THE CLAIMS OF JESUS

 

 

1. The fact of Christian Revelation.

 

According to the testimony of those reliable and authentic historical documents which we know as the four Gospels, Jesus of Nazareth openly professed that He was the bearer of a message from God to men.

He asserted that the doctrine He preached was actually what we call divine revelation, public rather than private, mediate rather than imme­diate as far as the body of mankind is concerned.

He described His teaching as a doctrine which is supernatural, not merely by reason of the way in which it comes to man, but also by reason of its content.

It is of course absolutely requisite to establish and demonstrate this fact in a course of scientific apologetics. In this science we are concerned with proving the rational credibility, not of some vague and unknown system of religious teaching, but of this definite doctrine which was propounded by Jesus of Nazareth and which is proposed as such in the magisterium of the Catholic Church.

If there were no naturally ascertainable evidence that Jesus of Naz­areth had actually claimed that this teaching was divinely revealed, then obviously this teaching could never be acceptable from a rational point of view as Christian revelation.

However we have at our disposal abundant reliable historical evidence to show that Jesus Christ taught a definite religious doctrine, which He pro­posed to man as a communication from God.

The historical evidence of the four gospels makes it quite clear that Jesus of Nazareth claimed that His doctrine was actually a teaching from God. Furthermore He continually spoke of Him­self as a messenger from God, as the Messiah, and as the true and natural Son of God.

Thus in every way possible He pointed to His teaching as a body of truth which all men were bound to accept as divine revelation.

 

2. The Word of God.

 

The doctrine which He set forth is the teaching of God rather than of man: "My doctrine is not Mine, but His that sent Me." (John 7:16)

It is the actual speech of God, in so far as the words in which it is conveyed are the words of God: "He that is of God, heareth the words of God. Therefore you hear them not, because you are not of God." (John 8:47)

The teaching of Jesus was something which He designated as "the gospel of the kingdom." (Matt. 24:14, also 4:23 and 9:35)

In explaining the parable of the sower to His disciples, He designated this "word of the kingdom" under the image of the seed, which fell upon various types of soil. (Matt. 13:19)

He stated openly that this doctrine is truly "the word of God." (Luke 8:11) The people who thronged about Jesus came in order to hear the "word of God." (Luke 5:1) 

At several other times during the course of His public ministry it is recorded that He designated His teaching in exactly this fashion. [1]

 

3. The doctrine all men must accept.

 

Furthermore, Jesus of Nazareth asserted that His teaching was a divine revelation which all men are bound to accept under penalty of losing their eternal salvation:

"I am come a light into the world: that whosoever be­lieveth in Me, may not remain in darkness. And if any man hear My words, and keep them not: I do not judge him: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. He that despiseth Me, and receiveth not My words: hath one that judgeth him; the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day. For I have not spoken of Myself, but the Father who sent Me, He gave Me commandment what I should say, and what I should speak. And I know that His commandment is life everlasting. The things therefore that I speak, even as the Father said unto Me, so do I speak." (John 12:46-50)

He insisted upon the mediate, public, and necessary character of the revelation which He had brought to mankind in the commission which He gave to the Apostles immediately before His Ascension:

"And He said to them: Go ye into the whole world and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved: but he that believeth not, shall be condemned.” (Mark 16:15-16)

"And Jesus spoke to them, saying: All power is given to Me in heaven and in earth; Going therefore, teach ye all nations: baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world?" (Matt. 28:18-20)

 

4. The Messenger from God.

 

Very frequently during the course of His public life, Jesus of Nazareth asserted that He had been sent by God.

Thus He characterized Himself as a divine mes­senger, the bearer of a communication which God had addressed to mankind. In speaking thus he was obviously claiming that the doctrine He presented was something to be accepted with the assent of divine faith.

He described the limits of His own immediate preaching field at the very time that He affirmed His function as a delegate sent by God, in answering the Canaanite woman whose faith He praised and whose petition He granted. "I was not sent but to the sheep that are lost of the house of Israel.” (Matt. 15:24)

In sending His Apostles upon their first teaching venture He explained that they were His legates just as He was the bearer of a message from God. The teaching which they were commissioned to bring to the people was the very doctrine which He had set forth as having been divinely revealed. "He that receiveth you, receiveth Me: and he that receiveth Me, reeeiveth Him that sent Me." (Matt. 10:40; Luke 9:48; John 13:20)

In the parable of the evil husbandmen Jesus referred to Himself as the Son whom the heavenly King sent to the rebellious subjects in order to offer them a last opportunity to repent. The chief priests and the Pharisees were very well aware that in speaking in this way Jesus had reference to them and to their rejection of His teaching. (Matt. 21:33-46; Mark 12:1-12)

Actually, according to the words of Jesus, the rejection of His teaching involved the rejection of God Himself, because He was sent by God. He told His disciples: "He that heareth you, heareth Me; and he that despiseth you, despiseth Me. And he that despiseth Me despiseth Him that sent Me." (Luke 10:16)

Although references to the divine legateship of Jesus of Nazareth abound in the three synoptic gospels, they are far more numerous and striking in the historical account of His life set forth in the Gospel according to St. John. In the beautiful colloquy with the pharisee Nicodemus, which took place during the early portion of His public life, Jesus stated clearly that He had been sent by God as the bearer of a message which was to be accepted on divine faith. "For God sent not His Son into the world, to judge the world, but that the world may be saved by Him. He that bdieveth in Him is not judged: but he that doth not believe, is already judged: because he believeth not in the name of the only begotten Son of God." (John 3: 17-18) The evangelist appends his understanding of the statement to the account of the same discourse. "For He whom God hath sent, speaketh the words of God." (John 3:34)

 

5. The teaching of the Father.

 

The One who has sent Jesus, according to His own assertion, is so perfect and amiable that in doing His will a man will find delight and strength above that which he could obtain through earthly nourishment. "My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me." He informed the Pharisees who opposed Him that they were setting themselves up against the living God, whose message He carried to men. "He who hon­oreth not the Son, honoreth not the Father who hath sent Him. Amen, amen, I say unto you, that he who heareth My word, and believeth Him that sent Me, hath life everlasting, and cometh not into judgment, but is passed from death to life." (John  5 :23-24)

The fact that He has been sent by God the Father renders His judgment just, according to the explicit statement of Jesus. "I can­not of Myself do any thing. As I hear, so I judge: and My judg­ment is just; because I seek not My own will, but the will of Him that sent me." (John 5:30)

Likewise, according to the claims which Jesus made explicitly, the Father made manifest the fact that He was the bearer of the divine teaching. "For the works which the Father hath given Me to perfect: the works themselves, which I do, give testimony of Me, that the Father hath sent Me: and the Father Himself who bath sent Me, bath given testimony of Me: neither have you heard His voice at any time nor seen His shape; and you have not His word abiding in you: for whom He hath sent, Him you believe not." (John 5:36-38)

In this same reproachful discourse to His enemies, Jesus of Nazareth made it clear that His doctrinal mission was such that He spoke in the name of God: "I am come to you in the name of the Father, and you receive Me not: if another shall come in his own name, him you will receive." (John 5:43)

 

6. The word of everlasting life.

 

