User:Evensteven/drafts/Extreme humility

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Extreme humility is a teaching of the Eastern Orthodox Church that encompasses the great condescension of Jesus Christ in His coming to earth as a man. While it is shown forth in all aspects of His incarnation, earthly life, and ministry, it is especially associated with His voluntary submission to the will of the Father in undergoing trial, mockings, assaults, crucifixion, death, and burial. In all His acts, Christ serves as the model for us, teaching the true nature of humility itself.

Christological foundation

The church teaches that God is one, a single divine being, of an undivided essence, uncreated, without beginning, immortal, and eternal, a unity complete and whole within Himself, infinite. It also teaches that God is "manifested" in three "persons", the Holy Trinity of "Father, Son, and Holy Spirit". "Person" is the English word often used to substitute for the technical Greek term of theology hypostasis (ὑπόστᾰσις), for which there is no exact translation, but which can include "manifestation".

The Trinity is held to be a mystery, beyond full human comprehension. Yet, the doctrine can reveal some aspects of God and make them accessible. "Person" is a useful word for describing that the Trinity is neither abstract nor inanimate, nor unreachable. God within Himself, being complete, would be forever unreachable by humans, and unknowable. But God as the Creator and Life-Giver is Himself fully alive in all His persons, and those persons are how he manifests Himself to humanity, in order that people may know and enter into relationship with Him. The manifestations do not divide God, for His essence, the unknowable core of His being, remains one. The persons of the Trinity are distinct, without confusion or overlap, yet without any separation from each other, in a co-union (communion) and co-operation so complete that it stretches words beyond the limits they can express. During His ministry, Jesus himself expressed both multiple personhood within God, and God's inseparable unity.

Eastern Orthodox often refer to "the only-begotten Son" of the Trinity as the "Logos", the Word (of God). The person of the Logos is certainly divine. But He is also human: Jesus, of Nazareth. The teaching is that the Logos has two natures: one divine, without beginning, infinite, and one human, finite, conceived in a woman, born of her, thus having a beginning in time as all humans do, and an end to his time on earth, on the cross. The human nature is fully human, yet without sin; the divine nature fully divine. Each is of its own essence; the human cannot overshadow or change the divine. Yet the two natures are one person, united without confusion and without separation, and (through the power of the divine essence) abiding as one forever. Thus has God united human nature to Himself; thus did He arise again from death in glory; and thus did He make His healing and salvation manifest and available to all people.

In this mystery of the incarnation, with all its immeasurable consequences, God demonstrates at the same time His divine omnipotence, power without bound, His divine compassion in overcoming all obstacles to reconciliation with fallen humankind, and His extreme humility in covering all displays of divine magnificence in His clothing in human flesh. He came without glory even on a human scale, to live with the creatures of His creation.

Transfiguration

The Eastern Orthodox Church celebrates the Transfiguration of the Lord as a major feast day on August 6th each year. It commemorates the revelation of Jesus' divinity to three disciples on Mount Tabor. No one, man nor angel, can see God's glory face to face, for the beholder would be overpowered and destroyed. The Transfiguration was a measured revelation of Jesus in glory, such as the disciples could bear without harm. While this event demonstrated His divinity unmistakably, yet Christ showed his humility again in making no such claim for Himself, but it was the Father Who testified to His identity. (A similar testimony had occurred at the time of His baptism by John the Baptist.) His perfect and extreme humility did not allow for making any statement that might be self-aggrandizing, even if the statement were true. Indeed, the revelation of glory occurred only in order that He could teach the disciples, and prepare them for His coming death. His glory was not diminished by being selfless, nor His power by exercise of restraint; instead, He proved His lowliness of heart.