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Irish Jesuit Province Whom Do Men Say That I Am? Author(s): Hugh Kelly Source: The Irish Monthly, Vol. 76, No. 902 (Aug., 1948), pp. 356-361 Published by: Irish Jesuit Province Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20515844 . Accessed: 14/06/2014 01:54 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. . Irish Jesuit Province is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Irish Monthly. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 91.229.229.111 on Sat, 14 Jun 2014 01:54:00 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

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Page 1: Whom Do Men Say That I Am?

Irish Jesuit Province

Whom Do Men Say That I Am?Author(s): Hugh KellySource: The Irish Monthly, Vol. 76, No. 902 (Aug., 1948), pp. 356-361Published by: Irish Jesuit ProvinceStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20515844 .

Accessed: 14/06/2014 01:54

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

.

Irish Jesuit Province is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Irish Monthly.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 91.229.229.111 on Sat, 14 Jun 2014 01:54:00 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Page 2: Whom Do Men Say That I Am?

" WHOM DO MEN SAY THAT I AM ? "

By HUGH KELLY, S.J.

AND Jesus came into the quarters of Ces?rea PhiUppi; and He asked His disciples, saying : Whom do men say that the Son of Man is?" (St. Matt, xvi, 17.) This incident marks a

turning point in the Ufe of Christ. Near this pagan city, beyond the confines of His country, away from the hostility of the Pharisees He

makes a deliberate inquiry as to the estimate that people have formed of Him. His teaching and miracles had set the whole country talking of Him; had aroused extreme enthusiasm among the crowds, and

among a small class extreme hostility. John the Baptist, EUas or

Jerem?as or one of the prophets?He was at least a great re?gious leader; that was the view of the people. But the Apostles?what was

their estimate? They had lived close to Him; had heard more of His

teaching than others; had witnessed at close quarters His miracles; had experienced the strength and sweetness of His character in a

particular way?what did they think of Him? "

Simon Peter answered

and said : Thou art Christ the Son of the Living God." It was the answer that Christ had hoped for. We can feel the animation and

joy in His words. His apostles, those privileged, official, witnesses

knew Him for what He was. "

Blessed art thou Simon Bar-Jona, because flesh and blood has not revealed it to thee but My Father

Who is in Heaven." This is the only occasion on which Christ pro claims an individual blessed. That confession of Peter could only have come from the Father's revelation; because Christ had already said :

" No one knows the Son but the Father." To this great act

of faith Christ gave a great reward; for on that faith as on an unshak

able rock He would build His Church. And in a few words He

raised up before their minds a picture of that institution, indestructible

to the assaults of the gates of hell, endowed with power to open and

shut the treasures of Heaven. With this incident there comes a new

degree of intimacy in the relations between Christ and the Apostles.

They are more friends now than servants; He reveals to them what

He could not have done before. For the first time He speaks clearly of His passion. Through His passion was to be reaUsed the promise ?f the Church. Knowing Him no?v as the Son of the Living <3od,

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they were qualified to know the chief event of His mission. That scene at Ces?rea Philippi has a certain quality of permanence;

in our own days it has a strange application. The question " What

think ye of Christ?" is often asked and the answer is that given at

Ces?rea Philippi though in different terms. He is admitted to be a

great religious teacher; a great spiritual force; an abiding inspiration; a supreme vindicator of spiritual values, etc. These are the modern

equivalents of John the Baptist, Elias or one of the prophets. That is the opinion of the world which does not know Him. But there are

privileged witnesses. For them the Church speaks giving the answer

which St. Peter gave : "

Thou art Christ the Son of the Living God."

But the testimony of the Church will be fuller than St. Peter's, though it will be only a development and explanation of his answer, a develop

ment which the infallible magisterium of the Church since Apostolic

days has produced. In The Christ of Catholicism (London: Longmans: 1947. 21/-)

Dom Aelred Graham has given us a statement of the Church's teaching of its Founder. He calls it a meditative study and this description indicates accurately the nature of the book. It is a theological work,

solid, thorough, comprehensive; yet it is not controversial or even

apologetieal, but as he says meditative, written primarily to make all believers know better and know more of the

" unsoundable riches

"

of Christ. "

