Revelation and Faith

with Salvation History

Main Reference: Believing Unto Discipleship: Jesus of Nazareth
by Fr. Lode Wostyn, CICM
 Course Outline
• The Bible: A Guide for my Life
• The Biblical Message: God Offering Salvation
• Images We Have of Jesus: Do They Matter?
• Jesus of Nazareth
• Jesus and the Kingdom
• The Suffering, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus
• Who Is This Man?
• Towards a Filipino Christ: Si Mang Hesus Isa sa Atin
Who is this Man?
 We took for granted
the divine savior
image for years
because that is what
we leaned early and
what we keep on
hearing afterwards.
Sometimes, it is even
considered sinful just
to ask clarifications
about the beliefs we
inherited.
“Ang mga bagay Faith is
tungkol sa a blind
Diyos ay leap into
pinaniniwalaan, the
hindi pinag- darkness.
iisipan.”
For some Christians, accepting what the Bible says
as literally true is a virtue one must cultivate.

To read the Bible as literally as possible is a

manifestation of one's faith and obedience to God.
 Explain how you understand Luke’s text
(Lk. 9:12-17) on the Multiplication of Loaves
 The Bible has ceased to be a reading material for
guidance and inspiration. It has become something
to be venerated, to be enthroned on an altar.
 In our Churches and Christian communities, little is being done to
introduce or promote a better understanding of the scriptures. This
unfortunate situation contributes a lot to the dominance of the
divine savior image that we have of Jesus today.
 • The basic
affirmation we find
in the New
Testament sources is
a message of
salvation: We
received final,
definitive salvation
in Jesus, he is risen
and he passes on the
risen life to his
followers.
Sino ba itong taong nagbibigay ng kahulugan at kahalagahan
sa ating buhay? Sino ba sya at napakabuti niyang tao?
 Our Sources:
The New Testament Writings
Remember The Way of the Disciples?
1. We looked at Jesus as he was
experienced by the disciples.
2. We traced how this
experience came to be
interpreted and re-
interpreted in history.
3. We will interpret again this
interpreted experience within
our situation as Filipino
Christians. http://www.internetmonk.com/archive/its-time-again-
to-recommend-mere-churchianity
 Remember the Lenses for
Reconstructing the Jesus of History
1. Considering the
gospels as
developing traditions.
2. The study of
Judaism.
3. The interdisciplinary
study of the social
world of Jesus.
4. Cross-cultural study
of religion, and
worldview.
History Remembered History Interpreted
Mk. 11:1-10 Mt. 21:1-19
• Mark 11:1-8 (NIV) – History Remembered
As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and
Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples,
saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you
enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever
ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you
doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here
shortly.’”
They went and found a colt outside in the street, tied at a
doorway. As they untied it, some people standing there asked,
“What are you doing, untying that colt?” They answered as Jesus
had told them to, and the people let them go. When they brought
the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it. Many
people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread
branches they had cut in the fields.
• Matthew 21:1-8 (NIV) – History Interpreted
As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the
Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go to
the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied
there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. If
anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he
will send them right away.”
This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:
“Say to Daughter Zion, ‘See, your king comes to you, gentle and
riding on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”
The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. They
brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them
for Jesus to sit on. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the
road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them
on the road.
The two animals cannot be factual. They are
necessary for Matthew’s interpretation that Jesus is
the king – messiah. This affirmation that Jesus is the
messiah that appears in this story is a post-Easter
affirmation. It is safe to say that the pre-Easter Jesus
never thought of himself as the messiah and never
proclaimed himself with any of the exalted titles
that we meet in the New Testament tradition. Jesus
was a Jew and a human being like us. It would be
quite strange if a human being would start to
proclaim himself as messiah, lamb of God, etc. This
would certainly arouse questions concerning the
mental health of such person.
• The early Christian communities experienced Jesus as
giving them light in their way through life, nurturing them
in their celebration, etc. Therefore, they had to proclaim
that Jesus was the light, the word, and the bread of life. In
the New Testament titles, we hear the testimony of the
community interpreting Jesus rather than the self-
proclamation of a Galilean Jewish peasant.
It is important to note, however, that the post-Easter experience flowed
out of the disciples’ experience of Jesus in his ministry. They saw the
presence of the spirit at work in his healing ability, in his wisdom
teaching, in his fearless critique of the religious society in which he was
living. Jesus was already for them a true light, a man of wisdom, a good
shepherd, a prophet, although, now it is in a language of metaphors,
images, or symbols. The post-Easter communities now recognize Jesus
as the one who said “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes
to the Father but through me.” (Jn 14:6)
College of the Immaculate Conception – Cabanatuan