Jesus our brother

WORD 2day: Tuesday, 1st week in Ordinary time 

January 12, 2021: Hebrew 2:5-12; Mark 1:21-28

Who do people say that I am, was a famous question that Jesus asked his disciples. Who do you say that I am, was another dimension that he was interested in. Today we have another similar question that is answered in the Word: who are we to Jesus, or how does Jesus look at us or what does Jesus consider us to be?

The letter to the Hebrews repeatedly insists on the human condition that God deigned to assume in the person of Jesus Christ. It is the most salvific of all aspects within the mystery of incarnation. In the very taking of the "human" form the Lord made salvation a universal offer to us... If we conform to the image that the Lord left as a model for us, we shall be in a position to experience that salvation to the full.

Jesus in sharing our nature, becoming one with us in everything except sin, and reconciling us to God our father and mother, makes us on par with himself in relation to the one loving God... We are all, not only brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ, but brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ. It is a privilege and a challenge at one and the same time.

It is a privilege to be called a brother or sister of Christ, because it makes present the fact that we are all created in the most awesome image and likeness of God. It is a challenge because to be a brother or a sister of Jesus is a tough call :the one who hears the words of my father in heaven and puts it into practice, is my brother and my sister!

We are exhorted in the beginning of this Ordinary season of the liturgical year to get consciously deeper into the task of resembling Christ, for in it we grow in the image and likeness of God. It is difficult but not impossible, because we have a strong support and inspiration in Jesus our brother.