The earthly life of Jesus

Jesus spent the whole of his earthly life in Palestine, a country about the size of Wales tucked away in a corner of the vast Roman Empire.  The result was that, during his lifetime of 33 years, he was unknown to the world outside Palestine.  People there never came into touch with him, few had even heard of him.  Life went on just the same and people went on just the same.  This, of course, was because Jesus could not be in two places at once.  If he was in Galilee, he could not be in Greece or Italy or Spain.

With us always

But all that was ended after his Resurrection and Ascension, for then Jesus went to Heaven.  Heaven is where God is seen, and because God is not far away from us, so Heaven is not far away, whether we happen to be in England or Australia.  That is why he was able to say to his Apostles on Ascension Day, “And know that I am with you always; yes, to the end of time” (Jerusalem Bible, Matthew 28:20).  So far from being out of touch with people in distant places, he could now be, not only with them wherever they were, but actually within their very souls.

How?  By means of the Sacrament of Holy Baptism.  For in Baptism Jesus himself, as well as the Holy Spirit, enters the souls of the baptised and becomes part of them. That is how he can change their characters into the likeness of his own and can continue to live his life and do his work, not now in Palestine alone, but in every part of the world where the baptised are.

The experience of the early Christians

The early Christians knew by their own experience that at their Baptism Jesus himself had come into their souls.  “…it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me”, said St Paul (NRSV, Galatians 2:20).  So the Christians in Corinth knew exactly what he meant when he wrote to them, “Do you not realize that Jesus Christ is in you?” (NRSV, 2 Corinthians 13:5).

In time of persecution

And they did know it, but never more than in time of persecution.  Thus, in the year 177 AD, there was a fierce persecution at Lyons in France.  The Christians were hunted out of their homes and tortured in the amphitheatre or arena for the entertainment of pagan spectators.  One of the martyrs was a deacon named Sanctus from Vienne, who was terribly tortured, but, as the actual account written at the time tells us, “with such confidence did he array himself against them (the ungodly), that he did not even tell his own name or race or city, nor whether he were a slave of free, but to all their interrogations he returned answer in the Latin tongue, ‘I am a Christian’ (Christianus sum).  This he owned for name, for city, for race, for everything besides, nor did the heathen hear from him any other word”.  And the account goes on, “In him Christ suffered and achieved great glory, bringing the adversary to naught, and showing that there is nothing fearful where the Father’s love is nor painful where is Christ’s glory”. (1)

Thus were the life and power of Christ displayed in the baptised all over the Roman Empire, until in the end the Empire had to admit that, for all its armed might and force, it was beaten by Our Lord.  It was said that as Julian, the last of the pagan emperors, died, he cried out, “Thou hast conquered, O Galilean”.  The Roman Empire was built on the foundation of human power and cruelty and force, and that foundation was broken by Jesus himself, acting through ordinary Christian people, through slaves, doctors, farmers, soldiers, mothers and fathers, boys and girls, who by their Baptism had become part of him and he part of them.  So it has been truly said that “the foundation of the Roman Empire was loosened by the waters of Baptism”. (2)

The first Christian hospitals

And just as Jesus was within the Christians as they died, so he was within them as they lived.  During his earthly life “…he went about doing good…” and “…curing every disease and every sickness among the people” (NRSV, Acts 10:38; Matthew 4:23).  Then, soon after the persecutions were over, he continued this work through the first Christian hospitals.  The most remarkable of these was founded by St Basil the Great, Bishop of Caesarea, about the year 370 AD.  It was huge, more like a town, and someone living at the time (St Gregory Nazianzen) said that “it might deservedly be reckoned among the miracles of the world; so numerous were the poor and sick that came thither, and so admirable was the care and order with which they were served.” (3) But it was really one of Our Lord’s miracles.

The experience of today’s Christians

And today Jesus still lives and works in all baptised people who are true to him and allow him to do so.  In Palestine he was a carpenter, now he is active in many walks of life, just as he was in the early Church, in doctors, farmers, office workers, mothers and fathers, boys and girls.  That is what we mean when we say that in Baptism we became Members of Christ (4), and for that reason people ought to be able to recognise him in us.  It is for us to see that they do.

SUMMARY

Since his Ascension, when he returned to his Heavenly life, Jesus is not only with us, always and everywhere, but also within those who have been baptised, living his life in them in the world today, wherever they are and whatever their occupation may be.  That is to say, we are Members of Christ, and people ought to be able to recognise him in us.

References

1. Epistle of the Gallican Churches cited in Kidd, B.J. (1920) Documents illustrative of the history of the Church Volume I (No. 57), London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.

2. Dix, G. (1945) The shape of the liturgy, Westminster: Dacre Press.

3. Cited in Butler, A. (edited by Kelly, B.) (1936) ‘St Basil the Great, Confessor, Archbishop of Caesarea’ In The lives of the Fathers, Martyrs and other Principal Saints, Volume II, London: Virtue and Company Limited.

4. Church of England (1662) The Book of Common Prayer.  A Catechism.  Available from: http://www.cofe.anglican.org/worship/liturgy/bcp/texts/catechism.html   (Accessed 23 August 2010) (Internet).