Acceptance of the teaching which is set forth by Jesus is said to be the work of God, precisely because He is declared to have been sent by God as the bearer of a divine message: "Jesus answered, and said to them: This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He hath sent." (John 6:29)

The insistence upon His character as a divine legate runs throughout the famous sixth chapter in the gospel according to St. John. Jesus insisted that those who believed Him, and accepted on divine faith the message which He proposed as divinely revealed were to be given eternal life, and a glorious resurrection on the last day: "I came down from heaven, not to. do My own will, but the will of Him that sent Me. Now this is the will of the Father who sent Me: that of all that He hath given Me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again on the last day. And this is the will of the Father that sent Me: that every one who seeth the Son, and be­lieveth in Him, may have life everlasting, and I will raise him up on the last day." (John 6:38-39)

Furthermore Jesus asserted that no man could accept his teaching with the assent of divine faith except by the power of God whose message Jesus brought to the world: "No man can come to Me, except the Father, who hath sent Me, draw him." (John 6:44)

Again, in the same discourse, He connected the doctrine of the Eucharist, which He then set forth, with the fact that He had been sent by God: "As the living Father hath sent Me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth Me, the same also shall live by Me” (John 6:58)

 

7. A message acceptable as Divine Revelation.

Jesus was careful explicitly to assert that the acceptability of the teaching which He offered to men was based upon the evidence that He really had been sent by God. To the leaders of the Jews He stated: "My doctrine is not Mine, but His that sent Me. If any man will do the will. of Him: he shall know of the doctrine whether it be of God, or whether I speak of Myself. He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory; but He that seeketh the glory of Him that sent Him, He is true, and there is no injustice in Him." (John 7:16-18)

Jesus repeated this assertion, crying out in the Temple of Jerusalem: "You both know Me, and you know whence I am: and I am not come of Myself, but He that sent Me is true, whom you know not. I know Him: because I am from Him, and He hath sent Me." (John 7:28-29)

It was the contention of Christ that He could and would return to the God who had entrusted Him with this doctrinal mission: "Jesus therefore said to them: yet a little while I am with you: and then I go to Him that sent Me." (John 7:33)

The testimony which Jesus alleged in favor of His own teaching was such as to show that He had been sent by God: "If I do judge, My judgment is true: because I am not alone, but I and the Father that sent Me. And in your law it is written, that the testimony of two men is true. I am one that give testimony of Myself: and the Father that sent Me, giveth testimony of Me." (John 8:16-18)

The One who had sent Jesus with the message which He preached, and for which He demanded the assent of faith was One competent to send that message. "He that sent Me is True." (John 8:26)

Furthermore, the One who sent Jesus, according to His explicit claim, is ever with Him: "And He that sent Me is with Me, and He hath not left Me alone.” (John 8:29)

The divine mission which He claimed for Himself was such as to demand an affection for Him on the part of every man who loved God: "Jesus therefore said to them: If God were your Father: you would indeed love Me: for from God I proceeded, and came: for I came not of Myself, but He sent Me." (John 8:42)

 

8. God commands the preaching of this doctrine.

 

The work which He had been commissioned to perform was incumbent upon Him: "I must work the works of Him that sent Me, whilst it is day: the night cometh when no man can work." (John 9:4)

The mission which He had been sent to perform was a holy work, a task which He had been sanctified to accomplish, for Jesus was One "whom the Father hath sanctified and sent into the world." (John 10:36)

The fact that He was consubstantial with the Father in no way detracted from the reality of His mission: "But Jesus cried and said: He that be­lieveth in Me, doth not believe in Me, but in Him that sent Me. And he that seeth Me, seeth Him that sent Me." (John 12:44-45)

Furthermore, Jesus declared that His mission was such that the content of His teaching had been determined by God Himself: "For I have not spoken of Myself, but the Father who sent Me, He gave Me commandment what I should say, and what I should speak:" (John 12:49) "And the word which you have heard is not mine: but the Father's who sent Me." (John 14:24)

He explained to His followers that they would be persecuted by those men who did not know who had given Him His doc­trinal mission in the world: "But all these things they will do to you for My name's sake: because they know not Him that sent Me." (John 15:21)

The God at whose right hand He is to sit for all eternity, and to whom He returned after His earthly life, is actually the One who has sent Him for this work: "And now I go to Him that sent Me: and none of you asketh Me, Whither goest Thou?" (John 16:5)

Finally He likened the commission which He gave to the Apostles to preach the doctrine He had given them in His name to that mission with which He had been entrusted by the Father. "As the Father bath sent Me, I also send you." (John 20:21)

 

9. The fact of Revelation and the prayer of Jesus.

Jesus of Nazareth not only asserted that He had been sent by God in the course of the instructions and warnings He gave to men, but He integrated this claim into the sublime prayers which He offered to God.

In the petition which He addressed to His Father imme­diately before He called Lazarus from the dead He made it strik­ingly clear that this miracle, like the other signs which He had given, was meant precisely to indicate the fact of His divine com­mission: "Jesus, lifting up His eyes said: Father, I give Thee thanks that Thou hast heard Me: And I know that Thou hearest Me always, but because of the people who stand about have I said it: that they may believe that Thou hast sent Me." (John 11:41-42)

In the sublime sacerdotal prayer, which is recounted in the sev­enteenth chapter of the gospel according to St. John, Jesus clearly indicates in His petition the fact and the nature of the mission He had received. The eternal life, which He came to merit for men, includes the contemplation of Himself as One sent by God: "Now this is eternal life: That they may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou has sent." (John 7:3)

The work of Jesus in this world has resulted in a firm belief or conviction that He had been sent by God: "The words which Thou sayest Me, I have given to them: and they have received them, and have known in very deed that I came out from Thee, and they have believed that Thou didst send Me." (John 17:8)

This same truth is reasserted at the con­clusion of this prayer: "Just Father, the world hath not known Thee: but I have known Thee: and these have known that Thou hast sent Me." (John 17:25)

Thus, according to the explicit statement of Jesus, the truths which the disciples received from Him were actually verities which had been confided to Him by God. In accepting this teaching, the disciples had recognized the fact that He was a messenger from God.

Before God, He protested that the mission of His Apostles was patterned after the mission which He had received from on high: "As Thou hast sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world." (John 17:18)

The society which He had founded [the Church] was to exist as a manifest social miracle, attesting the fact of His own divine messengership: "That they all may be one, as Thou, Father, in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us: that the world may believe that Thou has sent Me." (John 17:21) "I in them, and Thou in Me: that they may be made perfect in one: and the world may know that Thou hast sent Me, and hast loved them, as Thou hast also loved Me." (John 17:23)

It is evident then, in the light of these statements, attributed to Jesus of Nazareth in reliable historical documents, that He claimed His doctrine to be divinely revealed.

There is, then, nothing which would militate against the credibility of Catholic doctrine by reason of the great Teacher of that doctrine having failed to assert its character as a Message of divine origin.

 

10. The messianic claim and the office of Deliverer.

The claims of Jesus in favour of His divine teaching stand out still more clearly when we examine His contention that He was the Messiah expected by the children of Israel. [2]

The sacred books of the Hebrews, which they accepted as the word of God, were filled with information about a deliverer whom God was going to send into the world, and through whose activities the children of Israel and, as a matter of fact, all men were to be benefited immensely.

