Christology

 Christology is the part of theology that is concerned with the nature and work of Jesus,
including such matters as the Incarnation, the Resurrection, and his human and divine
natures and their relationship (See Matt Stefon and Hans J. Hillerbrand, “Christology
Doctrine of Christ,” Enclopaedia Britannica (2016). Retrieved November 11, 2018 from
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Christology)

 The name Jesus is derived from the Old Testament name Joshua, which means, “Yahweh
God is salvation.” The title Christ means one chosen and anointed by God to be the
Messiah who delivers God’s people.

Knowing Jesus Through the Gospels

A. Touching Jesus through Faith
 The Gospel of Mark tells us a very instructive story sandwiched between Jairus’ plea to
Jesus for his dying daughter and his daughter’s restoration to life. It is the story of the
woman who had been suffering from hemorrhage for twelve years.
 According to Mark, “she had endured much under many physicians and had spent all that
she had; and she was no better, but rather grew worse.” She came behind Jesus in the
crowd and touched his cloak, thinking, “If I only touch his clothes, I will be made well.”
She immediately got well, and felt it.”
 Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned in the crowd and
said, ‘who touched my clothes?’ And his disciples said to him, ‘You see the crowd pressing
in on you; how can you say, ‘Who touched me?’”
 The woman then admitted the whole truth. Jesus answered her, “Daughter, your faith
has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease” (Mk. 5:24-34)
 In the story, we see a woman who is healed of her illness and experiences salvation (In
Lk. 8:48), Jesus tells her, “Your faith has saved you.”) How does she receive her cure and
experience salvation? By touching Jesus, or at least his clothes.
 But note, others also touched Jesus. The crowd was pressing on him, in fact. What made
the difference for the woman? She touched him more with her faith than with her hand.
 Jesus is the Savior, yes, and we have to get in contact with him if we are to experience
salvation. But physical contact is not enough. It is contact by faith that matters. When we
touch Jesus by our faith, we too will be saved.
 And there is no way to reach him now except by faith. Jesus Christ is the only Savior. He
has risen from the dead and is alive. There is no other name by which we can be saved.
Only Jesus is the Savior, no one else (Acts 4: 12).
 But he is no longer accessible to our bodily senses. He has been exalted to God’s right
hand, and is now invisible to us even if he remains very much present to us.
 How do we access Jesus? By faith. St Augustine replies, “We draw near to Christ not by
walking but by believing.” This contact by faith is no less valid and effective than seeing
and touching him with our bodies and senses.
 This is the assurance the risen Christ meant to give to all generations of believers when
he told the doubting Thomas who had turned believer, “Blessed are those who have not
seen and yet have come to believe” (Jn 20: 29)

B. Knowing Jesus
 Jesus came that we may have life and have it in abundance. He is himself the life, our life.
And he tells us: “This is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus
Christ whom you have sent” (Jn 17:3).
 We come to eternal life knowing the Father and Jesus. It is not sufficient to know about
Jesus. We have to know him. What is the difference between knowing Jesus and knowing
about him? It is important to know Christ than to know about him.
 To know Christ is to live his life, to share in his life as Son of God. To know about him is to
be an expert on Christ. There is a big difference between the two.
 There is nothing wrong with knowing about Christ. In fact, it is helpful to do so. The more
we know about him, the more reasons we shall find for loving and imitating him.
 But more important than studying and learning about him, is to learn from him, and learn
him! More important than knowing about Christ is knowing him.
 We can know plenty about Christ by study. But we can know Christ only by faith (2 Cor 5:
16; Phil 3:9-10). We have to believe in him in order to live his life.
 This was what happened to St. Paul who wrote to the Galatians, “…it is no longer I who
live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the
Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal. 2: 20).
 We shall seek to meditate on the public life of Christ. We shall not only study about him,
but we shall reach out in faith to him, fully aware that we can do so only with God’s grace
(cf. 1 Cor 12:2).
 Where do we reach him now? Actually, we can reach him by faith anywhere. He is in our
hearts (Eph. 3: 17), in the Church, which is his body, in our fellow human beings, especially
the poor.
 He is in the whole of creation, which was created through him, in him, and for him, and
which he sustains in existence and holds together in unity (Col. 1: 15-17). He is in the
history of our world, of which he is Lord.
 He makes himself available and reachable by faith also in the Scriptures and in the liturgy.
In this book, we shall study the Gospels in the spirit of faith in order to know Jesus. Vatican
II tells us that when the Bible is read in the Church, it is Christ who speaks to us
(Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, no. 7).
 In other words, we meet Christ in the scriptural word when we read it within the
community of believers which is the Church.

