Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

Jesus of Nazareth regularly induced moments of startled wonder and dawning new perception among his followers. These experiences often seem to have involved, in some form, the sudden appearance of merciful reversals and surprising abundance. Kings lavish outrageous plenty on uninvited guests in parables; the hungry poor receive food beyond all imagining in the wilderness; the dead are raised to life; and, as if in perfect fulfillment of all this, Jesus himself appears alive from the dead among his betrayers, offering them forgiveness and peace and a share in his own new risen life. Christian spiritualities are all rooted in and unfurl as branches of this unfathomable divine generosity made visible, Christians believe, in Jesus.The Gospel according to John especially invokes this mysterious generosity - as an invitation to journey into an ever-greater intimacy with God. Jesus tells his followers that he must leave them as they presently encounter him, but adds, “I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14: 3). Where he is turns out to be “in the Father,” a location only discoverable by the wayfaring of self-sharing love. And the disciples’ journey into this self-giving life is not only bidden by Christ, but inspired and consummated by yet another voice of divine generosity, the Holy Spirit: “I still have many things to say to ... log in or subscribe to read full text