Jesus of Nazareth. From the baptism in the Jordan to the transfiguration

Pope Benedict XVI with crucifix staff at a church service in Munich (Neue Messe, 2006)

Jesus of Nazareth. From Baptism in the Jordan to the Transfiguration is the title of the first part of the three-volume work Jesus of Nazareth (2007–2012) by Pope Benedict XVI. about the figure and message of Jesus Christ . The book essences an internally coherent message of the four canonical gospels , which they express together despite their historically complex traditions. This message of salvation is analyzed and commented on in the first volume based on the first half of Jesus' public ministry - from his baptism to his transfiguration.

Pope Benedict XVI unfolds his novel interpretation of the Bible throughout the book of Jesus, in which he combines two methods of interpretation that are believed to be opposing - the christological-canonical and the historical-critical  - to form a holistic exegesis. In doing so, he forms an actual exegetical theology and contributes to the postscriptual writing . Through the organic connection of faith and history in exegesis, the author also wants to demonstrate that the “historical Jesus” and the Bible's image of Jesus are identical. By means of singular historical methods, only fragmentary and distorted Jesus figures would be abstracted from the biblical image, instead of "reconstructed". The confrontation with exegetes and their directions of interpretation from the last two centuries as well as with the ancient paternal exegesis is also a thematic focus of the book, the first volume of which on April 16, 2007 on the 80th birthday of Pope Benedict XVI. published by Verlag Herder with a volume of around 450 pages.

Ratzinger exegesis

Hermeneutic basis

Pope Benedict XVI in Freiburg i. Br. (2011)

Pope Benedict XVI sees his book as a new approach to theological biblical exegesis in that it combines two very different modes of hermeneutics :

• Christological-canonical hermeneutics : a theological interpretation which sees in Jesus Christ the key to the entire Bible and regards it as a unit: individual texts are interpreted within the framework of the entire Bible canon.
• Historical-critical hermeneutics: scientific research into the genesis of biblical writings as well as their critical analysis (text, source, genre, editorial, literary tradition criticism) according to their original meaning.

The method synthesis developed in the Book of Jesus is mainly based on the exegetical-methodological principles of two fundamental church documents co-designed by Ratzinger:

• Dei Verbum (God's Word) , Dogmatic Constitution of the Second Vatican Council II on divine revelation, 1965, which wasformulatedwith the help of Joseph Ratzinger as a council theologian . This emphasizes the wholeness of the biblical canon and its divine authorship (inspiration), emphasizes the historicity of the 4 canonical gospels, considers the exploration of the evangelists' expressive intentionsnecessary for the understanding of the divine message, and evaluates the scientific methods as useful for analyzing the historical environment and the text of the Gospels. At that time, Ratzinger appreciated the novelty of the document as follows: "... it is a synthesis of great importance: the text combines loyalty to church tradition with the yes to critical science and thus opens the way for faith to today".
• The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church , Document of the Pontifical Biblical Commission of John Paul II , 1993, which was then presided over by Cardinal Ratzinger. This study, initiated, conceived and co-authored by Ratzinger, describes the actual, pure (a priori free) historical-critical method as a necessary scientific instrument for a true understanding of the Bible: “The historical-critical method is the indispensable method for scientific research into the meaning of ancient texts. Since the Holy Scriptures, as the "Word of God in human language", were written in all their parts and sources by human authors, their genuine understanding not only allows this method to be legitimate, but also requires its application. "[...]" If this method is used in an objective manner, it does not imply an a priori. If such a priori determine their application, it does not come from the method, but from hermeneutic options that determine the interpretation and can be tendentious. "[...]" Together with other methods and approaches, it opens up access to the modern reader Understanding of the biblical texts as they are available today. ”In this context, the combination of the historical method, which used to be considered contradictory, with the canonical approach ( canonical exegesis ), by which“ the historical-critical method is not to be replaced, but supplemented ”isexplicitly mentioned.

Pope Benedict XVI describes the basis of this supplement in the first volume of his Jesus book: The historical-critical method can only grasp what appears, verifiable and verifiable and, accordingly, understand the scriptures only as human words related to the past. If, however, it is not determined by a priori (e.g. positivistic rejection of transcendence or miracles), the pure method is not completely differentiated from the theological interpretation, so that the historical method can organically continue to the actual theology.

Exegesis technique

The Ratzinger exegesis reads the biblical texts from the theology of the apostolic creed (creed) with a priori free historical-critical method, the limit of which - by interpreting the divinely inspired "inner added value of the word" - is exceeded towards the christological-theological interpretation. The in itself past-centered scientific method is thereby organically continued into an actual theology, also related to the present and the future. The exegesis of Pope Benedict XVI., Which includes not only historical but also political, philosophical, psychological, educational and scientific discussions, thus becomes an exegetical theology for philological and historical reasons.

This interdisciplinary, broadly networked hermeneutic spiral (theology → exegesis → exegetical theology) allows new insights to grow from the Holy Scriptures, which enrich the post- scriptural development . The author conveys a holistic understanding of faith, in which faith (receiving divine revelation about invisible reality using the words of the Bible) and history (human activity that can be described in time and space) are organically linked through their mutual connections - under the primacy of receiving. The Ratzinger exegesis develops a sensitive approach to its programmatic question, "what the holy author wanted to say in his scriptures" ( Dei Verbum ), precisely because its post-critical canonical interpretation - similar to the Gospels - cuts across faith and history connects the biblical scriptures.

In his basic work Introduction to Christianity , which appeared shortly after the Second Vatican Council in 1968, Joseph Ratzinger defined his direction of interpretation between the two ways of modern Bible exegesis that he considered wrong: to transpose / reduce Christology to history and to assign history in theology to ignore. One can recognize the hermeneutical basis of that new type of exegesis, which is theologically and scientifically defined and fully developed in the Pope's book of Jesus.

Exegetical classification

Ratzinger's method of interpretation can be classified in part in the canonical exegesis , which was mainly developed in the USA (mid-1970s) , which seeks to understand the texts less from their historical context and more from the context of the biblical canon, which is understood as a uniform context , and thus partly on the basic exegetical principles of Dei Verbum is based. In addition, for Pope Benedict XVI. especially the patristic history of impact. It is precisely through the connection of the christological and historical-critical hermeneutics that insights from the fathers' exegesis could gain more importance in a new context, he says, since patristic authors like Origen , Hieronymus or Augustine individual elements of today's historical-critical interpretation (author question, source question ) had already applied.

This is why Ratzinger tries, say critics, to describe as historically plausible an image of Jesus from the Gospels that is unified from the Gospel of John, right through to a self-image of Jesus as the Son of God . Individual results of historical research serve rather to illustrate this fundamental concern. In contrast, Ratzinger was always of the opinion that the different christological paths of the New Testament authors cannot be brought into a unity ( introduction to Christianity ). Rather, as the introduction to his book on Jesus emphasizes, he wants to filter out the one message of the theologically and historically complex gospels that is intricately tied.

Philosophical-theological basis

The holistic view of the world is rooted in the philosophical basis of the Christian belief in God that Joseph Ratzinger explained earlier, above all in his introduction to Christianity, accordingly both revealed truth of faith and scientifically verifiable historical facts, hidden and visible, their original reality in the creative spirit of the only, triune God, who is not only the meaning, ground and truth of significant logos, but also a person, creative freedom and love, and who gives his creatures love and - as a structural form of all being - freedom. People's primary thought through God (Idea) and their true being themselves (source of their actions) coexist in unity. Thus the Christian faith transcends the mere Platonic idealism as a philosophy of freedom, which despite the freedom of evil ( 2nd chapter - The Temptations of Jesus ) means a freedom led by the Spirit of God, which has content and a direction: freedom for good, for love to be truly human in becoming equal with Jesus of Nazareth ( Chapter 3 - The Gospel of the Kingdom of God ).

This means freedom to God and to believe, "For faith is walking with Christ, in whom the whole law is fulfilled" and is "spiritualized". The freedom of Jesus is based on the responsibility of human reason given by God, for which the search for the will of God, which appears in the action and will of Jesus, is a guide. This shows the path of love, the basic Christian option, which calls for nonconformity with evil and an inner reversal of spontaneously easy paths ( Chapter 4 - The Sermon on the Mount ). "The 'law of Christ' 'is freedom - that is the paradox of the message of the Galatians ", the Pope sums up in the Book of Jesus the Pauline core of the Christian philosophy of freedom, which is a cornerstone of his theology and exegesis.

Bible interpretation and concept of the book

Benedict XVI. at the canonization of the missionary Bernarda Bütler (2008)

Jesus of Nazareth is conceived as a theological reader with the main intention “to present the figure and message of Jesus in his public work and to help that a living relationship with him can grow.” Pope Benedict XVI. did not want to write a new biography of Jesus or a new book on Christology. Rather, it is a sensitive guide to Jesus, to an "inner friendship" with him. As early as the summer of 2003 as a Roman Curia Cardinal he had started his "Jesus Book", writes the author in the introduction, to which he had actually been "on the way" since his early youth, when he was already reading some inspiring Jesus books. As the author of the book, Joseph Ratzinger is listed first and only then the name of the Pope . Thus Ratzinger wants to make it clear that it is a private publication, not a doctrinal (one such. B. announcement encyclical ) is. The book should express his personal exegesis , his search "for the face of the Lord". "Everyone is therefore free to contradict me," he writes in the foreword.

