As Fr. Kenneth Tanner says, "We can either be scandalized by his universality or his particularity."
In his universality, he both transcends colour and unites himself to every and all colours as the every-human.
In his particularity, Jesus was neither black nor white. He was specifically a Palestinian Jew--Semitic and so neither European nor African.
When I say Jesus was a 'person of colour,' I emphasize his identification with all people of colour who have been excluded or oppressed.
But I also cringe at creating an us-them umbrella for Jesus under which all colours are included except white people. White people already made that horrid mistake and I will grieve that to my grave.
If the consensus is that white exclusion is the way to make things right, I will take my turn outside the city. Lord knows it's justified. But I've never seen reason to be confident that exclusion creates a just society. So again today, despite what I deserve, I ask for mercy.
This same principle of universality and particularity applies to the sexes. Jesus was a single Jewish male who united himself to people of all sexes.
In his universality, he transcends sex, sexuality and gender while uniting himself to every human being regardless of their sex, sexuality or gender because again, he is the every-human.
In his particular sex, sexuality and gender, Jesus of Nazareth:
(1) was a biological male,
(2) was asexual in practice, engaged in neither gay nor straight sexual relationships and
(3) exhibited the FULL range of healthy gender traits (masculine & feminine/lion & lamb characteristics).
Jesus seems to anticipate his ascended, resurrected state as forever human but transcending sex and sexuality:
"At the resurrection, people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven." Matt. 22:30
So, if the consensus is that male exclusion is the way to make things right, I will take my turn outside the city. Lord knows it's justified. But I've never seen reason to be confident that exclusion creates a just society. So again today, despite what I deserve, I ask for mercy.
I think Cherith Nordling said it well,
"It's not that in Christ, our particular markers (race, sex, gender, etc) are eradicated or accidental. But transcending them means they no longer have a place of privilege over the other as assigned by the fallen world system. My identity is in Christ, but this is not sameness. Rather, my particular me-ness is my unique contribution and it is to be cherished."
"my particular me-ness is my unique contribution and it is to be cherished." -in THAT you have something to say that i NEED to hear! i am LISTENING.
Posted by: adit | July 01, 2020 at 06:49 PM