John 20:17 --17 Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.’”
I am kind of confused by this quote by our Lord. What did he mean by "My God". Was he saying this referring to his human nature because i know he says this word a couple of times in the scriptures? What does the Orthodox Church teach about this?
Comments
What is His? The fact that He is the Son of the Father, and gave us what He has by nature, that is the Father, to us by grace.
But at the same time He took what is our’s, by becoming humble and calling His Father His God just as He is our God.
So He is reminding us, that He is giving us His uncreated life and dignity by taking the form of a slave and being obedient even unto death! We partake of the divine nature through His humanity.
But there’s more to it than that...
In the Old Testament, calling God “God” meant we must follow His laws and live righteous lives, which showed that it was impossible without grace. The Law continue to reveal how much in the state of death we really are, and we are hopeless. God always repeated that if they lived according to His laws, only then “you shall be my people, and I shall be your God.” But they always failed to live up to that standard.
But in Christ, we receive grace, and now to call Him “my God” is not done through our own, but through Christ, and therefore we received the grace to become righteous and to work mighty deeds in Christ. Therefore to call Him “my God” also put us right with Him so much so we were also made worthy to inherit God as Father.