In the first volume the most important events of the earthly life of Jesus in the first half of his public ministry are analyzed according to the reports of the four Gospels. Pope Benedict XVI historically and critically examines the content and style with which the authors of the Gospels preserved the figure of Jesus in their tradition, what they wanted to communicate about God and his good news for the salvation of people. Despite the differences in content in the Gospels (e.g. in their theological view of the redemption or the sonship of Jesus to God; parables of Jesus among the synoptics - Jesus' image speech in John ), "the four senses of writing [...] represent dimensions of the one word" of God and express “in all their historical layers a message that is coherent from within”. In this sense, the Pope emphasizes some commonalities of the essentially different incarnation theology (incarnation of God as redeemer) of the Gospel of John and the Pauline theology of the cross (cross and resurrection of Jesus as the redemption of people), which the synoptics also use. Ratzinger, however, does not strive for a synthesis of these christological paths when, in the depth of the synoptic cheer , he discovered to contain the entire Johannine Son theology (chapter 10), or when he found other points of contact between these theologies: "The mighty prologue of the Gospel of John" In the beginning there was the word and the word was with God and the word was God "says nothing else than what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount and Jesus in the Synoptic Gospels. The Jesus of the fourth Gospel and the Jesus of the Synoptics are one and the same: the true “historical” Jesus ”(4th chapter).

The expression “historical” Jesus comes from authors of historical-critical research who since the 1950s have tried to construct Jesus figures that differ from the image of Jesus in the Gospels, but that are abstracted from this figure. In the Jesus book, the Pope comes to the realization that the different images of the historical Jesus are time-bound interpretations of the respective authors, but that the Christ of faith , as he is portrayed in the Bible, is the true reflection of his historical reality. In his book he wanted to try to portray the Jesus of the Gospels as the real Jesus, as the "historical Jesus" in the proper sense. "I am convinced and hope that the readers can also see that this figure is much more logical and also from a historical point of view much more sensible than the reconstructions with which we have been confronted in recent decades." The dispute between a historically reconstructed Jesus, such as Some exegetical schools discover him behind the texts, and Ratzinger's view, which shares and develops the faith of the biblical authors, is the red thread of the book.

Benedict XVI expressly addresses himself. nevertheless "not against modern exegesis", but sees it as a "gift", for which he thanks in the foreword. He sees the strength and usefulness of the historical-critical method in the attempt to search for the “exact initial sense of the words” in the Bible, as they were “meant in their place and at their point in time”, and to explain the past precisely:

“Because it is essential for biblical faith that it relates to really historical events. This does not tell stories as symbols for supra-historical truths, but it establishes history that has happened on the soil of this earth. For him, the factum historicum is not an interchangeable symbolic cipher, but a constructive reason: Et incarnatus est [And the word became flesh, Jn 1:14] - with this word we confess that God has actually entered real history. "

This direct action of God - as Son - in world history is also dated in the Gospels:

“The work of Jesus is not to be seen as a mythical sometime that can mean always and never at the same time; it is a precisely datable historical event with the seriousness of really happened human history - with its uniqueness, whose way of simultaneity with all times is different from the timelessness of myth. "

Pope Benedict XVI also pays tribute to other strengths of modern exegesis: it visualizes the historical (postscriptual) writing of the words handed down in the Bible (i.e. the development and growth of divine revelation or of the faith assigned to it in history through continuous acquisition of knowledge from the Bible) always new "relectures":

“The old texts are re-recorded, re-understood, re-read in a new situation. In rereading, reading on, in silent corrections, deepening and expanding, the creation of the word takes place as a process of the word that gradually unfolds its inner potentials, which somehow lay ready like seeds, but only in the challenge of new situations, in new experiences and experiences to open"

- Preface

This is an expression of the fact that history - uniquely among all religions - structurally belongs to Christianity. The Document Dei Verbum of the Second Vatican Council puts it this way:

“Our holy Mother, the Church, has resolutely and steadfastly adhered to it and holds fast to the fact that the four named Gospels, whose historicity she affirms without hesitation, reliably transmit what Jesus, the Son of God, in his life among men about them really did and taught eternal salvation until the day when he was received (cf. Acts 1,1-2). "

Throughout the book the author refers to professionally respected theologians (e.g. Rudolf Bultmann , Martin Hengel , Jacob Neusner , Rudolf Schnackenburg , Albert Schweitzer , Peter Stuhlmacher , Thomas Söding ) and ties in with scientific discourses. Die Welt points out that this book is far from being light fare , since, in addition to foreign church vocabulary, there is also a discussion with exegetes who are often unknown to the general public.

For those in the know, however, the parts of the book that are critical of interpretation offer a compact theological-historical overview of individual exegetical questions. At the end of the volume there is also an annotated bibliography by the author, as well as - as compiled by the publisher - a glossary of theological terms, an index of subjects and names, an index of the biblical passages mentioned and a list of abbreviations, which make reading the book easier Make audience lighter. Knowing the Bible is important, but not a prerequisite for understanding the Book of Jesus, which invites you to re-read the Bible, especially the New Testament and especially the 4 Gospels from their innermost core. The frequent references make it easier to read the biblical passages discussed in parallel to the interpretations of the Jesus book.

Pope Benedict XVI quotes his own translation from the original text in numerous biblical passages. This also allows him to make some new hagiographic discoveries in the content and historical background of both Testaments of the Holy Scriptures (see Chapter 8 , The Shepherd).

content

Chapter 1 - The baptism of Jesus

Baptism of Jesus Christ on the fresco by Josef Heimgartner (1920) in the Church of St. Nikolaus, Altstätten

The choice of the title of the volume does not merely indicate a chronological division of the public ministry of Jesus. His baptism and transfiguration are the two events in the gospel in which God speaks directly: "This is my beloved son, in whom I have found pleasure." (Baptism) and "This is my beloved son, you should listen to him." (Transfiguration). In addition to the solemn proclamation of the sonship and mission of Jesus (baptism), there is an imperative (transfiguration) to the disciples of Jesus.

The immersion of Jesus in the water of the Jordan during his penitential baptism by John the Baptist symbolizes his later descent into hell, which does not happen while watching, as with Dante , “but suffering with, suffering and thus transforming”. This is part of the core of his mission: "Jesus must [...] step into the drama of human existence, go through it to its ultimate depth", he said, the innocent Lamb of God - this expression gives "the cross- theological character of Jesus' baptism" -, the sins of the whole world upon yourself, in order to overcome death for humanity, to redeem them. The emergence of Jesus out of the water is the anticipation ( anticipation ) of his resurrection, to which the baptismal voice of God points to.

Universality - redemption of all humanity - is the real center of Jesus' mission: "Israel is not there for itself, but its election is the way on which God wants to come to all". The chapter briefly outlines the political and religious circumstances of Israel at the time, also mentions the Qumran writings and their “manifold contacts with the Christian message”. It seems that "John the Baptist, but perhaps also Jesus and his family, were close to this community", which lived in Qumran near the Jordan at the time of Jesus (see prophecy at the time of Jesus ).

At the baptism of Jesus, God the Father and the Holy Spirit meet with the Son of God, and the Trinity of God manifests itself , which from then on up to the universal mission of Jesus to his disciples: “Go to all peoples and ... baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit… ”one bow is enough. Christian baptism is an entry into the Johannine baptism of Jesus and thereby a mutual identification with him.

Chapter 2 - The temptations of Jesus

The story of temptation appears - like the baptism of Jesus - as an anticipation of his whole path (miracles, trust in God, salvation through suffering through human drama). The core of the temptations by the devil during Jesus' 40-day fast in the desert is "the pushing aside of God" that Jesus rejects. To praise power and bread alone and to regard God as an illusion are also temptations of the present, warns Pope Benedict XVI.

In the first temptation of Jesus to give a sign of God on request by turning stones into bread, and in the second temptation to make faith dependent on visible divine protection, it was about the question of proof of God and the struggle for the image of God , "A dispute about the correct interpretation of Scripture that affects all times". Why God cannot be seen more clearly remains his secret. Unlimited trust in God, which Jesus shows on his way to the cross, can give certainty that "in all terrors [...] one last protection [of God ] does not lose". However, God could not be found in distant “laboratory conditions” without the dimension of love and inner hearing. There are two other bread stories about the temptation of bread in the life of Jesus: the miracle of bread and the last supper , which in the Eucharist “becomes the everlasting miracle of Jesus”.