C. The Formation of the Gospels

 This does not dispense us from a serious scientific study of the Bible. We have to know
the real Jesus, and not some figment of our own pious imagination.
 There is only one real Jesus, make no mistake about it; the real Jesus is Jesus who now
lives in glory after being raised or rising from the dead. The only real Jesus is the risen
Lord. But this real Jesus lived at a definite time and place.
 This Jesus who is accessible to us only by faith, is the same Jesus who lived in Palestine,
and whose life, words and deeds are recorded for us in the Gospels. The four canonical
Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are reliable witness to the truth of Jesus Christ.
 They give us the true meaning of Jesus, the true meaning of his words and works. They
do this in a way that is different from our ways of reporting truthfully about persons and
events. They do it as evangelists.
 They did not write newspaper reports or strictly historical accounts reporting things and
events exactly as they happened. They did it through that literary style we today call
“gospel.”
 As persons who believed in Jesus, committed disciples who loved the person they wrote
about, they presented him in such a way that people might believe in his name or might
be strengthened in the faith.
 According to the “Instruction on the Historical Truth of the Gospels” (Apr. 21, 1964), a very
important document emanating from the Pontifical Biblical Commission, a document
which as substantially incorporated in Vatican II’s Dogmatic Constitution on Divine
Revelation (“Dei Verbum”), there were at least three steps in the formation of our
Gospels.
 The first step was the Jesus layer. This is what Jesus actually said and did. This is what
could have been videotaped of his life, words and work.
 If we could have videotaped these, then we would know the exact words and actions of
Jesus, and where and when he said and did them, and in what sequence. Jesus “adapted
himself to the mentality of his audience so that his teaching would be firmly impressed
on their minds and easily remembered by the disciples.”
 The second step was the layer of the apostolic proclamation. Again, according to the
Instruction:
- The apostles rendered testimony to Jesus (Cf. Lk. 24: 44-48; Acts 2: 32; 3: 15;
5: 30-32), announcing first and foremost the Lord’s death and resurrection.
- They faithfully set forth his life and his words (Cf. Acts 10: 36-41), adapting the
format of their preaching to the condition of their audience (Cf. acts 13: 16-41
 together with Acts 17:22-31), while taking into account in their method of
preaching the circumstances in which their listeners found themselves.
- When Jesus rose from the dead and his divinity became manifest (Acts 2: 36;
Jn 20: 28) faith by no means obliterated the memory of the events which had
taken place.
- On the contrary, it reinforced these memories, because it rested on things
which Jesus had taught and done (Acts 2:22; 10:37-39)

 There is no reason to deny the fact that the apostles, in telling their listeners about our
Lord’s deeds and words, utilized the fuller understanding which they had acquired from
the glorious events of Christ’s life (cf. Jn. 2: 22; 12: 16; 11: 51-52; cf. 14: 28; 16; 12-13; 7:
39).
 The third step was the layer of the evangelists. The Instruction continues:
- This primitive instruction was passed on orally at first, and later written down.
Indeed, it was not long before many attempted “to draw up a narrative” (cf.
Lk. 1:1) of the events connected with the Lord Jesus.
- The sacred authors, each using an approach suited to his specific purpose,
recorded this primitive teaching in the four gospels, for the benefit of the
churches.

 Of the many elements at hand they reported some, summarized others, and developed
still others in accordance with the needs of the various churches. They used every possible
means to ensure that their readers would come to know the validity of the things they
had been taught (cf. Lk. 1: 4).
 From the material available to them the Evangelists selected those items most suited to
their specific purpose and to the condition of a particular audience. And they narrated
these events in the manner most suited to satisfy their purpose and their audience’s
condition.

- Since the meaning of a statement depends, among other things, upon the
context in which it is found, the Evangelists reported Christ’s deeds and words
in varying contexts, choosing whichever one would be of greatest help to the
reader in trying to understand a particular utterance.
- Hence, the exegete must try to ascertain what the Evangelist intended by
reporting a certain saying or event in a particular manner or a particular
context.