The Jew­ish People and their leaders were waiting for this deliverer at the very time that Jesus was carrying out His work in the world.

In explaining the doctrinal claims of Jesus, it is necessary to point out the characteristics which the books of the Old Testament attributed to this Messiah, and then to demonstrate clearly that Jesus claimed for Himself not only this office, but all of the pre­rogatives associated with it.

In making this explanation, we must take special cognizance of the various interpretations of the mes­sianic dace and dignity which were current among the Jews during the time when Jesus was preaching.

The Messiah was to be a deliverer, one whose duty it would be to undo the evil wrought upon the human race through the malice of Satan who had brought about the fall of Adam and the conse­quent baneful effects felt by the descendants of Adam.

This de­liverer was to be a descendant of Eve, and thus truly a "son of man." God said to the serpent in whom the enemy of the human race is represented, "I shall place enmities between thee and the woman, between thy seed and her seed. It will lie in wait for thy head, and thou wilt lie in wait for its heel." (Gen. 3:15)

 

11. The Messiah was to bring a message from God.

Furthermore, this Messiah was to be a prophet in the strict and technical sense of the term. He was to speak the words which God gave to him.

In other words, he was commissioned to deliver to men a message which was actually from God, a communication which God had spoken to man, and which man received in a way at once distinct from and superior to the natural way in which he derives his knowledge about the things of God.

In the last book of the Penta­teuch, Moses, the great prophet of the old law, is represented as saying to the people: “The Lord thy God will raise up to thee a prophet of thy nation and of thy brethren, like unto me: him thou shalt hear. As thou desiredst of the Lord thy God in Horeb, when the assembly was gathered together, and saidst: Let me not hear any more the voice of the Lord my God, neither let me see any more this exceeding great fire, lest I die. And the Lord said to me: They have spoken all things well. I will raise them up a prophet out of the midst of their brethren like to thee: and I will put My words in his mouth, and he shall speak all that I command him. And he that will not hear his words, which he shall speak in my name, I will be the revenger.” (Deut. 18:15-19)

According to the sacred text of the Hebrews, the people had asked God for a revelation which was mediate rather than im­mediate. They had feared the direct reception of the message which God willed to give them, and which they desired to possess.

Therefore, in answer to their petition, God had first sent His teaching through Moses. Then He had promised them to send another prophet who would be empowered to speak to them as Moses had done before.

 

12. The Messiah as king.

Again, the Messiah, or as the Greek form has it, the Christ or the Anointed One, was promised as a king having universal domination: "The sceptre shall not pass from Juda, nor the rod from between his feet, until he comes to whom the sceptre belongs, his is the domination of the nations." (Gen. 49:10) "He shall rule from sea to sea: and from the river unto the ends of the earth. Before him the Ethiopians shall fall down: and his enemies shall lick the ground. The kings of Tharsis and the islands shall offer presents; the kings of the Arabians and of Saba shall bring gifts. And all the kings of earth shall adore him: all nations shall serve him?" (Ps. 71:8-10)

Thus the doctrinal authority of the Messiah, for with this we are principally concerned in this section of the science of apolo­getics, was meant to be absolutely universal.

All the peoples of the earth, regardless of their power or position, were expected to receive the teaching which God offered to mankind through the preaching of this deliverer.

In claiming the dignity and the pre­rogatives of the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth asserted that He was the bearer of a revelation which was public rather than private.

Furthermore, it was necessary, since God Himself had threatened to punish the individual who refused to accept this teaching.

 

13. The sacerdotal office of the Messiah.

Finally, the Messiah was promised as a priest. In this way he was meant to stand as an intermediary between God and man. He was to offer the sacrifice acceptable to God, and thus perform the act in which the favour of God would be gained for those who were united with him: "The Lord hath sworn, and He will not repent: Thou art a priest forever according to the order of Melchisedech." (Ps. 109:4)

He was to be the servant of God in a special way, a friend of God and in every sense a just man: "Behold My servant shall understand, he shall be exalted and extolled, and shall be exceeding high.” (Isa. 52:13)

In spite of the fact that, as the servant and the chosen friend of God, the Messiah was to be exalted above all other men, He was to suffer and die the most excruciating death. The fifty-third chapter in the book of Isaias describes the death which the Messiah is to undergo. This death was to constitute the sacrifice which should continue, a clean oblation offered throughout the world for the glory of God until the end of time: "For from the rising of the sun even to the going down, My name is great among the gentiles, and in every place there is sacrifice, and there is offered to My name a clean offering: for My name is great among the gentiles, saith the Lord of Hosts." (Mal. 1:11)

It is perfectly clear, from an examination of these reliable histori­cal documents which we know as the four gospels, that Jesus of Nazareth claimed the dignity and the prerogatives of the Messiah.

Furthermore He applied to Himself this messianic dignity exactly as it had been described in the divinely inspired books of the Old Testament, and not as it had been distorted in the minds of a great many of his contemporaries.

However, the fact that such a misconception of the messianic office existed and was fostered by the most powerful teachers among the Jewish people at the time when Jesus of Nazareth preached had a great deal to do with the manner in which He notified the people of His messianic char­acter.

In order to meet the religious needs of the moment He had to be careful not only to insist that He was actually the deliverer promised by God from ages past, but He had to be on His guard to see that His hearers realized that His office was not the one which had been described in the sermons of the rabbinical masters or in the writings of the eschatological school.

 

14. The rabbinical concept of the Messiah.

Those rabbis who con­stituted the school of the Pharisees and whose doctrine was to become the official teaching of Judaism after the fall of Jerusalem and the subsequent disappearance of the Saducee party had con­structed and proposed a definite messianic concept. [3]

Coloured and motivated by an intense nationalism, this concept utilized some of the Old Testament prophecies concerning the promised deliverer, but took these promises altogether apart from their context.

The stern traditionalism of the Jewish masters kept this teaching extant until the time came when it was incorporated into the Talmud, to become thenceforth the official and orthodox doctrine of Judaism.

The messianism of the pharisaical rabbis centred about the Mosaic law itself. The deliverance of Juda was to be accomplished in the mathematically accountable fidelity of the Jewish nation to that law.

It would be brought about through a condition of things in which the balance sheet of the activities of this nation would show a definite preponderance in favour of those works which were prescribed by the law.

Only after this state of things had been established was the Messiah Himself to arrive.

Then His function was to establish that reign in which the promises of God to His people were to be fulfilled.

As these promises of the Creator were understood by the rabbis, they included the dominance of Juda over all the other kingdoms and peoples of this world. Palestine itself was to become a land of incredible fertility and pleasure.

The other peoples of the earth were to be allowed access to it merely for the purpose of paying tribute and in order to glorify the perfection and felicity of its inhabitants.

 

15. Jesus rejected the rabbinical concept of the Messiah.

Such a racial, political, and material concept of the messianic office was evidently in direct opposition to the implications of that teaching which Jesus of Nazareth presented to the world.

Actually the re­liable historical teaching which we find in the four gospels assures us that He rejected that rabbinical concept several times during the course of His preaching.

