Does Our Christology Matter?

...He asked His disciples, "Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?"

So they said, "Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets."

He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"

And Simon Peter answered and said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God."

Jesus answered and said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar Jonah, but flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven"  (Matt. 16:13-17).

 

For Peter, it was a moment of grace, of divine wisdom and insight.  He saw in the natural man what others saw, but added to the "facts" of Christ's appearance was a sudden gift of grace.  He "saw" beyond the natural into the supernatural.  After Pentecost, all of the disciples would "see" what Peter saw, and seeing it, they would proclaim it throughout the world.  Up until that moment, the Apostles and disciples caught glimpses of the truth, but it was as if the veil closed again -- especially with the arrest and crucifixion of their Messiah.  In the face of that reality, the mind, heart, emotions are in turmoil, and nothing makes sense.  How could this have been the Messiah? 

 

The two disciples on the road to Emmaus reported that 'he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures," even as their "hearts were burning within them."  As much wisdom, intellect, learning, and knowledge as we may have, we still need that moment of grace, that enlightenment of the Holy Spirit to comprehend "with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height--to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge...(Eph. 3:16-19).

 

In the Book of Ephesians, Paul lays out quite clearly that our knowledge of who Jesus is a gift from above:  ...that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of Glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened....

 

If we think we "know" who Jesus is, and if we are satisfied that we know, we are not likely to be poor in spirit enough to receive further knowledge, wisdom and understanding through the work of the Holy Spirit.  If we are convinced that our knowledge of Jesus has come to us through "the natural man" only, and that we need further enlightenment from above, we will begin to seek the gift from the only One Who can bestow it upon us.

 

Does it matter what we believe about Jesus?  I would say that our entire life depends on our Christology!  If we believe that Jesus is not God, that he was a famous historical figure such as George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, or if we want to stay on the spiritual side, the Buddha, or Mohammed, then we are restricted to our own efforts to follow His philosophy and moral teaching.

 

In the time of Augustine and Basil the Great (300-400+) and other saints, the church struggled to define its own Christology against the heretics.  Fortunately, there were those like Augustine and Basil for whom the truth mattered, who desired to pursue wisdom and truth with every fiber of their being.  Pelagius and his followers believed that God gave us the Law, and Jesus showed us how to follow it.  Furthermore, they believed that we have the ability to obey the law, and that if we work at it, we can be perfect in obedience-- like Jesus.  Their teachings led Augustine to shape his own teaching on the necessity of grace and on man's inability to reach God on his own terms.

 

In the time of Basil the Great, there was a faction that denied the divinity of Christ and of the Holy Spirit -- that is, the doctrine of the Trinity.  Basil's Christology in answer to these people, and his writings on the Holy Spirit are among the most beautiful and inspirational that I have read.  Tomorrow, I will quote from Basil's writings on Jesus Christ and on the Holy Spirit, which clearly show us that "No man comes to the Father but by Me." 

 

If we think Jesus is just the model to be followed, our obedience will be servile, as Augustine points out.  If we know that it is His life, His energy, in us that fashions our obedience, we will no longer depend on our own efforts to "be good," but rather enter into a dynamic relationship with the God Who Alone has the power to save us.