 From this we can see that the pre-occupation of those who came after Christ was to
deliver to people his saving message. Their first concern was not to reproduce word for
 word what he said and to describe exactly what he did, but to proclaim the meaning of
his person, words, and works.
 To do this they selected from their store of personal or community memory about Jesus,
they sometimes synthesized his words and events, sometimes they elaborated on them.
They put them in contexts that would bring out their meaning, and they adapted their
manner of expression to their audience or readers.
 Their interest was not to reproduce verbatim what Jesus said, but to explain what Jesus
meant. To deliver the truth that Jesus meant to convey, they made the necessary
adaptations.
 The apostles gave an adapted proclamation of Jesus’ words and deeds, building on what
they themselves witnessed. The evangelists gave an adapted account of the words and
deeds of Jesus, building on the apostolic proclamation.
 In the process, the true meaning of Jesus became more and more explicit and complete.
With the four portraits of Jesus in the four Gospels, we have a better knowledge of Jesus
than could have been obtained by us from only one literary portrait of him.
 We can be confident that what the evangelists wrote was faithful to the meaning that
Jesus intended by hid words and deeds because they were writing under the inspiration
of the Holy Spirit.
 The four Gospels portraits should help us from our own picture of Jesus which will
respond to the needs and situation of the people of our times. The task of presenting the
Good News of Jesus which the apostles began after his ascension to heaven, and which
the evangelists continued, must not stop.
 The Gospel is not transmitted effectively by mere repetition of the biblical words. It is
effectively transmitted from generation to generation only when Christians of every
generation listen/read them in the context of their own situation and meditate on them,
live them, and them proclaim them to their contemporaries in their actual contexts.

Our Way of Knowing Christ Today through the Gospels

 The apostles based themselves on what they experienced and witnessed personally of
Jesus. The evangelists based themselves on the proclamation of the apostles. We today
must base ourselves on the written Gospels as well as on the rest of the New Testament,
and indeed all of the Scriptures.
 But we are aware that in the years since the writing of the Gospels and the whole New
Testament, the Church has been enriched by the meditation and proclamation of the
Gospel by each generation of Christian believers and communities. This is a heritage we
cannot ignore and should always take account of.
 Our generation is part of a continuous process of hearing/reading, meditating, living and
proclaiming the Gospel. This continuous listening to, meditation, living, and handing on
 of the Word of God in an adapted manner under the guidance of the Holy Spirit is called
Tradition.
 The Gospels are too rich to be understood fully in 2000 years. Not even till the end of the
world shall we be able to exhaust the meaning of the Gospels, for the riches of Jesus are
inexhaustible.
 When we read and meditate on the Gospels, we must always keep in mind that they are
the books of the Church. The writing of the Gospels was a process that went into the very
making of the Church, and was undertaken by people who were inspired by the Holy Spirit
to do their work as a service to the Church, the mind of the Church is very important in
interpreting the Gospels.
 But more than being books of the Church, the Gospels, and indeed all the books of the
Bible have God as their principal author since they were all written under the inspiration
of the one Holy Spirit.
 The inspiration of all the books by the Holy Spirit makes all the books of the Bible one
book, finally, one book from many books. That is why it is legitimate to assume that the
books of the Bible will not contradict each other’s teaching, and will mutually shed light
on each other.
 While it is not good to study any book in isolation from the rest. It is the whole Bible which
contains for us the whole Word of God addressed to the Church and to the world.

The Baptism of Jesus by John

 Jesus lived his infancy and boyhood in a hidden way. It was not until he was about thirty
years old that he began his public ministry.

A. Abasement, Solidarity, Glory

 The public life of Jesus begins with his baptism by John the Baptist. The importance of this
event is shown by the fact that it is narrated or mentioned in all the four Gospels and in
the Acts of the Apostles.
 We shall take the earliest Gospel account of the event, the story as told by Mark.

- It happened in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and
was baptized in the Jordan by John. On coming up out of the water he
saw the heavens open and the Spirit, like a dove descending upon him.
And a voice came from the heavens, “You are my beloved Son; with
you I am well pleased.” (Mk. 1:9-11).
  Jesus inaugurates his public ministry by an act of humility and solidarity with sinners. He
has himself baptized by John the Baptist who preached a baptism for the forgiveness of
sins.
 For Jesus to line up to be baptized with sinners is an act of self-abasement, what St. Paul
describes in the letter to the Philippians as an emptying of himself and the taking of the
form of a slave.
 We know from the Scripture themselves that Jesus is holy and sinless (Heb 7: 26), and
hence does not need to be baptized. In fact, in Matthew’s version of the baptismal story,
John tries to prevent Jesus and says to him, “I need to be baptized by you, and yet you
are coming to me?” John baptizes him only after Jesus insists, saying, “Allow it now, for
thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness” (Mt. 3: 14-15).
 Why does Jesus so abase himself? Because he wants to enter into solidarity with sinners.
He wants to become one with those whose sins he is to take away. He wants to convey
to sinful humanity that he is our brother. Hindi siya iba sa atin! He is one of us!

