LESSON 10
Jesus, the Messiah Son of God. Chronology of the life of Jesus. Jesus the Prophet: the anointing of the Spirit. Jesus the Teacher: election of the disciples and teachings. Jesus and the Kingdom. Jesus and the Law. Jesus and the Temple. Jesus, Son of Man and Servant of Yahweh. The miracles of the Messiah.
In Crossing the Threshold of Hope, the Holy Father Pope John Paul was asked:
From the "problem" of God, let's move on to the "problem" of Jesus, as in fact you have already begun to do.
Why isn't Jesus simply considered a wise man like Socrates? Or a prophet like Muhammad? Or enlightened like Buddha? How does one maintain the unprecedented certainty that this Jew condemned to death in an obscure province is the Son of God, of one being with the Father? This radical Christian claim has no parallel in any other religious belief. Saint Paul himself defined it as "a scandal and madness."
The Holy Father replied as follows:
Saint Paul is profoundly aware that Christ is absolutely original and absolutely unique. If He were only a wise man like Socrates, if He were a "prophet" like Muhammad, if He were "enlightened" like Buddha, without any doubt He would not be what He is. He is the one mediator between God and humanity.
He is mediator because He is both God and man. He holds within Himself the entire intimate world of divinity, the entire Mystery of the Trinity, and the mystery both of temporal life and of immortality. He is true man. In Him the divine is not confused with the human. There remains something essentially divine.
But at the same time Christ is so human! Thanks to this, the entire world of men, the entire history of humanity, finds in Him its expression before God. And not before a distant, unreachable God, but before a God that is in Him-that indeed is He. This is not found in any other religion, much less in any philosophy.
Christ is unique! Unlike Muhammad, He does more than just promulgate principles of religious discipline to which all God's worshipers must conform. Christ is not simply a wise man as was Socrates, whose free acceptance of death in the name of truth nevertheless has a similarity with the sacrifice of the Cross.
Less still is He similar to Buddha, with his denial of all that is created. Buddha is right when he does not see the possibility of human salvation in creation, but he is wrong when, for that reason, he denies that creation has any value for humanity. Christ does not do this, nor can He do this. He is the eternal witness to the Father and to the love that the Father has had for His creatures from the beginning. The Creator, from the beginning, saw a multitude of good in creation; He saw it especially in man, made in His image and likeness. He saw this good in His incarnate Son. He saw it as a duty for His Son and for all rational creatures. Pushing the divine vision to the limits, we can say that God saw this good specifically in the Passion and in the Death of His Son.
This good would be confirmed at the Resurrection, which is the beginning of a new creation, the rediscovery of all creation in God, of the final destiny of all creatures. And this destiny is expressed in the fact that God will be "all in all" (1 Cor 15:28).
From the beginning Christ has been at the center of the faith and life of the Church, and also at the center of her teaching and theology. As for her teaching, it is necessary to go back to the entire first millennium, from the First Council of Nicaea to those of Ephesus and Chalcedon, and then finally to the Second Council of Nicaea, which evolved out of the Councils that preceded it. All of the Councils from the first millennium revolve around the Mystery of the Holy Trinity, including the procession of the Holy Spirit, but at their roots, all are Christological. From the time Peter confessed, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God" (Mt 16:16), Christ has been at the center of the faith and life of Christians, at the center of their witness, which often led to the shedding of their blood.
Thanks to this faith and in spite of the persecutions, the Church experienced a continual expansion. The faith progressively christianized the ancient world. Following the confession of Peter at Caesarea Philippi, true faith in Christ, God and man, did not cease to be the center of the Church's life, witness, worship, and liturgy, even when the threat of Arianism later emerged. It could be said that from the very beginning there was a Christological focus in Christianity.
Above all, this is true of the faith and the living tradition of the Church. A remarkable expression of it is found in Marian devotion and in Mariology: "He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary" (Apostles' Creed). A Marian dimension and Mariology in the Church are simply another aspect of the Christological focus.
One must never tire of repeating this. Despite some common aspects, Christ does not resemble Muhammad or Socrates or Buddha. He is totally original and unique. The uniqueness of Christ, as indicated by Peter's words at Caesarea Philippi, is the center of the Church's faith, as expressed by the Creed: "I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell; the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty."
