The Meaning of Belief in Jesus Christ: The problem in dealing with this topic pertains to an inadequate Christology. When the Bible demands faith in Jesus Christ, the only Son of the living God, as a requirement of our salvation, what is the concept of the Savior assumed to be operating in this requirement? For, the reality of Jesus Christ is not restricted to any stereotype usually propounded by theologians of various persuasions, if we go deep into the Word of God we have in the bible.
Our Understanding: It is obvious that the meaning of belief in Jesus Christ is determined by our understanding of the reality of Jesus Christ. We can see in the Bible various aspects of the reality of Jesus Christ and, therefore, the question might arise as to believing in which aspect is really believing in Jesus Christ. Is it necessary to believe in all of them at once or is it enough to believe in any of them without denying the other aspects and remaining open to them? We believe that the latter attitude is sufficient to have genuine faith in Jesus Christ as is the case with most, if not all, believers. The titles "Son of Man", "The Messiah", "The King of the Jews", "The savior of the world", "Christ" meaning the anointed one, "The Lord", "The Good Shepherd", "The Light of the world", "The Way, the Truth, and the Life", etc., refer to various aspects of the reality of Jesus. As the pre-existing Word of God , Jesus was with God from all eternity and by becoming man, the Word became subject to the human condition except sin. Living as a human being on this earth, Jesus identified himself with our way of being in this world. His identification with us became complete and total with his death and that too death on a cross. Jesus went even to those who were already dead to announce the Gospel to them and thus extended his mission to the whole human race. By his resurrection, ascension and sitting at the right hand of God the Father, another dimension was added to the reality of Jesus Christ. We earnestly hope for his second coming at the end of the world when the whole universe will be reconciled to God.
Church's Proclamation: When the Church proclaims Jesus Christ as the Good news to the world, all of these aspects are understood to be included. Yet, there are various levels of proclamation in various contexts. For instance, when Christ crucified can be proclaimed even to non-believers, Christ as the risen Lord can be proclaimed only to those who already believe in Jesus Christ. Christ himself appeared only to believers after his resurrection and even Paul only heard his voice without seeing him before his conversion. Although Paul saw Jesus Christ later (See 1 Corinthians, 9: 1) and learnt everything through direct revelation and instructed the believers about the risen Lord, what he preached to the non-believers was Christ crucified (See Galatians, 1: 12; 1 Corinthians, 1: 23). This was in spite of the fact that probably he was not a witness to the crucifixion of Jesus, and if he was, he was not a sympathetic witness as he persecuted the Church afterwards.
The practical reason why Paul insisted on proclaiming the crucified Christ as the Good News to all was its easy accessibility to all as suffering and death are basic features of the human condition. Theologically speaking, by voluntarily undergoing suffering and death, Jesus Christ identified himself with humanity at its very core and turned out to be our advocate before God the Father. Those who take their own suffering and death in the spirit of Jesus Christ truly believe in him. It is part of the mission of the Church in proclaiming the Gospel to teach and train people to accept their own suffering and death as part of God's plan whereby they may implicitly believe in Jesus Christ. The Letter to the Hebrews describes how Jesus became the representative before God forever. "In the days of his earthly life he offered up prayers and petitions, with loud cries and tears, to God who was able to deliver him from the grave. Because of his humble submission his prayer was heard: Son though he was, he learned obedience in the school of suffering, and, once perfected, became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him, named by God high priest in the succession of Melchizedek"(Hebrews, 5: 7-10).
The Priesthood of Christ: While the priesthood of Aaron was restricted to the tribe of Levi for the benefit of the people of Israel, the priesthood of Melchizedek was unrestricted and was for the benefit of the entire human race. The superiority of the latter over the former is explained in chapters 7-10 of the same Letter to the Hebrews. By becoming a priest like Melchizedek, Jesus represents the whole of humanity before God in virtue if his glorified body. The priesthood of Jesus is operative wherever there is suffering and death through which he passed on to his own glory. All those who follow in the footsteps of Jesus in their sufferings in this world obey him and will find eternal salvation through the merits of Jesus Christ. It is a very fundamental and basic kind of belief in Jesus Christ without any sound and fury of pompous exhibitionism aimed at selfish human gratification under the garb of devotion to God! There are innumerable examples of this phenomenon of implicit belief in Jesus Christ cutting across religions, races, cultures, etc. Two outstanding contributions to Gospel Proclamation in this way may be seen in the cases of Fr. Joseph Damien of Belgium who went to the Moloccoi islands to live with the lepers who were considered outcasts and the Albanian Mother Teresa who worked in the slums of Calcutta. Wherever there is genuine self-giving in order to empower the weak and the humble , there is true Gospel Proclamation. (To be Contd).