B. Jesus’ Identity and Mission

 In St. Mark’s account, it is to Jesus himself that the voice from the heavens speaks,
declaring to Jesus his identity. He is God’s Son (Hence, the Marcan Gospel can begin with
the words, “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God”).
 But the words that follow reveal Jesus as the Suffering Servant of Yahweh, referred to in
Is. 42:1: “Here is my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one with whom I am pleased,
upon whom I have put my spirit…”
- This post-baptismal happening is the investiture of Jesus for his messianic
mission. He is invested with his mission by the descent of the Holy Spirit upon
him. He is anointed with the Spirit. And so, after his temptation in the desert,
he returns to Galilee “in the power of the Spirit” (Lk. 4: 14).
- Thus, he can rightly apply to himself the words of Isaiah, “The Spirit of the Lord
is upon me, because he has anointed me…” (Lk. 4:18).
- And thus also Peter, preaching to the Roman centurion, Cornelius, can state
that that “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power”
(Acts 10:38).

 Jesus sets out to his public ministry conscious of his identity as Son of God, aware of his
mission to be the Suffering Servant of Yahweh, and empowered by the Holy Spirit. He
goes out to his mission assured by his Father that he is pleased with him.
 It must have been an awesome experience for Jesus. Those who have been ordained to
the ministerial priesthood or to the episcopacy know something of that awesome feeling.
C. Yahweh’s Servant First

 It is important to note here that while Jesus is made aware that he is to be a Servant, he
is first of all the Servant of Yahweh. The first reference point of his service, and the One
he is to serve above all, is Yahweh himself.
 This servanthood to Yahweh, however, overflows- must overflow- into service of human
beings. Thus, in Mk. 10:45, where Jesus presents himself as the model of leadership, he
speaks of the Son of Man “who did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life
as a ransom for many.”
 Fittingly, too, after Peter speaks of the anointing of Jesus with the Holy Spirit and power,
he adds, “He wen about doing good and healing all those oppressed by the devil” (Acts
10:38). But it is important to remember that for Jesus, people are served rightly only if
they are in obedience to the will of God who must be served first.

The Wedding at Cana

A. The Importance of the Episode

 The Gospel according to John presents us with the very significant episode of the wedding
at Cana in the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry. The story is narrated in Jn. 2: 1-12.
 This incident is very significant for several reasons.
- First, it is Cana that Jesus performs his first miracle (“sign”) and reveals his
glory. It is here too that his disciples begin to believe in him.
- Second, the sign is performed by Jesus upon the intervention of his mother.
- Third, Mary is not called by Jesus “Mother” but “Woman.”
- Fourth, Jesus refers for the first time here to his “hour,” a word which he will
use later on as he approaches his Passion-Death-Resurrection.

B. The Story

 The story is a very human story. During the wedding festivities, the Mother of Jesus comes
to know that the wine has run out. This is a very serious predicament and, it left
unremedied, will lead to the embarrassment of the newlyweds.
 In the Philippines, should food or drinks run short during a wedding feast, the people will
remember that for a long, long time. In the little village of Cana, things would have been
the same.
 Mary, named only “the mother of Jesus” or “his mother,” brings the matter to the
attention of Jesus, obviously asking for his help to do something about it. Jesus apparently
rebuffs her with the words, “Woman, how does your concern affect me? (literally, What
to me and to you, woman?) My hour has not yet come.”
  In Pilipino, we would have to translate this phrase, “Ano ang pakialam natin diyan?”
Obviously, Mary does not take her Son’s answer as a refusal, for she tells the servants,
“Do whatever he tells you.”
 Jesus commands the servants to fill the six jars with water. This seems to be a foolish
gesture. The jars are meant to be used for water that will be used for the washing of the
guests to come, when the present guests cannot even be supplied with enough wine?
 The servants, however, obey, and they fill the jars with water to the brim. Now, that is a
lot of water- from 120 to 180 gallons of water, for each water jar holds 20 to 30 gallons.
 Jesus then asks the servants to draw some and give to the headwaiter. He tastes it and
marvels. Not only is there wine but the wine tastes better. It is not Ginebra San Miguel
but Champaign! Jesus has saved the day for the couple!

