| Bishop's CornerThe Humanity Of God
By Bishop Timothy W. Whitaker
 The
mysterious 40 days of the appearances of the crucified and risen Jesus
came to an end with his ascension. The classical text that describes the
ascension of Jesus is Acts 1:11.
Literal minded people have assumed that the
ascension of Jesus was like a trip into outer space. Acts 1:10 states
that while Jesus’ apostles were watching “he was lifted up, and a
cloud took him out of their sight.”
While this is a description of the end of the
final appearance of Jesus, it is a description laden with symbolic
significance. Being lifted up is a symbol of Jesus’ enthronement as
the Sovereign of the human race, and being enveloped in a cloud is a
symbol for his being encompassed by the glorious presence of God. He
is the Sovereign, but his sovereignty is hidden to all except to those
who know him by faith (Colossians 3:1-4). At the end of history his
sovereignty will be revealed to all.
When the incarnate Son of God ascended to the
right hand of God the Father, his humanity participated in the life of
the triune God. Through Jesus God has incorporated human nature into
God’s own being. Thus, we may speak realistically of the humanity of
God. God is committed for eternity to the human race, and God’s
destiny is interwoven with our destiny because of God’s free love
for us.
It is tempting sometimes to despair of the human
race. The present predicament of yet another war against yet another
ruthless dictator is a case in point. The economic injustices that
abound, the ethnic and religious hatreds in the world, and the petty
personal manifestations of selfishness, greed and power plays fill in
the details of the human story. Yet, there are always also signs of
human nobility, generosity and wisdom.
More than that, there is the revelation of God
in Jesus Christ who is ascended to the right hand of God in his
humanity. This is the good news that despair over human nature is not
the last word. We who believe in God are free to believe in one
another because of the humanity of God made real in the ascension of
the Son of God who became one of us.
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