What does the Church teach about Jesus Christ? Part One

In this post, we will begin a series on the person of Jesus Christ.  

Why do this series, one may ask?  There are so many books about Jesus.   We hear his name mentioned every Sunday.   Every Christmas and Easter, we see television specials about him. Movies about him come out from time to time.   His name is referenced by people of different faiths and no faith, of different political and social persuasions.   We think we have a rough idea who he is.

But I think I can be of service by trying to bring some simplicity and clarity to the conversation by answering one simple question:  What does the Church teach about Jesus Christ?  

I do not want to go into too much detail into debates and controversies like the ones regarding the "historical" Jesus versus the Jesus of Faith.   Nor do I wish to discuss much at all what in the Gospels is 100% true historically, and what, while true in other, deeper ways, may not be 100% true historically.  I am not here to discuss what he perhaps looked like, or speculate about times in his life that is not recorded in Scripture.  I am here to do one simple thing: say what the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the sure norm and reference point for Catholic teaching in our time, teaches about him.  Then, based on this, one can then go and read books and articles by popular authors, theologians, scholars, and historians, and watch movies and shows about him, to find out more. 

But as one does that, one must remember what is in the Catechism.  One will indeed find stuff in other sources that is not in the Catechism.  If, however, what is said does not go against anything in it, one can believe it.  However, if something does go against something that is in the Catechism, one should not believe those ideas.

Before we begin, I just want to say one more thing.  We will, as I have said,  be covering what the Catechism teaches about Jesus.  There are a few parts to this section in the Catechism, however, that I have done posts on before in this blog.  I may repeat portions of those posts; others relevant portions, however, I will simply, as I have before, post a link to those posts themselves where you can refresh your memory.

I do not know how many posts it will take us to go through what the Catechism teaches about Jesus, but I imagine it will be at least a handful.    We shall see.  I hope you enjoy this series.

The following declaration of faith about Christ begins the Catechism’s teachings on Jesus Christ:

We believe and confess that Jesus of Nazareth, born a Jew of a daughter of Israel at Bethlehem at the time of King Herod the Great and the emperor Caesar Augustus, a carpenter by trade, who died crucified in Jerusalem under the procurator Pontius Pilate during the reign of the emperor Tiberius, is the eternal Son of God made man.  (#423)

So, we can see here the Church saying that a person, a man, who lived in human history in a specific time period and in a specific geography is God.  (Remember, the Son of God is God.  God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. ) So Jesus is a true man and is truly God. (We say "is" because we believe he is still alive as he rose from the dead: more on that later.)

The Catechism then goes into a brief discussion of Christ as the center of catechesis (transmission of the faith).  I am going to hold off discussing this in detail until after we have discussed Jesus.  We will then discussion how the Church proclaims him.

After this introduction, the Catechism organizes the rest of its teaching on Jesus based on what we say every Sunday about him in the Nicene Creed, which is as follows:

I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the Only Begotten Son of God,
born of the Father before all ages.
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father;
through him all things were made.
For us men and for our salvation
he came down from heaven,
and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary,
and became man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate,
he suffered death and was buried,
and rose again on the third day
in accordance with the Scriptures.
He ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory
to judge the living and the dead
and his kingdom will have no end.

Let’s start with the first lines:

I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the Only Begotten Son of God,

Jesus

The Catechism says (#452): The name Jesus means "God saves". The child born of the Virgin Mary is called Jesus, "for he will save his people from their sins" (Mt 1:21): "there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12).

Christ

The Catechism says (#453): The title "Christ" means "Anointed One" (Messiah). Jesus is the Christ, for "God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power" (Acts 10:38). He was the one "who is to come" (Lk 7:19), the object of "the hope of Israel" (Acts 28:20).

Son of God

The Catechism says (#454):  The title "Son of God" signifies the unique and eternal relationship of Jesus Christ to God his Father: he is the only Son of the Father (cf. Jn 1:14, 18; 3:16, 18); he is God himself (cf. Jn 1:1). To be a Christian, one must believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God (cf. Acts 8:37; 1 Jn 2:23).

Lord

The Catechism says (#455):  The title "Lord" indicates divine sovereignty. To confess or invoke Jesus as Lord is to believe in his divinity. "No one can say 'Jesus is Lord' except by the Holy Spirit'" (1 Cor 12:3).

If one can grasp the meanings of these four names/ titles, then one can grasp the true identity of Jesus Christ.  I am confident we will refer back to these titles as we continue in this series and see examples of him demonstrating what they each refer to. 

We should each ask ourselves a question in relation to each of these names/ titles:

1)      Jesus.  Do I truly believe Jesus saves?  Is he truly my savior?

2)      Christ.  Do I truly believe Jesus is anointed?  What is he anointed for?  As his disciple, do I believe I have an anointing too?

3)      Only Son of God.  Do I truly believe Jesus is God?   What is holding me back from believing this?  Can I make an act of faith that he is?

4)      Lord.   Do I truly believe Jesus is Lord of all creation?  Is he Lord for me personally?

Let us get to know Jesus a little more every day of our lives.

Joseph, diligent protector of Christ, pray for us.