Jesus Christus by Romano Guardini

Author:Romano Guardini
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Religion, Catholicism, General, Spirituality, Christology, Christianity, Christian Theology
ISBN: 9780870612572
Publisher: Ave Maria Press
Published: 2012-05-14T21:48:25+00:00

Jesus’ Solitude

Behold, the time is coming . . .

when you . . . shall leave me alone.

(John 16:31)

ONCE BEFORE IN the course of these meditations, when we were speaking of Our Lord as being in a state of passage through the world, we mentioned His solitude. Understanding this takes us so intimately into the heart of His mystery that we shall examine it again.

We assume today almost as a matter of course that a person of exceptional greatness of character, with the penetration and the creative gift of genius, is slated to be misunderstood in his own lifetime—so much so that we feel Providence is being kind whenever such a person finds recognition before it is too late. One whose condition of life comprises factors far beyond the general run of mankind to begin with, whose background and destiny have formed him in a special way, one who has broken through to new knowledge by the road of searching analyses and extraordinary experiences of the inner life, touched by values not yet apprehended by the rest of mankind, seeing goals and possibilities hitherto concealed from others—such a person simply cannot expect any kind of immediate reception by the general public. In a favorable situation he may be surrounded by a certain respect, but he must go his way alone. In an unfavorable situation he will encounter mistrust or hostility. Of course afterwards, when he has fought his fight, possibly perished, then the people take him and his followers to their bosom. Then he appears as the messenger and prophet of what is later seen to be the common weal.

Such is not the case with Jesus. We must not think of His life in this category so familiar to history. He was not just another great man misunderstood in his own time. It went much deeper than that.

Let us just reflect upon this: Jesus was a Jew. He came of the finest stock of his people, the line of kings. He was wholly rooted in the life of this people. It has been said, and with some justice, that His immediate humanity is even today most readily understood by the Jews.

He was deeply involved in the tradition of His people. Their whole history lived in Him. He knew Himself to be deeply obligated to this sacred record. Suffused as He was by the tremendous mission received directly from God, he said: “Do not think that I have come to set aside the law and the prophets; I have not come to set them aside, but to bring them to perfection” (Mt 5:17). Not one letter, “no jot nor tittle” may be taken away; everything must be fulfilled.

More than that: He knew how the purpose of His being and His mission was borne out by that sacred past, “You pore over the scriptures, thinking to find eternal life in them (and indeed it is of these I speak as bearing witness to me)” (Jn 5:39). Those events had now demonstrated their place in the order of things.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.