I believe in Jesus Christ "?this is the second article of the Creed. Dom Graham's book is an exposition of this article. The

life-work of Christ; His Personality; His work of Redemption; the

purpose and consequences of the Incarnation; the Incarnation opera tive during the ages through the Church; the Mother of Christ; the

Mystical Body?these are the main headings of the contents of this

very comprehensive work, which is a full treatise of Christology. It is

drawn entirely from the teaching of the Church; and even when it

touches on points of theology where there is disagreement between

different schools it is in no way controversial or provocative. The present writer does not know any other modern book in English

which covers the same ground, and in the same spirit. "

What think

ye of Christ?" A Catholic asked that question can -point to Dom

Graham's book and answer "

that is what Christ means to us ".

Though The Christ of Catholicism is the work of a professional

theologian it is by its style and treatment?as its author meant it?

rather a spiritual book than a theological one. There is always a

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IRISH MONTHLY

place and a need for a spiritual book on Christ that wiU make CathoUcs know Christ better. Dom Graham's book is a genuine contribution to our modern spiritual Ubrary.

With a view to commend more fuUy to Christian readers this very valuable book, it is proposed to give here, at some length, the chief

teachings about Christ that it contains. We may consider the earthly life of the Son of Man and then something of the mystery of Him

Who is also Son of God.

Jesus Christ was born in an age and in a country that are as wefl

known as any other time or country of antiquity. His Ufe is soUdly interwoven into the texture of world history. He was a subject of

the far-flung Roman Empire; into the story of His life come many

figures of indubitable historicity. The background and setting of

His life, the conditions, re?gious, social, political, which characterised

it are well known. The chief authorities of His Ufe are the four

gospels. Two of these were written by men who Uved with Him and

witnessed what they narrated; the other two by men who knew

intimately those who had known the Master. By any test these

documents are genuine and historical. Though the miraculous

element enters into His life largely at its beginning and at the period of His preaching, His Ufe was human and historical. The greatest

portion of it, chronologicaUy, was spent in a village of Galilee where

He lived from childhood until He was about thirty, and where He

learned and practised the trade of a carpenter. He handled hammer

and saw and plane; leaned over the bench in the rough workshop in which He spent His day. He made the simple utensils a v?lage

community would need, yokes, ploughs, tables, stools. He did the

odd jobs for which a handyman would be called in. ExternaUy it

was an ordinary commonplace Ufe; His feUow viUagers took Him for

one of themselves. Yet an incident occurred when He was twelve

years of age which showed that behind this ordinary exterior there

were infinite depths of significance and dignity. "

Did you not know,? He said to His Mother and St. Joseph when they came upon Him in ;

the Temple after a three days' search full of anguish, "

that I must:

be about My Father's business?" His Father's business was some*

thing greater than the work of a v?lage carpenter. As a man of about thirty years He emerges from the workshop, and

lays aside forever His tools. The appearance of John the Baptist was the signal He had waited for. He came to the banks of the;

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Jordan and was baptised by John; and entered on His public life, which lasted about three years. He came forward as a religious Teacher and at once He riveted attention on Himself. His teaching from the beginning was marked by certain qualities?an unique note of authority and an unique depth. None of the prophets had spoken with this accent or had given such a message. His teaching was in the most marked contrast with that of the contemporary official

teachers, the Scribes and Pharisees. They were merely commentators,

timid, casuistical, who had made the observance of the law humanly

impossible; who had buried the chief commandment?the love of

God and the neighbour?under a tangle of mechanical formahstic

precepts. But here was one Who spoke with authority; Who could

say "

it was said to you of old?but I say to you ". He sheared at once through the jungle of precepts and observances and revealed the heart of all religion.

" Seek first the kingdom of God and His

justice." He deliberately challenged the Pharisees on their interpre tation of the observance of the Sabbath. The incident of the healing of the woman

" who had a spirit of infirmity for eighteen years ",

narrated by St. Luke (xiii, 11) shows us admirably His spirit and His

contempt for the Pharisees. As He was teaching in the synagogue this pitiable creature entered :

" And she was bowed together, neither

could she look up at all." He called her and laying His hands on

her healed her. To the ruler of the synagogue who protested angrily that this was a violation of the Sabbath, Jesus answered sternly that

they tolerated the loosing of an ass or ox to be brought to the water

on a Sabbath; "

and ought not this daughter of Abraham whom Satan

hath bound, lo, eighteen years be loosed from this bond on the

Sabbath day?" It was a withering retort which won the admiration

of the people and reduced even the Pharisees to shame.

