Christology homework help: the Divine Nature of Jesus reflected in the Passion narratives

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I need some help with my Christology homework. I’m having trouble answering this question:
Give an example of how the divine nature of Jesus is reflected in each of the four Passion narratives.
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The first thing I can think of is the centurion who identifies Jesus as the Son of God on the cross:

Mark 15:34 And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that he thus breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”

Matthew 27:54 When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe, and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!”

Would this be an adequate answer, or is there something better?

And in Luke, would the healing of the slave’s ear qualify?

Luke 22:51 But Jesus said, “No more of this!” And he touched his ear and healed him.

And John… I’m lost, and it feels like that’s the one gospel that should have a clear example.

Do these answers make sense? Is there something better? I’m feeling stumped. Part of me thinks maybe I’m making it more complicated than it has to be.

I have ten questions to complete, and this is the only one that my notes are just totally inadequate to help me answer.
 
BeeSweet said:
I need some help with my Christology homework. I’m having trouble answering this question:

The first thing I can think of is the centurion who identifies Jesus as the Son of God on the cross:

Mark 15:34 And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that he thus breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”

Matthew 27:54 When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe, and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!”

Would this be an adequate answer, or is there something better?

And in Luke, would the healing of the slave’s ear qualify?

Luke 22:51 But Jesus said, “No more of this!” And he touched his ear and healed him.

And John… I’m lost, and it feels like that’s the one gospel that should have a clear example.

Do these answers make sense? Is there something better? I’m feeling stumped. Part of me thinks maybe I’m making it more complicated than it has to be.

I have ten questions to complete, and this is the only one that my notes are just totally inadequate to help me answer.
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I don’t know if your teacher would consider the prodigies(miracles that followed His death) as part of the passion narrative. I think the healing of the ear is good. Also in Jn 18 at his arrest He declares His divinity when he says I AM. see Jn 18:5. Then during the crucifixion they cast lots for His garments, the don’t break His bones (these are two prophecies that only the Messiah can fulfill.)
 
Franciscan said:
I don’t know if your teacher would consider the prodigies(miracles that followed His death) as part of the passion narrative. I think the healing of the ear is good. Also in Jn 18 at his arrest He declares His divinity when he says I AM. see Jn 18:5. Then during the crucifixion they cast lots for His garments, the don’t break His bones (these are two prophecies that only the Messiah can fulfill.)
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Thank you! I have John 18:5-8 in my notes, but when I read my RSV it didn’t make sense. The NAB translation with the accompanying notes helps, referencing John 18:6 as support (which also struck me as odd in my RSV).

John 19 with the reference to Psalm 22 helps a lot too, I will definitely use that!
 
That’s a tough question.

There are events that fulfilled messianic prophecies, but those fulfillments don’t necessarily show forth Jesus’ Divine nature, since the expected Messiah was not generally understood by the Jews to be God Himself.

Also, supernatural powers (eg. foreknowledge, ability to perform miracles) have been given to ordinary men so don’t know if your instructor would consider them as examples of Divine nature or not. But that’s all I was able to come up with, except for Jesus’ words to the good thief. Here’s my list:

Supernatural foreknowledge of His betrayal:
Mt. 26:45 “…Behold the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.”
Also in Mark 14:41

Luke 22:48 shows Jesus’ supernatural knowledge that the kiss is the sign of the betrayal).

Fulfillment of Jesus’ prophecy of Peter’s denial:
Mt 26:69-75; Mk 14:66-72; Lk 22:55-62; John 18:15-27

Healing miracle (of ear): Lk 22:51

Knowledge that Peter’s denials had occurred:
Lk 22:61 And the Lord turned and looked at Peter

Jesus’ acknowledges He is the Son of God:
Luke 22:70 And they all said, “Are you the Son of God, then?” And He said to them, “You say that I am.”

Implication that in killing Him, they are doing something greater than executing an ordinary man:Luke 23:34 “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.”

Judgement of the eternal welfare of the good thief:
Luke 23:43 "Truly I say to you, today you will be with Me in paradise.
(This incident is the one that shows most clearly to me Our Lord’s divine nature, since only God can give final judgement.)

Let us know how you come out - and what answers your instructor recognizes as correct.

