Word to the Wise
Friday, September 7, 2007 - Twenty-second Friday in Ordinary Time
[Colossians 1:15-20 and Luke 5:33-39]Christ Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For in him were created all things in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things were created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
The vast field of biblical spirituality offers us many, many ways of understanding the identity of Jesus. The possible images and expressions are myriad! In the Letter to the Colossians, scripture scholars have identified the verses in today's scripture as a hymn expression a vision of Christ as "Pantokrator" - creator of all things. The same idea occurs in the prologue to the Gospel of John ("All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be." John 1:3) This rather cosmic concept of Jesus represents a much more abstract and developed "Christology," which resulted from years of reflection on the mystery of Christ. It is certainly removed from an image of a wandering teacher and healer. A popular emphasis on a personal relationship with Jesus can make it difficult for us to relate to a "cosmic" Christ who holds all things together! It puts us in the position of the apostles on Mt. Tabor when Christ was "transfigured" before them. The whole experience was beyond their capacity to comprehend. It is clear, however, that intense reflection and theological development took place in the years following the death of Jesus and all the wisdom of the Old Testament was brought into play to give expression to the ideas that were forming. The hymn in Colossians shows the influence of Jewish wisdom literature. Our own developing understanding of the universe can serve as a way of "stretching" our faith and understanding of Jesus Christ. Faced with the enormity of it all, we can feel very small. Jesus of Nazareth is a personal historical figure like anyone else we know. The Second Person of the Blessed Trinity is at the origin of all reality. Each of us will have to find our place to stand and understand! AMEN
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