In the third temptation the devil offers Jesus all the kingdoms of the earth on a high mountain, but Jesus places God's kingdom, which he proclaims through his "losing himself as the way to life", above it. All the powers that Satan showed Jesus have since sunk, but Christ's humble love, ready to suffer, remains. God's power is quiet in this world, but it is the true, saving power: "Only power that is under the blessing of God can be reliable." This temptation also has two counterparts that mark the path of Jesus: the hill Golgotha , his place of crucifixion , and another mountain in Galilee , where the risen Jesus explained to his disciples before he was given his missionary mandate that he had been given "all power in heaven and on earth".

But what did Jesus actually bring if, through his omnipotence, there was not peace and prosperity everywhere? - asks the Pope: “The answer is very simple: God. [...] the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the true God, he brought to the peoples of the earth. [...] and with it the truth about our whither and whither; faith, hope and love ”.

Chapter 3 - The Gospel of the Kingdom of God

Jesus - like the executed John the Baptist before him - proclaimed the gospel of God about the fulfilled time, the nearness of the kingdom of God, repentance and faith. The gospel means: “powerful message”, its central content is: “The kingdom of God is at hand”. The chapter first gives a brief historical and critical overview of theological history of the different interpretations of the extremely complex term “God's kingdom” from Origen Adamantius to the present day.

The message of Jesus is "through and through theocentric " (God -centric ), reads the exegesis of the Pope. The rule of God not only affects the future, but - in the form of its anticipation (anticipation) - also the present: as church liturgy and as "life-shaping power through the praying and being of the believer, who [...] also in advance of the future world The announcement of this rulership of God is based on the prophecies of the Old Testament , but the message of Jesus exceeds it with its imminent expectation: "The kingdom of God has come near" ( Gospel of Mark 1:15), "has already come to you" ( Matthew 12:28), is “in the midst of you” ( Luke 17:21).

The real meaning of the word “Kingdom of God”, which runs through the whole preaching of Jesus, can only be understood from the perspective of the totality of his message. Through holistic exegetical research, the Pope arrives at his interpretation that Jesus refers to himself with the word “Kingdom of God” and its closeness: “He who stands in our midst is the Kingdom of God” (cf. in particular with the above Jesus - Quotations from the Synoptic Gospels regarding the near future ). Not the physical presence of Jesus, but his work through the Holy Spirit embodies the kingdom of God.

Through this interpretation "the different, apparently contradicting aspects [of the kingdom of God] come together" and would become statements about the fulfilled time for conversion, repentance and joy, about the baseness and secrecy of the kingdom, the comparison with the buried treasure or the fundamental picture of the seed understandable. God walk towards us in Jesus. In him and through him the “Kingdom of God will be present now and here” and through the presence and work of Jesus “God as an agent enters now and here into history”.

The gospel of Jesus of the kingdom of God brings humanity not only an informative message, but also a performative (changing) action, an “effective force that enters the world in a healing and transforming way”.

Chapter 4 - The Sermon on the Mount

The Sermon on the Mount , a great speech composition by Jesus, is narrated by the evangelists Matthew and Luke with different accents. The Pope analyzes three important parts of the Sermon on the Mount: the Beatitudes, the new version of the Torah through Jesus, the Our Father prayer.

The Beatitudes - a signpost of hope  - form the “programmatic introduction” of the Sermon on the Mount. They carry a hidden, sometimes open Christology , and appear like a portrait of the figure of Jesus. They indicate what discipleship means, so they show the way especially for the church. With their paradoxes they pose "the question of the basic Christian option", which was lived by saints - "the true interpreters of the Holy Scriptures". Renunciation and responsibility for one's neighbor can only bring justice if they are inspired by faith. The Beatitudes encourage and a. to a nonconformism against imposed behavior patterns , both through totalitarianism and through a "dictatorship of the ordinary".

The basic question is: Are the direction of the beacons of the Beatitudes and defensive calls correct? Is n't it just a religion of the resentment of envious people towards the happy? "Is it really bad to be rich - to be full - to laugh - to be praised?" No, the really bad thing is "the presumptuous self-glory in which man rises to deity" in order to rule over everything. “The real“ moral ”of Christianity is love. And that of course stands in the way of selfishness ... “Only the path of love, the paths of which are in the Sermon on the Mount, lead to the richness of life.

The Torah , the 5 books ( Pentateuch ) of Moses , contains 613 commandments , which hardly anyone today is fully observed. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus offers “the Torah of the Messiah, so to speak”, in the form of antitheses to the Moses Torah: “It was said [...] but I tell you ...” - “Not only do not kill, but the reconciliation of the unreconciled brother go towards […] Not just equality in law (eye for eye, tooth for tooth), but allow yourself to be beaten without striking back; Love not only one's neighbor, but also the enemy. ”The Sabbath (commandment of the day of rest as a praising of creation , on the 7th day of which God rested) should now serve people and not the other way around. On the other hand, Jesus emphasized that he did not want to abolish Israel's old covenant with God, but wanted to fulfill it.

The Pope resolves this paradox as follows: The new version of the Torah through the “spiritualization of the law” of the old covenant can only be history-forming “if the authority of this new interpretation is not less than that of the original text itself: there must be a divine authority be". Jesus, who acts as the Son of God in the authority of the one living God - revelator of the Torah - does not call for any “disobedience to God's commandments”. In other words: the new freedom that is necessary for the “universalization of Israel's faith and hope” and the expansion of God's people to all human beings, “can only be made possible through greater obedience”. The “law of Christ”, as Paul writes in his Galatian letter , is freedom - this in turn sounds like a paradox . The new freedom, however, has content and a certain direction in following Jesus : "Freedom to do good, [...] which can be guided by the Spirit of God" and also demand inner conversion from a spontaneous, easy path - this is also not easy.

The Psalms and the books of the prophets of the Old Testament describe "with increasing clarity the promise that the salvation of God will come to all peoples." The prophets already developed a changing inner dynamic of the Torah (prophetic criticism), in which love of God and neighbor are inseparable connected. Jesus continues this dynamic radically by removing the concrete legal and social orders of Israel from sacredness (from the direct realm of God) and transferring the freedom of people and the responsibility of their reason, which with him - so with God - a community of will, universal family, forming the new covenant. It is precisely through this universalization of the Torah, guided from within, that Jesus fulfills the Scriptures because he has thereby made "what the Torah is about deeply", the love of God and neighbor, "the way of life for all."

Chapter 5 - The Lord's Prayer

Pope Benedict XVI prays the Our Father, the prayer of Jesus, in front of the Marian column in Munich (2006)

The Lord's Prayer , a prayer of Jesus with which he teaches his disciples and us to pray, "embraces the whole breadth of human existence in all times". You pray "with Christ through the Holy Spirit to the Father" so that it is a Trinitarian prayer. As a “we-prayer” it is presented together, the communal and the very personal must interpenetrate. Matthew's text, which has been handed down in more detail, can be divided into 3 “You requests”, which concern the attributes of God (his name, his kingdom and his will), and 4 “We requests”, which deal with our hopes and needs. These 2 parts are, similar to the 2 panels of the Decalogue , signposts to both parts of the main commandment, to love God and neighbor. The Pope - like Matthew in his Gospel - sets out his little catechesis on prayer at the beginning of the chapter , which penetrates to the deepest core of the human relationship with God.

Benedict XVI. sings the Lord's Prayer at the historic first papal mass in Freiburg i. Br. (2011)

Our Father in Heavens - God's being a father to human beings has two dimensions. It exists from creation, but above all it can develop dynamically through an ever deeper communion with Jesus -  the Son of God: "Only in We the Disciples can we say God the Father". That is why the word of prayer is “our”. The word also demands “to open our ears and our hearts” to the brothers and sisters. Earthly fatherhood separates people from one another, heavenly fatherhood on the other hand, which is the measure and origin of all fatherhood, more real, eternal fatherhood, some of them beyond all boundaries and walls.

Your name will be sanctified - This request reminds you of the 2nd commandment of the Decalogue: “You shall not dishonor the name of God”. Therefore God has no pronounceable name in the Hebrew Torah. But through the incarnation in Jesus God would get a name, so he would have become accessible to people, but at the same time also vulnerable through them, this led to the crucifixion of Jesus. The closer God is to us - with his name, her face, her presence in the Eucharist  - the more easily his figure can be distorted, polluted. On the other hand, the request for purity and sanctification is his name.

Thy kingdom come - With this request one recognizes the “primacy of God” and his “order of priorities for human activity”, which is “not an automatism of a functioning world”, but “the standard of his will” for the right among people. Solomon's request for a listening heart in order to be able to differentiate between good and evil has become deeper and more concrete through the encounter with Christ, namely “to ask for fellowship with Jesus Christ”. Jesus is in person the kingdom of God (cf. 3rd chapter), which comes through our hearing heart, our sense organ to perceive God.

Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven - Make this request clear on the one hand: “There is a will of God with us and for us, which must become the standard of our will and being.” On the other hand: heaven be where God's will be done inviolably. "The holy scriptures assume that man knows in his innermost depths about God's will, [...] which we call conscience (cf. eg Rom 2:15)". Since God's will comes from God's being, his will lead us, who come from God, into the truth of our being. By interpreting the letter to the Hebrews , Jesus 'whole existence can be summed up as follows: "Yes, I come to do your will." Jesus' unity of will with the Father is the core of his being in general. From there one understands "that Jesus himself is" heaven "in the deepest and most real sense - he in whom and through whom God's will happens completely." This is also requested for the earthly world, so that God's will is the gravity of our selfishness that pull us away from him.