After His teaching had been rejected by the leaders of the people who had been given full opportunity to learn about it, He assured His enemies that their traditions which included this rabbinical concept of the Messiah were con­trary to the divine doctrine itself: "But He answering, said to them (the scribes and the Pharisees): Why do you also transgress the commandment of God for your tradition ?" (Matt. 15:31; see also Mark 7:8)

He informed the Jewish populace which had rejected His teaching, that although they were children of Abraham according to the flesh, they were not the offspring which was to possess the messianic kingdom. (John 8:31-59)

He told the people explicitly that the kingdom of God, which was the messianic realm, was to be peopled by those who were not members of the Jewish race, while the Jews themselves, heirs to the kingdom by reason of their physical descent, were to be cast out as unworthy of it: "There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth: when you shall see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out. And there shall come from the east and the west and the north and the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God. And behold they are last that shall be first, and they are first that shall be last." (Luke 13:28-30; see arm Matt. 8:11)

The pointed parable of the murderous husbandmen was under­stood by the leaders of the people as a statement of their own rejection. (Matt. 21:45 Mark 12:12; Luke 20:19)

Finally He commissioned His Apostles to carry His message to all nations, (Matt. 28:19; Luke 24:46) or to every creature. (Mark 16:15)

The non-political and nonmaterial character of His mission is evident from His conduct as well as from His words. When, after the first miracle of the loaves and the fishes, the people wished to take Him by force and make Him king, "He fled again into the mountain, Himself alone." (John 6:15)

When the Roman procurator, Pontius Pilate, asked Him openly if He were the king of the Jews, knowing full well that this title belonged to the person whom the Jewish people expected as Messiah and deliverer, Jesus replied: "My king­dom is not of this world; If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would certainly strive that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from hence. Pilate there­fore said to Him: Art Thou a king then? Jesus answered: Thou sayest that I am a king. For this was I born, and for this I came into the world, that I should give testimony to the truth: every one that is of the truth, heareth My voice." (John 18:36-37)

The activity of Jesus, as well as His explicit teaching indicates very clearly that He did not accept the common pharisaical inter­pretation of the messianic office.

It was his unmistakable assertion that He had not come as the ruler of a people destined to enjoy some vain triumph over its political and military rivals. He even refused to act as a secular judge, alleging that His mission did not include this office. (Luke 12:13-14)

He claimed to be a king, but a king in the realm of truth. His messianic claims were in line with the assertions He had made about the divine origin of the doctrine which He offered to the children of men.

They were likewise in line with the portrait of the Messiah, as this had been drawn in the authentic Old Testament sources, rather than in the tradition which He found opposed to the real law of God.

 

16. The eschatological concept of the messianic dignity.

An apocalyptic or eschatological interpretation of the messianic con­cept, likewise foreign to the teaching of the Old Testament and to the doctrine of Jesus of Nazareth is to be found in certain of the apocryphal books which appeared about the time Jesus of Naz­areth lived in this world. [4]

According to this teaching the duties of the Messiah were to be carried out after the end of physical uni­verse in which we live and have our being.

The splendour of the messianic kingdom, and the humiliation of the enemies of God, who were also, of course, the enemies of the Jewish nation was to be reserved to a time after a catastrophe, regarded as imminent, which was to terminate the course of nature and to result in the death of all men.

Where the Pharisees had hoped for the renova­tion of the Davidical kingdom in this corrupted world of ours, the producers of these eschatological works preferred to think of this triumph as taking place in a world far more fitted to receive the glory of the dominant Jewish state.

Naturally this concept was not as widespread among the people as that which had been introduced and fostered by the intellectual leaders.

Jesus of Nazareth, however, clearly indicated that it did not enter into His teaching on those frequent occasions when He referred to His kingdom as something which was to exist in this world.

 

17. Jesus and the eschatological notion.

It must be understood very clearly that Jesus did not deny that a certain portion of the mes­sianic activity. was to take place only at the end of the world. Several times during the course of His instructions He affirmed that He would come again to mankind at the end of the world, this time to act in the capacity of a just Judge. When the disciples asked Him "What shall be the sign of Thy corning, and of the consummation of the world?" (Matt. 24:3)

He informed them: "And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn: and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with much power and majesty." (Matt. 24:30; see also Mark 13:26 and Luke 21:27)

Again, when the high priest adjured Jesus to inform the Sanhedrin if He was actually the Christ, the Son of the Blessed God, He re­plied: "I am, and you shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of the power of God, and coming with the clouds of heaven." (Mark 14:62; see also Luke 22:69 and Matt. 26:54)

Jesus evidently claimed to exercise the messianic functions, and thus to be the Messiah at the moment He was being questioned by the tribunal of the Jewish nation.

At the same time He made it clear to His enemies that the messianic work included another element, a task which was not to be accomplished until a future time.

What Jesus rejected out of the eschatological and apocalyptic notion of the messianic dignity was the claim that the office of the deliverer was not to begin until after the end of this world.

Natu­rally He did not countenance the childish concept of material pros­perity which both these writers and the Pharisees incorporated into their notion of the messianic kingdom.

The messianic realm which Jesus of Nazareth set out to found and to instruct was one to which a contumacious sinner might be cited. (Matt. 18:17)

Furthermore, it was an organization which was destined to include within its membership both just and unjust, precisely during the period which was to intervene between His preaching and the end of the world.

The angels of heaven were to assist at the judgment at the last day. It was to be their function to cast the evil out of the kingdom which had existed during the years of human history as the cockle is separated from the wheat at the time of harvest, (Matt. 13:30) or as the fishes that are unfit to eat are separated from the rest of the catch by the fishermen who have come to the shore. (Matt. 13:47 and the following)

In this world, the kingdom was to endure persecution and suffer­ing, rather than enjoy the idle material benefits which are described both in the rabbinical and the eschatological writings, (John 15:18-24)

It was to be an organization which would have corporate cause for sorrow. (John 16:20) But in the last analysis, the evils which the kingdom of the Messiah were to endure in this world were to be made bearable here and to be turned eventually into the ineffable joy of heaven. (John 17.2)

The benefit which was to be conferred upon the citizens of the kingdom was something far greater than any of the rabbis had been able to imagine.

It was the vision and the possession of the living God. (John 17.3)

 

18. Jesus was aware of the prevailing erroneous doctrines in asserting His true messianic dignity.

However, the prevailing false interpretations of the messianic dignity made it necessary for Jesus of Nazareth to proceed with caution in instructing the multi­tudes about His office.

During the earlier portion of His public life, He had occasion several times to forbid the publication of His messianic mission. Naturally, He refused to allow this fact of His messianic character to be brought to the attention of men through the agencies of the demons, who were able to recognize Him. (Mark 3:12; Luke 4:41)

It was certainly anything but proper that the enemies of God should have been allowed to publicize the divine message itself, and thus bring it into discredit.

Furthermore, upon occasion He charged the very beneficiaries of His miracles not to tell the people about them.

He acted thus with a leper whom He cleansed miraculously during the course of His Galilean ministry. (Matt. 8:4; Mark I:43; Luke 5:14)

He asked the crowd before whom He had cured the deaf-mute not to tell about this marvellous operation, and the evangelist records that they failed to heed His injunction. (Mark 7:36)

Again, He forbade the blind men to whom He gave sight to inform their fellows about what had taken place, and this time also they disobeyed His command. (Matt. 9:30)

With the current interpretations about the nature of the messianic office, and in view of the opinions about Himself which were cur­rent, not only at the court of Herod, but also among the individuals with whom the Apostles themselves came in contact, it is small wonder that Jesus did not wish to offer proofs of the reality of His divine messengership until He had been accorded the opportunity of informing men exactly what His function was.

