Who is Jesus Christ?

Today at Holy Mass, Fr. Tigges challenged each and every person to ask and reflect on "Who is Jesus Christ, to me?"

For the Catholic person, this is not a difficult question.  Because we are Catholic, the Church gives a clear, concise and perfect answer as to who Jesus Christ is.

Jesus Christ is God made man.

That may seem like a very simple answer and it is.  But it is the most perfect answer, because it directly, clearly and properly answers the question.  Many will say there has to be more than that.  Many will say that He is this or He is that.  And that is all opinion.  But in essence and in reality, Jesus Christ is God made man.

Some may ask why is Jesus God?  Jesus Christ is God, because He is the only Son of God, having the same Divine nature as His Father.  Some may ask, why is Jesus man?  Jesus Christ is man, because He is the son of the Blessed Virgin Mary and has a body and soul like ours.  Others may ask since Jesus is part of the Blessed Trinity, He must be more than one person, right?  No.  Jesus Christ is only one Person; and that Person is the second Person of the Blessed Trinity.  It gets a little more complicated, but as questions keep getting asked, the answers around Jesus remain simple in answer.  Jesus Christ has two natures: the nature of God and the nature of man.  This is because He is the Son of God and He is the son of the Blessed Virgin.

As we continue to look at who Jesus is, we must understand that Jesus was not always man.  He became man at the time of the Incarnation.  Some will ask, what is meant by the Incarnation?  By the Incarnation is meant that the Son of God, retaining His Divine nature, took to Himself a human nature, that is, a body and soul like ours.  The next question often asked is how was He made man?  The Son of God was conceived and made man by the power of the Holy Ghost in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  When did this happen?  The Son of God was conceived and made man on Annunciation Day, the day on which the Angel Gabriel announced to the Blessed Virgin Mary that she was to be the Mother of God.  When was Jesus Christ born?  Christ was born of the Blessed Virgin Mary on Christmas Day, in Bethlehem, more than two thousand years ago.

When we look to who is Jesus, this is the easiest answer.  It is also the most complete.  There is a misconception in today's world that there must be some deep theological and philosophical answer.  That isn't the case.  The best answer is the most simple.  When Catholics look to answer the question, "Who is Jesus Christ, to me?"  He can answer that in solidarity with all other Catholics in the world and say with all confidence and right thinking, Jesus Christ is God made man.

Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.