever seen God. The only Son, God, who is at the Father’s side, has revealed him” (Jn 1, 18). This is what the Apostle John wrote in the opening chapter of his gospel.
The mystery of the incarnation is not difficult to understand. For the invisible world to influence the visible world, it is logical that a person from heaven should be sent down to become a human being. “Jesus Christ, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross” (P1 2, 6-8).
It is because of not realizing this that many of us, like the ancient Jews, do not accept Jesus as our Savior.
In our eyes, the Savior must be a majestic and mighty angel, holding the power of life and death in his hands. His background must be noble, with a lineage that breathes fire. And especially not like a sinner who “lives homeless, dies without a burial place” like Jesus. “Is he not the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother named Mary? (Mt 13, 55)
But “My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways” (Is 55, 8), the Lord continued: “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, my thoughts higher than your thoughts” (Is 55, 9).
Jesus is the Messiah sent to the world according to God’s plan of salvation for mankind, not in a human way but completely according to God’s wise plan. Not the material or corruptible aspect as the short-sighted mind of man thinks, but freedom from the slavery of sin that leads to destruction and eternal death. That is the important and essential thing.
Humans only see immediate benefits, looking for fleeting things. The Messiah that God promised in the Bible only frees us from political deadlocks, bringing false and ephemeral material benefits is too mediocre! What is the point of waiting for him because “Naked I came forth from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I go back there” (Job 1:21). Man lives at most a hundred years, which is not very valuable.
The story of the rich man told by the Lord in the gospel illustrates, what is precious must be something that lasts. “There was a rich man whose land produced a bountiful harvest. He asked himself, ‘What shall I do, for I do not have space to store my harvest?’ And he said, ‘This is what I shall do: I shall tear down my barns and build larger ones. There I shall store all my grain and other goods and I shall say to myself, “Now as for you, you have so many good things stored up for many years, rest, eat, drink, be merry!” But God said to him, ‘You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?’ Thus will it be for the one who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich in what matters to God” (Lk 12, 16-21).
The Messiah must bring salvation to mankind, bring eternal happiness to be worth waiting for.
Jesus is true man and also true God.
Jesus is the man
Jesus is a real person as we have quoted above: having parents, being born, growing up and dying, having a time and place.
The Council of Chalcedon (451) once declared: “Jesus Christ is truly God and truly man, consisting of a rational soul and a body.”
When he took on the human condition, Jesus was also limited and governed by space and time, physical and mechanical laws, and psychophysiology like many other people. He also learned from experience, matured, and gradually became aware of himself and the world around him. “And Jesus advanced in wisdom and age and favor before God and man” (Lk 2, 52).
But there are people who do not believe that Jesus is God. It may be easy to say that he is an angel, a sage, but to say that he is God is really offensive, blasphemous. And that is why the Jews killed Him.
Therefore, throughout history, many different interpretations have arisen, forcing the church to use the authority given by God to respect the truth and create unity. This authority has the value that we call sacred tradition. (Let me temporarily open a parenthesis to explain further: sacred tradition does not create a new doctrine, but has the authority to judge a matter of right or wrong, based on biblical documents, which are the truth revealed by God. Controversial issues are often voted on in a plenary session of the world’s bishops).
Jesus is God
The question of the divinity of Jesus was affirmed by the Council of Nicea (AD 325) and is still used in the Creed today.
The Council of Nicea affirmed that Jesus is both true man and true God.
The Bible mentions the divinity of Jesus many times:
– Saint Paul wrote in his letter to the Philippians, “Jesus Christ, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness” (P1 2, 6-7)
– Saint Peter answered Jesus, when asked who Jesus was, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Mark 16, 16).
– At the beginning of his gospel, Saint John wrote: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. … All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be” (Jn 1, 1-3).
– Jesus said: “I and the Father are one” (Jn 10, 30). “He who has seen me has seen the Father” (Jn 14, 9).
– The prophet Micah said of the Messiah, “But you, Bethlehem-Ephrathaha, least among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel; Whose origin is from of old, from ancient times” (Mic 5, 1).
The Divinity of Jesus through His Works
The Authority to Forgive Sins
Jesus revealed his divinity, demonstrating his power to forgive sins when he healed the paralytic:
“When he saw their faith, he said, “As for you, your sins are forgiven.”
Then the scribes and Pharisees began to ask themselves, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who but God alone can forgive sins?”
Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them in reply, “What are you thinking in your hearts?
Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’?
But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” (Lk 5, 20-24).
The Authority to Make Laws
He also demonstrated his authority to make or break laws:
“As he was passing through a field of grain on the sabbath, his disciples began to make a path while picking the heads of grain. At this the Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the sabbath?” He said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he was in need and he and his companions were hungry? How he went into the house of God when Abiathar was high priest and ate the bread of offering that only the priests could lawfully eat, and shared it with his companions?” Then he said to them, “The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath. That is why the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath” (Mk 2, 23-28)
The Self-Existent
Jesus said that he was the Self-Existent:
“Abraham your father rejoiced to see my day; he saw it and was glad. So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old and you have seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham came to be, I AM” (John 8, 56-58).
If Jesus were not a real person, he would be just a mythical god riding a horse to see flowers, passing through the human world and offering a magic wand of salvation. Insensitive.
It is precisely when he is a real person, knowing what happiness and suffering are like in human life, knowing how to cry and be sad, knowing loneliness when abandoned, knowing the pain of “sweating blood” that he shows us, that the love devoted to the one we love is truly valuable and not just empty talk.
And man also sees God as close to him as someone who eats at the same table. Only then can we call God father, only then can we see His great love very concretely.
On the contrary, if Jesus were not God, then His salvation and atonement would be really doubtful. How can the finite compensate for the infinite?