Jesus of Nazareth

I plan to work my way through Jesus of Nazareth by Pope Benedict XVI, formerly Joseph Ratzinger, published by Doubleday in 2007. Tonight I want to start by focusing on the last sentences of his introduction on page eight:

“The disciple who walks with Jesus is thus caught up with him into communion with God. And that is what redemption means: this stepping beyond the limits of human nature, which had been there as a possibility and an expectation in man, God’s image and likeness, since the moment of creation.”

Putting what the Pope says in my own words, I would say: Jesus is the Way by which we are united to God and have a relationship with Him. This union and friendship with God is what redemption is, for heaven itself is nothing other than being with God. Jesus enables us to go beyond the merely natural and be transported into the supernatural reality for which God created us. Being made in God’s image and likeness bespeaks the reality that God made us to be in relationship with Him.

What I find most interesting in this quote from our Holy Father is that he connects our communion with God to our being created in the image and likeness of God. That makes sense. It relates to what I say which is that being created in the image and likeness of God means that we are created to be God’s spouse and to have the deepest union with Him. Our two statements are not mutually exclusive; my statement is more specific and strongly stated.

The first chapter of the book is a reflection on the Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River. John is shocked that Jesus wants to be baptized by him, but Jesus replies to John saying, “Let it be so now; for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15). The Pope reflects on Jesus’ words on page seventeen of his book:

“The key to interpreting Jesus’ answer is how we understand the word righteousness: The whole of righteousness must be fulfilled. In Jesus’ world, righteousness is man’s answer to the Torah, acceptance of the whole of God’s will, the bearing of the “yoke of God’s kingdom,” as one formulation had it. There is no provision for John’s baptism in the Torah, but this reply of Jesus is his way of acknowledging it as an expression of an unrestricted Yes to God’s will, as an obedient acceptance of his yoke.”

One is baptized then, in Jesus’ understanding, as an expression of an unrestricted Yes to the whole of God’s will and an obedient fulfillment of God’s commands. Pope Benedict says that the Eastern Church sees Jesus’ response here to John’s bewilderment as an anticipation of Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane: “My Father…not as I will, but as thou wilt.” Jesus is wholly given over to the will of His Heavenly Father, even unto death.

Today, when one is baptized, he enters into the death of Jesus, and he is given the very heart of Jesus which led Him to His faithful-unto-death self-offering. With Jesus’ heart within us, we are able to take on the impossible task of following and loving God and obeying His commands. We too are given the courage and spirit of sacrifice to say together with Jesus: “Not as I will, but as thou wilt.” The Eucharist is an extension and celebration of our baptism, and as such, the Eucharist is the new heart we need to be wholly given over to the will of God. Jesus frees us from our slavery to our own wills and makes it possible for us to follow and please God perfectly.

Thanks for reading and your prayers.
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