Give us today our daily bread - The word "daily" is a translation of the Greek word "epioúsios", which hardly appears apart from the Gospel. Its correct interpretation is: "future", with eschatological content. This is - as most of the church fathers understood - a Eucharist request "for an anticipation of the world to come [...] that the Lord already" give the future bread "today, the bread of the new world - to himself". Jesus, in whom the Logos , the eternal Word of God, became “flesh”, becomes concrete bread for men. "This extreme embodiment" means "the true spiritualization." The earthly meaning of bread is also important here, so responsibility for one another should grow from "tomorrow", from God's love, even today.

And forgive us our debts, just as we have forgiven our debtors - The subject of forgiveness runs through the entire gospel. The chain of guilt and retribution can only be broken with forgiveness. It does not just mean ignoring or wanting to forget, but overcoming a disaster through internal purification, in which the guilty party is also included in order to renew both parties. It takes a lot of strength, commitment of the heart, of the whole of existence, and can only be really effective through communion with Jesus, who carried the burden of all of us up to the cross. This request is therefore not just a moral appeal, but a Christological prayer.

And do not lead us into temptation - the temptation of Jesus by the devil (cf. 2nd chapter) is part of his messianic task. It is precisely because he has endured this without sin that he can help others who are being tempted, emphasizes the letter to the Hebrews . With the satanic temptation of Job , who under agonizing suffering clings to his trust in God and thus restores man's honor in a representative way, the mystery of Christ is already emerging in many respects. Great saints who had endured severe temptations were “in a very special way in fellowship with Jesus.” This request should - in the words of Paul - give certainty: “God [...] will not allow you to try beyond your strength become. "(1 Cor 10:13)

But deliver us from the wicked - the previous request and this, the central hope of Christian faith, the request for redemption , belonged very closely together. The new translation of the Our Father leaves open whether it refers to the bad or the bad, but they are also not entirely separable. As long as one clings to God, no evil can endanger salvation - this is also the statement of the whole Our Father. So one pleads here deeply that “the faith that allows us to see God, who connects us with Christ, is not torn from us.” With this request, the person praying returns to the three initial requests for you, since the redemption Please "ultimately for God's kingdom, for becoming one with his will, for the sanctification of his name".

Chapter 6 - The Disciples

Jesus and the apostles at an altar by the South German sculptor Yvo Strigel , 1512.

The purpose of Jesus ' selection of the 12 apostles as the inner core of his discipleship is their being with Jesus, bringing Jesus' message into the world and organizing the new family of God. Far beyond anything that is merely functional, this vocation has a deeply theological meaning due to its origin. It happens after Jesus' long prayer with God ( Lk 6 : 12-16) and is thus rooted in this divine dialogue between the Son and the Father. The theological character of the vocation is reinforced by the Mark text : "He calls those whom he wanted" (Mk 3:13). To become God's servant is not a self-decision and not a search like an employer looks for his people, but "an event of election, a will of the Lord, who in turn is anchored in his will with the Father."

Being with and being sent evidently belonged together. By being with Jesus, the apostles should recognize Jesus' oneness with the Father. The being with, however, also carries the dynamic of being sent within itself, since Jesus' whole being is the mission. As messengers of Jesus they preached - like Jesus - the message about the kingdom of God. This is not just an instruction, but, because it leads to an encounter with Jesus, becomes an event, just as Jesus himself is an event, God's word in person.

Jesus sent the 12 apostles to preach and, as Matthew put it, "gave them authority to cast out unclean spirits and to heal all diseases" (Mt 10.1). The proclamation is also a struggle with evil forces, which then as now are not always visible. "Exorcise", disempowerment of such forces, that is, "to place the world in the light of ratio that comes from eternal creative reason and its healing goodness and points back to it - that is a permanent, central task of the messengers of Jesus Christ." Not only by terminology but also with lyrical words of a sermon , the Pope describes this Christian commitment to the certainty "that the Lord our faith returns the pure breath - the breath of the Creator, breath of the Holy Spirit, can heal through the world alone. "

The healing miracles of Jesus and the apostles formed a subordinate element in their work around the kingdom of God, even if healing was an essential dimension of the Christian faith. As a reference to the benevolent power of God, these healings are a call to believe and to make use of the healing powers of God's reason, knowing that only becoming one with Jesus could be the true healing of man.

Through the calling of the twelve, Jesus reveals himself to be the new Jacob, the progenitor of the family of God, which has become universal, of ultimate Israel ( the twelve tribes of Israel are derived from the twelve sons of Jacob ). The twelve apostles, among them zealots (zealots), fishermen, tax collectors and others, were very different people, precisely in this way their community embodies the church of all times and the severity of their mission to unite people "in the zeal of Jesus Christ".

Chapter 7 - The message of the parables

After an overview of the history of the exegesis of the parables of Jesus, the Pope's interpretation of the content and purpose of the parables is presented.

In the whole message of Jesus the “kingdom of God” is compared with a seed in which the future, the plant growing out of it, is already hidden and present. The parable of seeds in the Synoptic Gospels says: the time of Jesus and his disciples is the time of sowing; the seed signifies the presence of the promise. In the Gospel of John, Jesus reveals the full meaning of this comparison with the grain: "When it dies, it bears abundant fruit". It becomes visible: the grain and the kingdom of God compared with it is Jesus himself (cf. also 3rd chapter) and Jesus' death on the cross brings the future, rich fruit of eternal life. The parables of Jesus would be deciphered on the cross so that they would belong to the mystery of the cross, to the divine mystery of Jesus.

In general, parables would help as didactic support to lead from one's own knowledge to the previously unknown. Jesus lead us from the everyday to the acting God, imparting new, performative knowledge that changes our life. The parables of Jesus are the ultimate expression of the secrecy of God in this world and also of the fact that the knowledge of God is one with life itself. Acquiring this knowledge requires God's gifted love that becomes visible, but also our ability to accept his love through repentance and faith: "In this sense, the essence of the message of Jesus himself appears in the parables."

The Pope explains the meaning of three selected large parable stories from the Gospel of Luke . The story of Jesus about the good Samaritan (Luke 10: 25-37) deals with the basic question of how the double commandment of love for God and neighbor should be applied to the practice of life: who is “the neighbor”?

The Samaritans were not considered neighbors in the land of Israel in Jesus' time, although they were also descended from Jacob. A Samaritan who found a victim who had been beaten half-dead on a dangerous road between Jerusalem and Jericho did not ask for the “radius of his solidarity obligations”, but made himself a neighbor. He binds up the victim that his actual “neighbors” hurry past and takes him to an inn to be looked after.

So Jesus turns the matter upside down. Being neighbor is not a question of a convention , but - as the Good Samaritan shows - must grow from within, one must become a lover: "Then I will find my neighbor, or better: Then I will be found by him."

The evangelists at the pulpit of the Church of St. Nicholas, Altstätten

In a deep dimension of the parable, the victim could be seen as the alienated, helpless person lying on the road to history; the Samaritan would then represent the image of Jesus: “... the mighty imperative that lies in the parable is not weakened by this, but only brought to its full size. The whole topic of love, which is the real punch line of the text, only gains its full breadth with this. ”People are not helped out of what is inherent in history:“ God, who is far away, made himself neighbor in Jesus Christ [...] with it we can become neighbors. ”He heal people and lead them to his inn, the church. “Each individual person is concerned with the two figures: everyone is“ alienated ”, especially alienated from love ... But everyone should then also become a Samaritan - follow Christ [...] Then we live properly. Then we really love when we become like him who loved us all first. (1 Jn 4:19) "

Chapter 8 - The great Johannine images

Introduction: The Johannine Question

In John's Gospel one does not hear parables, but instead great figurative speeches. In this Gospel - in contrast to the Synoptics  - the divinity of Jesus becomes quite uncovered. The otherness of the fourth canonical Gospel, which, in addition to its different image of Jesus, also differs from the three Synoptic Gospels in terms of content and language, prompted historical-critical research to view the Johannine text not as a source but as a theological work. Despite the rejection of this conclusion, the Pope recognizes positive results from historical research on John about the real life context of Jesus.

The Gospel of John calls its own author (without naming his name) as an eyewitness: a disciple of Jesus who also stood under the cross (Jn 21:24). Since Irenaeus of Lyons , he has been identified in church tradition with the apostle John Zebedee . Ratzinger relies on some recent exegetical studies, which at least assume that textual material goes back to an eyewitness who could have been this Jesus disciple. The complex final editing of the Gospel, however, came from a different author. Ratzinger accepts a disciple of the apostle John, the presbyter John , as the early church historian Eusebius of Caesarea said after reading the works of Bishop Papias of Hierapolis .

