Jesus of Nazareth: From His Transfiguration Through His Death and Resurrection

by Pope Benedict XVI

  Monothelitism: The view that Christ had only one will. Catholic, Orthodox, and traditional Protestant Christianity affirm that Christ possessed both a human and a divine will. The term monothelitism comes from two Greek terms, “mono” meaning “one”, and “thelelis” meaning “will”.

  Monophysitism: The view that Christ had only one nature, in which his humanity had been absorbed into his divinity. Catholic, Orthodox, and traditional Protestant Christianity maintains that Christ possessed a fully human and a fully divine nature. The term monophysitism comes from two Greek terms, “mono” meaning “one” and “physis” meaning “nature”.

  Mount of Olives: Mount that rises directly east of Jerusalem and is separated from the city by the Kidron Valley. Gethsemane, the garden where Jesus prayed in agony after the Last Supper, was part of an ancient farmstead on the lower slopes of the mount where olives were harvested and pressed into oil (Mt 26:30, 36). The Gospels indicate that Jesus often spent time there with his disciples (Lk 22:39; Jn 18:1-2).

  Nestorians: Advocates of the view of Nestorius, a fifth-century bishop who taught that in Christ there were two distinct persons, one human and one divine, who were united only by the perfect agreement of their wills. Nestorianism was rejected by the Council of Ephesus in 431.

  Ochlos: Greek word meaning “crowd” or “mob”. Pope Benedict discusses the term’s meaning in relation to the crowd who sought the death of Jesus.

  Ontological: Having to do with the being of a thing or a person.

  Passover: Jewish feast commemorating the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt (see Ex 12:1-20; Lev 23:5; Deut 16:1-8, 12). Jesus’ bread of life discourse (Jn 6:1-51), the Last Supper (Jn 12:1; 13:1-2, 21-28), and Jesus’ death occur during or near the time of the Passover. Scholars debate whether Jesus died on the Passover or on the day of preparation, before the Passover. Pope Benedict seems to favor the latter view, which is the position presented in the Gospel of John.

  Pesch, Rudolf: German biblical scholar whose scholarship points to the Jewish sources of John’s Gospel.

  Pharisees: Jewish movement, founded after the Babylonian exile, known for its strict adherence to the laws and regulations of the Torah. In Jesus’ time and before, the Pharisees strongly resisted the Hellenistic and Roman influence on Jewish life. The Pharisees often opposed the Sadducees, another group within Judaism. After the destruction of the Second Temple in A.D. 70, Pharisaic theology became the basis for rabbinic Judaism. Jesus frequently disputed with the Pharisees.

  Pilate, Pontius: Prefect of the Roman province of Judea between A.D. 26 and A.D. 36, Pilate was the Roman official in charge of the execution of Jesus. At the end of his reign, Pilate was removed for his brutality by the Roman emperor. Pilate is present in all four Gospel accounts (Mt 27:1-26; Mk 15:1-15; Lk 23:1-15; Jn 18:28-19:16).

  Plotinus: Ancient philosopher (ca. 205-270) generally regarded as the founder of Neoplatonism, a development of the system of philosophy based on the ideas of the Greek philosopher Plato. He taught a form of the doctrine of exitus and reditus.

  Qumran: Site of the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Located near the northwest corner of the Dead Sea, it was the dwelling place of the Essenes, a Jewish sect opposed to worship in the Herodean Temple in Jerusalem. There are some indications that John the Baptist and perhaps Jesus and his family may have had some association with this community, though the teaching of John and of Jesus differed significantly from that of the Qumran community.

  Redaction criticism: A method of studying texts that seeks to understand how authors or editors have selected or shaped the material they have put into their texts.

  Resurrection of Jesus: The entrance by Jesus, following his death on the Cross, into an entirely new form of life that lies beyond the order of natural biological generation (Mt 22:30), resuscitation, and dying (1 Cor 15:42-44) and that includes a transformed bodily dimension of existence (1 Cor 15:50-54), possessing physical (Lk 24:39: Jn 20:24-27) and spiritual (Lk 24:31; Jn 20:19) aspects. The Resurrection is the Father’s vindication of Jesus’ divine sonship (Acts 2:24; Rom 1:4) and validation of the believer’s faith in Jesus’ redemption of sinful humanity (1 Cor 15:14, 17). It is also the pledge or “first fruits” of a general resurrection of the righteous (1 Cor 15:23), the beginning of a new kind of humanity to be realized in the age to come. The Resurrection of Jesus is not the mere passing of a spirit into the next life or a miraculous resuscitation to mortal existence, as with Lazarus. It is an entirely new mode of bodily existence.

  Regula fidei: Latin phrase meaning “rule of faith”. The term refers to a short summary of the essential content of the Christian faith, which was linked to confessions of faith used in Baptism. Benedict XVI, along with many other scholars, sees such a rule of faith as the key to unlocking the interpretation of Scripture, according to Scripture’s own spirit.

  Reiser, Marius: Catholic theologian and philologist (b. 1954) to whose work Pope Benedict refers as an important contribution to new ways of interpreting the Bible.

  Sacramentum: Latin term for “sacrament”, which Catholic teaching defines as an outward sign and instrument of grace. Ordinarily it refers to one of the seven sacraments of the Church. However, the term is sometimes used more broadly with reference to the Church herself as the sacrament of salvation for the world (e.g., Vatican II, Lumen Gentium 1) or more generally to the mysteries of the life of Jesus. In his study Pope Benedict uses sacramentum in the last sense.

