 |
 |
 |
|
|
|---|
|
A Meditation
Perhaps we are under the impression that Jesus himself did not need to undergo
the process of spiritual deepening. Such an idea would be wrong. It is
contradicted by all the indications that we can glean from the gospels, no less
than by the explicit statement that Jesus grew in wisdom and grace (Luke
2:52). Being truly human in every sense of the word, Jesus needed to
reflect, to incorporate new experiences into his self-concept, to reinforce his
ideals and nurture his heart and mind with new images. Jesus was the most
vibrant, open, sensitive, keen, inquisitive religious leader that ever lived.
If his humanity, as we believe, presented “the exact likeness of
God’s own being” (Hebrews 1:3), it reflected also the
irrepressible vitality of God. At the same time, being one of us, Jesus needed
to learn-"Even though he was God’s Son, he learned through his sufferings
to be obedient" (Hebrews 5:8). And the need to suffer was precisely a
very upsetting discovery Jesus made.
Distressing Premonitions
Since
the gospels recount events in a systematic, rather than a chronological way, it
is difficult to trace the exact sequence of incidents that led to that
discovery. It is possible that the clash with the scribes and Pharisees started
it off. Jesus refused to accept the pharisaic interpretation of the Sabbath
rest. He cured people on the Sabbath. When he healed a man who was partly
paralyzed, “they were filled with rage and began to discuss among
themselves what they could do to Jesus” (Luke 6:11). The Law
prescribed the death penalty for transgressing the Sabbath, so it was killing
him they had in mind. The awareness of this threat became all the more real for
Jesus when news of John the Baptist’s death reached him. He withdrew to a
lonely place to reflect and pray. There, in the presence of his Father, the
inescapable conclusion must have dawned on him: If I continue my ministry in
this way, they will certainly put me to death.
“I tell you that Elijah has already come and people did not recognize him,
but treated him just as they pleased. In the same way they will also mistreat
the Son of Man” (Matthew 17:12).
It is
easy to talk about it now, but for Jesus the realization must have come as a
shock. The hostility of the scribes hurt him deeply. The prospect of having to
face pain and humiliation upset him. And, most of all, the threat of possible
failure loomed large. Was there no way out? What direction did the Spirit want
him to go? How could he be true to his mission? How could he ensure that the
kingdom would be established, whatever might happen to him? Jesus needed to
re-examine his entire position, his motives and ideals, his feelings and his
thoughts. When, in prayer and inner wrestling, he came to accept his impending
death as part of his mission, he was, in fact, deepening his spiritual life. He
learned; he grew in wisdom and grace; he became more true to himself.
Trying to enter into Jesus’ mind obviously is not easy. We necessarily
oversimplify the thoughts and emotions that tossed him backward and forward.
Certainly in Nazareth, while preparing for his mission, the possibility of
opposition must have been in his mind. But if, for the purpose of our
reflection, we simplify matters a little, we may say that the integration of
suffering into his thought pattern marked for Jesus an important new step in
his interior life. What enabled him to take this step? From what source did he
draw the images and concepts that made him see his mission in this new light?
The answer is simple and straightforward: from the inspired scriptures. Or, to
put it in our terms, from the Old Testament. It is here that our analysis of
Jesus’ progressive self-understanding becomes immediately relevant to our
discussion.
The
hymn of the suffering servant of God (Isaiah 52:13 - 53:12) certainly
molded Jesus’ thinking. But other Old Testament texts were equally
important. The following event is revealing:
“About a week after he had said these things [regarding his future
suffering], Jesus took Peter, John, and James with him and went up a hill to
pray. While he was praying, his face changed its appearance, and his clothes
became dazzling white. Suddenly two men were there talking with him. They were
Moses and Elijah, who appeared in heavenly glory and talked with Jesus about
the way in which he would soon fulfill God’s purpose by dying in
Jerusalem” (Luke 9:28-31).
What
took place on that lonely hill? Why did Moses and Elijah appear?
Models and Allies
Moses
and Elijah, we are told by commentators, represented the Law and the Prophets.
Jesus was to fulfill both. True. But this kind of commentary missed the
psychological aspect of the happening. Jesus went up a high hill to pray. His
mind was filled with the shock of his future suffering. The determination to
live up to his mission “until death” was taking hold of him, but he
needed to clarify his vision and to strengthen his resolve. That is why he went
up to pray. And while he prayed, he groped for examples from the inspired past
that would help him, that would show him how to respond to the challenge. Moses
came to mind, and Elijah.
