The Mystic Way

Jesus’s Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem – Luke 19:28-40

28 After he had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.

29 When he had come near Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples, 30 saying, “Go into the village ahead of you, and as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it.’ ” 32 So those who were sent departed and found it as he had told them. 33 As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?” 34 They said, “The Lord needs it.” 35 Then they brought it to Jesus, and after throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. 36 As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road. 37 Now as he was approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, 38 saying,

“Blessed is the king
who comes in the name of the Lord!
Peace in heaven,
and glory in the highest heaven!”

39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, order your disciples to stop.” 40 He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.”

“Who, for us and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and was made man.”

Jesus was in heaven before being born, so he “came down from heaven.” Why? “For us and for our salvation.” Humanity could be saved in no other way, but through the incarnation of Jesus.

He was “was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary.” I am not sure why people have such a problem with the virgin birth (parthenogenesis). To me, this is a small miracle compared to creating the universe.

The metaphorical point of the Virgin birth is that Jesus was special. His birth was special. His mission was special. The metaphorical meaning is essential, the literal meaning is non-essential.

And “was made man.” A fancy word for God becoming man is hyperstatic union. This is a great mystery. And the church has never been dogmatic about it.

“And I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all ages; Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made; being of one essence with the Father, by whom all things were made.”

One Lord Jesus Christ. “One” means there is no other Christ. “Lord” means master. Jesus is in charge. “Jesus” means Yahweh is salvation. And Christ in Greek and Messiah in Hebrew, both mean the Anointed One.

The “only-begotten Son” means that Jesus is uniquely the Son of God. He was the Son of God by nature, we are the sons and daughters of God by grace.

“Begotten of the Father before all ages” means that Jesus, the Logos of God, was the Son of God before creation. How this is so was not defined by the Creed. The issues are complex, and I think this was wise.

“Light of Light, very God of very God” is emphasizing the nature of Jesus as fully God from before time. As the next part says, he never became God but was “begotten, not made; being of one essence with the Father.”

“By whom all things were made” means that God created all things though the agency of Jesus Christ. We also know the Spirit was also involved in creation.

Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.

This seems straightforward. God created the universe. But visible and invisible may have been included to make sure we understand that God created the spiritual realm.

The Gnostics

This was added to the creed to contradict many Gnostic groups who thought that the Demiurge created the universe. This was borrowed from Greek philosophy. This is the idea that some being other than the pure God created the universe.

The Logos was God

Early Christians held that God created the universe through the Logos, which is a title attributed to Jesus in the Gospel of John (John 1:1-3, 14). But to Christians, Jesus is God and therefore God created the heavens and the earth (Gen. 1:1).

This is the first of an 11 part series offering a commentary on the Nicene Creed. The original Nicene Creed was made by the first ecumenical council in Nicea (325) and the second ecumenical council in Constantinople (381). The third ecumenical council, held at Ephesus in 431, forbade the changing of this creed. I will be using the version on my website.

The Nicene Creed

I believe in one God, the Father Almighty,

I believe

Both the “I believe” and the “we believe” form of the creed is acceptable. Since my statement of faith is the original Nicene Creed, I use the “I believe” variant.

One God

The first thing expressed is the unity of God. God is one. Whole books could, and have, been written on this alone. The unity of the Godhead is an essential truth. God is non-dual. God is the One.

God

The term God is really like a blanket we throw over Ultimate Reality to give it shape. To be able to talk about the ineffable, the point to the invisible, to speak of the unspeakable. Words are merely like a finger pointing to the Moon.

The Father

God is our Father, both as our Source and our Caretaker. The masculine names and pronouns should not be taken literally. God is not a man, God is not male. God is also our Mother. The Holy Spirit in Hebrew is a feminine noun.

Almighty

God is Almighty. God is all-powerful, which is called omnipotence this is the perfect ability of God to do all things consistent with the divine character. God can do all things that can be done. God cannot do the logically impossible, like making a square circle.