"He was baptized as a human, but he remitted sins as God; he did not require purifications himself but that he might sanctify the waters. He was tempted as a human being, but he conquered as God; he exhorts us to be of good cheer, because he has conquered the world. He hungered, but he nourished thousands; he is heaven's bread of life. He thirsted, but he shouted, 'If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and let him drink.' He also offered springs of water to believers. He was tired, but he is a rest for the weary and heavy-laden. He was overcome with sleep, but he was lifted on the sea; he rebuked the winds, and he lifted up Peter who was being submerged. He pays taxes, but from a fish; he is king of those who demand them. As a Samaritan and a demoniac, he listens, but he saves the one who came down from Jerusalem and fell among thieves; he is recognized by demons and drives them away; he immerses a legion of spirits and sees the prince of demons falling as lightning. He is stoned, but he is not conquered. He prays, but he listens. He weeps, but he stops tears. He asks where Lazarus is for he was a human being; but he raises Lazarus, for he was God. He is sold, as a very low price--thirty pieces of silver--but he redeems the world, and at a great cost: his own blood. As a sheep he is led to the slaughter, but he is shepherd of Israel and now the entire world. As a lamb, he is speechless, but he is the Word, announced by the voice of him who cries in the wilderness. He bears infirmity and is wounded, but he heals every disease and every weakness. He is lifted up to the tree, he is affixed to the cross, but he will restore us by the tree of life. He saves even the robber being crucified; he made dark every visible thing. He is given sour wine to drink; he is fed gall. Who is this? He who has turned water into wine, the destroyer of bitter taste, sweetness and every desire. He hands over his soul, but he has the power to receive it again; the veil is torn, for the heavenly things are exhibited; the rocks are split; the dead rise. He dies, but he makes alive, and by his death he destroys death. He is buried, but he arises. He goes down into hell, but he leads up the souls. He goes up into heaven, and he will come to judge the living and dead, to test such words as yours. But these things create for you the pretext of error; those things demolish your error." -Gregory of Nazianzus
The most well formulated theological articulation of Jesus' humanity and his divinity just doesn't do the trick in the same way that telling the story does. Propositional formulations have trouble getting to the truth that transcends language in the same way that a song, a story, or a poem can. And there's something poetic here, about the way in which Gregory of Nazianzus tells it. "He dies, but he makes alive, and by his death he destroys death." The truth
is the paradox--once rationalized, it ceases to be truth.
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