Jesus
recalled how Moses had met God in the burning bush, how he had been sent to
bring God’s people out of Egypt. He saw, in his mind’s eye, how Moses
protested: “I am nobody. How can I go...?” (Exodus 3:11). He
relived Moses’ struggles with the Pharaoh, Moses’ trouble with the
people:
“Why have you given me the responsibility for all these people? I
didn’t create them or bring them to birth! should you ask me to act like a
nurse and carry them in my arms like babies all the way to the land you
promised to their ancestors?" (Numbers 11:11-12).
He
felt Moses’ disappointment when the people set up the golden calf, and his
exasperation, anguish, and anger. But after all this, and through it all, he
experienced Moses’ elation in being allowed to be so close to the Father.
He saw vividly how Moses, high on a mountain too, experienced God’s
presence.
“I will make all my splendor pass before you, and in your presence I will
pronounce my sacred name. I am the LORD and I show compassion and pity on those
I choose.... When the dazzling light of my presence passes by, I will put you
in an opening in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by.
Then I will take my hand away, and you will see my back but not my face”
(Exodus 33:19-23).
And
Jesus knew that it was this closeness to the Father that had carried Moses
through until the end of his mission.
Then
Jesus thought of Elijah. How he had to flee from his own country during the
drought. How he confronted the prophets of Baal on the Carmel. How after his
victory over them Elijah had had to flee once more. He saw him there, lying in
the desert under the shade of a tree, saying to God: “It’s too
much....Take away my life; I might as well be dead!” (1 Kings
19:4). But again he saw consolation in Elijah’s meeting with God.
There, in the cave on God’s holy mountain, Elijah experienced God’s
presence.
Then
the LORD passed by and sent a furious wind that split the hills and shattered
the rocks-but the LORD was not in the wind. The wind stopped blowing, and then
there was an earthquake-but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the
earthquake there was a fire-but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the
fire there was the soft whisper of a voice. When Elijah heard it, he covered
his face with his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave
(1 Kings 19:11-12).
It
was this experience, Jesus knew, that had given Elijah the strength to continue
his mission.
Ecstasy and Resolve
Jesus
himself was transported into a trance. “A change came over Jesus: his face
was shining like the sun, and his clothes were dazzling white" (Matthew
17:2). The presence of God enveloped him, as it had done Moses and Elijah
before. And Jesus felt the confirmation these two great prophets had felt. He
heard the Father say: “This is my own dear Son, with whom I am
pleased-listen to him!” (Matthew 17:5). The Father thus reaffirmed
him as the new Moses and as his messianic servant, and gave Jesus the guidance
and inner support he needed. From now on he would resolutely set his face
toward Jerusalem to meet the challenge head-on. His encounter with Moses and
Elijah helped him to do this.
At
this stage, being children of our time, we may ask: Did Moses and Elijah appear
to Jesus in a physical form? Maybe they did. It seems equally possible that
Jesus had a spiritual encounter with them. His talking with Moses and Elijah
may have been a very intense, personal confrontation-so intense that he felt
they were almost physically there. Jesus told the three apostles about this
experience and in later tradition it was formulated as if the two prophets were
present as visible persons. We find a similar development in the temptation
stories which were recounted by Jesus in the form of a well-known midrash, then
taken up in the gospels as narrated events. Such an interpretation of
Jesus’ encounter with Moses and Elijah does not minimize the historicity
of the transfiguration account. Whether Jesus talked to them in visible form or
in a spiritual confrontation, the outcome remains the same: He was comforted
and strengthened by what they had experienced. And, like Moses and Elijah
before him, Jesus was so filled by the Father’s closeness to him that he
could now confidently accept his death. Peter gives this confirmation as the
substance of the transfiguration experience.
“We were there when he was given honor and glory by God the Father, when
the voice came to him from the Supreme Glory, saying, ‘This is my own dear
Son, with whom I am pleased!’ ” (2 Peter 1:16-18).
The
Role of the Past
From
this one happening in the life of Jesus we can learn many things We see that he
had to grow and to deepen his understanding and commitment. We also find that
the scriptures provided him with the inspiration he required. It was by his
reliving of Moses’ and Elijah’s experiences that Jesus prepared
himself for the special revelation his Father was to give him.
From: ‘Ancient Prophets on My Mountain’ in Inheriting
the Master's Cloak by John Wijngaards, Ave Maria Press, Notre Dame 1985,
pp. 83-88.
John Wijngaards
Follow @JohnWijngaards
Join our Women Priests' Mailing List
for occasional newsletters:
An email will be immediately sent to you
requesting your confirmation.
Please, credit this document
as published by www.womenpriests.org!