Herod Antipas was of the opinion that Jesus was merely John the Baptist, risen from the grave to reproach him for his sins. (Matt. 14:2; Mark 6:14; Luke 9:7) [5]

Others, some of them in the court of Herod had ventured the conjecture that Jesus was Elias, or one of the other prophets who had risen from the dead. Finally, there were others who thought that He was a prophet like one of the ancient bearers of the divine message. [6]

When Jesus asked His disciples, on that day near Caesarea Philippi, about what men thought of Him, they were able to report only these same conjectures. (Matt. 16:13-14; Mark 8:27-28; Luke 9:18-19)

When such misunderstanding existed, it was only prudent that Jesus should reserve to Himself the work of explaining the nature of that office of which the miracles were regarded as divine testimonies of approbation.

As a result He explicitly forbade the Apostles who had just heard the confession of Peter, but who had yet to understand the full importance of the messianic dignity, to announce to the people that He was the Christ. (Matt. 6:20; Mark 8:30; Luke 9:31)

 

19. The messianic claim and consciousness of Jesus at the beginning of His public life.

 

However, from the very outset of His pub­lic life, Jesus of Nazareth made it perfectly evident to all those who came in contact with His teaching that He was the Messias who had been promised and foretold in the Old Testament. John the Baptist announced himself as the precursor of the deliverer who was to come, (Matt. 3:11-12; Mark 1:7-8; Luke 3:16-17; John 1:30-33) and then clearly indicated Jesus as the One from whom the world was to expect its salvation. (John 1:19-35)

When Jesus was coming out of the water after having been baptized by John, phenomena occurred leading the people to believe that Jesus was actually the Messias.

Jesus allowed that impression to exist. (Matt. 3:16-17; Mark 1:I0-11; Luke 3:22) John the Baptist afterward made explicit mention of these events when he indicated Jesus as the "Lamb of God," or the Messias who was to be sacrificed in accordance with the prophecies which had been made and recorded in the Old Testament. (John 1:34)

Jesus of Nazareth claimed the messianic dignity for Himself in many ways. Sometimes He cited messianic prophecies, and pointed out that these had been fulfilled in Him.

At other times He applied to Himself one or other of the titles by which the Messias had been designated in the Old Testament, and by which He was named among the Jewish people.

Clearly, then, before His own disciples, before His own people, and before those foreigners who came into contact with Him, Jesus of Nazareth affirmed that He was a divine messenger in so far as He was the Messias awaited by the Jewish people as the bearer of a communication from God to man.

 

20. The citation of Messianic prophecies.

At the occasion of His first public preaching in Nazareth, where He had lived with Mary and with Joseph since their return from the flight into Egypt, Jesus cited an indubitably messianic prophecy recorded in the Old Testa­ment, and then asserted that this prophecy had been written about Himself: "And He came to Nazareth where He was brought up: and He went into the synagogue, according to His custom, on the sabbath day; and He rose up to read. And the book of Isaias the prophet was delivered unto Him. And as He unfolded the book, He found the placa where it was written: The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me: wherefore He hath anointed Me, to preach the gospel to the poor, He hath sent Me to heal the contrite of heart, to preach deliverance to the captives, and sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of reward. And when He had folded the book, He restored it to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them: This day is fulfilled this scripture in your ears.” (Luke 4:16-21)

This passage was taken from the sixty-first chapter of the prophecy of Isaias. It is of undoubtedly messianic import. In asserting that He was the One pointed to by Isaias, Jesus of Nazareth clearly indicated that the message which He brought to men was actually a divine revelation.

Not only did Jesus point out a definite and individual messianic prophecy, as He did in Nazareth, but He also claimed that the messianic prophecies as a whole applied to Him: "Search the scrip­tures, for you think in them to have life everlasting: and the same are they that give testimony of Me." (John 5:39)

The messianic passages in the Pentateuch applied to Jesus, according to His own assertion: "Think not that I will accuse you to the Father; there is one that accuseth you, Moses, in whom you trust. For if you did believe Moses, you would perhaps believe Me also for he wrote of Me." (John 5:45-46)

The only personage who is described in the Pentateuch, as well as in the other books of the O1d Testament, as coming to the rescue and for the instruction of the people is the Messias. Hence, in asserting that Moses, and the other authors of the sacred books had written of Him, Jesus of Nazareth dearly asserted that His message was divine revelation, and was to be accepted as such by men.

It was in this same fashion that Jesus replied to the disciples of John the Baptist, who were sent to ask Him directly: "Art Thou He, that art to come, or look we for another? And Jesus making answer said to them: Go and relate to John what you have heard and seen. The blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead rise again, the poor have the gospel preached to them: And blessed is he that shall not be scandalized in Me." (Matt. 11:4-6)

 

21. The Apostles understood from the outset that Jesus claimed to be the Messias and recognized Him as such.

The Apostles them­selves considered Jesus as the Messias, and they summoned their fellows to follow Him by informing them of His messianic dignity.

St. Andrew informed Simon Peter, his brother: "We have found the Messias: which is being interpreted, the Christ." (John 1:41)

St. Philip summoned his friend, Nathanael to follow Jesus by telling him: "We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets did write, Jesus the Son of Joseph of Nazareth." (John 1:45)

When Nathanael was loath to believe that the deliverer of the world could come from the town of Nazareth, which seems to have had a poor repu­tation among the people of Galilee, Jesus supported the assertion of Philip by telling Nathanael a closely guarded secret of his own life.

And when, influenced by this obviously supernatural power, Nathanael openly professed the belief that Jesus was "the Son of God . . . the king of Israel,” (John 1:49) he was not corrected but informed that he would experience far greater demonstrations of the divine messengership of Jesus.

 

22. Jesus claimed and was accorded the title of Messias or Christ.

The actual term Messias occurs only twice in the scriptures, both times in the gospel according to St. John.

On both occasions the evangelist is at pains to inform his readers that the term is the term of which the Greek form Christ is the equivalent.

The second time it was used, it is to be found in a setting in which Jesus asserted directly to the woman of Samaria that He was the Messias: "The woman saith to Him: I know that the Messias cometh (who is called Christ); therefore when he is come, he will tell us all things. Jesus saith to her: I am He, who am speaking with thee." (John 4:25-26)

It is interesting to note that even at this time, to a woman who was not one of the children of Israel, Jesus took occasion to claim His mes­sianic dignity precisely with reference to its doctrinal function.

The word Christ is found fifty-three times in the four gospels.

St. John the Baptist stoutly denied that he was to be designated in this way. On the other hand, the four evangelists continually apply the term to Jesus.

