10 « April « 2014 « cookiecrumbstoliveby

(Winter Rouge Wallflowers / Julie Cook / 2014)

The Scandal of Pious People
The lowly God-man is the scandal of pious people and of people in general.
This scandal is his historical ambiguity.
The most incomprehensible thing for the pious is this man’s claim that he is not
only a pious human being but also the Son of God.
Whence his authority: “But I say to you” (Matt. 5:22) and “Your sins are forgiven” (Matt. 9:2).
If Jesus’ nature had been deified, this claim would have been accepted.
If he had given signs, as was demanded of him, they would have believed him.
But at the point where it really mattered, he held back.
And that created the scandal.
Yet everything depends on this fact.
If he had answered the Christ question addressed to him through a miracle, then the statement would no longer be true that he became a human being like us, for then there would have been an exception at the decisive point. . . .
If Christ had documented himself with miracles, we would naturally believe, but then Christ would not be our salvation, for then there would not be faith in God who became human, but only the recognition of an alleged supernatural fact.
But that is not faith. . . .
Only when I forgo visible proof, do I believe in God.