Chapter 1
Imitatio:
The Divine Paradigm
Looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.
âHebrews 12:2
We must imitate Christâs life and his ways if we are to be truly enlightened and set free from the darkness of our own hearts. Let it be the most important thing we do, then, to reflect on the life of Jesus Christ.
âThomas Ă Kempis
1
AS JESUS WALKED this earth, living and working among all kinds and classes of people, he gave us the divine paradigm for conjugating all the verbs of our living. Too often in our concern to make doctrinal points we rush to expound upon Jesusâ death, and in so doing we neglect Jesusâ life. This is a great loss. Attention to Jesus in his living gives us important clues for our living.
Jesus lived in this broken, painful world, learning obedience through the things that he suffered, tempted in all the ways we are, and yet remaining without sin (Heb. 5:8, 4:15).1 We are, to be sure, reconciled to God by Jesusâ death, but even more, we are âsavedâ by his life (Rom. 5:10)âsaved in the sense of entering into his eternal kind of life, not just in some distant heaven but right now in the midst of our broken and sorrowful world. When we carefully consider how Jesus lived while among us in the flesh, we learn how we are to liveâtruly liveâempowered by him who is with us always even to the end of the age. We then begin an intentional imitatio Christi, imitation of Christ, not in some slavish or literal fashion but by catching the spirit and power in which he lived and by learning to walk âin his stepsâ (1 Pet. 2:21).
In this sense we can truly speak of the primacy of the Gospels, for in them we see Jesus living and moving among human beings, displaying perfect unity with the will of the Father. And we are taught to do the same, taking on the nature of Christlikenessâsharing Jesusâ vision, love, hope, feelings, and habits.
One of the best things we can do for one another, then, is to encourage regular immersion in the Gospel narratives, helping each other understand Jesusâ perceptions into life and his counsels for growth and then making constant application to our daily experience. The dimensions of this task are infinite, of course. However, for the sake of our concern here we want to consider how Jesus in his living provides us a clear paradigm for our living, especially as Jesusâ living relates to the several streams of devotion that frame the structure of this book.
PRAYER AND INTIMACY
Letâs consider the Contemplative Stream, the prayer-filled life. Nothing is more striking in Jesusâ life than his intimacy with the Father. âThe Son can do nothing on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, the Son does likewiseâ (John 5:19). âI can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judgeâ (John 5:30). âThe words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his worksâ (John 14:10).
Like a recurring pattern in a quilt, so prayer threads its way through Jesusâ life. As Jesus was baptized by John, he âwas prayingâ (Luke 3:21). In preparation for the choosing of the Twelve he went up the mountain alone and âspent the night in prayerâ (Luke 6:12). After an exhausting evening of healing âmany who were sickâ and casting out âmany demons,â Jesus got up early in the morning âwhile it was still very dark ⊠and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayedâ (Mark 1:35). Jesus was âpraying aloneâ when he was prompted to ask his disciples, âWho do you say that I am?â (Luke 9:18â20). When Jesus took Peter, James, and John âup on the mountain to pray,â it led to the great transfiguration experience, and Luke notes that the appearance of Jesusâ face was changed âwhile he was prayingâ (Luke 9:28â29). After the disciples had failed to heal a sick child, Jesus took care of the matter for them, explaining their failure in these words: âThis kind can come out only through prayerâ (Mark 9:29). Jesusâ fiercest anger came when he saw how people had turned the temple, which he said was to be a house of prayer, into a den of robbers (Matt. 21:13). It was after Jesus finished âpraying in a certain placeâ that the disciples asked him to teach them to pray (Luke 11:1).
And teach them he did. Not only the now famous Lordâs Prayer, which is found here, but teaching layered upon teaching. Jesus taught them to come to God in the most intimate of ways, saying, âAbba, Fatherâ (Mark 14:36). He gave parables about the âneed to pray always and not to lose heartâ (Luke 18:1). He taught his disciples to pray âin secret,â to âpray for those who persecute you,â when praying to âforgive, if you have anything against anyone,â to âbelieve that what you say will come to pass,â to petition âthe Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest,â and much more (Matt. 6:6, 5:44; Mark 11:25, 23; Matt. 9:38).