Sometimes the word Christ is employed by itself as a proper name of Jesus. (E.g., Matt. 1:18)

Again, very frequently, they designate the Saviour as Jesus Christ, conjoining the messianic tide with His given name. (E.g., Matt. I:1; Mark I:1)

Jesus Himself promised a reward to the one who would give the disciples even a cup of water "in My name, because you belong to Christ?" (Mark 9:41. Cf. Matt. 10:42)

When He forbade His followers to assume the title of rabbi, He gave as a reason "for one is your Master, Christ." (Matt. 23:10)

Explicitly He affirmed that He was the Christ in the sacerdotal prayer which He offered to the Father the night before He was crucified. "Now this is eternal life: That they may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent." (John 17:3)

After He had asked His Apostles about the conjectures which men had been making in His regard, He interrogated them about their belief, and received the glorious confession of faith from Peter: "Jesus saith to them: But who do you say that I am? Simon Peter answered and said: Thou art Christ the Son of the living God. And Jesus answering, said to him: Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona: because flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but My Father who is in heaven. And I say to thee: That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." (Matt.16:15-18)

Clearly and solemnly then He affirmed that He was the Christ. He maintained that the recognition of this fact had been due to the influence of God Himself; in other words, that it was a truth which unaided human nature would be unable to grasp.

He re­warded the profession of Peter precisely by constituting Him the visible head of the organization which He was in the process of founding. It is interesting to note in this respect that, while Jesus claimed that the recognition of His messianic status was something which had necessarily to depend upon the free grace of God, He made no such statement about the recognition of the fact that He claimed this dignity.

All men might know, as the unbelievers who were His contemporaries knew very well, that He had taught that He was the Messias.

However the certain assent to that claim, and the acceptance of the teaching which He gave with the assent of divine faith was actually something which could not be brought about other than with the aid of divine grace.

Solemnly again, at His trial before the Sanhedrin, Jesus claimed for Himself the title and the prerogatives of the Christ: "And the high priest said to Him: I adjure Thee by the living God, that Thou tell us if Thou be the Christ the Son of God. Jesus saith to him: Thou hast said it." (Matt. 26:63-64; Mark 15:61-62; Luke 22:70)

The very soldiers who tortured and insulted Him while He was being detained in the palace of the high priest knew of this claim, and used it to mock Him. "Prophesy unto us, O Christ, who is he that struck Thee?" (Matt. 26:68)

 

23. Jesus claimed the messianic royalty.

Another messianic title which Jesus of Nazareth claimed and which His contemporaries applied to Him was that of king.

As a matter of fact the Christ or the Messias is really the anointed king, the descendant of David, whom God had promised to His people. This was the title under which the Magi thought of Jesus, and asked Herod about Him: "Where is He that is born king of the Jews?" (Matt. 2:2)

The populace wished to make Jesus king after they had witnessed the multiplica­tion of the loaves and the fishes. (John 6:15)

The throngs hailed Jesus as king when He entered triumphantly into Jerusalem on the first Palm Sunday. (Luke 19:38; John 12:12-13)

It was a title by which Jesus was greeted at the outset of His public life by Nathanael. (John 1:49)

The Jews brought Him before Pilate precisely as One who claimed to be Christ the King. "And they began. to accuse Him saying: We have found this man perverting our nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, and saying that He is Christ the king." (Luke 23:2)

To the interrogation of Pilate, Jesus answered: "Thou sayest that I am a king." (John 18:37)

The cross on which He died was surmounted by an inscription, set there by the com­mand of Pilate himself: "Jesus of Nazareth the King of the Jews." (John 19:19; Matt. 27:37; Mark 15:26; Luke 23:38)

Finally, when the Jews realized the import of this inscription, writ­ten as it was in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek, they sought to have Pilate change the wording to read merely that He said that He was the King of the Jews. This Pilate refused to do. (John 19:21-22)

Thus that One whom the angel had promised would be given the throne of David His father (Luke 1:33) died proclaimed by the Roman judge as the royal ruler of the house of Israel.

 

24. The title Son of Man.

The messianic title which Jesus of Nazareth used most frequently to designate Himself was that of the Son of Man.

This title was used almost exclusively by Jesus Himself. The few times that the four gospels record it as having been spoken by others are precisely on occasions when these others merely quote the terms of the Master.

For instance, St. John records that the crowd who heard Jesus in Judea during the last period of His public life asked Him about the meaning of the term: "The multitude answered Him: We have heard out of the law, that Christ abideth forever: and how sayest Thou: The Son of man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of man?" (John 12:34)

Otherwise, in the course of the 79 times this term appears in the four gospels, it is used by Jesus clearly to denominate Himself, as He is endowed with the characteristics of that deliverer who had been promised to the people of God.

The expression had occurred many times in the Old Testament. Very frequently it is employed simply to designate a human being.

At other times, particularly in the prophecies of Ezechiel and Daniel, it was used to denominate the person to whom God's revelation is addressed, or man, precisely in so far as he is the beneficiary of the divine teaching.

However it was used in an unquestionably messianic sense in the book of Daniel: "I beheld therefore in the vision of the night, and lo one like the son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and he came even to the Ancient of days: and they presented him before him. And he gave him power, and glory, and a kingdom: and all peoples, tribes and tongues shall serve him: his power is an everlasting power, that shall not be taken away: and his kingdom, that shall not be destroyed." (Dan. 7:13-14)

The four gospels record clearly that Jesus of Nazareth utilized the term "Son of Man" in the same messianic sense in which Daniel the prophet had employed it, since explicitly He applied to Himself, as the Son of Man, various characteristics which had qualified this figure in the message of Daniel.

As the Son of Man, Jesus asserted that He would have that power and glory which Daniel had described: "And Jesus said to them: Amen I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration, when the Son of man shall sit on the seat of His majesty, you also shall sit on twelve seats, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." (Matt. 29:28)

He promised to come in the clouds of heaven, in exactly the same manner as Daniel had stated that the Son of Man or the Messias would come: "And then they shall see the Son of man coming in a cloud with great power and majesty.” (Luke 21:27; Matt. 24:30; Mark 13:26)

Further­more, according to the express declaration of Jesus, the empire of the Son of Man, which was His own kingdom, would in no way be limited by bounds of territory or earthly dominion: "And He shall send His angels with a trumpet, and a great voice: and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from the farthest parts of the heavens to the utmost bounds of them." (Matt. 24:31; Mark 13:27)

The power of the Son of Man is not restricted in any way to merely material concerns. He is able to exercise, in His own right, the divine prerogative of forgiving sins. "But that you may know that the Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins, then said He to the man sick of the palsy: Arise, take up thy bed, and go into thy house." (Matt. 9:6; Mark 2:10; Luke 5:24)

His domination is divine in the strictest sense of the word, since He vindicated for Himself as the Son of Man absolute power over the very day which had been set aside by God for His service: "For the Son of Man is Lord, even of the Sabbath." (Matt. 12:8; Mark 2:28; Luke 6:5)

Jesus asserted that His mission, as the Son of Man, was doctrinal in character: "For he that shall be ashamed of Me, and of My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man also will be ashamed of him, when He shall come in the glory of His Father with the holy angels." (Mark 8:38; Luke 9:26. See also Matt. 56:27)

Conversely, the man who adheres to the teaching of the Son of Man, and confesses Him before his fellow men, will be acknowledged by the same Son of Man when He comes in power with the angels of heaven to judge the peoples of the world: "And I say to you: Whosoever shall con­fess Me before men, him shall the Son of Man also confess before the angels of God: but He that shall deny Me before men, shall be denied before the angels of God." (Luke 12:8-9; Matt. 10:32-33)

It is extremely clear in the teaching of Jesus that the Son of Man, as such, was sent into this world for the first time to aid men in their attainment of eternal happiness, and for their sake to suffer and to die at the hands of His enemies.