For a more detailed account, see "Chronology of the Life of Jesus Christ," in the Catholic Encyclopedia. See also Harmony of the Gospels.
Luke 2:40-52; Mark 6:3; John 6:42; 7:15 are about the only passages which refer to the hidden life.
The Navarre Bible volume on St Mark (pp 45-51) explains the key events in the life of Jesus.
Year of Birth: 6 BC It was Dionysius Exiguus (literally Denis the Exact!), a monk who died in AD 556, who fixed the birth of Jesus Christ as the centre of the history of mankind; using such historical information as was available to him, he placed our Lord's birth in the year 753 AUC (ab Urbe condita, that is, from the foundation of the city of Rome) and made the following year AD 1. This is what we follow today even though it is inaccurate.
The Gospels tell us that Jesus was born "in the days of Herod the king" (Mt. 2:1; cf. Lk 1:5). Flavius Josephus says Herod died in the year 750 AUC. Herod did not die immediately on Christ's birth. When he became ill, he moved to Jericho, where he stayed for 6 months before dying, yet the Magi find him still in Jerusalem (Mt. 2:3). Herod ordered the slaughter of children under two, calculating safely that Jesus would have been less, perhaps one year old or so. So, the date provided by Denis the Precise (!) needs to be brought forward. The very latest date for the birth of Christ was 748 AUC, equivalent to 6 BC in our way of reckoning the years; the very earliest date would be 746 AUC (8 BC).
Beginning of his public ministry: AD 27 The dating here is linked with the preaching of St John the Baptist and the baptism of Our Lord by John in the Jordan. St Luke says John began to preach "in the 15th year of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judaea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, in the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas" (Lk 3:1-2) -pretty tight dating. The 15th year of Tiberius' reign (associated with Augustus in the governing of the Eastern provinces in 765 AUC or AD 12) would be 780 AUC or AD 27, making Jesus around 32 at the time. Pilate took up his appointment as procurator in 770 AUC (AD 26), so it could not be sooner. Lk 3:23: "Jesus, when he began his ministry, was about 30 years of age"; Jn 2:20: "The Jews then said, 'It has taken 46 years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in 3 days?'". This conversation took place at the Passover of the first year of his public ministry. Flavius Josephus says the rebuilding of the Temple began in 20-19 BC. If we then add 46 it takes us to AD 26-27, so the public ministry of Our Lord could not have begun before AD 25-26.
Length of public ministry: It is not expressly stated by the evangelists, but St John gives enough information, by referring to 3 specific Passovers (Jn 2:13-23; 6:4; 11:55, etc.). This gives us 2 full years, plus the months elapsing between Jesus' baptism and the first Passover. However, John 5:1 refers to "the" or "a feast of he Jews". If this is another Passover we would have to add another year to the public ministry. Looking at the supposed dates for the baptism of Our Lord and for his death, it would seem that it is more probable that the public ministry lasted 3 years and a few months.
Date of Jesus' death: We know that Our Lord's death took place on a Friday (cf. Mt. 27:62; Mk. 15:42; Lk 23:54; Jn 19:21), in the Hebrew month of Nisan. As regards the day it was either 14 or 15 Nisan, and the year was probably AD 30, in which year 14 Nisan fell on a Friday. As to whether it was 14 or 15 Nisan, the evangelists do not leave it very clear. The Synoptics give conflicting information, but imply that Jesus died on the Passover day itself; John's account implies that Jesus celebrated the Passover meal one day early. At the same time the actions of Simon of Cyrene (Mk 15:21: returning from the fields) and Joseph of Arimathea (Mk 15:46: buys a sheet) lead one to say that it could not have been the day of the Passover.