Through this connection of interpretations of the historical-critical Johannes research with the exegesis of the faith (cf. Preface Vol. 2 ) the Pope answers the core of the "Johannine question" about the historical credibility of the fourth Gospel with a stronger yes: "That The oneness of Logos [ God's Word ] and fact is the point at which the Gospel aims ”.

The Gospel is based on memory, which is personally accentuated by the hagiographer, but embodies in its subject the co-remembering in the We of the discipleship, We of the Church. This remembering is not a mere psychological or intellectual process, not a stenographic transcription of the words and ways of Jesus. Beyond human understanding and knowledge, the deepest memory is guided by the spirit of God, who is the spirit of truth. The Gospel, inspired by the Holy Spirit, guides us beyond the external - the “factum historicum” - into the depths of the Word and events that come from God and lead to God. The Gospel of John thus represents the authentic - historical and living - Jesus.

The great pictures of the Gospel of John

St. Urban , patron saint of winegrowers and winegrowers, with his attribute grape, fountain statue in Basel, around 1500

The water . The image of water and bread often appears in the Gospels, including John. Even Moses gave the people water from the rock and manna (bread) from heaven. Jesus, the promised new Moses, the Messiah, is himself the source ("But the rock was Christ", 1 Cor 10 : 3 et seq. EU ) of the hope- bearing  new water and bread, which through faith in Jesus the deeper thirst and hunger of the people according to " life in abundance " (Jn 10,10) and lead to eternal life. Water appears in many episodes: baptism, Nicodemus conversation , temple cleansing , Jacob's well , healings, feast of tabernacles, washing of feet , crucifixion . On the cross, fulfilling the prophecy, blood and water flow out of the pierced body of Christ (Jn 19:34). It is living, purifying water that Ezekiel and Zechariah promised to flow out of the temple. The new, real temple, God's living dwelling is Jesus, he is the source of love, the stream of which nourishes real, whole life.

Vine and wine . With the creation of the festive wine from water by Jesus at the wedding in Cana (Jn 2.1-12) - as well as with the multiplication of the bread - God's sign of abundance becomes visible, which anticipates the “glory” of Jesus, his self-waste for humanity, which begins at the moment of the cross. Jesus also identifies himself with the "true vine" (Jn 15: 1). As a Christological designation, the vine contains a whole ecclesiology , since it symbolizes the inseparable oneness of Jesus with his own, who through him and with him belong to the vine and are to remain in it. The eucharistic background of the vine can also be felt: its fruit, the new wine for God's wedding feast with people, is the love of Jesus given to them, in which we should remain. In this way, as branches of the vine, we can also bear true fruit with Christ and from Christ, love that has passed through God's purifications.

The bread . Already in the Old Testament it becomes clear that the real “bread from heaven” is the law, the word of God, whose incarnation in Jesus enables us to nourish us, so to speak, from the living God: “I am the bread of life” (Jn 6:35 ) Jesus reveals himself to the people after his bread miracle . In this great bread speech of Jesus, incarnation theology ( incarnation of God ) and cross theology (redemption sacrifice of Jesus on the cross), which is also central to the Synoptics and Paul, merge into one another; both are inseparable. The true, living bread from heaven - the  body of Christ  - is offered through the gift of the cross of the incarnate God: "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life" (Jn 6:54). Incarnation (flesh) and sacrifice (blood) are ordered in the speech to the sacrament , the holy Eucharist , which became the center of Christian existence. The body of Christ, God's Word incarnate, from which we can live in the depths as human beings, is only accessible through the cross and its transforming effect, and only through this can it also draw us into the transformation of Jesus with it: “From this great Eucharistic piety has to learn again and again in Christological, even cosmic dynamics . ”The words of Jesus“ It is the spirit that gives life, the flesh is useless ”(6,63) underlines this Easter perspective of the sacrament.

Image of Jesus as a Good Shepherd on the miter of Pope Benedict XVI.

Appointment of the apostle Peter to the pastoral office of Jesus at the St. Peter altar of the Muri monastery. (Painting by Rudolf Schwerter and Simon Bachmann, 1651/52)

The shepherd . The image of the shepherd has a long prehistory around the Holy Land, especially in the late Old Testament prophecy of Ezekiel and Zechariah, to which Jesus also refers in his pastoral speech ( Jn 10 : 1-30  EU ). "I am the good shepherd," he says, but the speech begins with: "I am the door of the sheep." Jesus is here the standard for subsequent him shepherd ( pastor ) of his flock (churchgoers), the only this door, through which he can enter, are admitted through that love that unites them with Jesus in acceptance of the cross and the willingness to sacrifice for the flock, as can be seen concretely in the appointment of Peter to the pastoral office of Jesus (Jn 21: 15-17) becomes. Thieves (ideologues, dictators) do not come through this door, which the sheep (people) see only as a thing to steal and kill. The focus of the Johannine shepherd speech expresses the completely opposite attitude: the devotion of Jesus on the cross for the life of his sheep, for the "life in abundance" of man.

Jesus is not only the shepherd, but also the nourishment of the flock, the true "pasture", the word, love, God himself, who is close to people, whom they need to give meaning to life. In this respect there is an inner relationship between Jesus' pictorial discourse about the shepherd and about bread. An essential motif of the shepherd's speech is the mutual knowledge of the shepherd and the flock, which is interwoven with the knowledge of each other between God the Father and the Son. This intertwining of two levels of knowledge - church and Trinitarian dialogue - is an important characteristic of the Gospel of John. The Greek word ta idia in the text means both to know and to belong . So this "knowing" includes an inner belonging - not in subordination, but in responsibility, through mutuality in granting freedom, love and knowing. In the shepherd's speech the inner reason of the missionary commission of Jesus (Mt 28:19) becomes visible: “There is only one Shepherd. The Logos, who became man in Jesus, is the Shepherd of all men [...] in all their dispersions they are one from him and towards him. "

Chapter 9 - Two Important Markings on Jesus' Path

The Peter Creed

When Jesus asked the apostles what people think of him and what they themselves see him for, Peter confesses : "You are the Messiah [the Christ]" ( Mk 8:29), "the Christ [anointed] of God" ( Lk 9:20), “You are the Christ [Messiah], the Son of the living God” ( Mt 16:16). Since the title Christ (Messiah) and Son of God was already linked in Psalms (2.7; 110), the difference between the Mark and Matthew versions is only slight. In spite of the context that deviates from the synoptic tradition (Jesus' Eucharistic Bread Discourse, see Chapter 8 ), Peter's Johannine confession of Christ is synonymous: “You are the Holy One of God” (Jn 6:69).

The word of Peter uttered in the “substantive” confessional formula (you are ) is followed by the “verbal” confession of Jesus with the Synoptics, in which he foretells his crucifixion and resurrection and explains the meaning of the cross following his disciples. These three elements (Peter's confession, announcement of salvation and instruction of the disciples ), which mark the beginning of Jesus' path of redemption, are inseparable. It is precisely through the mystery of the cross that Jesus proves himself to be the true Messiah. On the other hand, the announcement of salvation history would remain without essential depth if it is not precisely the Son of God, that is, God himself, who endures the path of suffering up to the death on the cross. The divinity of Jesus belongs together with the cross. “In this sense, only the interweaving of the profession of Peter and the teaching of the disciples through Jesus gives us the whole and essentials of the Christian faith.” Even with the deepest faith, Christians always need the Lord's instruction about the right path, “in this respect the scene retains an uncanny presence. "

While the disciples know his sonhood through their fellowship with Jesus and acknowledge him, the people of Israel only gain external knowledge about Jesus. Your opinion that he is a resurrected Jewish prophet - John the Baptist, Elijah or Jeremiah - approaches his figure somewhat, but does not come close to the essence of Jesus, to his novelty, uniqueness, which cannot be divided into any other category . Even today there is the opinion of "people" who have perhaps studied Jesus scientifically, absolutely love him, regard him as a guide of life or a person with a deep experience of God. Human experience, however, always remains limited, since it "mirrors God's infinite reality in the finite and limited of a human spirit and thus always only means a partial translation of the divine, also determined by the context of time and space."

Their direct experience of God through Jesus, on the other hand, shakes the disciples deeply, as happens after the abundant fishing at the calling of Peter (Lk 5: 8) or at the rescue of Peter from the lake through Jesus (Matt 14: 22-33) also leads to the confession of Peter: “Lord” or “You are God's Son”. The full form of the confession of God then appears in the Gospel of John, when the apostle Thomas touches the stigmata of the risen Jesus: “My Lord and my God” (Jn 20:28): “Throughout her entire history the church is making a pilgrimage to this word, which can only be grasped in contact with the wounds of Jesus and in the encounter with his resurrection and then becomes our mission. "

The transfiguration

In the synoptic story of the Transfiguration (Mt 17.1; Mk 9.2; Lk 9.28), which takes place after the confession of Peter, Jesus climbs with the apostles Peter, James and John on a high mountain - a place with special closeness to God - to pray. During prayer, Jesus' face shines like the sun and his clothes turn white. The innermost penetration of his being with God becomes visible as pure light. On the mountain, Jesus meets two prophets of the Old Covenant, Moses and Elijah. After Moses received the laws (Torah) from God on Mount Sinai, his face became radiant through the light of God (Ex. 34: 29-35). Jesus, on the other hand, shines from within; he himself is light. "Through baptism we were clothed in light with Jesus and became light ourselves."