  Sadducees: Jewish sect founded in the second century B.C., known for its denial of the afterlife, including the resurrection from the dead. The Sadducees at the time of Jesus were committed to the integration of Hellenism and Judaism, and they attempted to make the best of Roman rule. They often opposed the Pharisees, but were generally united with them in opposition to Jesus.

  Saint Thomas Aquinas: Italian saint and Dominican theologian and philosopher (1225-1274). He is called the Angelic Doctor and is highly regarded in the Catholic theological tradition. Two of his major works are the Summa Theologiae and the Summa Contra Gentiles. Pope Benedict draws on the Summa Theologiae’s meditation on the mysteries of Christ’s life for his own approach to the subject.

  Sanhedrin: The assembly (Greek, synēdrion, “assembly”) of Jewish leaders. In this context, it refers to the Council of Jewish leaders in Jerusalem who condemned Jesus to death for blasphemy and who turned him over to the Romans for execution for sedition.

  Scapegoat: One of two male goats that featured in the ancient Day of Atonement liturgy. One goat, chosen by lot, was sacrificed to the Lord as a sin offering; the other, which came to be known as the scapegoat, was designated to bear the sins of Israel into the wilderness (Lev 16:7-10). According to the rite, the high priest confessed the iniquities of the people over the animal and symbolically placed their transgressions upon its head before banishing it to a barren land (Lev 16:20-22).

  Schnackenburg, Rudolf: German Catholic biblical exegete (1914-2002) who attempted to correct some of what he saw as the imbalances of historical-critical scholarship in order to support the Catholic faithful. Pope Benedict agrees with his basic goal but not with particular elements of his interpretations.

  Schönborn, Christoph Cardinal: Catholic Dominican theologian and archbishop of Vienna, Austria (b. 1945); primary editor of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Pope Benedict refers to Cardinal Schönborn’s Christological work.

  Seewann, Maria-Irma: Contemporary German scholar and coauthor with Norbert Baumert, S.J., of an important article on the meaning of Jesus’ words at the Last Supper (Gregorianum 89 [2008]).

  Servant Songs: The name given to four poems in the Book of Isaiah that describe the “servant” of Yahweh (Is 42:1-9; 49:1-7; 50:4-11; 52:13-53:12). This mysterious figure is closely identified with Israel (Is 49:3), yet his mission is to bring salvation to Israel and the nations alike (Is 42:1; 49: 6). Most striking is the revelation that redemption will come through the servant’s bitter experience of suffering and death (Is 50:6; 53:3-12). Chr
istian tradition from earliest times sees the fulfillment of these visions in Jesus as the suffering and saving Messiah.

  Son of Man: Title used by Jesus for himself and only rarely by others with respect to Jesus (e.g., Acts 7:56). It has strong roots in the Old Testament, especially in the Book of Daniel (7:13-14). The figure of the Son of Man in Daniel shares in the authority of God, the Ancient of Days. Jesus uses the expression in this way to indicate his divine authority, not merely his human nature.

  Stuhlmacher, Peter: German Protestant theologian and New Testament scholar (b. 1926).

  Suffering Servant: A tragic figure whose rejection and violent abuse are graphically depicted in two of Isaiah’s poems, called the third and fourth Servant Songs (Is 50:4-11; 52:13-53:12). Because his suffering and demise are portrayed by the Prophet as acts of redemption for sinners, Christian interpretation going back to New Testament times identified the Suffering Servant with Jesus Christ (e.g., Mt 8:17; Lk 22:37; Acts 8:32-35).

  Synoptics (Synoptic Gospels): The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. They are called “synoptic” Gospels because of their similar structures and use of much of the same material to narrate Christ’s works and teachings. “Synoptic” means “same view” or “view together”.

  Torah: Refers generally to the Law of Moses and specifically to the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures, or Old Testament: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

  Twelve, The: A special group of disciples chosen by Jesus and given special authority in the community of his disciples. They are sometimes called the twelve Apostles (Lk 6:13), although the term “apostle” can extend to a wider category of leaders who witnessed the Resurrection of Jesus (1 Cor 15:8). The Twelve represent the spiritual foundation of the new Israel of the Church as the old Israel was made up of the biological foundation of the twelve tribes.

  Vanhoye, Albert Cardinal: Jesuit biblical scholar and leading expert on the interpretation of the Letter to the Hebrews (b. 1923). He was a longtime professor at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome until his retirement in 1998. Vanhoye was made a cardinal by Pope Benedict in 2006.

  Wilckens, Ulrich: Contemporary German Lutheran bishop and New Testament scholar (b. 1928) who has argued that the beloved disciple in John’s Gospel was not a historical figure but a symbol. Pope Benedict rejects his view as incompatible with the Gospel of John’s presentation of the beloved disciple as an eyewitness of the events it describes.

  Yom Kippur: Hebrew expression meaning “day of atonement”, which is the English term for the corresponding Jewish feast.

  Zealots: A militantly anti-Roman Jewish sect that lived and agitated in Palestine from at least the mid-first century B.C. until it was annihilated during the Roman destruction of the Jewish rebellion, ca. A.D. 70. At least one of the Twelve, Simon, called the Zealot, seems at some point to have been a Zealot sympathizer (Lk 6:15).