To us it may seem incredible, but at that time it was not possible to establish the calendar with the same degree of accuracy as today. This led to a certain elasticity in coincidence between the day of the month and the day of the week. The Sadducees would avoid 15 Nisan falling on a Friday, and would make it fall on a Sabbath. The Pharisees, on the other hand, were quite meticulous in celebrating the Passover on whichever day of the week it fell. Jesus celebrated his Last Supper on the night of Thursday-Friday, and died on the Friday. For the Pharisees (and most of the people) this would have been 15 Nisan, and the Day of the Passover. For the Sadducees (and so for the leading priests), this Friday was 14 Nisan and the following day, a Sabbath, was the Passover. The Synoptics follow the Pharisee calculation; St John looks to the chief priests, but implicitly indicates that Jesus was following the Pharisees' computation.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church (no 436) teaches us the following:
The word 'Christ' comes from the Greek translation of the Hebrew Messiah, which means 'anointed'. It became the name proper to Jesus only because he accomplished perfectly the divine mission that 'Christ' signifies. In effect, in Israel those consecrated to God for a mission that he gave were anointed in his name. This was the case for kings, for priests and, in rare cases, for prophets. This had to be the case all the more so for the Messiah whom God would send to inaugurate his kingdom definitively. It was necessary that the Messiah be anointed by the Spirit of the Lord at once as king and priest, and also as prophet. Jesus fulfilled the messianic hope of Israel in his threefold office of priest, prophet and king.
F Ocáriz, LF Mateo-Seco, and JA Riestra (The Mystery of Jesus Christ, Dublin: Four Courts Press, 1994, pp 146ff) tell us:
"In many and various ways God spoke to our fathers by the prophets; but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son" (Heb 1:1-2). A prophet is someone who speaks to men words which God has personally revealed to him for passing on to others. There were many prophets in the OT, and the Messiah himself was also foretold as a great Prophet, e.g. Deut 18:18: "I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brethren; and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him".
Jesus' contemporaries were expecting a Messiah who would also be "the Prophet" (cf. Jn 1:21,25), and he did in fact apply to himself Isaiah's words: "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good tidings to the afflicted; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour" (Is 61:1-2; cf. Lk 4:18-19). Jesus proclaims the Gospel, the Good News, of the Kingdom of God (cf. Mk 1:15).
As Prophet, Jesus Christ teaches, and he teaches on his own authority (Mt. 7:29): thus he is acknowledged and called " Teacher" or "Master" by his disciples, and he accepts this title; he is not one master among many, but the absolute and only Teacher of the NT: "You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am" (Jn 13:13). This personal authority with which he teaches, which the evangelists themselves bear witness to, made them "surprised to see him teaching everywhere and at all times, teaching in a manner and with an authority previously unknown" (JPII, Catechesi tradendae, n. 7); it comes across very strongly in the words "but I tell you" (cf. Mt. 5:22; Jn 8:51; etc.). And when Jesus quotes passages from the OT, not only does he expound his teaching in the light of the sacred text but he also, and in a particular way, explains the sacred text in the light of himself.
Why are Jesus' teachings supreme and definitive? It is because he is God-Man; this makes his human words to be in the fullest sense human words of God. St Thomas Aquinas says: "in Christo Deus docet immediate". Jesus does not only teach the truth; he is the Truth (cf. Jn 14:6). He is the Teacher who teaches and the Truth that is taught. And this takes place not just through words, but through everything he does "by his words and deeds (verba et gesta) (Vat II DV, 2).
It follows that Christ has to be accepted as a teacher on a different level from all others; strictly speaking, he is the only teacher: "you are not to be called rabbi; for you have one teacher, and you are all brethren" (Mt. 23:8). He is a rabbi, a teacher who calls to himself a group of disciples who learn from him and then in their turn go out to proclaim his teachings. The authority of Christ the Teacher and the consistency and persuasiveness of his teachings is explained by the fact that his words, his parables and his arguments are inseparable from his life and his very being.
F Ocáriz, LF Mateo-Seco, and JA Riestra (The Mystery of Jesus Christ, Dublin: Four Courts Press, 1994, pp 142ff) tell us:
The kingly divinity of Christ was already proclaimed in the OT (cf. Ps 2:6; Is 9:6; 11:1-9; Dan 7:14; Mic 4:7; etc.) and equivalent to the status of Shepherd of the people, a people who are regarded as his flock (cf. Is 4:9-11; Ps 78:52; Mic 2:12-13; Jer 3:15; etc.). The angel also proclaimed it to Mary at the Annunciation: "He will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there will be no end" (Lk 1:32-33).