And the teachings are matched by continual practice, not only of prayer itself but of intense times of solitude. Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness for forty days (Matt. 4:1). He âwithdrew ⊠to a deserted place by himselfâ after learning of the beheading of his dear friend and cousin, John the Baptizer (Matt. 14:13). Following the incredible experience of feeding the five thousand, Jesus immediately âwent up the mountain by himself to prayâ (Matt. 14:23). When the disciples were exhausted from the demands of ministry, Jesus told them, âCome away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a whileâ (Mark 6:31). After Jesusâ healing of a leper Luke seems to be describing more of a habitual practice than a single incident when he notes that Jesus âwould withdraw to deserted places and prayâ (Luke 5:16).
Without question, the most intense and intimate of recorded prayers is Jesusâ high priestly prayer in the Upper Room, where he poured out his heart to the Father on behalf of his disciples and âalso on behalf of those who will believe in me through their wordâ (John 17:20). And of course any discussion of Jesusâ prayer life and intimacy with the Father must culminate in the holy work of Gethsemane, where Jesusâ sweat became like great drops of blood and his anguished words, âLet this cup pass,â reached completion with, âNot my will but yours be doneâ (Luke 22:42).
Jesus, who retreated often into the rugged wilderness, who lived and worked praying, who heard and did only what the Father said and did, shows forth the Contemplative Tradition in its fullness and utter beauty.
If you are anything like me, even this cursory look at Jesusâ love and intimacy with the Father stirs within you longings for a deeper, richer, fuller experience of the divine milieu. No doubt you too ache for a steadfast faith, a boundless hope, an undying love. Jesus points the way.
PURITY OF HEART
Consider with me the Holiness Stream, the virtuous life. It is simply a marvel to watch Jesus move among children and women and menâalways timely, always appropriate, always capable. How did this come to be?
We cannot understand the holiness and ingrained virtue in Jesus without carefully examining those forty days of temptation in the wilderness. In that single event we see a lifetime of practiced virtue coming to the fore. Throughout those forty days Jesus fasted from food so that he could all the more fully enter the divine feast. Then, when his spiritual resources were at their maximum, God allowed the Evil One to come to him with three great temptationsâtemptations that Jesus undoubtedly had dealt with more than once in the carpentry shop and that he would face again throughout his ministry as a rabbi. Yet these were not just personal temptations; they were temptations for Jesus to access for his own use the three most prominent social institutions of the dayâeconomic, religious, political.2
The economic temptation was for Jesus to turn stones into bread (Matt. 4:1â4). This was more than a taunt to ease private hunger pangs; it was a temptation to become a glorious miracle baker and provide âwonder breadâ for the masses. But Jesus knew how short-lived all such solutions are and rejected the live-by-bread-alone option: âOne does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of Godâ (Matt. 4:4).
The religious temptation was for Jesus to leap from the pinnacle of the temple and, by having angels catch him in mid-flight, receive Godâs stamp of approval on his ministry. Divine certification inside the sacred boundaries of temple territory would surely have guaranteed the fervent support of the priestly hierarchy. But Jesus saw the temptation for what it was, and he directly confronted institutionalized religionânot only here in the wilderness but throughout his ministry, wherever and whenever it became idolatrous or oppressed the faithful. He knew that in his person, âsomething greater than the temple is hereâ (Matt. 12:6).
The political temptation was the promise of âall the kingdoms of the world and their splendorâ in exchange for Jesusâ own soul (Matt. 4:8â10). This mountain temptation represented the possibility of worldwide political powerânot only coercive force, but also the glory and acclaim of sitting on the worldâs highest pinnacle of influence and status. It was a temptation that fit perfectly the messianic hopes of the day for a Savior who would cast off the oppressive Roman occupation. But Jesus knew that domination and force were not Godâs ways. He rejected coercive structures because he intended to demonstrate a new kind of power, a new way of ruling. Serving, suffering, dyingâthese were Jesusâ messianic forms of power.
In those forty days in the wilderness Jesus rejected the popular Jewish hope for a Messiah who would feed the poor, bask in miraculous heavenly approval, and shuck off oppressive nations. And he undercut the leverage of the three great social institutions of his day (and of ours)âexploitative economics, manipulative religion, and coercive politics. What we see in those forty crucial days is someone who understood with clarity the way of God and who had the internal resources to live in that way, instinctively and without reservation. Jesusâ actions were a living embodiment of the Holiness Stream.
