Jesus is no avatar, but one with God
When I look up the word “avatar” here is what I find.
The Avatar science fiction movies come up first thing. Then there is: “You might know this word from video games, where you create an avatar to represent you on screen. An avatar is something that embodies something else.” Finally I discover, “In Hinduism the different gods can take many forms, and when they took human forms, the human was their avatar.”
In the Christian belief this Sunday is Palm Sunday. The biblical account tells of a man Jesus who says to see Him is to see God — to know Him is to know God. He works miracles — He commands the natural world — He speaks with authority — His words ring true — there is no wrong found in Him. The disgruntled synagogue rulers proclaim, “The world has gone after Him.”
And it seems they have, as crowds line the road waving palm branches and shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.” And the one they are cheering? He is riding into Jerusalem on the back of a lowly donkey's colt. Completely unimpressive.
Now the question some might ask: “Is Jesus an avatar? Is He a “created — or borrowed — form” for God to inhabit?” If God is taken out of Jesus, who is left. Does He become just some confused guy wondering what he's doing atop a donkey on his way to Jerusalem.
Let's look at another biblical story known as the Transfiguration, which takes place earlier. Jesus climbs with three of His disciples up a mountainside. High up where nobody is looking something happens. His face becomes “different.” It “shone like the sun” — and His clothing becomes “white and gleaming.” The literal translation is “flashing like lightning.”
A cloud forms — covering the disciples. And then, from the cloud, a voice sounds, “This is My Son, My Chosen One; listen to Him!” And then it is over. They hike down the mountain and the next day Jesus is carrying on His same acts of healing among the people.
So which Jesus is true? The man in dusty homespun sitting the donkey — or the radiant one whose garments flash like lightning? With an avatar, once the true being is revealed its embodiment is no longer necessary. The form has been a disguise — a prop.
Where the Bible differs in this dialogue is to say Jesus is not merely the human form God inhabits — Jesus in His very essence is God. He is the radiance on the mountain top and He is the compassionate humble healer.
John — a witness to the transfiguration of Jesus — explains this in a wonderful way, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory.”
Jesus is no avatar, but the real Person of God. He is God of glory and all creation, and God of callused hands and dusty cloak.