Jesus Is Not Plan B

By: Sister Gayle Staff Writer

People have many misconceptions, misinformation and misunderstandings about Catholicism, even Catholics themselves. One of them is the idea that Jesus became human to die to save us because we were bad. The Fall of Man. Adam, Eve and the infamous apple. This is what we are taught in Catholic schools and religious education classes. It is even in the Exultet during the Easter Vigil Mass, “O happy fault, O necessary sin of Adam, which gained for us so great a Redeemer!” The idea is that out of a bad situation, we got Jesus who died to save us. It sounds like the classic how good can come from bad motif we see so often in life. However, if we look at it closely, it does not sound so logical. If we break this idea down, it sounds like God sent his Son exclusively to die because humans messed up their one chance at paradise in the Garden of Eden. God looks to be an angry being who sends his beloved Son to earth to die an excruciating death. The very word “excruciating” comes from the Latin excruciatus, past participle of excruciare, from ex- + cruciare to crucify, from cruc-, crux cross, according to www. merriam-webster.com. Also, in this scenario, God is not the one in control. Human error and sin force God into sending Jesus. Christians believe God is omnipotent. In other words, God is the one in control, so this often-heard explanation becomes more questionable. What follows is a more positive explanation of why Jesus became a human.

This explanation that Jesus became human because humans messed things up and God had to find a way to fix what humans had broken takes the power away from God. The incarnation of Jesus becomes Plan B. There are two glaring omissions in this view. The first is that the Incarnation, the greatest event in salvation history, was always the Plan, not even Plan A because God’s perfect plan needed no contingency plan. We need only look to the Gospel of John 1:1-3 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came to be through him and without him nothing came to be.” Jesus is the Word who existed before time. likeness. God loves humanity--us--with a love beyond our comprehension. God knows that full knowledge of Him as our Creator is beyond our abilities, but He wants us to know Him, so He became incarnate, in the flesh, in the person of Jesus. The Almighty, All-powerful God became a baby born of a woman. God humbled Himself to become a human being. Why? Because He loves us. Because He invites us to love Him as well. Jesus came out of love, tremendous, mindblowing love. Jesus did not come to earth because we are bad, but because we are good. God made us that way.

This idea does not negate Jesus’ sacrifice in dying to save us. Rather, it puts it in the proper perspective. Jesus died to conquer sin because he loves us, not because we were bad. Throughout history, parents made sacrifices for their children because they loved them, not because they made mistakes. Yes, we are human. We make mistakes and commit sins against our brothers and sisters and ourselves. We are not perfect, but we are redeemed. Love is the reason, the driving force.

This is a huge part of Franciscan spirituality. Franciscan scholar John Dun Scotus wrote the ‘Doctrine of the Absolute Primacy of Christ in the Universe”. Scotus rightfully puts Christ at the center of the Incarnation, not sin. He also has love as the primary reason for the Incarnation and our redemption.

Scotus’ thoughts on the Incarnation turns much of what we have been taught on its head. His view is so simple and so positive. We are not wretched sinners Jesus was obligated to save. God does not keep a record of the transgressions we commit in life, so He can punish us. We are beloved children of God. A God who loves us and wants us to know Him. A God who wants us to spend eternity with Him. When sin is used to control people’s behavior, it oppresses people and makes them feel worthless. Love does just the opposite. Love makes us feel worthy just as we are. This is how it should be because we are all Children of God.

The second glaring omission is God’s reason for the Incarnation. God delights in His creation of the world, especially in human beings made in His image and *This is written from a Catholic perspective