Great Lenten Reflection on who is Jesus of Nazareth

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	• Jesus of Nazareth Pope Benedict XVI Doubleday, 2007 - 400 pages average customer review:based on 149 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Jesus of Nazareth

This is an awesome book. It is the first book I have read by Joseph Ratzinger, now our currant Pope. It is easy to read for any Christian and answers many questions you may have about Christianity and the Kingdom of God. I have read it a second time and will keep it by my Bible at all times. I have shared it with our daughter and she too is reading it. My friend sent it to her son. These are not all Catholics.

"But who do you say that I am?"

"Jesus of Nazareth" could be said to be Pope Benedict XVI's personal response to the question "who is Jesus?". In the forward, he makes it clear that he is writing from his own personal perspective (which is also why the book was published under Joseph Ratzinger and not merely Pope Benedict XVI). Pope Benedict XVI writes a personal reflection of the life of Christ in "Jesus of Nazareth," not a dogmatic treatise. That said, there's nothing in "Jesus of Nazareth" that goes against his Catholic faith; instead, Pope Benedict XVI rescues Jesus from current trends to view Jesus outside of His depiction in the Gospels. This book is a return to the Gospels to rediscover (and recover) the true identity of Jesus.

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Jesus - the Kingdom of Heaven

Let me start out by saying that I am no theologian, but rather just one poor sinner doing my best to make it to the finish line. I am a revert Catholic who spent much of my life in search of the very God I was fortunate enough to meet as a young altar boy at St. Joseph's School in Bradenton, Florida. Unfortunately my spiritual encounter with God in the Eucharist was short lived as I began to "mature" and become a seasoned sinner. However it has been the Eucharist that hunted me down like the "Hound of Heaven" and brought me back to the reality of God - Jesus is God and the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity.

Pope Benedict therefore brought this revert to a new level of realization: that Jesus is the Kingdom of Heaven. Suddenly the Curé of Ars statement made sense that after the last supper Jesus got up taking with him all of heaven in his heart to the Olive Garden. If the Eucharist is Jesus then when I consume the Eucharist I am also consuming the Kingdom of Heaven. Consequently, not only does my soul implode into the consumed Eucharist (which is God), but I am also united in truth to all the angels and saints who are in heaven and who forever participate in the Eucharistic banquet spoken about in Scripture. Thus Holy Communion is communion of God and of Heaven. So now when I gaze at the Eucharist I realize that something so small is yet so infinite. God is infinite and his created Heaven (from nothing), by virtue of residing in His Heart, is made infinite. Now the analogy made by Jesus that he is the vine and we are the branches makes perfect sense to me. Also Peter's Epistle notation that we will become as "gods" has new meaning.

I'm sure that it will take me a long time to fully comprehend and appreciate fully this book. I have no doubt that this book is the work of the Holy Spirit. Well worth reading!

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Great Lenten Reflection on who is Jesus of Nazareth

This is a great opportunity for a lenten reflection. I purchased this on audio book and added additional hours of Eucharistic Adoration. While gazing upon Jesus, I am being taught who He is by the Vicar of Christ, Pope Benedict XVI. If you've read the book, I would suggest trying to re-experience it in this manner.

Sublime!

I decided to read Jesus of Nazareth in hopes of bringing myself closer to Him as the season of Lent began. I don't think anyone living has a deeper understanding of the Christ than Pope Benedict XVI, on both the purely spiritual level and the rational, scholarly level. But could he impart any of that relationship to me, a willing but unscholarly reader?

I've actually read a great deal about Christ, and am an avid Bible reader. Never have I seen such insight as this! Jesus of Nazareth is an exploration of the real Jesus and His part in the Trinity as Son of God as revealed in Scripture. Benedict made the complete humanity of Jesus shine through as never before. His discussion of how the people viewed Jesus at different points in His ministry, vs how Christ portrayed himself, answered long-standing questions I've had, such as exactly what He meant when he so often called Himself the Son of Man. This really filled me with awe.

Benedict's discussion of the parables was superb. Again, I was amazed at his insight as he pointed out meanings I've never heard before and historical relationships of which I was unaware. His explanations are always rational: no jumping to unlikely conclusions or unsupported theories. At the same time, they are explanations that presuppose the faith of the reader. I'm not sure how a nonbeliever might approach this book. He'd probably not be able to dispute any of the scholarship but would miss the deep satisfaction experienced by the Christian reader.

For me, this book was a delightful, uplifting journey of Christ in the Gospels. It made me feel much closer to Jesus, and I know that will stay with me. I am so eager for the second installment of Jesus of Nazareth!

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reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, page 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17

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