Twofold rationale:

2. Twofold rationale: It “goes beyond historical-critical exegesis so as to apply new methodological insights that allow us to offer a properly theological interpretation of the Bible”. It is to be “an expression of my personal search 'for the face of the Lord' (cf. Ps. 27:8)”.

3. “It struck me as the most urgent priority to presentthe figure and the message of Jesus in his publicministry, and so to help foster the growth of a livingrelationship with him”. - Preface to Jesus of Nazareth

4. It is an urgent priority to presentthe figure and the message of Jesus • to help people find their way (don’t get lost) in the “primeval forest” • to present a “kind of an aerial photograph of the whole” • - Called to Communion, p. 14.

5. Who is Jesus Christ to me? • Who is Jesus Christ to you? • The true Jesus ... • is that of the Gospels! • Called to Communion, 1996 • On the way to Jesus Christ, 2004 • Jesus of Nazareth, 2007

6. “It goes without sayingthat this work is in noway an exercise of the magisterium.... Everyone is free, then,to contradict me”.

7. Book’s centre of gravity / inner core: “intimate friendship with Jesus, on which everything depends”. - Jesus of Nazareth, xii.

8. Seeking the face of Christ: “The true Jesus is the Jesus of the four gospels who is quite different, demanding, bold. The Jesus who makes everyting OK for everyone is a phantom, a dream, not a real figure ...” - On the way to Jesus Christ

9. “The Jesus of the Gospels is certainly not convenient for us. But it is precisely in this way that he answers the deepest question of our existence, which – whether we want to or not – keeps us on the look-out for God, for a gratification that is limitless, for the infinite. We must again set out on the way to this real Jesus”. - On the way to Jesus Christ

10. Avoiding 2 risks in seeking the real Jesus • Ignoring • the historical Jesus • 2. Over-emphasising • the historical Jesus

11. What does Ratzinger do? 1. Considers (against Ignoring) the historical Jesus 2. Recognises the limits(against over-emphasising) of the historical-critical method or the historical Jesus

12. But above all, in front of a figure that seems to dissolve like a shadow in the midst R. portrays the Jesus of the Gospels as the real, ‘historical Jesus’ in the strict sense of the word.

13. Jesus is : • True man, ... but also true God ! • God incarnate, the Word incarnate •  A high Christology (all gospels)

14. Book structure: • 1. Baptism 2. Temptations • 3. Kingdom of God 4. Sermon of the Mount • 5. Lord’s Prayer 6. Disciples • 7. Parables 8. John’s Gospel • 9. P’s Conf. & Transf. 10. Christological titles • Jesus’ divinity(his personhood) • Jesus’ equality with God (the Father)

15. Summary of Book: Christ’s divineperson 1.Baptism - “an acceptance of death for the sins of humanity” 2.Temptations - Conquering thetemptations, Jesus reopens the road toward God 3.KingdomofGod- the whole of Jesus’ preaching 4.SermonoftheMount- beatitudes, but also a self-portrait of Jesus 5.Lord’sPrayer - a fundamental element of his life is talking to God and listening to God

16. 6. Discipleship - “passing from outward to inward communion with Jesus" 7.Parables - “make his message easier to understand and incorporate it into daily living” 8.Images- Jesus explains his mystery through images 9.Connecting Peter’s confession & Transfiguration with the mystery of Jesus' death&resurrection 10.Titles - 3 terms “Son of Man”,“Son”, and “I Am”

17. So is the historical perspective relevant at all? Emphasising divinity = eliminating humanity? Ingo Broer: “the Gospel ofJohn...stands before us as a literary work that bears witness tofaith and is intended to strengthenfaith, and not as a historicalaccount.”

18. Ratzinger vehemently objects: “A faith that discardshistory in this manner reallyturns into ‘Gnosticism’. It leavesflesh, incarnation - just what true history is -behind.”

19. Three features(critique/observation): attention to Jesus’ words (less: deeds) emphasis on Jesus' distinctive role and identity: (New Moses, ultimate prophet, Only begotten Son ...) continuity rather than discontinuity: Jesuswas just as the Gospels say he was: “as man, he truly was God, and that he communicated his divinity veiled in parables, yet with increasing clarity” (p. xxiii).

20. Conversation with Rabbi Neusner Two rabbis comparing Jesus with their Jewish tradition A rabbi asks rabbi Neusner whether “Jesus’ teaching is the same as the Prophets’ ”. Rabbi Neusner: “Not exactly, but close”. “What did he leave out?” ... “Nothing”. Then what did he add?” ... “Himself”!

21. Rabbi Neusner is so important precisely because, with a clear-cut refusal,  he opposes all attempts to separate the historical Jesus from the Jesus of the Church’s dogma.

22. So who is Jesus? And what did he bring? ... if not world peace, universal prosperity and a better world? ...  “The answer is very simple: God. He brought God”. - Jesus of Nazareth, p. 44

23. “The answer is very simple: God. • He brought God”. • Jesus of Nazareth, p. 44 • He can ... • because Jesus of Nazareth is • in an absolute and immediate • relationshipwith God

24. The book Jesus of Nazarethis : marked by this sense of urgency – seeking the Truth through prayer and the Church we arrive at Jesus an invitation to follow him in the adventure of discipleship