But action, by itself, is not enough. It needs to be accompanied by adequate teaching on the virtuous life to lead ordinary people into genuine progress in holiness. Jesus clearly understood thisâhence his abundant instructions on life as it is meant to be lived.
The heart of this teaching is the Sermon on the Mount, and the heart of the Sermon on the Mount is the law of loveâthe âroyal law,â as James calls it. Nothing more fully or more beautifully describes the life of holiness. Love is so compact a word that it needs unpacking, of course, and this is what Jesus does in his famous sermon. The life of virtue reflected in that teaching is governed by the maturity of love rather than the immaturity of binding legalism. It is a teaching that takes us beyond the ârighteousness ⊠of the scribes and Phariseesâ (Matt. 5:20).
Now, the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees consisted primarily in externals that often involved manipulative control of other people. Instead of this sort of righteousness, Jesus points to an inner life with God that transforms the heart and builds deeply ingrained habits of virtue. If we develop those habits, we will have the interior spiritual and moral resources with which to respond righteously when we are faced with temptations of any and every sort, as Jesus was in the wilderness.
If you seek holiness of life, I encourage you to make a good friend of the Sermon on the Mount. It is an expanded commentary on the royal law of love. And Jesusâ life is an expanded commentary on the Sermon on the Mount. I find it endlessly moving to watch how Jesus walked among people, healing the sick, giving sight to the blind, bringing good news to the oppressed. Always appropriate. Always able. Always giving the touch that was needed. Always speaking the word that was needed. It is a wonder and a marvel.
We see Jesus consistently doing what needs to be done when it needs to be done. We see in him such deeply ingrained âholy habitsâ that he is always âresponse-able,â always able to respond appropriately. This is purity of heart. This is the virtuous life. To see the vision of the Holiness Tradition in all its robust dynamic, we need look no further.
This brief look at the holiness of Jesus calls out to us. It calls us to a more consistent life, a more obedient life, a more fruitful life. Jesus, who lived fully every teaching of the Sermon on the Mount long before he taught it, shows us the way.
LIFE IN THE SPIRIT
Letâs ponder together the Charismatic Stream, the Spirit-empowered life. Nothing is more satisfying to observe than how Jesus lived and moved in the power of the Spirit. As Jesus arose out of the baptismal waters, âthe Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, âYou are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleasedââ (Luke 3:22). Directly on the heels of this dramatic event, âJesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wildernessâ (Luke 4:1). Then, after the temptation encounters, Jesus returned to Galilee âfilled with the power of the Spiritâ (Luke 4:14). Such is the refrain that echoes down through his entire ministry: âfull of the Holy Spiritâ ⊠âled by the Spiritâ ⊠âfilled with the power of the Spirit.â
It is a wonder to watch Jesus moving among people, exercising spiritual charisms1 with ease and aplomb. The charism of wisdom was absolutely legendary in Jesus. People listening to his teachings were utterly dumbfounded, âfor he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribesâ (Mark 1:22). In fact astonishment was the standard response to his teachings. The reason for this response is that when Jesus taught he did far more than what we think of as teaching. He spoke life into each heart and soul. Wisdom as a charism of the Holy Spirit is far more than knowledge or information, more even than truth; it is truth applied to the heart and the mind in such a living way that the person is transformed.
The charism of discernment is another of the gifts Jesus used frequently. Any number of times he refused to entrust himself to particular people because, as John puts it, âhe himself knew what was in everyoneâ (John 2:25). Do you recall that when the paralytic came to Jesus for healing, Jesus first forgave his sins? This threw the scribes into a tailspin, âquestioning in their heartsâ about Jesusâ authority to do something only God could do. Their hearts, however, were an open book to Jesus: âAt once Jesus perceived in his spirit that they were discussing these questions among themselvesâ (Mark 2:1â8). This is the charism of discernment at work, and evidence of a Spirit-empowered life.
We must not leave out the charism of miracles. Consider the miraculous catch of fish and the equally miraculous multiplying of fishes and loaves. Consider also the turning of water into wine to bless a wedding couple and the cursing of the fig tree to teach a lesson in faith. Consider further the amazing calming of a storm at sea and the even more amazing walking on the waters of the sea. Finally, consider the most astonishing of all the miracles, the transfiguration of Jesus and the appearance of Moses and Elijah with him.
Another spiritual charism Jesus exercisedâone we are rather uncomfortable with toda...