C. The Meaning of the Story

 The story, however, is not a simple story of saving a couple from impending
embarrassment. It is a symbolic story. It has much to tell us as a sign of something deeper.
It is really a story about Jesus and his mission, and about his Mother and her role in that
mission.
 It is about Jesus. Remember that for John, Jesus is the Word of God-type God- become
human. In becoming human, her personalities the covenant relationship of God with his
people, a covenant relationship which is repeatedly described in the Old Testament as a
marriage between God and Israel (See the story of the prophet Hosea. Cf. also Is. 1: 21;
50: 1; 54:6-7; Jer. 2:2; 3:1; 3: 6-12)
 The Word of God in becoming human, in becoming Jesus, step into the story of the
covenant between God and Israel, his people. This covenant is deficient, not because of
any failure on the part of God, but because of the repeated failures of his people.
 Thus, finally, God himself foretells a new covenant: “The days are coming, says the Lord,
when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah…” (Jer.
31; 31).
 This new covenant will come about through Jesus. So, in the Cana story, Jesus steps into
the deficiency. There are six stone water jars. Six is a number symbolic of imperfection.
Jesus asks the servants to fill them with water.
 The water is not a remedy to the situation. The water is changed into wine. The deficiency
is remedied. What was imperfect is brought to perfection. The best wine has come! And
it comes in superabundance!
 The new covenant is a covenant of superabundance. According to John, “while the law
was given through Moses, grace and truth cm through Jesus Christ.” “From his fullness
we have all received, grace upon grace” (Jn. 1: 16-17).
 Jesus comes so that we may have life and have it more abundantly (Jn. 10:10). He
demonstrates this symbolically and really when he feeds the multitude of 5000 men (not
 counting the women and children) with five loaves and two fish. The people eat to their
satisfaction, and still there are plenty of leftovers, twelve wicker baskets full (Jn. 6:1-13).
 Mary plays a significant role in this new covenant of superabundance. Jesus, while
apparently rebuffing his Mother, actually invites her to dare to ask in faith despite the
apparent refusal. In Pilipino we call that “pakipot,” a pretended refusal that invites the
petitioner to ask more insistently.
 Mary’s faith is an audacious faith. She dares to ask against all odds. Besides, she
understands her Son as no other does. She thus issues the only command she gives in the
whole New Testament, “Do whatever he tells you.”
 She puts everything in the hands of her Son, confident that he will decide in favor of the
persons in need. And her faith wins! Today, too, we can expect Mary to continue aiding
us with her audacious prayer to her Son on our behalf.
 But why does Jesus call her “woman”? That is also a symbolic name. When God rebukes
the serpent and promises salvation to our fallen first parents, he tells the serpent: “I will
put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offering and hers; he will
strike at your head, while you strike at his heel” (Gen. 3: 15).
 The Book of Revelation also shows as a great sign in the sky: “a woman clothed with the
sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars” (Rev. 1:1).
The word “woman” in no way shows lack of respect but indicates the prominent role that
Mary plays in the history of our salvation as the associate of the Redeemer.
 When Jesus first mentions his “hour,” Mary is present. When the hour of Jesus (Jn. 19:25-
27). When the new covenant of superabundant grace is consummated on Calvary, Mary
witness not water turning to wine, but blood and water flowing from the side of her
crucified Son.

D. The Miracle as a Sign

 John refers to this first miracle of Jesus as “the beginning of his signs.” John does not use
the word “miracle” for the wonders performed by Jesus. He uses “signs” or “works” to
designate them. Here they are referred to as “signs.”
 They are extraordinary deeds indeed that provoke wonder, but what is important about
them from the point of view of John is not the fact that they are exceptions to the laws of
nature, or that they are naturally impossible.
 For the evangelist, what matters is that they point to the special intervention of God in
history. They manifest God’s activity for our salvation and invite us to believe and thus
receive salvation.
 When Jesus works miracles, it is not to entertain people but to invite them to faith. Thus,
John tells us at the end of this story that Jesus revealed his glory through this sign and “his
disciples began to believe in him.”
  We Filipinos believe in miracles. In fact, sometimes we are too quick to believe. But many
in our modern world do not accept miracles or their possibility. They believe that God
does not or will not intervene in the running of this universe which is governed by iron-
clad laws which admit of no exceptions.
 According to them what we call miracles have a natural explanation which at present we
may not yet be able to discover. But if we are to know fully all the natural causes operating
in a “miracle” we will know that there is no special divine intervention involved in it.
 They can point to the work of present-day illusionists like David Copperfield, or else the
wonders of modern-day medicine and technology like computers which would have been
thought of as miraculous just a century ago, if people had seen them then. In time, these
skeptics say, we will find the natural explanation for what we call miracles.
 But, as I said, we Filipinos believe in miracles, for we believe that God is God, and nothing
is impossible with God. Not only that, we believe in a God who loves us not from afar but
from within our very world and lives, and can choose to intervene when he pleases in
human affairs.
 We believe that it is not by chance that God’s special intervention is experienced when
people ask for his intervention. Certainly, it is more reasonable to believe in God’s
intervention than to postulate an unknown natural cause when there is no proof that such
unknown natural cause has indeed acted to produce what we call a miracle.
 We must admit, however, that miracles are signs which invite and persuade to assent,
without compelling the human mind to assent. People can still refuse to believe even if a
man should rise from the dead (Cf. Lk. 16:31).
 The acceptance of a miracle still demands a free assent from a person, an assent which is
possible only with the help of grace.