Jesus speaks with the witnesses of God who appeared - also Passion witnesses - "about his 'exodus' [...] which was to be fulfilled in Jerusalem" (Lk 9:31). This exodus is the cross of Jesus, a liberating exodus in which the suffering Son of Man opens the door to the open and new and thus brings salvation to mankind. It becomes visible that the passion is transformed into light, freedom and joy. “The expectation of salvation and passion are thus consistently linked with one another, and thus a picture of salvation is developed that is in the depths of the scriptures, but was revolutionary new in relation to the existing expectations: Scripture had to be reread with the suffering Christ” and one always has to learn to understand anew from him, the risen One.

The disciples of Jesus wanted to build huts for him and the two prophets on the mountain, which are reminiscent of the revelation tent of Moses on Mount Sinai, but are even more related to the messianic meaning of the feast of tabernacles, on which the transfiguration takes place. This is why the basic word of John's prologue - “And the Word became flesh and camped among us” (Jn 1:14) - gets a new meaning: “Yes, the Lord has pitched the tent of his body among us and so the messianic time initiated. ”This means first of all the time of the cross. Like Peter, we must learn to understand "that the transfiguration - the becoming light from the Lord and with him - includes our being burned by the light of the passion."

During the Transfiguration, the scene of Jesus' baptism is repeated, in which God solemnly proclaims Jesus as Son from a cloud (see Chapter 1 ), supplemented here with the imperative: "You should listen to him." This imperative word sums up the deepest meaning of the Transfiguration together. What Peter tries to say in his confession (see Peter's Confession) becomes sensually perceptible during the Transfiguration: Jesus' own lightness as the Son of God.

Chapter 10 - Self-Statements of Jesus

Christ (Messiah), Kyrios (Lord), Son of God - in these three christological sovereign titles, people's interpretations of the nature of Jesus crystallized after Easter. Of these, Jesus only used "Son of God" to refer to himself a few times. He referred to himself as a "son of man " and - especially in the Johannes texts - simply as a "son". There is also another word with which Jesus himself hides and reveals his essence at the same time: "It is I". All three words are deeply rooted in the Old Testament, but will only receive their full meaning in Jesus and thus express the originality of Jesus - his newness, that which is only his own, that which cannot be derived.

The Son of Man predication, which is typical of Jesus' own words, is used in three relationships: the coming Son of Man, his earthly work, as well as his passion and resurrection. In the parable of the Last Judgment , Jesus does not clearly state that the coming Son of Man is himself. "But the functional identification in the parallelism of confession and denial now and in the judgment, before Jesus and the Son of Man, only makes sense on the basis of being-based identity." In other Gospel texts, where Jesus talks about the divine authority of the Son of Man (Lord speaks about the Sabbath, forgiveness of sins), the association of the title with Jesus is clearly carried out. The inner center of Jesus 'prediction about his passion ( Mk 10.45  EU ), which takes up a word from the prophet's song about the suffering servant of God ( Isa 53  EU ), shows the fulfillment of the universality of Jesus' mission as savior and savior. Coming world judge and victim of suffering - this is how the unity of lowliness and highness becomes visible. The word Son of Man, which means “man” in Hebrew and Aramaic, was not a common title of messianic hope in the Old Covenant. Only in the Daniel vision ( Dan 7,13f.  EU ) is the Son of Man established as ruler over a final and eternal, universal kingdom of salvation that comes from God. The word “Son of Man”, which has remained reserved for Jesus, expresses a new vision of the oneness of God and man that has shaped the entire New Testament: “In the riddle of the Son of Man, we encounter very closely the original character of Jesus, his mission and his being. He comes from God, he is God. But just in this way he brings true humanity - in accepting being human. "

The word “Son of God” comes from the political theology of the ancient Orient. In Egypt and Babylon the king was declared as the son of God during the accession ritual, later also in Israel as a mythical "procreation" from God: "You are my son, today I have begotten you" ( Psalm 2 , 7). Early Christianity soon saw this word realized in the resurrection of Jesus. Mark wrote: “And a voice from heaven said: You are my beloved son, I have taken pleasure in you.” (Mk 1,11) The title “Son of God” was removed from the political sphere which God ordered King, Jesus, does not rule by force, but in a completely new way, "through faith and love, no different". However, since Augustus - under whose rule Jesus was born - the Roman emperors also claimed this title for themselves; for the Christians then, as always under totalitarian political powers, it brought inevitable clashes.

The mere word son does not have a complex word history, one hears it almost exclusively from Jesus, predominantly in the Gospel of John. It comes from Jesus praying, as a correspondence with his address to God, "Father". In the cheers of the synoptics - "... nobody knows the Son, only the Father, and nobody knows the Father, only the Son ..." (Mt 11.25ff; Lk 10.21f) - and in the prologue of John - "Nobody ever has God seen. The only one who is God […] has brought tidings ”(Jn 1:18) - it becomes clear that“ the Son ”means in a profound sense a perfect community of knowledge of Jesus with the Father, which is the same as community of being, since mutual knowledge is always includes a kind of inner becoming one of those involved (see Chapter 8, The Good Shepherd). The essence of Jesus is wholly “relational”; H. in his whole being he is nothing but relationship to the Father. The unity of the will of the son and the father is a continuous motif of the Gospels (the entire Johannine theology of the sons is already included in the synoptic cheer). “The act of consenting and merging of both wills is shown dramatically in the Mount of Olives hour.” We are to be involved in this drama of the struggle of Jesus' whole life and work - this is what one wishes with the second petition of the Lord's Prayer (see chapter 5): "... that with him, the Son, we consent to the will of the Father and thus become sons ourselves: in the unity of will that becomes a unity of knowledge." For this one needs a pure heart: "Blessed are the pure of heart because they will see God. ”(Mt 5: 8) The word Son with its equivalent Father allows“ us to really look into the interior of Jesus, indeed the interior of God himself. ”

The revelation word “ I am ” also stands entirely in the relationality between father and son. The spiritual root of this enigmatic word can be found in the Old Testament, above all in God's thorn bush revelation: “I am who I am” (Ex 3.14) and in its development in the Isaiah formula: “So that you know and believe me that it is me ”(Is 43.10f), as an expression of the uniqueness of the one God.

The “I am” word of Jesus, which “exegesis […] understandably set out” to resolve, does not appear next to the father's ego, but refers to him - the Pope confirms an interpretation by Heinrich Zimmermann . It shows the uniqueness of Jesus, who extends the Revelation formula into future history: "When you have exalted the Son of Man, you will know that it is I" (Jn 8:28), Jesus said in the temple as a teacher in response to the question of Jews for who he is. On the cross, which is the true “height”, the height of love “to the end” (John 13: 1), his sonship and his oneness with the Father can be recognized.

When Jesus crossed the water towards the boat of his disciples, which was in a storm, he said to the frightened disciples: “Have courage! It's me. Do not be afraid! ”(Mk 6.50). At first glance, one thinks of an identification formula to calm the disciples. “But this interpretation doesn't quite work”, since the fear of the disciples only increases with the sudden calm at the moment Jesus enters the boat. They experience the typical “theophanic” fear of the immediate presence of God: for calming the wind and walking over water is - as Job also says (9: 8) - God's business. The direct encounter of the disciples with the divinity of Jesus logically leads to their confession: “Truly, you are the Son of God” (Mt 14.33). The word “I am” appears exactly seven times in Johannes also in concrete figurative words: I am the bread of life - the light of the world - the door - the good shepherd - the resurrection and life - the way and the truth and the life - the true vine (cf. chapter 8 ) through which Jesus offers “ life in fullness ”, the kingdom of God. “Jesus gives us“ life ”because he gives us God. He can give it because he is one with God himself. "

The evolving church has put the content of all three words of Jesus into the word “Son of God” and has determined their meaning against mythical-polytheistic and political interpretations in the word “equally essential” ( 1st Council of Nicaea ). "In the confession of Nicea, the Church says anew with Peter to Jesus:" You are the Christ, the Son of the living God "(Mt 16:16)."

General facts about the book

The book was first published in German (original language), Polish, Italian, English, French, Czech, Greek, and later in 8 other languages. According to the publisher, the total worldwide circulation of the book is now around two million copies (as of 2011). First editions: 450,000 copies in German, 510,000 in Italian, 100,000 in Polish. No figures are yet available on the requirements in the USA and France. Translations into a total of 32 languages ​​are planned. At the beginning, a circulation of 150,000 was planned in Germany. After half a year in October 2007, the book, initially in 15 language editions, had a circulation of two million copies. In 2007 a German audio book version was published, read by Hans-Peter Bögel .

reception

The book was welcomed by biblical scholars in part as a reference to necessary methodological extensions. In parallel to the Pope's demarcations, on the other hand, contradictions in the basic approach as well as individual statements about how in today's historical Jesus research are mostly attempted to reconstruct the person of Jesus of Nazareth were pointed out .

