Step 2 We Confess that Jesus Christ can lead us to the fullness of life- Jesus of Nazareth.

12 STEP CATHOLIC SPIRITUALITY SERIES.

I started this series in September 2018 and will continue with the series this year.  If you have not read the first posts, click here to read.  This series is based on the 12 Steps of AA and could have easily been called 12 Step Christian Anon programme.  However, I prefer to think of it as a 12 Step guide to Catholic spirituality

Today we continue on with 

Step 2: We Confess that Jesus Christ can lead us to the fullness of life.

JESUS OF NAZARETH

Everything we know about Jesus of Nazareth comes to us from within the context of Christian faith traditions.  The few secular references to him say very little, and most seem to draw their information from the Church anyway.  It would, therefore, be impossible to speak about Jesus without utilising biblical information regarding his life, ministry and meaning.  Apart from the New Testament, we know very little about Jesus.

Because the New Testament is so obviously an expression of the faith of the early Church, many have raised questions concerning the literal historicity of its contents.  During the past century, Scripture scholarship has made much headway in this area;we now realise that the authors of the Gospels were not trying to write historical documents in accord with the norms and constraints of 20th century historians.  They give very little information that might be useful to historians, being concerned instead with the meaning of Jesus' life and ministry,death and Resurrection.

There are, a few historical kernels to be gleaned from the Gospels, and these in themselves say quite a lot.  We know, for example, that Jesus of Nazareth really did live in Judea apparently during the reign of Tiberius Caesar.  His crucifixion unquestionably  belongs history, a death reserved for the the most heinous criminals was not the kind of death a community would have chosen for its hero.  Jesus was certainly a Jew, and we know from his recorded words that he was familiar with the beliefs and traditions of the monotheistic Judaism of his day.  Few would doubt that he was a man in whom a powerful teaching and unusual healing ministry were at work.

Finally, the Church's proclamation of the Resurrection has historical beginnings, as do the persecutions which followed. Except for the above, almost everything else in the New Testament is theological rather than historical in nature.

It is the proclamation of his Resurrection that makes Jesus quite unique amount the religious characters of history. Were it not for this belief, there is unlikely to be no Church or bible.  

''And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is void of content'' (I Cor 15:14).  Although Jesus was indeed a great moral teacher, this is not the main reason why he is remembered.  The Resurrection is the key.

After all arguments in favour of the Resurrection have been advanced, belief rests, finally, on the world of those who maintained they experienced the risen Christ- namely the apostles and several others from the inner circle of devotees.  No one saw Jesus rise from the the dead, and eve his missing corpse can be explained away as theft.  But the fact that this belief brought scorn and, eventually, martyrdom to those who first proclaimed it lends weight to their testimony.  Even a atheist must admit that, rightly or wrongly, the apostles and their communities really believed that Jesus of Nazareth rose from the dead to new life.

We, today, even with the help of modern scientific investigation, cannot prove whether Jesus did or did not rise from the death (The Shroud of Turin not withstanding).  With those who first heard the proclamation, we can either accept or reject the message.

Many through the ages have chosen to reject the Gospel on various grounds, the most frequent being that it is a story fabricated by fanatics to assuage their embarrassment caused by following a teacher who was crucified.  And look how many unusual stories and religious claim we find among religious of the world.  Certainly, we have neither time nor patience to give our attention to every capricious whim or fantastic tale that confronts us during our few years on earth.  

Something about the Jesus story is qualitatively different from most cultists claims and fanatics promises, however.  What if be really rise from the dead?  What if it is true?  Because rejection of this story and its implications would constitute such a devastatingly major life blunder if it is not true, serious consideration by everyone must be a minimal response to the Gospel.