He announced this for the first time clearly to the Apostles immediately after they had heard the glorious confession of Peter, and after Jesus had for­bidden them to tell the world that He was really the Messias. "The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the ancients and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and the third day rise again?" (Luke 9:22; Mark 8:31. See also Matt. 16:21)

As a matter of fact it was precisely because the Apostles had not as yet been instructed about this essential portion of the messianic function that He refused to allow them imme­diately to proceed with their task of informing the people that He was the Christ.

Shortly afterward He announced again to the disciples that the Son of Man was to be abandoned and put to death, and even then the evangelists tell us that they were unable to understand and to bear this aspect of the messianic work: [7] "And all were astonished at the mighty power of God: but while all wondered at all the things He did, He said to His disciples: Lay you up in your hearts these words: for it shall come to pass that the Son of Man shall be delivered into the hands of men. But they understood not this word, and it was hid from them so that they perceived it not: and they were afraid to ask Him concerning this word." (Luke 9:44-45 Mark 9:31-32; Matt. 17:22-23)

During the instructions which He gave to the throngs on the first Palm Sun­day, again He announced this task which lay before Him. (John 13:20-33)

However, neither the fact of the redemptive death of Jesus, an­nounced and later described by Him as a function of the Son of Man, (Luke 24:27) nor the future glorious appearance of this same Son of Man in any way detracted from the fact that He claimed, as the Son of Man, to have a divine message which men were expected to accept on divine faith. In the discourse which is recorded in the sixth chapter of the gospel according to St. John, Jesus had spoken of Himself as the Son of Man. (John 6:27)

But it is exactly as such that men are to believe in Him, that they are to accept Him as the messenger sent by God. "And Jesus said to them: I am the bread of life: he that cometh to Me, shall not hunger: and he that believeth in Me, shall never thirst.” (John 6:33)

Again He told the Pharisees, after showing them the terrible prophecy that they were to die in their sins: "When you shall have lifted up the Son of man, then shall you know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself, but as the Father bath taught Me, these things I speak." (John 8:28)

There could be no clearer indication of the fact that Jesus claimed, precisely in His capacity as the Son of Man, to be the bearer of a divine message.

 

25. Jesus claimed the Messianic prophetical function.

Another title of messianic import by which Jesus of Nazareth was designated during the course of His earthly life was that of prophet.

Obviously not every prophet who had labored among the children of Israel could lay claim to the dignity of the Messias.

But, from that portion of the revealed message which is expressed in the book of Deuter­onomy, the Jews had been led to think of the deliverer who was to come in terms of prophetic activity: "The Lord thy God will raise up to thee a prophet of thy nation and of thy brethren like unto me: him thou shalt hear. . . I will raise them up a prophet out of the midst of their brethren, like unto thee: and I will put My words in his mouth, and he shall speak all that I command him?" (Deut. 18:15, 18)

The historical books of the New Testament show very clearly that the contemporaries of Jesus chose to speak of the Messias as the prophet "par excellence," the messenger of God gifted above all others who had been favored with that office.

The delegation from the elders in Jerusalem, inquiring from John the Baptist about his right to teach and to baptize, received from him the information that he was neither the Christ nor the prophet. (John 1:21,25)

The Samaritan woman recognized the prophetic dignity of Jesus Himself. "The woman saith to Him: Sir, I perceive that Thou art a prophet." (John 4:19)

St. Matthew recounts how the (multitude in Jerusalem itself con­sidered Jesus to be a prophet: "And seeking to lay hands on Him, they feared the multitudes: because they held Him as a prophet." (Matt. 21:46)

The response of the multitudes who had witnessed the feeding of the five thousand men with the five barley loaves and the two fishes was expressed in an act of faith in the prophetic mission of Jesus: "Now those men, when they had seen what a miracle Jesus had done, said: This is of a truth the prophet that is to come into the world." (John 6:14)

Some of the people who were privileged to hear His teaching offered that selfsame observation: "Of that multitude therefore, when they had heard these words of His, some said: This is the prophet indeed." (John 7:40)

This same title was given to Jesus by the man to whom He had given sight. "They say therefore to the blind man again: What sayest thou of Him who hath opened thy eyes? And he said: He is a prophet." (John 9:17)

When the people of Naim had witnessed the raising up of the widow's son, they attributed the dignity and the office of prophet to Jesus who had performed this miracle: "And there came a fear on them all: and they glorified God, saying: A great prophet is risen up among us: and God hath visited His people." (Luke 7:16)

Finally, when the risen Christ appeared to the discouraged pair of disciples on the road to Emmaus, they spoke of their Master as a prophet.

They spoke "concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet, mighty in work and word before God and all the people." (Luke 24:19)

In spite of the fact that certain of His contemporaries chose to think of Him as the reincarnation of one of the ancient Hebrew prophets, (Cf. Luke 9:59) Jesus of Nazareth applied the prophetic title to Him­self on several occasions.

He told His fellow townsmen of Nazareth: "A prophet is not without honor, save in his own country and in his own house." (Matt. 53:57, Cf. Mark 6:4; Luke 4:24; John 4:44)

He used this same designation when He taught of the reward which would be due to those who accepted and aided Himself and His emissaries: "He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet, shall receive the reward of a prophet." (Matt. 10:41)

Finally He spoke of His own redemptive mission when He told the Pharisees who had come to Him, "It cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem." (Luke 13:33)

 

26. He who was to come.

Another specifically messianic title which Jesus claimed for Himself, and through which He asserted that the doctrine He preached was in reality a message from God to be accepted by all with the assent of divine faith, was that of "the one who was to come."

The only dominating personality who was awaited by the righteous among the people of Israel was the promised Messias.

Consequently when John the Baptist sent his disciples on their last mission to Jesus, they were empowered and expected to ask him officially if He was this Messias.

Their ques­tion was: "Art Thou He that art to come, or look we for an­other?" (Luke 7:19; cf. Matt. 11:3)

The response of Jesus was the most solemn and certain assurance that this title actually belonged to Himself.

 

27. The Son of David.

Another messianic title by which Jesus of Nazareth was hailed among His people was that of the Son of David.

Two of the blind men to whom Jesus gave their sight appealed to Him under this title. "And as Jesus passed from thence, there followed Him two blind men, crying out and saying: Have mercy on us, O Son of David." (Matt. 9:27; 20:30-31; Mark 10:47-48; Luke 18:38-39)

The throngs who greeted Jesus on the first Palm Sunday acknowledged Him as the descendant of the great king of Israel and consequently as the promised possessor of the messianic kingdom: "And the multitudes that went before and that followed cried saying: Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord: Hosanna in the highest. And when He was come into Jerusalem, the whole city was moved, saying: Who is this? And the people said: This is Jesus the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee." (Matt. 11:9-11)

When the chief priests and the scribes protested against this demonstration to Jesus, He informed them in no uncertain terms that this was pleasing to Him. Thus He accepted the designation of Son of David in the most public and open manner possible. (Cf. Mark I I:10)

The contemporary misunderstandings among the Jews relative to the nature and the function of the messianic kingdom were sufficient to force a clarification of the title, Son of David. The response of the multitudes in Jerusalem and the spontaneous peti­tions of those persons who called upon Jesus for aid show us very clearly that this designation was a popular term for the Messias.