The Catholic New Testament scholar Thomas Söding highlights the exegetical and theological novelty of the Jesus books by Pope Benedict XVI. and recalls that the author of the postulate of the Second Vatican Council, which evaluates the interpretation of Scripture as the "soul of the whole of theology" ( Dei Verbum 24 ), at that time in a commentary for "the systemic form of Catholic theology had a downright revolutionary meaning" (Ratzingers Words). Söding continues: "He carried out this revolution himself with the two books of Jesus and thus set an unmistakable sign of ecumenism that gives the best possible testimony to the modernity of his theology." Söding believes that the criticism desired by the Pope reflects the theological level of Jesus- Book could hardly achieve "if it overlooks a decisive discovery: Jesus, seen entirely from God, can really be the friend of people". Söding notes that both volumes of the book, which invite dialogue, are written in such a profiled manner that they almost challenge contradiction.

The evangelical exegete and theologian Jörg Frey considers the Jesus book to be a special event, both in terms of science and church history, as well as ecumenically: “Such an openness of thought, a confidence in the power of one's own arguments, which can explicitly do without it Claiming higher authority appears to be unique in the history of the Roman Catholic teaching office and is one that can hardly be overestimated, and I add: a long-awaited ecumenical signal. "

In April 2007, the Göttingen theologian Gerd Lüdemann, who said he was an unbeliever, named the Pope Benedict XVI. written Jesus book an "embarrassing derailment". Using numerous text examples, he tried to prove that Joseph Ratzinger spanned historical-critical biblical criticism in front of the cart of the Roman Catholic faith and was intellectually implausible:

• The names of the authors of the Gospel materials and those of the Evangelists are unknown, the Gospels were written late and, in particular, the secondary Gospel of John is historically untrustworthy.
• J. Ratzinger believes that in the beginning there was greatness, that Jesus' status as an incarnated deity was evident to his disciples - albeit as a secret of faith. In school exegesis, on the other hand, the thesis is put forward that “early Christian communities creatively developed the oldest Christian doctrine of Christ”. It is therefore indisputable that “false words of Jesus” existed in the Gospels.
• “Jesus did not see himself as God” (cf. Mk 10.18  EU ), contrary to the interpretation, for example, that Jesus refers to himself with the proximity of the kingdom of God .

The New Testament scholar Klaus Berger countered that Benedict XVI. apply a legitimate pluralism of methods that has become topical again in the last 20 years. “In his book, the Pope brings together what exegesis tore apart.” Critical exegesis has always wanted to play the “real Jesus” against the church that emerged later.

Shortly after publication, eleven German-speaking biblical scholars and one exegete responded to the request for discussion with differentiated approval and rejection of individual aspects. Overall, however, they rejected the approach that precisely the Jesus of the Gospels is historically more plausible than the arduous attempts at reconstruction of past centuries.

In continuation of this criticism, the biblical theologian Wim Weren notes that Ratzinger does not define the terms “the real Jesus” and “the historical Jesus”, but thereby identifies the unjustifiably unified images of Jesus in the Gospels based on the Gospel of John. Although the faith of Jesus as a pious Jew must be historically taken into account, the view is "exegetically unorthodox", the Johannine theology of the eternal sonship of God goes back to Jesus himself. To substantiate this, the Pope relies on only a few recent studies, which assume that the text tradition goes back to an eyewitness. Despite valid exegetical observations, the results of Ratzinger's Canonical Exegesis are not the results of historical research into Jesus' self-image. This also contradicts the sense of this direction, which emerged in the USA, which understands biblical texts from the later context of the canon and "does not want to do any historical research" (Ebner).

Remarks

1. ↑ Christian faith is an option not only for the primacy of thought through an all-encompassing awareness of materiality, but also for the primacy of the particular (uniqueness of every human being) over the general (human being as an individual of an archetype) and for the primacy of freedom over one cosmic natural law determinism: "To this extent, one could describe Christian faith to a high degree as a philosophy of freedom." (Ratzinger: Introduction to Christianity , pp. 120–123). Bonaventure tried to describe this in his doctrine of enlightenment as a synthesis of Platonic idealism and Aristotelian empiricism (cf. Joseph Ratzinger: Revelation and salvation history according to the teaching of St. Bonaventure , see literature).
2. ↑ Through this participation in the trinitarian divine being people can become the owners of their own being and from there God, who is the totality of being, can be "defined as freedom in person". - Joseph Ratzinger: Freedom and Bonding in the Church , Association of Friends of the University of Regensburg, Issue 7, 1981.
3. ↑ “The right to believe is the very core of human freedom; where this right lapses, the lapse of all other liberties follows with internal logic. This right is at the same time the real gift of freedom that Christian faith has brought into the world. [...] Freedom of conscience is the core of all freedom. ”- Joseph Ratzinger: Freedom and commitment in the church , Association of Friends of the University of Regensburg, issue 7, 1981.
4. ↑ Cf. also sermon by Benedict XVI. , Easter Communion Mass, Lateran Basilica, April 5, 2012: “If man stands against God, he stands against his truth and is therefore not free, but alienated. We are only free when we are in our truth, when we are one with God. Then we really become "like God" - not by opposing, abolishing or denying God. In the struggling prayer of the Mount of Olives, Jesus resolved the false contrast between obedience and freedom and opened the way to freedom. "
5. ^ Pope Benedict XVI .: Apostolic Letter Verbum Domini (2010): “The historical fact is a basic dimension of the Christian faith. The history of salvation is not a mythology, but real history and must therefore be examined with the methods of serious historical science. "
6. ↑ This chapter is largely identical to the text from the book Joseph Ratzinger: On the way to Jesus Christ . Verlag Sankt Ulrich, Augsburg 2003, pp. 84-89 ''.
7. ↑ cf. Encyclical Spe Salvi (“Saved in Hope”) by Pope Benedict XVI. (2007): “In our language, one would say: The Christian message was not only 'informative', but 'performative' - that is, the Gospel is not just a communication of what can be known; it is communication that works the facts and changes life. The dark door of time, of the future, has been blown open. Those who have hope live differently; he has been given a new life. "
8. ↑ cf. Christmas message 2010 from Pope Benedict XVI. With encouragement from Christians persecuted for their beliefs, “May the celebration of the birth of the Savior strengthen the believers of the Church in continental China in a spirit of faith, patience and courage that they cannot because of restrictions on their freedom of religion and conscience despair, but persevere in fidelity to Christ and his Church and keep the flame of hope alive. "
9. ↑ cf. with the expression "dictatorship of happiness" [= compulsion to pursue everything that is currently considered happiness], Christmas sermon 2010 by Archbishop Robert Zollitsch in the Freiburg Cathedral .
10. ↑ The word morality in quotation marks refers to a harsh remark by Nietzsche , in which he described the “morality of Christianity” as a “capital crime against life”.
11. ↑ Jesus does not negate “the creation intention” and family character of the Sabbath, but rather he creates “a new, wider space” for them. The day of rest shifted to the day of Jesus' resurrection , the first day of creation, Sunday, would thus retain its basic Old Testament function.
12. ↑ Obedience to the Spirit of God
13. ↑ Expression of Paul's letter to the Galatians, who writes in it: “You are called to freedom. [...] Only do not use freedom as a pretext for the flesh, but serve one another in love! "
14. ↑ cf. Deus caritas est (“God is love”), 1st encyclical from Pope Benedict XIV. (2005): “With the centrality of love, Christian faith has absorbed what was the inner center of Israel's faith, and this center at the same time a new depth and given width. […] Jesus combined this commandment to love God with that of neighborly love from the book of Leviticus : 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself' (19, 18) into a single commission (cf. Mk 12, 29-31). "
15. ↑ cf. Spe Salvi (“Saved in Hope”), encyclical of Pope Benedict XVI. (2007), chapter “Prayer as a School of Hope”: “From thirteen years in prison, nine of which spent in solitary confinement, the unforgettable Cardinal Nguyen Van Thuan left us a precious little book: Prayers of Hope. Thirteen years in prison, in a situation of seemingly total hopelessness, listening to God and being able to talk to him has become a growing force of hope […] Cardinal Nguyen Van Thuan told in his book of exercises […] how he addressed the The Church's words of prayer: the Our Father, the Ave Maria, the prayers of the liturgy. "
16. ↑ Ratzinger: Introduction to Christianity , p. 240: “... God who identifies himself with his creature and in this 'contineri a minimo' poses that 'abundance' that identifies him as God in being encompassed and overpowered by the least. "(" Non coerceri maximo, contineri minimo, divinum est - not to be enclosed by the greatest, to be enclosed by the smallest - that is divine "- Holderlin - quote from Hyperion )
17. ↑ cf. also Dei Verbum , document of the Second Vatican Council on divine revelation (Chapter III, 12): “If one wants to understand correctly what the holy author wanted to say in his scriptures, one finally has to precisely respond to the given environmental thought and language - and pay attention to narrative forms that prevailed at the time of the author, as well as the forms that were then common in everyday human interaction. "
18. ↑ Ratzinger: Introduction to Christianity , p. 195: “In the picture of the pierced side, not only the cross scene culminates for John, but the whole story of Jesus. Now, after the stab of the lance that ends his earthly life, his existence is completely open; now he is entirely «for» [...] It is the beginning of a new, definitive community of people with one another; Blood and water stand here as their symbols, with which John refers to the basic Christian sacraments of baptism and the Eucharist and through them to the church as the sign of the new communion of men. "
19. ↑ Ratzinger: Introduction to Christianity , pp. 52–53: “Christian faith is more than an option for a spiritual foundation in the world, its central formula is not 'I believe something', but 'I believe in you'. He is an encounter with the person Jesus and in such an encounter experiences the meaning of the world as a person. [...] Christian faith lives from the fact that there is not only objective meaning, but that this meaning knows and loves me [...] So faith, trust and love are ultimately one, and all the content around which faith revolves is only Concretizations of the turning point, of 'I believe in you' - the discovery of God in the face of the person Jesus of Nazareth. "Benedict XVI., Encyclical Deus Caritas Est (217-218):" ... at the beginning of being a Christian [...] not ethical decision or a big idea [is], but the encounter with an event, with a person who gives our life a new horizon and thus its decisive direction. "
20. ↑ Ratzinger: Introduction to Christianity , p. 190: “The full incarnation of man presupposes the incarnation of God; Only in it is the Rubicon from the "animal" to the "logical" definitely crossed and that beginning led to its highest potential, which began when a being made of dust and earth was able to say you to God for the first time looking beyond himself and his surroundings. "
21. ↑ Ratzinger: Introduction to Christianity , p. 146: “'Son' for John means being-from-the-other; With this word he defines the being of this person as being from the other and towards the others, as a being that is completely open on both sides, does not know any reserve space of the mere I. When it becomes so clear that the being of Jesus as the Christ is a completely open being [...] which nowhere clings to itself and nowhere only stands on itself, then it is at the same time clear that this being is pure relationship (not substantiality ) and pure unity as a pure relationship. "and p. 147:" The essence of the trinitarian personality is to be pure relation and thus absolute unity. "

