catholicism 101 / part 23

Catholicism 101

(The outline of this series is taken from Father Vernon Staley’s book The Catholic Religion.)

Church of the Holy Cross

August 24, 2008

Part 23

Christian Duty:  Christian Belief: The Three Great Creeds: Concerning God:  Jesus

Christ: The Incarnation: “…was born of the virgin Mary, and was made man…”

-       Last week we considered the birth and childhood of Jesus. Now let us consider his adulthood: his ministry.

-       His public life begins with his baptism at the hands of John the Baptist.

o   John protests that he needs to be baptized by Jesus, and yet Jesus is coming to him.

o  Jesus says: “Let it be so now; for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness” (Mat. 3.15).

o  There is a theophany:

§  And when Jesus was baptized, he went up immediately from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and alighting on him; and lo, a voice from heaven, saying, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."  (Mat. 3.16-17)

§  So at the beginning of Jesus’ public life, the Father and the Holy Spirit bear witness to him, to his identity as the beloved and well-pleasing Son of God.

-       From there he is led into the wilderness for an intense period of fasting and prayer. It is as though he is gathering strength and focusing for the task at hand.

o  He is tempted by the devil, but he remains steadfast in his own

identity and mission.

-       he returns from the wilderness and:

o  “he withdrew into Galilee; and leaving Nazareth he went and dwelt in Caper'na-um by the sea, in the territory of Zeb'ulun and Naph'tali… [and] from that time Jesus began to preach, saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of

heaven is at hand." (Mat.4)

§ We have talked before about the meaning of the “kingdom of heaven” or the “kingdom of God” – it is the location of the carrying-out of God’s will; in other words: where God reigns. This had been the message of John the Baptist too, who was “the forerunner” but who was destined to die and not see the Kingdom.

·      The Kingdom is Jesus himself:

o  “For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me” (Jn. 6.38).

o  He has come to carry into effect the Father’s plan for the reconciliation of mankind and the whole of creation to himself. That’s the missio dei – that’s why Jesus is here.

§  So Jesus’ proclamation of the nearness of the Kingdom, and his call to repentance, is because of the immanent fruition of God’s will, the fulfillment of his promises.

·      That means one thing: the cross, with all its ironic trappings of kingship and reign and dominion: the cross is where God’s will is carried out, its where the “Kingdom comes”.

o  And this explains why Jesus proclaimed its nearness, while he was himself it. He is oriented toward the cross: his incarnation, his nativity, his presentation in the temple, his ministry, all points toward the cross. 

There is a famous depiction of “the deposition” by Rogier van der Weyden that make this point: as the corpse of Christ is taken down from the cross, blood flows from his pierced side, down under his loincloth, emerging again, and running down his thigh. It’s a visual connection of Christ’s first wound, his circumcision, (contemporaneous with his naming) and his last wound: the opening of his heart – reminding us that the purpose of the eight-day old child is to be crucified, to reconcile us to God through the water and the blood flowing from his side 33 years later.

o  Then he summoned the 12:

§  “And he went up on the mountain, and called to him those whom he desired; and they came to him. And he appointed twelve, to be with him, and to be sent out to preach and have authority to cast out demons” (Mrk. 3.13-15). 

·      He appoints the twelve, the apostles – apostolwn – from the Greek word for “sent”, for they are called “to be with him, and to be sent”.

o  And they are sent 1) to preach, and 2) to have authority. In other words, to perpetuate Jesus’ own mission and work. He proclaims himself, and they will in turn proclaim him. His words and works are done with divine authority (because they are HIS, and he is all about God, being God himself): and so the apostles words and works are spoken and done with divine authority: HIS authority.

o  And their authority is to “cast out demons” – in other words, to oppose and cast out “the ruler of this world” (Jn. 12.31) – the lying, murdering, personal force working corruption behind the scenes of creation from the beginning. The apostles will oppose and conquer this power, because they are commissioned to do what Jesus does, and he opposes and conquers Satan and his demons.

o  Jesus’ public life lasts only three years. It’s a youth movement. Our

best estimate is that Jesus was in his late twenties and early thirties during his public life and ministry, and that his disciples were likely about the same age.

§  During that time Jesus goes throughout the land preaching the Good News of the coming Kingdom – that death and hell and sin are about to be conquered. And he works miracles – what John’s Gospel calls “signs” of the Kingdom. He heals sickness, he opens the eyes of the blind, he casts out demons, he raises the dead, he feeds the hungry.

·    John Keble (d. 1866) said: “All his time, from his baptism to his crucifixion, was entirely spent in waiting on those who needed him, either for their sorrows or for their sins.”

o   Shortly before he goes to Jerusalem for the last time, to be crucified,

he takes his three closest disciples up to a mountain with him, apart. There they see him transfigured: they get a glimpse of his uncreated reality. Its an ineffable experience, only described inadequately by saying that his face

“shone like the sun” and that his clothes became “white as light” (Mat. 17.2).

§ And Moses and Elijah (representing the Law and the Prophets) appear, talking with Jesus. Ostensibly the subject of conversation is the impending fulfillment of the divine plan: the cross. Remember that this is a brief stop on the way to Jerusalem, towards which Jesus had “set his face” (Lk. 9.51) – in other words, he knew what he was doing: that he was going to Jerusalem to carry out the will of the Father – to suffer and die.

§  And there is a final, ominous, divine witness to the identity of Jesus on the mountain:

·     “And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, ‘This is my beloved Son; listen to him"’ (Mrk. 9.7).

o  There is little left for Jesus to do at this point in his ministry, really just one thing, on account of which he sets his face toward Jerusalem. This is the final journey. A good deal is recorded about it in the Gospels, but it took place in a short amount of time. Jesus’ words become terse:

§  As they were going along the road, a man said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head.” To another he said, "Follow me." But he said, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father." But he said to him, "Leave the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God." Another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home. Jesus said to him, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God." 

(Lk. 9.57ff).

·    Jesus has put his hand to the plow, and he is not looking back. The Kingdom of God is at hand. Very soon he will be crowned.