As a result, Jesus had to see to it that men did not consider that He claimed the messianic dignity merely in the way in which this dignity was described in the rabbinical teaching of that time.

Al­though He approved the use of this tide by others, the gospels do not record that He ever directly applied it to Himself.

Further­more, on one occasion, described in all of the three synoptic gospels, He taught explicitly that His messianic dignity as the Son of David was far superior to that which had been ascribed to the deliverer in the teaching of the Jewish masters: "And the Pharisees being gathered together, Jesus asked them, saying: What think you of Christ? Whose son is He? They say to Him: David's. He saith to them: How then doth David in spirit call Him Lord, saying: The Lord said to my Lord: sit on my right hand, until I make thy enemies thy footstool? If David then call Him Lord, how is He his son?" (Matt. 22:41-45. Cf. also Mark .12:35-37; Luke 20:41-44)

It is obvious from the account of Jesus' reaction to the title Son of David, described throughout the Synoptics, that He did not in any way attempt to deny that He was physically the descendant of the great Israelitic king, and consequently the heir to the promised kingdom.

All that He set out to do, and that He actually ac­complished, was to advance a demonstration that the Messias, the bearer of the divine message was not to be merely the possessor of art earthly kingdom, of the type over which David had ruled.

 

28. The claim of divinity and that of revelation.

Most important of all, from the point of view of the doctrinal claims advanced by Jesus of Nazareth, was the fact that the historical records which we know as the four gospels clearly indicate that He asserted Him­self to be a divine person in the strictest sense of the term.

Since, according to His own claims, He was not only the bearer of a divine message, but actually God Himself, it follows clearly that He taught that His doctrine was something which men were ex­pected to receive on divine faith.

Thus, from this point of view at least, Catholic dogma is rationally credible as divine revelation, since it claims to be the message which was brought to men as the teaching of God by Jesus of Nazareth.

It is abundantly and im­mediately clear, from the reliable historical documents which we have available to us, that Jesus of Nazareth really asserted that He was the bearer of such a divine teaching.

 

29. Jesus asserted that His doctrine was intrinsically supernatural.

However, this chapter would be lamentably incomplete were we not to consider what Jesus said about the intrinsically supernatural character of His teaching.

We know very well that this divine revelation with which Jesus was concerned might have been super­natural merely from the point of view of the way in which it was given to men, while it remained at the same time intrinsically natural in quality.

If this had been the case, then there would have been no need for the act of divine faith, precisely as the Catholic Church claims it for her own dogmatic teaching.

For an intrinsically natural teaching could be accepted on natural evidence, even though it had come to man by avenues other than those naturally available to him for the attainment of his knowledge about God.

If, for example, the teaching of Jesus had been such as to contain merely truths like that of the existence of God, or of the natural norms of morality, men could treat this teaching in the same way as they deal with the teaching of any great philosopher or scientist.

They could have adduced the evidence which was brought before them, and then from the examination of this evidence, realized that the statements contained in the teach­ing were necessarily true.

However, according to the words of Jesus, such was not the case.

He asserted that the doctrine which He presented to the world was something which could not possibly be gained through any merely human process of reasoning. In the interview which He granted to Nicodemus, He stated: "Amen, amen I say to thee, that we speak what we know, and we testify what we have seen, and you receive not our testimony. If I have spoken to you earthly things, and you believe not: how will you believe if I shall speak to you heavenly things?" (John 3:11-12)

The heavenly things to which Jesus referred were obviously matters about which men could not learn apart from the revelation which He brought to them. The evange­list appended this explanation to the words of St. John the Baptist: "He that cometh from above, is above all. He that is of the earth, of the earth he is, and of the earth he speaketh. He that cometh from heaven, is above all. And what He hath seen and heard, that He testifieth: and no man receiveth His testimony." (John 3:31-32)

The doctrine of Christ is thus described explicitly as a teaching which results from the vision of the living God, something obviously beyond the natural competence of any creature, actual or possible.

Jesus Himself declared that faith in Him, that is to say acceptance of His teaching with the certain assent of divine belief, was some­thing which could be possessed only by those to whom God Him­self had given the grace to make this act. It is consequently an act over and above the capacity of the creature as such: "No man can come to Me, except the Father, who bath sent Me, draw him . . ." (John 6:44)

After the defection of the false disciples, consequent upon the sermon of Jesus about the Eucharistic sacrifice, Peter expressed the conviction of the other Apostles and the teaching of the Master Himself when he made his illustrious response: "Then Jesus said to the twelve: Will you also go away? And Simon Peter answered Him: Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life." (John 6:68-69)

The evident connotation of this statement by the prince of the Apostles is that they realized that the truths taught by Jesus Christ were such that they could be obtained from no other source. They were thus obviously statements which were intrinsically supernatural in their meaning.

After Peter had spoken for the other Apostles and expressed the belief that Jesus was actually the Christ, the Son of the living God, Jesus pointed out the intrinsically supernatural character of this truth: "And Jesus answering, said to him: Blessed art thou Simon Bar-Jona: because flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but My Father who is in heaven." (Matt.  16:17)

In other words, the truth which Peter had enunciated was beyond the range of those verities which might be perceived through the natural operation of the human faculties.

 

30. The beneficent Revelation.

In His discourse in the temple on the feast of the tabernacles, Jesus of Nazareth made it quite clear that His doctrine came from a source which was not seen by those who chose to oppose Him: "Jesus therefore cried out in the temple, teaching and saying: You both know Me, and you know whence I am: and I am not come of Myself; but He that sent Me is true, whom you know not. I know Him: because I am from Him, and He hath sent Me." (John 7:28-29)

The doctrine which He offered then was something which depended upon the knowledge of the living God, a sort of knowledge not available to creatures as such.

Likewise the Master made it abundantly evident that the acquisition of this knowledge did not in any way depend upon the natural brilliance nor on the intellectual training of the individual man. It was communicated by God in the way of divine and supernatural reve­lation, and only those who had been favored with the gift of God's grace would possess it: "At the same hour He rejoiced in the Holy Ghost, and said: I confess to Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because Thou hast hidden these things from the wise and prudent and hast revealed them to little ones. Yea Father: for so it hath seemed good in Thy sight.” (Luke 10:21; Matt. 11:25)

Furthermore, this supernatural revelation was such as to be inaccessible to the merit even of the good men who had lived in former times: "And turn­ing to His disciples, He said: Blessed are the eyes that see the things which you see. For I say to you, that many prophets and kings have desired to see the things that you see, and have not seen them: and to hear the things that you hear, and have not heard them.” (Luke 10:23-24; Matt. 13:16-17)

It is evident, then, from the records of Jesus' own life, that He made exactly the same claim for His teaching that the Catholic Church to this day sets forth in favor of that doctrine which she presents to the world as having been preached by Him.

If it can be shown that Jesus actually taught a doctrine which is that now offered by the Catholic Church in the form of her own dogma, and if this doctrine is actually signed with unmistakable marks of authenticity, manifesting it as a doctrine which God Himself visibly approves as His revelation, then the teaching of Jesus as the dogma of the Catholic Church will have been established as rationably credible in its claim for the assent of divine faith. †