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Pope Benedict XVI- General Audiences |
General
Audience
On How St. Paul Knew Christ
"Jesus Lives Now and Speaks With Us Now"
H.H. Benedict XVI
October 8, 2008
www.zenit.org
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
In the previous catecheses on St. Paul, I spoke of his encounter with
the Risen Christ, which fundamentally changed his life, and then of his
relationship with the Twelve Apostles called by Jesus, particularly with
Sts. James, Peter and John, and of his relationship with the Church of
Jerusalem.
The question that now remains is what St. Paul knew of the earthly
Jesus: of his life, his teachings, his passion. Before entering into
this question it could be useful to have in mind that Paul himself
distinguished two ways of knowing Jesus and, in general, two ways of
knowing a person.
He writes in the Second Letter to the Corinthians: "Consequently, from
now on we regard no one according to the flesh; even if we once knew
Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know him so no longer” (5:16).
To know "according to the flesh," in a corporeal way, means to know only
from the outside, with external criteria: one can see a person many
times, recognize the individual's facial characteristics and the many
details of how he acts: how he talks, moves, etc. Yet, even knowing
someone in this way, one does not really know the person, one doesn't
know the nucleus of the person. Only with the heart is one able to truly
know a person.
In fact the Pharisees, the Sadducees, knew Christ from the outside, they
heard his teachings, and knew many details of him, but they did not know
him in his truth. There is an analogous distinction in the words of
Jesus. After the Transfiguration, he asked the apostles: "Who do people
say I am?" And, "Who do you say that I am?" The people know him, but
superficially; they know many things about him, but they do not really
know him. On the other hand, thanks to their friendship, and the role of
their hearts, the Twelve at least substantially understood and began to
learn more of who Christ really was.
This distinctive manner of knowing also exists today: There are learned
individuals who know many details of Christ, and simple people who don't
know these details, but they know Christ in his truth: "The heart speaks
to the heart." And Paul essentially says that he knows Jesus in this
way, with the heart, and that he knows essentially the person in his
truth; and then afterward, he knows the details.
Having said this, the question remains: What did Paul know about the
life, words, passion and miracles of Jesus? It seems he never met Christ
during his early life. Surely he learned the details of Christ's earthly
life from the apostles and the nascent Church. In his letters we find
three forms of reference to the pre-Easter Jesus. First, there are
explicit and direct references. Paul spoke of the Davidic lineage of
Jesus (cf. Romans 1:3), he knew of the existence of his "brothers" or
blood relatives (1 Corinthians 9:5; Galatians 1:19), he knew of the
development of the Last Supper (cf 1 Corinthians 11:23). He know other
phrases of Jesus, for example on the indissolubility of marriage (cf 1
Corinthians 7:10 with Mark 10:11-12), on the need that those who
announce the Gospel be sustained by the community as the worker deserves
his wage (cf 1 Corinthians 9:14 with Luke 10:7). Paul knew the words
Jesus spoke at the Last Supper (cf 1 Corinthians 11:24-25 with Luke
22:19-20), and he also knew the cross of Jesus. These are direct
references to the words and facts of the life of Jesus.
Second, we can see in some phrases of the Pauline letters various
allusions to the confirmed tradition in the synoptic Gospels. For
example, the words we read in 1 Thessalonians, according to which "the
day of the Lord will come like a thief at night” (5:2), cannot be
explained by referring to the Old Testament prophecies, because the
metaphor of the thief at night is only found in the Gospels of Matthew
and Luke, hence taken from the synoptic tradition. And when one reads
that God "chose the foolish of the world" (1 Corinthians 1:27-28), one
notes the faithful echo of the teachings of Jesus on the simple and the
poor (cf Matthew 5:3; 11:25; 19:30). There are also the words of Jesus
in the messianic Jubilee: “I give you praise, Father, Lord of heaven and
earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the
learned you have revealed them to the childlike.” Paul knows -- from his
missionary experience -- that these words are true, those who are
childlike are the ones who have their hearts open to knowledge of
Christ. Also, the mention of the obedience of Jesus "to death" that is
found in Philippians 2:8 can't but point to the total willingness of the
earthly Christ to fulfill the will of the Father (cf Mark 3:35; Jn
4:34).
Paul therefore knew the passion of Christ, his cross, and the way in
which he lived the last moments of his life. The cross of Jesus and the
tradition regarding the fact of the cross is at the center of the
Pauline Kerygma. Another pillar of the life of Jesus that Paul knew was
the Sermon on the Mount, some elements of which he cites almost
literally when he writes to the Romans: "Love one another. ... Blessed
are the persecuted. ... Live in peace with all. ... Overcome evil with
good." In his letters there is a faithful expression of the Sermon on
the Mount (cf Matthew 5-7).
Finally, it is possible to find a third way that the words of Jesus are
in the letters of Paul: It is when he transposed the pre-Easter
tradition to the post-Easter period. A typical example is the theme of
the Kingdom of God. This is certainly at the center of the preaching of
the historical Christ (cf Matthew 3:2; Mark 1:15; Luke 4:43). In Paul
the transposition of this theme is revealed, for after the resurrection
it is evident that Jesus, the Resurrected One, is the Kingdom of God.
