Notes on Jesus of Nazareth, Introduction and Chapter 1
Here are the long-promised notes for the introduction and chapter one…obviously, this is what struck me and what I saw as important themes. If you’re reading the book, or have questions, feel free to comment and I’ll try to clarify. As with everything B XVI writes, there is much insight that can only be seen after multiple readings! I’ve also included page markings and bible quotes when applicable. These will also be quite long, although I have tried to shorten them from my original notes to make them more comprehensive.
Introduction
The Pope discusses Jesus as a “new Moses”; while Moses could speak with the Lord “as a friend” (4), he couldn’t see God’s face. Jesus gives us “a real, immediate vision of the face of God” and has “most intimate unity” (6) with the Father. We have to understand the connection between Moses and Jesus if we are to understand how Jesus is presented in the N.T. He is the fulfillment of Moses’ prophesy in Deutoronomy (Deut. 34:10). Without Jesus’ grounding as the Son of God, his teachings would be “pure presumption” (7). This shows us how Jesus was understood by him time–they misjudged him because they could not accept these “inner groundings” of seeing and knowing face to face (7).
Chapter One–The Baptism of Jesus
The Pope begins with a discussion of Matthew’s Genealogy of Jesus, which is divided into three groups of 14 generations (14 being the numerical value of “David” in Hebrew).
- Abraham to David
- David to Babylonian Exile
- Additional Period of 14 generations
The additional period indicates the hour of the definitive David (the “renewal of the Kingdom” that David had) is now come. This genealogy also serves as a guide to Jewish salvation history. It is not intended, however, to be a precise chronology.
Luke connects the genealogy with Jesus’ baptism. Jesus is about 30, meaning he has “attained the age that conferred a right to public activity.” (10) Instead of going from Adam forward, as Matthew does, Luke works backward. He includes David and Adam but without particular emphasis, and underscores the universal scope of Jesus’ mission as Son of Man. Because he is a man, all of us belong to him and he to us; “humanity starts anew and reaches its destiny.” (10)
Luke and John the Baptist
There are two important time references given in Luke’s account; the first is that John was born “in the days of Herod, King of Judea” (Lk 1:25), which places us within the bounds of the Jewish world’s time frame. Jesus’ birth, however, is framed in the wider story of the world: “In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus..” (Lk 2:1). This is seen again when John is introduced in the baptism episode with “In the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontious Pilate being governor of Judea…” (Lk. 3:1-2). Luke’s mention of the Roman empire, as well as the Jewish leaders, indicates Jesus’ chronological role in world history. His activity did not take place in
some sort of mythical ‘anytime’, which can means always or never. It is a precisely datable historical event…it happened once only; it is contemporary with all times, but not in the way that a timeless myth would be (11).
The Emperor and Jesus represent two different orders of reality, which are not mutually exclusive but can cause conflict, as in, “render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s” (Mk 12:17)”, etc. The mention of Pilate also foreshadows the cross at the beginning of Jesus’ public activity.
Historical background
The Holy Land was divided by different princes, etc., that were dependent on Rome–David’s kingdom is in pieces. Israel is again living in the “darkness of divine absence” (12), where God is seemingly silent and forgetful of the promises he made to Abraham and David.
One of the parts I found most fascinating was the Pope’s explanation of the current social/religious classes at the time:
- At the time of Jesus’ birth, Judas the Galiliean called for an uprising, leading to the creation of the Zealots, who were prepared to use violence and terror to restore Israel’s freedom (12). It is possible that Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot were members of this movement.
- Pharisees: tried to live with “greatest possible exactness” according to the Torah (13). They refused conformity to the Roman-Hellenistic hegemony which threatened Israel with assimilation.
- Sadducees: Aristocratic/priestly class that attempted to practice “enlightened Judaism”, intellectually suite for the times and which came to terms with Roman domination. This group disappeared after the desrtuction of the Jerusalem in AD 70.
- The Essenes: a new group, discovered post WWII withthe evacuation at Qumran. They rejected the Herodian temple and its worship and withdrew to the desert, where they created monastic-style communities and lived religiously-motivated common lives with families. They also established distinctive rituals. It is possible that John and Jesus were close to this community; in fact, John may have lived with them and received part of his religious formation here (13-14).
John’s Appearance and Public Ministry
His ministry was something completely new, with a baptism that could not be repeated. It was meant to be a concrete enactment of a conversion that “gives the whole of life a new direction forever.” (14) It was connected to the “ardent” call to a new way of thinking and acting.
All four Gospels describe John’s mission with this quote from Isaiah: “A voice cries in the wilderness: ‘prepare the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.’” (Is. 40:3). This envisions a “saving intervention” of God (15). At last God’s hand was clearly acting in history again (15).
The goal now is truly to leave behind one’s sinfuil life and to start on the path to a new, changed life, which is symbolized in baptism. Immersion in water is symbolic of death (i.e., Noah and the flood, etc.), as the ancient mind saw the oceans as a permanent threat to both the Earth and the cosmos. But the flowing water of the Jordan symbolizes great life, and the immersion is a purification, a liberation from the “filth” of the past that burdens and distorts life, giving us a rebirth.
The Baptism by John (Mk 1:9)
“In those days, Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.” The real novelty here i that Jesus wants baptism and goes with all the other sinners to the river. But, the Pope asks, how can Jesus really be baptized, since he has no sin? Jesus answers, “Let is be so now; for thus it is fitting that we fulfill all righteousness (Mt. 3:15). The Pope notes that the Greek word for “righteousness”–arti– implies a certain reservation and a specific, temporary situation that calls for a specific way of acting (17). The key to understanding Jesus here is how we understand “righteousness.” this is Jesus’ way of acknowledging baptism as an expression of an unrestricted yes to God’s will, as an obedient acceptance of his yoke. (17, emphasis added). Jesus’ “yes” to baptism is a “yes” to the entire will of God, and it expresses solidarity with us, who have sinned but still “yearn for righteouness.”
Luke puts it in even stronger terms; he notes that Jesus was praying while he was baptised (Lk. 3:21). The Pope writes that “Jesus loaded the burden of all mankind’s guilt upon his shoulders and bore it down into the depths of the Jordan.” (18) He has inauguarted his public activity by stepping into the place of sinners. The Baptism is an acceptance of death for the sins of humanity, and when God’s voice cries out “This is my beloved son..”, it is anticipating the Resurrection (18).
Jesus often uses the word ‘baptism’ to refer to his death (cf., Mk. 10:38, Lk. 12:50), and only from this starting point can we understand Christian baptism. The Sacrament appears as the gift of participation in Jesus’ world-transforming struggle.
The ‘Lamb of God’–what does this mean?
When John refers to Jesus as “the Lamb of God” (John 1:9), he is referring to two O.T. allusions: the Suffering Servant in Isaiah (”like a sheep that before its shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth, 53:7) and the Passover Lamb (Exodus 21). Jesus is, therefore, the son who became a servant, the shepherd who became a sheep. He no longer stands just for Israel, but for mankind as a whole (22).
THEME: Israel does not exist for itself; its election is rather the path by which God intends to come to all men (22). John places this idea at the very beginning of his Gospel.