The Passion of Jesus

 Through the first of his signs, his disciples were led to believe in Jesus. To believe in Jesus
is already to know him. But if you really want to know a person deeply you must know his
passion. And so, if we want to know Jesus, we must know his passion.

A. The Meaning of Passion

 By “passion” here is not meant what people usually think of when they speak of the
passion of Jesus, which is his suffering. Rather, by “passion” is meant that which drives a
person, what makes him come alive, galvanizes him into action, gives focus to all his
activities, and fuels his commitment.
 A person’s passion is what obsesses him. It is what he eats for breakfast, lunch and supper,
and it is what eats him. It is what he dreams of and what keeps him awake. A person with
passion is “ganado” (enthusiastic) as opposed to “walang gana” (unenthusiastic).
  A person’s passion need not manifest itself noisily or restlessly. It can be a silent
undercurrent beneath a quiet demeanor. You know that a person has passion when he
will not stop at anything to obtain that which he is passionate about.
 Passion is the heart’s determined drive to achieve a goal.
 Jesus certainly had this kind of passion. We are told that “he set his face steadfastly
toward Jerusalem” (Lk. 9: 51). The reason for this was spoken by him on one occasion, “I
have come to cast fire upon the earth, and how I wish it were already ablaze” (Lk. 12:49).
 It is not difficult to discern the passion of Jesus. His passion was the Father and the
fulfillment of his will. Joined to this passion was his passion for human persons and their
salvation.

B. Passion for the Father and His Will

 We have abundant indications of Jesus’ passion for the Father and his will. We shall first
examine some words of the words of Jesus. Then we shall look at the theme of his
preaching and activity. Thirdly we shall contemplate him in prayer.

