Of course, Jesus always knew who He was. He was, after all, God. This is something we as humans seem to forget and/or are somehow unable to grasp by virtue of our limited minds. That's understandable. The manner by which this reality of Jesus' All-Knowing Divine Nature was subverted in the dramatization of "Killing Jesus" has gnawed at me every minute of every day since I saw the movie last weekend.
The number of historical, theological, and semantic errors in "Killing Jesus" was staggering and distressing. For those of us of faith, the movie was, in two words, regressive and heretical. One of the foremost ideas put forth was that Jesus, as a result of equal parts delusion, ego-centered zealousness, and revelation from John the Baptist, somehow discovered along the way that he was special, on some sort of a mission, sent from God. Such an idea denies Jesus' Divinity, nullifies the doctrine of the Holy Trinity - God in Three Persons - and leaves us with nothing better than the image of a self-idealized, revolutionary prophet on a political mission who's flying by the flap of his robe and a lot of on the job training.
History matters. Scripture written, preserved, and translated across centuries matters. (This I know full well, having had the opportunity to myself translate the New Testament directly from the Greek some thirty odd years ago. While there are some words and phrases that will always be subject to debate and interpretation ... those ideas and semantics that "Killing Jesus" sought to open up to debate and interpretation are, no matter what version of the Bible one adheres to, well settled and critical to the essence of faith.
In determining if Jesus knew who he was ... one only need refer to the Gospel according to John ... from the beginning. For me ... it still remains the most powerful portion of my translation experience and gives us all we really need to know about Jesus ... as God and Man ... to know who He was and from whence He came.
"In the beginning was the Word;
And the Word was with God,
And the Word was God.
He was present to God in the beginning.
Through him all things came into being,
and apart from him nothing came to be.
Whatever came to be in him found life,
life for the Light of Men.
The light shines in the Darkness,
a darkness that did not overcome it."
"He was in the world,
and through him the world was made,
yet the world did not know who he was.
To his own he came,
yet his own did not accept him.
Any who did accept him
He empowered to become children of God."
"The Word became fleshand dwelt amongst us,
and we have seen His glory:
The glory of an only Son coming from the Father,
filled with enduring love."
First, it lets us know that "the Word" of God is not print on pages in a book, but rather Jesus, the God-Man.
Secondly, how could Jesus, as God and the second person of the Holy Trinity, possibly not know that he was God? Part of his humbling himself was to confine His Majesty in a baby's body ... in swaddling clothes. From "the beginning", Jesus knew who he was and why he came to us on Earth. The Virgin Mary, His Blessed Mother, was the first product of God's gift of salvation. Tradition (and here I refer to Mary of Agreda's Mystical City of God) has it that at the time of the Holy Birth, Mary was attended by the Archangels St. Michael and St. Gabriel and that before she was able to receive and nurture Him as Mother, she first prostrated herself before Jesus - the infant - to pay homage to Him as her personal savior.
Mary also knew who Jesus was, why he came, and what she was in store for and would have to witness. She was given that knowledge so as to be fully informed when giving her "fiat" at the time of the Annunciation. Her sorrow and agony would be joined to His during the ultimate sacrifice of the Crucifixion.
Christ's co-existence as Divine Preeminance and Man-God is further set forth in Colossians 1:15-20.
"He is the image of the invisible God, the first born of all creatures. In him everything in heaven and earth was created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominations, principalities or powers; all were created through him, and for him He is before all else that is. In him everything continues in being. It is he who is at the head of the body, the church; He who is the beginning, the first-born of the dead, so that primacy may be his in everything. It pleased God to make absolute fullness reside in him and, by means of him, to reconcile everything in his person, both on earth and in the heavens, making peace, through the blood on His Cross."
Oh, yes, Jesus knew who He was and what He was about as he came to be amongst us and lived a life ... from His first breath - focused on "His Father's Business". (That does not negate the fact that, at times, he willingly suspended that knowledge and the comfort derived from it to better enter into our human experience or, at the end, to perfect the sacrifice He offered on our behalf to the Father.) To present otherwise, as was done in "Killing Jesus" is pure heresy.
And oh, by the way ... Jesus didn't have a younger brother called James ... a brother with whom he had to consult regarding His Life's mission. Last I checked, God doesn't usually consult with anyone or seek approval regarding his plans.
My thoughts. Would love to hear what you thought of the movie.
Above is Salvadore Dali's painting "Christ of St. John on the Cross", painted by the artist in 1951. Dali felt it represented "the Christ" as the unity of the universe. Driven to paint it by a dream, the image was inspired by a 16th century drawing executed by St. John of the Cross, a Spanish friar and contemporary of St. Theresa of Avila. The painting and its intellectual property rights (I apologize ... want to share!) were acquired in the 1950s by the Glasgow Corporation's museum. Citizens of Scotland continue to, by poll, name it as their favorite painting. Rumor has it that the Spanish Government has offered as much as 80 Million Pounds Sterling for the painting! Not bad for a painting memorializing some self-professed political zealot and prophet from the 1st century.
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