Our Understanding: It is obvious that the meaning of belief in Jesus Christ is determined by our understanding of the reality of Jesus Christ. We can see in the Bible various aspects of the reality of Jesus Christ and, therefore, the question might arise as to believing in which aspect is really believing in Jesus Christ. Is it necessary to believe in all of them at once or is it enough to believe in any of them without denying the other aspects and remaining open to them? We believe that the latter attitude is sufficient to have genuine faith in Jesus Christ as is the case with most, if not all, believers. The titles "Son of Man", "The Messiah", "The King of the Jews", "The savior of the world", "Christ" meaning the anointed one, "The Lord", "The Good Shepherd", "The Light of the world", "The Way, the Truth, and the Life", etc., refer to various aspects of the reality of Jesus. As the pre-existing Word of God , Jesus was with God from all eternity and by becoming man, the Word became subject to the human condition except sin. Living as a human being on this earth, Jesus identified himself with our way of being in this world. His identification with us became complete and total with his death and that too death on a cross. Jesus went even to those who were already dead to announce the Gospel to them and thus extended his mission to the whole human race. By his resurrection, ascension and sitting at the right hand of God the Father, another dimension was added to the reality of Jesus Christ. We earnestly hope for his second coming at the end of the world when the whole universe will be reconciled to God.
Church's Proclamation: When the Church proclaims Jesus Christ as the Good news to the world, all of these aspects are understood to be included. Yet, there are various levels of proclamation in various contexts. For instance, when Christ crucified can be proclaimed even to non-believers, Christ as the risen Lord can be proclaimed only to those who already believe in Jesus Christ. Christ himself appeared only to believers after his resurrection and even Paul only heard his voice without seeing him before his conversion. Although Paul saw Jesus Christ later (See 1 Corinthians, 9: 1) and learnt everything through direct revelation and instructed the believers about the risen Lord, what he preached to the non-believers was Christ crucified (See Galatians, 1: 12; 1 Corinthians, 1: 23). This was in spite of the fact that probably he was not a witness to the crucifixion of Jesus, and if he was, he was not a sympathetic witness as he persecuted the Church afterwards.
The practical reason why Paul insisted on proclaiming the crucified Christ as the Good News to all was its easy accessibility to all as suffering and death are basic features of the human condition. Theologically speaking, by voluntarily undergoing suffering and death, Jesus Christ identified himself with humanity at its very core and turned out to be our advocate before God the Father. Those who take their own suffering and death in the spirit of Jesus Christ truly believe in him. It is part of the mission of the Church in proclaiming the Gospel to teach and train people to accept their own suffering and death as part of God's plan whereby they may implicitly believe in Jesus Christ. The Letter to the Hebrews describes how Jesus became the representative before God forever. "In the days of his earthly life he offered up prayers and petitions, with loud cries and tears, to God who was able to deliver him from the grave. Because of his humble submission his prayer was heard: Son though he was, he learned obedience in the school of suffering, and, once perfected, became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him, named by God high priest in the succession of Melchizedek"(Hebrews, 5: 7-10).
The Priesthood of Christ: While the priesthood of Aaron was restricted to the tribe of Levi for the benefit of the people of Israel, the priesthood of Melchizedek was unrestricted and was for the benefit of the entire human race. The superiority of the latter over the former is explained in chapters 7-10 of the same Letter to the Hebrews. By becoming a priest like Melchizedek, Jesus represents the whole of humanity before God in virtue if his glorified body. The priesthood of Jesus is operative wherever there is suffering and death through which he passed on to his own glory. All those who follow in the footsteps of Jesus in their sufferings in this world obey him and will find eternal salvation through the merits of Jesus Christ. It is a very fundamental and basic kind of belief in Jesus Christ without any sound and fury of pompous exhibitionism aimed at selfish human gratification under the garb of devotion to God! There are innumerable examples of this phenomenon of implicit belief in Jesus Christ cutting across religions, races, cultures, etc. Two outstanding contributions to Gospel Proclamation in this way may be seen in the cases of Fr. Joseph Damien of Belgium who went to the Moloccoi islands to live with the lepers who were considered outcasts and the Albanian Mother Teresa who worked in the slums of Calcutta. Wherever there is genuine self-giving in order to empower the weak and the humble , there is true Gospel Proclamation. (To be Contd).
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