The Sermon on the Mount may be considered as the official begin

ning of His public life. It does not contain all His teaching; but it

contains many of its essential features and its general purpose and

spirit. It may be said that the aim of this great discourse is to

orientate human life in all its aspects towards God Our Father; to

teach man to live in God's sight not merely as to his external actions

but even as to the thoughts and intentions of his mind and heart "

Seek first the kingdom of God and His justice "?that is the leading lesson by which the Master proclaims that God is the end of human

life. The Sermon on the Mount is an outline which will be filled in

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by later teaching. In parable and sermon, in interview and chance encounter He wiU announce His message. The chief part of that

message wiU be Himself?His mission, His work, His Incarnation and

Redemption, His death, His Church. As His life drew to a close He made the Apostles more and more the recipients of His revelation.

No one had ever spoken of the things of God with such freshness,

depth, sincerity. But the power of His word was immensely increased

by His miracles. From the beginning of His pubUc life He shows Himself in possession of easy assured power over nature and the

spiritual world. From His hands flowed a stream of works of power and mercy. At a word or a touch He heals the leper, the paralysed, the blind. He passes through rows of sick and heals them aU. He

queUs the storm by a word; He raises the dead by calling upon them. His exercise of this power is in His own name, is effortless, and is in strong contrast to the miracles of the Old Testament. He is

drawing on a power that is His own, that is at His disposal and dis

cretion. Virtue went out of Him as from its source.

Everything in that Ufe is great. He is unique not merely in wisdom, and in power, but also in character, in conduct, in temperament. All

the human virtues meet in Him and balance each other. He is wise

and yet simple; strong yet merciful; holy yet the friend of sinners; He is patient, sympathetic, completely unselfish. He is possessed of

every kind of courage and yet meek and humble of heart. His

character excites in the highest degree at once our admiration and

our love. A Teacher of such power and origina?ty must have excited strong

opposition from the official re?gious leaders. The new wine cannot

be contained in the old bottles; the new piece wiU not fit the old

garment. From the beginning of His pubUc life Christ was in

conflict with the Scribes and Pharisees. These unworthy, self-seeking leaders of the people saw their position threatened. Opposition grew to open hosti?ty. They resolved that there was only one way to

silence that voice and to remove that chaUenge to their position and

interest. They resolved to kiU Him. He foresaw it and foretold it

with ever greater distinctness.

The end came as He had foretold and in the conditions he had

accepted. He was the master of His Ufe. "

No man taketh it away from Me but I lay it down of Myself" (Jn. x, 15) He said, thereby

proclaiming the freedom of His death. What was for His enemies an

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" WHOM DO MEN SAY THAT IAM?"

act of violence and revenge, was for Him the supreme triumph of His

life, the goal to which His career had moved unhesitatingly from the

beginning. All the incidents of the Passion, the injustice, the outrages, the cruelty, fitted into the pattern of the sacrifice He had freely chosen;

His death was a perfect sacrifice with all the essential elements of sacrifice. It was the sacrifice by which He redeemed the world; the

sacrifice which by anticipation had given value to the innumerable

sacrifices which had been offered in the Temple. When He bowed His head on the afternoon of Good Friday and

by a deliberate act gave up His spirit into His Father's hands, He

had not come to the end of His life. Whenever He had foretold His

passion He foretold also His resurrection. "

And the third day will

rise again." His resurrection is a part of His career. It is its crown

and coping. The resurrection was the supreme sign He had given of the truth of His mission. On the unshaken truth of this fact is

based the Christian Faith. For Him death was not an end; it was

the beginning of the new life He was to live as Head of the Mystical

Body which is His Church. When Renan ends the life of Christ on

Calvary he shares if not the malevolence of Christ's enemies at least

their blindness. But his action shows that he appreciated the signi ficance of the Resurrection. If Christ's Ufe ended on Calvary then

all Christian faith is vain and we are yet in our sins.

Such was in broad outline the historical life of "

the Son of man ".

What are the theological implications of that career we shall consider

in another article.

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