1. Some words of Jesus

 The first words coming from the lips of Jesus in the Gospel according to Luke were the
words he uttered in response to his mother’s reproach upon finding him in the temple.
 She said to him, “My child, why have you done this to us? See how worried your father
and I have been, looking for you.” Jesus replied, “Why were you looking for me? Did you
not know that I must be about my father’s business (or, in my Father’s house)? (Lk. 2:49).
 The point I wish to focus on here is the phrase “I must.” This phrase gives a very different
connotation from “You must.” “You must” is an imposition from without.
 A person who hears it is likely to feel oppressed by the obligation laid upon him, as when
a professor tells his students, “You must submit your reports in two days time.”
 This will come across as oppressive especially if there are obstacles to meeting the
deadline, and the “You must” is insisted upon despite pleas for an extension.
 But “I must” is a different matter altogether. A business who loves his wife and goes to a
business meeting in Hong Kong may remember while there that it will be his wife’s
birthday when he returns home after three days.
 So, he says to himself, “I must buy her a beautiful gift she will like.” No one imposes an
obligation on him. But there is an impulse from within his heart, impelling, even
compelling him to buy her a beautiful gift she will like.
 And so during his free time he shops for a gift. He finally sees a pearl necklace. He asks for
its price. He is told it would cost him $2000. He finds the price very steep indeed, but he
says to himself, “I must buy her this necklace.”
 He bargains, but the seller still asks for no less that $1900. He finally buys the gift. As the
plane is about to land in Manila, he says to himself, “I cannot wait to give this to her.”
 Then, when she greets her, he waits for the right moment to give his gift, hardly able to
delay doing so any longer.
 His “I must” reaches its climax when he hands her the pearl necklace, with the words,
“Happy birthday, darling!”
 Jesus expressed this deep impulse of his heart, which he expected his parents to have
known, when he said, “Did you not know that I must be about my Father’s business?” His
heart was set on one thing: doing his Father’s business.
 We now move on to a scene that happens in Samaria, at Jacob’s well. Jesus had a long
but fruitful conversation with a Samaritan woman who had come to fetch water from the
well and to whom Jesus showed willingness to offer living water instead.
 Jesus won her heart after revealing to her that he was the awaited Messiah. She ran back
to the town to tell people excitedly about her discovery.
 As she was leaving, the disciples who had gone to town to buy food, came and offered
Jesus food. To their surprise, Jesus answered, “I have food to eat that you do not know
about.”
 And to answer their question, “Has someone brought him food?” he said, “My food is to
do the will of him who sent me and to complete him work” (Jn 4:31-34).
 Notice Jesus’ choice of words. He speaks of doing the will of his Father and of
accomplishing the Father’s work as his food. Now, what is food?
 Food is first of all a necessity. If we do not eat food, we die. Man lives by eating. Thus,
Jesus is telling his disciples, “If I do not do the will of my Father and accomplish his work,
I will die.”
 For Jesus, doing the will of his Father and accomplishing his work is a matter of life and
death. For him to do the will of his Father is life-giving.
 But food, aside from being a necessity, is also a delight. Mealtimes are among the most
delightful moments of the day. Even during times of spiritual retreat, the time to eat
makes the juices of the body come out.
 When Jesus says that his food is to do the will of him who sent and to accomplish his work,
he is telling his disciples (and us) that it is his delight to do the will of his Father and
accomplish his work.
 Still is St. John’s Gospel, we hear Jesus making what seems to be an impossible boast: “I
always do what is pleasing to him” (Jn. 8:29). To say “I always do what is pleasing to my
Father” is to make a universal statement.
 A universal statement admits of exceptions, which do not destroy the truth of the general
statement. In fact, we say, “The exception proves the rule.” Thus, the statement,
“Norwegians are fair-complexioned” will still be true even if we are able to produce a
Norwegian who may be black or brown.
 A universal statement, however, admits of no exceptions. An exception destroys the truth
of a universal statement. Thus, if I claim, “I never tell a lie,” this statement will be false if
I tell even a single lie.
 Thus, our Lord’s claim that he always did what was pleasing to his Father would be untrue
if he displeased his Father even once.
 Jesus, however, dared to make that claim, and the Bible confirms the truth of his
statement when he is called “holy, immaculate, undefiled, separated from sinners” and
when it tells us that he was tempted like us in all things, but without sin (Heb. 4:15).
 It was the quiet passion of Jesus to always do the things that pleased hi Father, and the
Father bore witness that he was pleased with Jesus, his Son (Mt. 3:17).
 Even when it was most difficult for Jesus to please his Father, and do his will, he
nevertheless committed himself to doing God’s will.
 Thus, in that most difficult hour in the garden of Gethsemane, when he was like a worm
trembling in sorrow, anguish and fear, he nevertheless prayed, “My Father, if this cup
cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done!” (Mt. 26: 42)

2. The theme of his preaching: the Reign (Kingdom) of God

 Another telling indication of Jesus’ passion for the Father and his will was the theme of
his preaching: the Reign of God. Jesus did not preach himself but his Father and the
Father’s reign.
 God’s rule which he saw coming, and which he already sensed as present, was his
obsession. He preached this rule of God enthusiastically, tirelessly, sometimes forgetting
even to eat.
 He preached God’s reign as the good and liberating news, and he exhorted people to
welcome this reign, rejoicing when they did so, and weeping when they refused to do so.

3. His prayer
 His prayer was another pointer to his passion for God and his will. Jesus often sought to
commune with his Father in prayer. Even after the busiest of days, he would seek God out
in silent prayer. He prayed, especially before or during decisive moments in his ministry.
Sometimes he spent the whole night in prayer to God (Lk. 6: 12).
 It was in these moments of intimate communion with his Father that he drew strength,
light and direction from his Father. His disciples were so impressed to see him pray that
one of them asked him to teach them to pray, and he obliged, teaching them what we
now call the Lord’s prayer (Lk. 11:1-4).
 It was not difficult for Judas to locate him in that first evening of his passion, because he
knew that Jesus often went to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray. So characteristic of
Jesus was praying that three of his seven last words were words of prayer.
 And he ended his earthly life according to character, when he shouted, “Father, into your
hands, I commit my spirit!” (Lk. 23:46) before dying on the cross.
 No doubt, God his Father was what filled and moved the heart of Christ. The
commandment which he enunciated as the greatest- to love God with your whole mind,
 with your whole heart, with your whole soul and with your whole strength (Mk. 10:30;
Lk. 10:27)-, he lived in complete fidelity.

