Jesus of Nazareth ~ Part 2

Donatello

I'm just in the process of trying to finish the first volume of Pope Benedict's Jesus of Nazareth. It is excellent. There are some beautiful insights into the Gospels. I was struck by new insights into the parable of the Prodigal Son, amongst others. My advice to anyone would be to skip the foreword and just start at the beginning. The foreword of volume 1 is very dry and technical, but the book itself is quite accessible and very engaging in parts.

I was wondering if anyone here was planning to read volume 2. It makes a lot of sense to have read volume 1, but it is not absolutely essential.

It might be interesting to have a little discussion here about the book. With that in mind, I've until Ash Wednesday to finish reading the first volume!

Donatello

The publisher has an information site here: http://www.ignatius.com/promotions/jesus-of-nazareth/index.htm

The table of contents is interesting and certainly whets my appetite!!

SonOfAdam

Donatello wrote:

I was struck by new insights into the parable of the Prodigal Son

Maybe you could share these with us ? The parable displays the heart of the father toward us so it would be interesting to hear any new insights you may have gleaned from the book.

Donatello

SonOfAdam wrote: »

Maybe you could share these with us ? The parable displays the heart of the father toward us so it would be interesting to hear any new insights you may have gleaned from the book.

I'll try and post something later about that.

Donatello

Benedict spoke about the Christology of the parable and explained that Christ is using the Father in the parable as an illustration of Himself, since those who see Him have seen the father. Also that the son who remained at home was quite bitter and resentful and that he secretly yearned to do what the younger son had done. Even as he stayed at home he was not happy to be a beloved son - he wanted to go out and 'be free' like the younger son. He hadn't been on the interior journey that the younger son had been on. The younger had sought absolute 'freedom' but ended up enslaved, whereas in a way, the other son felt like a slave at home and didn't appreciate the dignity he had by remaining at home with the father. I suppose the older son was worse off for his not having strayed.

The most beautiful insight for me personally was the idea that, in Benedict's words,

'Their [those represented by the elder son] bitterness toward God's goodness reveals an inward bitterness regarding their own obedience, a bitterness that indicates the limitations of this obedience. In their heart of hearts, they would have gladly journeyed out into that great 'freedom' as well. There is an unspoken envy of what others have been able to get away with. They have not gone through the pilgrimage that purified the younger brother and made him realise what it means to be free and what it means to be a son. They actually carry their freedom as if it were slavery and they have not matured to real sonship. They, too, are still in need of a path; they can find it if they simply admit that God is right and accept his feast as their own. In this parable, then, the Father through Christ is addressing us, the ones who never left home, encouraging us too to convert truly and to find joy in our faith. (Jesus of Nazareth, Volume One, Chapter 7.

I find if amusing that Benedict assumes his saintly readers have not shared in the kind of life lived by the younger son.

I think that is quite wonderful - the idea that the younger son's pilgrimage through leaving the Father, 'enjoying life', falling into slavery and realising his error, and then repenting, actually purified him and made him realise what it means to be free and to be a beloved son since he has seen and experienced the alternative - absolute 'freedom' (= licence, not true freedom) which finds its conclusion in slavery and despair.

Whether or not one has fallen dramatically in one's life, I think many Christians have a sneaking envy for the lives of those they see in the world. They would harbour a secret desire to 'live a little', as they say. I know such a desire dwells within me. What Benedict says to me is basically that the pilgrimage of the younger son has purified him, whilst the other son is left envious and resentful. I guess his is a lack of faith, trust and love, such that he doubts the father's goodness and love, such that he would remain envious of his younger son's escapades and desire the same himself. I wonder if the older son might learn from the younger son (I doubt it!). In the parable, we don't know what happened next.

antiskeptic

the Pope wrote:

'Their [those represented by the elder son] bitterness toward God's goodness reveals an inward bitterness regarding their own obedience, a bitterness that indicates the limitations of this obedience. In their heart of hearts, they would have gladly journeyed out into that great 'freedom' as well. There is an unspoken envy of what others have been able to get away with. They have not gone through the pilgrimage that purified the younger brother and made him realise what it means to be free and what it means to be a son. They actually carry their freedom as if it were slavery and they have not matured to real sonship. They, too, are still in need of a path; they can find it if they simply admit that God is right and accept his feast as their own. In this parable, then, the Father through Christ is addressing us, the ones who never left home, encouraging us too to convert truly and to find joy in our faith. (Jesus of Nazareth, Volume One, Chapter 7.

A similar take on a view taken by a videosermon I saw recently entitled "The Prodigal Father" - although it obviously (being a non-Catholic view) doesn't see both sons as needing to convert "fully"

It has the prodigal son representing the Gentile - the Gentile representing the pagan, the atheist, the agnostic, the ones like me who, at one point, simply didn't give a hoot for the issue of God. The unbelieving lost who live life exactly as they themselves deem fit .. in other words.

The elder son represents the Jew - the Jew representing the Religious* of whatever hue (Christian or other). They are as lost and as separated from the father as the prodigals are .. but take the alternative route of living by the Law (under the roof of the father as it were). Although they appear on the surface to be in right relationship with the father, their true heart is eventually revealed.


*by Religious I mean 'living by rules and regulations as if by doing so rightstanding with the god in question is acheived. As if by living to rules and regulations, the afterlife reward the religion in question will be obtained'.


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Fair ball to the Pope for at least highlighting the fact of the elder brother. Most everyone stops short of him and in doing so cuts the intent of the parable short.