Nita
 
Nita said:
That’s a tough question.

There are events that fulfilled messianic prophecies, but those fulfillments don’t necessarily show forth Jesus’ Divine nature, since the expected Messiah was not generally understood by the Jews to be God Himself.

Also, supernatural powers (eg. foreknowledge, ability to perform miracles) have been given to ordinary men so don’t know if your instructor would consider them as examples of Divine nature or not. But that’s all I was able to come up with, except for Jesus’ words to the good thief. Here’s my list:

Supernatural foreknowledge of His betrayal:
Mt. 26:45 “…Behold the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.”
Also in Mark 14:41

Luke 22:48 shows Jesus’ supernatural knowledge that the kiss is the sign of the betrayal).

Fulfillment of Jesus’ prophecy of Peter’s denial:
Mt 26:69-75; Mk 14:66-72; Lk 22:55-62; John 18:15-27

Healing miracle (of ear): Lk 22:51

Knowledge that Peter’s denials had occurred:
Lk 22:61 And the Lord turned and looked at Peter

Jesus’ acknowledges He is the Son of God:
Luke 22:70 And they all said, “Are you the Son of God, then?” And He said to them, “You say that I am.”

Implication that in killing Him, they are doing something greater than executing an ordinary man:Luke 23:34 “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.”

Judgement of the eternal welfare of the good thief:
Luke 23:43 "Truly I say to you, today you will be with Me in paradise.
(This incident is the one that shows most clearly to me Our Lord’s divine nature, since only God can give final judgement.)

Let us know how you come out - and what answers your instructor recognizes as correct.

Nita
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I have the same doubts about the healing as evidence of His divine nature, but I think I’ll use them anyway. The two verses from Luke 23 are both ones I thought of using but couldn’t put my finger on how they’d apply, so I appreciate your very helpful comments!

I don’t even know if I’ll receive a grade, I have my doubts that I will. This homework is for my archdiocese Formation Towards Christian Ministry program, I’m working towards a catechist certificate. Christology is my first class in the program (I started in semester II). The next class coming up this Saturday is Prayer and Spirituality. I don’t have a time limit on when I need to turn this in, they only advise you should take no longer than a month. I expect to have another assignment given to me this weekend though, so I’d like to have this done before then.

I thought they were pretty tough questions too, I’m glad someone else does! Here’s all 10 of them:
1. Name and briefly describe two non-scriptural sources of information about the historical Jesus
2. Identify four titles of Jesus and briefly explain them.
3. The purpose of the Infancy narratives in Luke and Matthew is…
4. Give an example of how the divine nature of Jesus is reflected in each of the four Passion narratives.
5. Give an example of how the human nature of Jesus is reflected in each of the four Passion narratives.
6. Describe the appearances of the Risen Lord in each of the four Gospels.
7. Describe the Catholic understanding of the Second Coming.
8. Name and define four Christological heresies addressed by the early Church.
9. Define the orthodox response to each of the above named Christological Heresies.
10. What was the most interesting or thought provoking to you about this course?
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These are the answers I have so far, I will go into detail in my paper:
  1. Suetonius -Biographer of Roman emperors & The Babylonian Talmud
  2. Jesus (Yahweh saves), Messiah, Son of God / Son of Man, Suffering Servant
  3. Show Jesus’ identity CCC 456-483 461
  4. Centurion in Matt 27:54, Mk 15:39, Healing the slave’s ear Luke 22:51, John 18:5 I AM statements, support with John 18:6, John 19:25 casting lots reference Psalm 22
  5. How our own maturing relationship with God is reflected in the Passion narratives, how it grows to maturity: Mk & Mt ref to Psalm 22 “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” illustrates our own human fear, Luke 23 “Father into your hands I commend my spirit” illustrates humble trust in God’s mercy. John 19 “It is finished” (uuuummmm… that’s in my notes, but I don’t know how it applies).
So I’m about halfway thru it. I’m really hoping to have it done by Friday.

For questions 8 & 9 I was going to do Arianism, Apollinarianism, Nestorianism, & Monophysitism since each one of these were addressed at a council and I can cite some orthodox resources.

If ever I encounter someone who complains about the lack of Bible study in Catholic tradition, I’ll tell them to study to become a catechist! This is so in depth!!
 
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