Jesus of Nazareth: The Infancy Narratives

Clear writing and interesting material

I thoroughly enjoyed reading the Pope's reflections on the Infancy Narratives. Perfect, as I was preparing for the Christmas homilies. Many great insights, e.g.:on the dream of Joseph:"Once again Joseph is presented to us, in quite practical terms, as a “just” man: his inner watchfulness for God, which enables him to receive and understand the message, leads quite spontaneously to obedience. Even if hitherto he had puzzled over his various options, now he knows what the right course of action is. Being a just man he follows God’s commands, as Psalm 1 says."Or on Caesar Augustus:"Luke intends to say that what Caesar Augustus claimed for himself is realized in a loftier way in the defenseless and powerless child born in a Bethlehem cave and visited by poor shepherds. Reiser rightly emphasizes that at the heart of both messages is peace, and that the Pax Christi is not necessarily opposed to the Pax Augusti. Yet the peace of Christ surpasses the peace of Augustus as heaven surpasses earth (cf. Wie wahr, p. 460). Hence the juxtaposition of these two forms of peace need not be seen in a one-sidedly polemical way. Augustus truly brought “peace, security of law and prosperity for 250 years, which many countries of the former Roman Empire can only dream of today” (ibid., p. 458). Politics retains its own sphere of competence and responsibility. And yet when Caesar claims divine status and divine attributes, politics oversteps its boundaries and makes promises that it cannot deliver."The kingdom that Jesus proclaimed, the kingdom of God, is of another kind. It applies not just to the Mediterranean region and not just to a particular era. It applies to man in the depths of his being, and it opens him toward the true God. The peace of Jesus is a peace that the world cannot give (cf. Jn 14: 27). Ultimately, the question here is what redemption, liberation and salvation actually mean. One thing is clear, though: Augustus belongs to the past, Jesus Christ on the other hand is the present and the future— he is “the same yesterday and today and for ever” (Heb 13: 8)."And on Christ as a sign of contradiction:"We are not talking about the past here. We all know to what extent Christ remains a sign of contradiction today, a contradiction that in the final analysis is directed at God. God himself is constantly regarded as a limitation placed on our freedom, that must be set aside if man is ever to be completely himself. God, with his truth, stands in opposition to man’s manifold lies, his self-seeking and his pride. God is love. But love can also be hated when it challenges us to transcend ourselves."

I was looking for books to read during Advent and this one jumped out at me as most appropriate. Pope Benedict writes this with his usual deep knowledge, faith and wisdom but is also very readable.

How sad that the prior reviewer wishes to put his bigotry on display for all to see in this season of love for all creation. Loving our enemies was of course one of the great teachings that Jesus brought into the world 2000 years ago. His birth and teachings have transformed humanity and given us the chance for a new a beginning even though it's not always easy to discern the positive results. But given the eyes to see we can discern real results in the world stemming from the birth of Christ as witnessed in the gospel. Helping to give us these eyes is what the pope's series of three books on Jesus is about, especially this latest one on the infancy narratives. It is a powerful analysis full of profound insights made all the more effective by its brevity. It takes a penetrating mind to say so much in so short a space. It makes the message and meaning of the work all the more clear and concise. This is a book worth savoring for the way in which it helps us understand so much about who we are and where we come from in both the secular and sacred realms of history. This alone makes the book worth reading and contemplating whether we are believers or not. It certainly is not a book to dismiss without reading unless you are someone who takes delight in making a point of your own bigotry. But if you do Jesus loves you anyway. Shedding some light on this greatest of all mysteries is what the book is about and it does the job as effectively as anything I have ever heard or read.

Pope Benedict XVI, who as Joseph Ratzinger was one of the brilliant theological lights of the 20th century, offers an exegesis on the infancy narratives in this installment of his three-part series of books on Jesus Christ. As with the other two books in this series, we get here a high Christology rooted in an allegorical interpretation of scripture that is deeply patristic in its roots. As with all of Benedict's writings, this book is written in a style that is both academic and accessible (albeit not exactly exciting) for the popular reader who wants a deeper understanding of who Jesus was and how we understand him in the biblical text. Without dismissing the historical-critical method that has emphasized studying the historical context of these texts in many universities during the past century, Benedict offers a breathtaking contemporary synthesis of an older tradition -- rooted in the Church Father like Augustine and Jerome -- that gives us a more metaphorical and less literal interpretation of the texts. The book's goal is to create a better image of "the face of Christ," helping readers to know Jesus of Nazareth more intimately than what the deconstructionist treatises of certain historical-critical theological circles offer for reflection. This installment of the three-volume series is a very slim book, but is packed with wisdom and insight that will give the thoughtful reader much to ponder. If you're a student of Christology either amateur or professional, it's impossible to overlook this book and its contribution -- one might even say corrective -- to current scholarship on the person of Jesus Christ. I recommend it, particularly as bedside reading at Christmastime.