Jesus' contemporaries were familiar with the idea of the Messiah as King. The Magi on their arrival in Jerusalem asked, "Where is he who has been born the king of the Jews" (Mt. 2:2); and Nathaniel, recognising Jesus as the Messiah, says, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!" (Jn 1:49). In fact, it was precisely because so many Jews had such a material and earthbound idea of the Messianic Kingdom, that Jesus did not make much reference to his kingship; for example, when the people in their amazement over the multiplication of the loaves, wanted to proclaim him king, he "withdrew from them" (cf. Jn 6:15). But at a particularly solemn juncture, replying to Pilate's question, he affirmed, "You say that I am a king" (Jn 18:37). In the NT we find many other evidences of Christ's kingship, especially in the statement that Christ is the Lord (cf. Acts 2:36; Phil 2:11; Rom 10:9; I Cor 12:3; etc.). Finally, St John, in the Book of Revelation, sees Jesus in glory wearing a robe of royalty: "On his robe and on his thigh he has a name inscribed, King of kings and Lord of lords" (Rev 19:16).
The Mystery of Jesus Christ (p 142ff) says:
Christ exercises his royal function in the establishing of his kingdom through actions proper to the Lord -gathering his people together and establishing the laws of the kingdom, whose supreme judge he declares himself to be. Christ is our Lawgiver. The Gospels tell us that he laid down laws -e.g., in the Sermon on the Mount; by instituting the Church and the sacraments; and by promulgating the New Law of love (cf. Jn 13:34-35). He is the "new lawgiver" who abrogated the Mosaic Law and established an "eternal law and a new testament". Christ is also our Judge, who will come to judge the living and the dead. He taught that "the Father judges no one, but has given all judgement to the Son" (Jn 5:22) JPII, Address, 30-9-87: "Since the power of judgement is profoundly united to the will to salvation, as can be inferred from the Gospel, it is a new revelation of the God of the Alliance who comes towards men as the Immanuel, to free us from the slavery of evil. It is the Christian revelation of the God who is Love". He establishes a new Kingdom, and begins his preaching proclaiming the arrival of the Kingdom of God, which is essentially spiritual, in men's hearts: "the kingdom of God is within you" (Lk 17:21); but insofar as it is made up of men, it is also something visible, a people: it is the Church, which makes its way on earth towards the eschatological fullness of the Kingdom at the end of time (cf. Vat II LG, 3 & 9). The Kingdom is a present reality and a future hope.
(See also the Catechism of the Catholic Church, nos 577-582.)
See points 583-586 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
Jesus Christ
"Son of Man" (cf. Mt. 8:20). This is one of the expressions used to designate the Messiah in the OT. The title appears for the first time in Dan 7:13:
I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him.
Until Our Lord's preaching it was not understood in all its depth. It could simply mean "man"; or, because of the reference to Daniel's vision it makes the connection with glorious figure mentioned there and the suffering figure of the Servant foretold by Isaiah, particularly when Jesus goes on to say "the Son of Man will suffer at their hands " (Mt. 17:12). The title "Son of Man" was less associated with the Jewish hopes for an earthly Messiah, which is probably why Jesus preferred to use it to refer to himself, while avoiding certain nationalistic connotations implied by other titles. It was a way of referring to his messianic mission without linking it to political interpretations. After the resurrection the Apostles came to understand that "Son of Man" was equivalent to "Son of God".
Although a reading of the OT passage in Isaiah on the Servant of Yahweh does not by itself reveal the suffering Servant as the King-Messiah, the NT makes it clear that he is the same Jesus Christ (cf., e.g., Mt 27:29-31; Jn 12:38; Acts 8:32-33). The passage of Our Lord's baptism and the words from heaven: "This is my Son, my (or the) beloved, with whom I am well pleased" (Mt. 3:17; and also the Transfiguration, Mt. 17:5) seems to be reminiscent of the suffering Servant of Is 42:1: "Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights".
Here is a summary of the miracles of Jesus: Life of Christ: Miracles of Jesus Christ