C. Passion for People and Their Salvation

 Coupled with, and inseparable from his passion for God and his will, was the passion of
Jesus for people and their salvation.
 Thus, while the Letter to the Hebrews described the movement of his heart as he came
into the world in theocentric terms: “Behold, I come to do your will, O Lord!” (Heb. 10:7),
the programmatic words explaining his mission, which he spoke in Nazareth ere couched
in anthropocentric terms:
- The Spirit of the Lord is upon me
- For he has anointed me
- To bring good news to the afflicted.
- He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives,
- Sight to the blind,
- To let the oppressed, go free,
- to proclaim a year of favor from the Lord (Lk. 4:18-19)

 And when John the Baptist sent to him messengers to ask him if he was the one who was
to come or whether they were to wait for another, he answered by first curing many sick
people and expelling demons, and then saying, “Go and tell John what you have seen and
heard: the blind see again, the lame walk, those suffering from virulent skin-diseases are
cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, the good news is proclaimed to
the poor…” (Lk. 7:22).
 In other words, the sign that he was indeed the Messiah was the preaching of the good
news to the poor that he was doing.
 We know from Peter that “he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed
by the devil” (Acts 10:38). And he was tireless in healing the sick, driving out demons,
feeding the hungry, raising the dead to life.
 In fact, he was so intent on doing good to people that he even seemed to put the good of
people ahead of the prescriptions of the Law regarding the Sabbath. Thus, when his
disciples were criticized for picking up ears of corn and eating them on a Sabbath, he
defended them.
 At the end of his defense, he said, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the
Sabbath (Mk. 2:23-28).
 He did not have any qualms in ordering a lame man to pick up his mat and to walk around
on a Sabbath (Jn. 5:8-9). When it came to curing illnesses even on a Sabbath, he simply
said in one instance that even animals were untied on the Sabbath and led to water.
 How shall a daughter of Abraham who had been bound by Satan for 18 years not be freed
on a Sabbath (Lk. 13: 10-17)?
 Jesus did not think that he was breaking the Law by healing on a Sabbath, or that the
hungry disciples were breaking that Law by picking grain and eating on a Sabbath. For it
was clear to him that at bottom, God’s will was the good of human beings, and what was
good for human beings was the true will of God.
 One of his favorite sayings was a quotation from the prophet Hosea, “Mercy is what
please me, not sacrifice” (Mt. 12:7).
 For Jesus there was no contradiction between the will of God which the Law sought to
express and the good of human beings. He who loves the Father must also love his
children. There was for him no true of God without a genuine lobe for people.
 And so, while Jesus saw himself as the Servant of Yahweh, he knew that the came “not to
be served but to serve and to lay down his life as a ransom for many” (Mk. 10:45). He
made it clear that he was laying down his life for his sheep, but that he was doing it in
obedience to the command of his Father (Jn 10:15-18).
 He went to his passion willingly because he loved the Father (Jn 14:31), but he also made
known to his disciples that there was no grater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s
friends (Jn 15:13)- which was what he was going to do for them.
 Thus, not only his life but also, and especially, his death was a sacrifice of himself done in
obedience to God and for the salvation of people.
 This he expressed especially at the Last Supper when he gave to the disciples the
Eucharist, which he commanded them to do in remembrance of him (Mt. 26:26-29; Lk.
22:19-20).
 The life of Jesus was a revelation both of the God who loves us (“He who sees the Father
also”), and of human beings to themselves. Vatican II reminds us, “Christ the new Adam,
in the very revelation of the Father and of his love, fully reveals man to himself and brings
to light his most high calling” (Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World,
no. 22).
 While Jesus by his whole life of total love of God and human beings, his passion for God
and his will, and for people and their salvation, reveals to us the heart of God as Love, he
also at the same time shows us that to be truly human is to burn with two-fold passion
for God and for people.
 It is only by self-denying love of God and people, and the sincere gift of self in obedience
to God and in service to fellow humans that a man truly finds himself. Love is the basic
law of human perfection and hence of the world’s transformation (ibid., nos. 24 and 38).