It is worth bearing in mind how the four gospels came to be written. You had the memory of what Jesus said and did that was actually witnessed by the chosen disciples. These memories were then interpreted in the light of the resurrection from the dead and in the light of who he had actually become for them – Lord and Christ!
In the oral tradition these memories were shared and passed on to others. Then the time came for these testimonies of faith in the risen Jesus to be written down. More than likely the original apostles were dead at this stage. That is why the communities thought it wise and necessary to commit the accounts to writing. These evangelists were not historians, they were pastors with pastoral responsibility for their own communities. So the gospels are not detailed historical accounts of what actually happened back then but broadly speaking a recollection of real historical events interpreted through the eyes of faith and with the needs of certain historical communities in mind. Having said all that, the gospel accounts as we have them are the inspired documents which have come down to us, and contain what we need for our salvation. “These are recorded so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing this you may have life through his name.” Jn.20:31.
So how are we to read them today in a living and life-giving way?
Jesus Today
We might ask ourselves where is Jesus today? Seated at the right hand of the father; In the blessed sacrament; in the teaching authority of the church. Or Jesus alongside of us – whom we turn to in prayer. But there is another presence of Jesus today and that is Jesus within us. ‘Jesus’ who has made his home in us:
- “Make your home in me as I make mine in you” Jn15:4.
- “I will not leave you orphans. I will come back to you. On that day the world will no longer see me but you will see me. On that day you will understand that I am in the father and you in me and I in you.” Jn 14:18-20
- “I have made your name known to them and will continue to make it known so that the love with which you loved me may be in them and so that I may be in them. Jn 17:26.
That experience of the indwelling of Jesus in his disciples is very evident too in the experience of St Paul, the greatest theologian of them all.
- We read in Galatians “I am crucified with Christ and yet I am alive; it is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me “ Gal 2:20.
- The mystery is Christ among you, your hope of glory.” Col 1:27
- You have stripped off the old behaviour with your old self, and you have put on the new self..in that image there is only Christ, he is everything and he is in everything. Col.3:11
- But that now as always I shall have the courage for Christ to be glorified in my body, whether by my life or by my death.” Phil 1:20
- Let the message of Christ in all its richness find a home in you. Col 3:16
- We are only the earthenware jars that hold the treasure..indeed we are consigned to our death every day, for the sake of Jesus, so that in our mortal flesh the life of Jesus too may be openly shown. 2 Cor 4:7-11
As Fr Brendan Clifford has written “Jesus in me” can be understood in two ways:
- I go into my heart to speak to Jesus there — there are two of us, he and I;
- In my heart there is only one: Jesus-in-me; so that when I do something good, there is one agent, it is Jesus-in-me who is doing it. It is this presence of Jesus in us – never perfectly and not all the time – that Lectio Divina highlights.
We celebrate and nourish this faith in the indwelling presence of God in the sacrament of the Eucharist. Jesus chooses to make his home in us – to dwell in us; to work in us and through us to complete the work he began when he was with us in the flesh. Our flesh is now potentially his flesh. Our eyes, his eyes; our ears his ears, our hands his hands. As St. Teresa of Avila has said “Christ has no body now but yours.” Where do we meet him today? Where do we see him today if not in the lives of his disciples – in those who embody his spirit, in those who embody his words, in those who embody his actions.
How can we recognise him today? In those attitudes and actions today that are in keeping with the Jesus whom we meet on the pages of the gospels. Therefore, Jesus of the gospels is the touchstone by which we can recognize his saving presence and work among us today – Jn.14:12 “You will perform the same works as I do myself . You will perform even greater works because I am going to the father.” So Jesus of the gospel is the model, paradigm, template, symbol of where and how we can encounter his presence today. Read in this way, we discover that what God did in Jesus in the past, he is doing today, he is always doing. St John tells us that “the word became flesh and dwelt among us”, and our faith is that the Word continues to become flesh and to dwell among us today – be it in partial and limited ways, but nonetheless real.
In the book of the prophet Isaiah chapter 43:18-21, we read “no need to recall the past, no need to think about what was done before. Look! I am doing something new, even now it comes to light. Can you not see it?” We read the gospel to discover that “something new” – “the new deed” – where we can meet him today, and at the same time, how he is calling us to grow.
Knowing that Jesus is alive and active today – that we can see him feel him, touch him and listen to him in ourselves and in those around us – our lives are filled with a new wonder, depth and richness. Good News!!