Jesus' Way of Being Human: A Challenge to Authentic Human Unfolding through Inter-relationships

It could be said that God became a man so that hu­- mans may become truly human. Jesus’ life and his message answer the fundamental human unfolding through interrela­- tionships. After analyzing Jesus’ insights into the mystery of humans, the author goes on to study self-emptying love as the heart of human inter-relationship. To encounter Jesus means to encounter the meaning of one’s own human existence. The human quest for meaning ends in him because he is discovered as the beginning and the end of one’s life, the Alpha and the Omega. Jesus reveals the mystery of humans more than the mystery of God because he reveals God’s dream for humans and for the human society by living God’s way of living an authentic human life. The most striking quality of his life was that no one was excluded from his love. His was an all-inclusive, self-emp­ tying love. Jesus revealed that humans can become truly hu­ mans by encountering God as their loving Abba, other humans as brothers and sisters and by relating to nature as manifesting the presence of God. When humans encounter everything and everyone as a theophany, they will recognize the value of their lives and they will reach out with self-emptying love to those who suffer various kinds of discrimination and de-humaniza­- tion. They will stand against the anti-kingdom forces and suffer the consequences of their stand. Indeed, their ‘costly disciple- ship’ will bring meaning to their lives