Tonight I had the last lecture of my final subject - Christology - for my Bachelor of Theology. Dealing mainly with the incarnation and its results, we were asked what struck us during the course of the subject.
For me, there was a passing point made by Athanasius which blew my little mind.
Upon hearing this, my brains were splattered across the back of the classroom...
Are you ready?
Jesus didn't get sick.
At first, when I bumped up against this, it sprung my heresy alarm.
I thought, a part of the human condition, which Jesus took on, includes getting somewhat sick...
And, through the incarnation, God is able to sympathise with our suffering, thus including illness...
But I, relatively quickly, changed my tune once I considered two very valid points.
First, as Athanasius stated, it would be odd that Jesus, being a healer of the sick, could himself get sick. If nothing else, this would bring into question his credibility as a healer. As Lord of disease, theoretically, this should extend to his own body.
And second, there's another important element of human life which Jesus doesn't partake in. Sin. Just because Jesus didn't share this, doesn't reduce the absolute humanity He did have.
So, unless He was shedding a tear, Jesus didn't really have a need for the Kleenex.
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