THE GOOD NEWS OF JESUS, THE CHRIST AND THE SON OF GOD, ACCORDING TO JOHN. Manfred Diefenbach

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СКАЧАТЬ mind that we are first, receivers of the Word, and then disciples and “servants”/“co-workers” of Jesus Christ in preaching and/or teaching the message of the Good News. To be a minister of the Word of God and of His Love is to receive first, and then to “hand on” (the meaning of the Latin word “traditio”) what has been received. The truth that saves our life kindles the heart of the receiver with a neighbourly love that should motivate us to communicate our experience of faith to others.

      Jesus was a teacher, preacher, catechist, biblical scholar and a storyteller. He talked about, and explained in parables, “the Kingdom of Heaven”, taking into account people’s different kinds of backgrounds and understandings. In His preaching, Jesus used parables like the parable of the sower (cf. Mark 4:3–8/Matthew 13:4–8/Luke 8:5–8) who sowed seeds in various soils. Through His interpretation (cf. Mark 4:13–20/Matthew 13:18–23/Luke 8:11–15) Jesus helped His disciples to understand, receive, believe, accept and live this parable. We, the faithful who want to spread and share the “Word of God”, must be sowers who preach and teach His Word as the message of God and His Kingdom, now, as it was then. The seed is the Word of God, His message. With His help, the Good News of God will fall on good soil, in the heart of men (cf. Matthew 13:19). In the same way, the seed that has fallen into the hearts of the disciples of Jesus – now as it was then – is fruitful, ranging up to 100 per cent depending on their disposition.

      The Word of God must appear in its entire splendour, even if it is “expressed in human language” (Dei Verbum 13), that is the task of all preachers in the Church and teachers and catechists in schools. May we be guided in our preaching and teaching by Jesus Christ who opened the minds of the disciples of Emmaus (cf. Luke 24:27) and the other disciples (cf. v. 45) to the understanding of the scriptures, making their hearts burn within them (cf. v. 32) with the desire to glorify God.

      - THE THREE STAGES IN THE FORMATION OF THE INSPIRED GOSPELS²

      The Gospels tell us about the life of Jesus of Nazareth, who was born in Bethlehem, the town of King David in 7 or 6 B.C. (cf. Matthew 1:18–2:18; Luke 2:1–20) He healed the sick and taught people about God as “Abba, Father” (Mark 14:36). God (cf. 1:11; 9:7) proclaimed Him: the “Christ” (cf. John 1:17, 41; 4:25–26; 7:26–27, 31, 41–42; 10:24–30; 11:27; 17:3; 20:31), the “Son of God” (cf. 1:34, 49; 3:18; 5:25; 10:36; 11:4, 27; 20:31).

      After His Death and His Resurrection on “Easter Sunday”, the second stage in the development of the Gospels was the oral tradition of the Good News in the preaching of His disciples and Galilean women, such as Mary Magdalene. What could they tell the people? The Acts of the Apostles says: “Someone must join us as a witness to the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus. He must be one of the men who has accompanied us during the whole time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning with John’s baptism until the day when Jesus was taken from us” (Acts 1:21–22) and “ascended into Heaven” (1:11).

      The Evangelists Mark, Matthew, Luke and John wrote the canonical Gospels under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. They related the story/history of Jesus of Nazareth as both the “Son of God” and the “son” of Joseph and Mary and His message of salvation, by selecting some of the many elements which had been handed on, either orally or already in written form, through the Holy Spirit (= inspiration).

      - FROM EXEGESIS TO THE “HEARTS” AS THE HERMENEUTIC OF THE WORD OF GOD

      The Bible is like a library. We find two parts in the Holy Scriptures: the “Old Testament” – the “Hebrew Bible” – and the “New Testament” which were written between 1000 B.C. and about 100 A.D. The Holy Bible is based on factual information, and at the same time it is from the eternity of God and it leads us back to His eternity. On the other hand, the reader or the listener of the Bible who wants to understand the words and deeds in it, should read, study, and understand the texts of the ancient world in their original historical context, and project herself/himself into Antiquity, 2000 or even 3000 years ago.

      People today find themselves in the same situation as the first century Ethiopian in the Acts of the Apostles. They need an interpreter to understand the biblical texts (cf. Acts 8:30–31³): Philip asked the Ethiopian: “Do you understand what you are reading?” The Ethiopian replied: “How can I unless someone guides me?” Therefore the “Word of God” has to be made understandable in our time and culture with the help of the Holy Spirit by the works of the scholars, preachers, teachers/professors, catechists, and parents. For example, in the New Testament, what is the intention of John? The distance between this ancient text of the end of the first century/beginning of the second century and the reader of the 21^st century has to be bridged in order to arrive at the authentic sense of the sacred text. Christians also hear Christ’s voice in the readings and homilies which explain the texts of the Bible in today’s language. They are thus invited to apply these inspired biblical words/texts in their lives. Their different forms – parables, healings, the narratives of His Passion and Resurrection as well as their context (who wrote it, to whom, why), are a personal message from God. We must enter the ancient world so that the written text – the Bible – can become living word in the context of today’s people in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Muscat, Kuwait City, London, New York, Munich ...

      The Apostle Paul (1) spoke “on Christ’s behalf” (2 Corinthians 5:20) as God’s “mouthpiece” (Galatians 1:10) and placed himself completely at the service of the proclamation of the Gospel. He preached the Good News (2) of the Crucified and Risen Lord Jesus Christ without compromise (cf. Romans 8:35–37 or 2 Corinthians 11:23–27).

      As His “servant”, Paul was His instrument because he only wanted God and Christ to be the focus of his life. He was not a self-centred “minister of the Word of God”. The Spirit of God and Jesus Christ lives in us and is taught through us in words and deeds by means of personal testimony.

      According to the “communication model”⁴, our role as a SENDER/transmitter (1) and as a “minister of the Word of God” is to reach the members of the Church, the RECEIVERs/ addressees (3) of the apostolic MESSAGE – the Good News (2).

      Bishops, priests, deacons, professors, catechists, parents (1) and all the faithful should learn, through frequent reading of the Sacred Scripture(s), to bring the message of the Bible (2) to the ears and hearts of people (3) of our own time. First, we are receivers (3), and then we can act as God’s servants and Christ’s disciples, and co-workers (1) in the preaching and/or teaching of the message of the Good News (2). A faithful and true minister of the Word of God receives and hands on what has been received. The truth that saves his life inflames the heart of the receiver with neighbourly love, and motivates him to pass on to others what he has freely received. The principal functions in the pastoral ministry can be distinguished: catechesis, preaching, and the biblical apostolate; the Word of God has to be made understandable in our time and culture – in preaching and/or teaching as well in the biblical apostolate.

      How can we guide the people who want to hear and understand the Good News? We have to avoid two extremes⁵ when interpreting the Bible:

      - on the one hand, we have to protect the interpretation of the Bible from attacks by science which analyses words of the Bible – the so-called “historical-critical methods” – as if they were ordinary writings without the inspiration of the Holy Spirit;

      - on the other hand, there is the so-called “mystical exegesis”. This way of understanding the Bible is all symbolic and spiritual as if it had nothing to do with historical СКАЧАТЬ