Bibliographical information

Title information

• Joseph Ratzinger - Benedict XVI .: Jesus of Nazareth - Volume 1: From Baptism in the Jordan to the Transfiguration . Herder Verlag , Freiburg im Breisgau / Basel / Vienna 2007, ISBN 3-451-29861-9 (German-language original edition)

Other volumes in the trilogy

• Jesus of Nazareth - Volume 2: From Entry into Jerusalem to Resurrection . Herder, 2011, ISBN 978-3-451-32999-9 .
• Jesus of Nazareth. Prologue - The Childhood Stories . Herder, 2012, ISBN 978-3-451-34999-7 .

literature

Thematically linked books by the author

• Joseph Ratzinger: Introduction to Christianity - Lectures on the Apostles' Creed . Kösel-Verlag, Munich 1968 (especially second main part - Jesus Christ )
• Joseph Ratzinger: On the way to Jesus Christ . Sankt Ulrich Verlag, Augsburg 2003, ISBN 3-936484-63-5 .
• Joseph Ratzinger: Revelation and salvation history according to the teaching of St. Bonaventure . Habilitation thesis, 1955. Reprint of the original version in: Gerhard Ludwig Müller (Ed.): Joseph Ratzinger Collected Writings , Volume 2. Understanding of Revelation and the Theology of History of Bonaventura . Herder Verlag, Freiburg / Basel / Vienna 2009, ISBN 978-3-451-30130-8 .
• Joseph Ratzinger: People and House of God in Augustine's Doctrine of the Church . Dissertation, Munich 1954.

Secondary literature

• Hermann Häring (Ed.): "Jesus of Nazareth" in the scientific discussion . Lit, Vienna / Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-8258-0823-5 .
• Thomas Söding (Ed.): The Pope's Jesus Book. The answer of the New Testament scholars . Herder Verlag, Freiburg 2007, ISBN 978-3-451-29716-8 .
• Jan-Heiner Tück (Ed.): Approaches to "Jesus of Nazareth" - The Pope's Book in Discussion . Matthias Grünewald Verlag of Schwabenverlag AG, Ostfildern 2007, ISBN 978-3-7867-2696-8 .
• Jan Roß : The Pope as an essayist . In: Die Zeit , No. 15/2007

Web links

• Website of the book at Verlag Herder
• Martin Lohmann: The new book of the Pope: Tender words for Jesus. In: welt.de . April 7, 2007, accessed November 1, 2011 . 
• Werner Löser SJ: Twelve approximations on a first reading - book review. (PDF; 57 kB) St. Georgen University of Philosophy and Theology , Frankfurt am Main - Virtual Reading Room, April 2007, accessed on November 27, 2011 . 
• Reviews from numerous newspapers and magazines, on theologie-und-kirche.de

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Dei Verbum, point 12 : “Since God spoke through men in the manner of men in Scripture, in order to grasp what God wanted to tell us, the writer must carefully investigate what the holy writers really intended to say and what God was talking about wanted to make known her words. In order to determine the intention of the hagiograph to make statements, one must pay attention to the literary genres, among other things. [...] Furthermore, the explainer has to search for the meaning that the hagiographer wanted to express from a given situation according to the conditions of his time and culture - with the help of the literary genres customary at the time - and actually expressed it. If one wants to understand correctly what the holy author wanted to say in his writing, one finally has to pay close attention to the given environmental forms of thought, language and narration that prevailed at the time of the author, as well as the forms that were then used in everyday human interaction were common. [...] It is the task of the exegetes to work towards a deeper understanding and interpretation of the meaning of the Holy Scriptures according to these rules, so that the judgment of the Church matures on the basis of scientific preparatory work. Everything that concerns the way in which the scriptures are explained is ultimately subject to the judgment of the Church, whose devoted mission and service is to preserve and interpret the word of God ”.
2. ↑ Introduction and commentary on the Proemium, on Chapters I, II and VI of the Revelation Constitution "Dei Verbum" . In: Lexicon for Theology and Church , Supplementary Volume 2, Freiburg, 1967.
3. ↑ The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church , Study of the Pontifical Biblical Commission, presided over by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, 1993.
4. ↑ ^{a b} Thomas Söding (Ed.): Death and Resurrection of Jesus - Theological Answers to the Book of the Pope . Herder Verlag, Freiburg im Breisgau 2011, ISBN 978-3-451-30511-5
5. ↑ ^{a b c d e} W.JC Weren: The Pope's Jesus book and the Christologies of the gospels. (PDF) In: HTS Theologiese Studies / Theological Studies. 2011, p. 67 (1), Art. # 831 , accessed on November 1, 2011 (English). 
6. ↑ Rudolf Zewell: The Jesus Seeker. In: Rheinischer Merkur . April 12, 2007, archived from the original on September 3, 2012 ; Retrieved November 1, 2011 . 
7. ↑ ^{a b} A Pope writes a book about Jesus. In: N24 . April 13, 2007, archived from the original on October 12, 2007 ; Retrieved November 1, 2011 . 
8. ↑ cf. Psalm 27: 8: “My heart reminds you: 'Seek my face!' - I seek your face, Lord. "
9. ↑ Page 22 of the book, quoted in: Benedict XVI. - His book about Jesus Christ. In: Saint Josemaría Escriva . Opus Dei Information Office on the Internet, accessed November 1, 2011 . 
10. ↑ page 38
11. ^ Dogmatic Constitution, Dei Verbum, on Divine Revelation. Chapter V, 19. In: Online archive, documents of the Second Vatican Council: Constitutions. Vatican Publishing Bookstore, accessed November 1, 2011 . 
12. ^ Constitution dogmatica de divina revelatione, Dei Verbum. Chapter V, 19. In: Online archive, documents of the Second Vatican Council: Constitutions. Vatican Publishing Bookstore, accessed November 1, 2011 (Latin). 
13. ↑ Paul Badde : Strong sentences - the Pope book saves Jesus. In: welt.de . April 13, 2007, accessed November 1, 2011 . 
14. ↑ The appearance of the Baptist
15. ↑ Vatican: Jesus, the bestseller
16. ↑ Jörg Frey: Historically - canonical - ecclesiastical: To Joseph Ratzinger's picture of Jesus . ( Memento from December 25, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Ludwig Maximilians University Munich , 2007.
17. ↑ Gerd Lüdemann: Pope Benedict's Jesus book. An embarrassing derailment. In: Spiegel Online . April 26, 2007, accessed November 1, 2011 . 
18. ^ Gerd Lüdemann: An embarrassing misrepresentation. (PDF; 34 kB) In: secularhumanism.org. October 2007, p. 63f , accessed on November 1, 2011 (English). 
19. ^ Klaus Berger: An emergency for the exegetes. In: Rheinischer Merkur No. 21 May 24, 2007, archived from the original on October 20, 2007 ; Retrieved November 1, 2011 . 
20. ↑ Thomas Söding 2007.