The Kingdom, then, is where Jesus is. And then necessarily the theme of
the Kingdom of God, in which the mystery of Christ had been anticipated,
is transformed into Christology.
Jesus' own instructions for entering the Kingdom of God are valid for
Paul in regard to the justification by faith: Both require an attitude
of great humility and availability, free of presumptions, to receive the
grace of God. For example, the parable of the Pharisee and the publican
(cf Luke 18:9-14) teaches exactly what St. Paul discusses when he
insists that nobody should glorify themselves in the presence of God.
Also, the teaching of Jesus on the publicans and the prostitutes, who
are more willing than the Pharisees to receive the Gospel (cf Matthew
21:31; Luke 7:36-50), and his decisions to share a table with them (cf
Matthew 9:10-13; Luke 15:1-2), are found in the doctrine of Paul on the
mysterious love of God toward sinners (cf Romans 5:8-10 and Ephesians
2:3-5). In this way the theme of the Kingdom of God is proposed in a new
manner, but always faithful to the tradition of the historic Jesus.
Another example of the faithful transposition of the doctrinal nucleus
of Jesus is found in the "titles" that refer to him. Before Easter,
Christ called himself "Son of Man"; after Easter it is evident that the
Son of Man is also the Son of God. Therefore, the preferred title of
Paul for Jesus is "Kyrios" -- Lord (cf Phillipians 9:11) -- that
indicates the divinity of Jesus. With this title the Lord Jesus appears
in the full light of his resurrection.
On the Mount of Olives, in the moment of Jesus' extreme anguish (cf Mark
14:36), the disciples, before going to sleep, heard how Jesus spoke with
the Father and called him "Abba -- Father.” This is a very informal
word, equal to "daddy," used only by children for their father. Until
that moment it was unthinkable that a Hebrew use a word such as that to
address God; but Jesus, being truly a son, talked in this way during
this hour of intimacy and said "Abba, Father."
In the letters of St. Paul to the Romans and Galatians, surprisingly,
this word "Abba," which expresses the exclusivity of the sonship of
Jesus, appears in the mouths of the baptized (cf Romans 8:15; Galatians
4:6). They have received the "Spirit of the Son" and now carry in
themselves this Spirit, and they can talk as Jesus and with Jesus as
true sons of the Father. They can say "Abba" because they have been
converted into sons and daughters in the Son.
And finally, I would like to point out the salvific dimension of the
death of Jesus, as we find in the Gospel in which "the Son of Man did
not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for
many” (Mark 10:45; Matthew 20:28). The faithful expression of this
phrase of Jesus appears in the Pauline doctrine on the death of Jesus as
a rescue (cf 1 Corinthians 6:20), as redemption (cf Romans 3:24), as
liberation (cf Galatians 5:1) and as reconciliation (cf Romans 5:10; 2
Corinthians 5:18-20). Here is the center of Pauline theology, which is
based in this phrase of Jesus.
In conclusion, St. Paul did not think Jesus was something historical, as
a person from the past. He certainly knew the great tradition regarding
his life, his words, his death and his resurrection, but he did not
treat them as something from the past; he proposed them as the reality
of the living Jesus. The words and actions of Jesus for Paul do not
pertain to a historic time, to the past. Jesus lives now and speaks with
us now, and lives for us. This is the true manner to get to know Jesus,
and to learn the tradition of him. We should also learn to know Jesus,
not physically, as a person of the past, but as our Lord and brother,
that today is with us and shows us how to live and how to die.
[Translation by Karna Swanson]
[The Pope then greeted the people in several languages. In English, he
said:]
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
In our continuing catechesis on Saint Paul, we now consider Paul’s
relationship to the so-called "historical" Jesus. In a celebrated
passage Paul states that "even though we once knew Christ according to
the flesh, we no longer know him in that way" (2 Cor 5:16). Here the
Apostle does not claim that he knew Jesus during his earthly ministry,
but rather that he once considered Jesus from a merely human standpoint.
Significantly, Paul’s knowledge of Christ came from the preaching of the
early Church. Both his initial rejection of Jesus and -- after his
conversion on the road to Damascus -- his preaching of the glorified
Christ were based on the Gospel as proclaimed by the first Christian
community. In his Letters, Paul refers explicitly to the facts of Jesus’
earthly life, as well as to his teaching. His Letters also reflect many
central themes and images drawn from the preaching of Jesus. Paul’s
teaching on the Jesus’ identity as the Son of the Father, in whom we
receive redemption and adoptive sonship, is clearly derived from the
Lord’s own experience and teaching. In a word, Paul’s knowledge of Jesus
and his proclamation of the risen Lord as God’s Son and our Saviour, was
grounded in the life and preaching of Jesus himself.
I warmly greet all the English-speaking pilgrims, and in a special way,
diaconal candidates from the Pontifical North American College with
their families: may the grace of Holy Orders enliven you to preach the
Gospel of Christ with conviction and love! I also welcome pilgrims from
the Diocese of Hamilton, members of Christ Teens Malaysia, ecumenical
pilgrims from Norway, as well as visitors from Indonesia, China, Japan,
Australia, Sweden, England, Scotland, Ireland, and the Netherlands. God
bless you all!
© Copyright 2008 -- Libreria Editrice Vaticana
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