Bonhoeffer's Discipleship Part II - Reflections (9)

 

 

“It is we who are crucified with him and who die with him…Jesus thus brings humanity not only into death with him, but also into the resurrection” (page 196).

 

“How then do we come to participate in this body of Christ who did all this for us? For this much is certain: there is no community with Jesus Christ other than the community with his body!” (page 196).

 

Bonhoeffer then writes that we share in the koinonia of the Body of Christ through the sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper, and makes the statement that, “Sacraments exist only because there is a Body of Christ” (page 197). Baptism brings us into the Body and the communion table keeps us in relationship with the Body.

 

I want to again caution us to be patient with Bonhoeffer, for until we have traversed the ground on which he is taking us, we are not likely to begin to understand what he is saying, his vision is farther and deeper and broader than most of us have experienced. If we have a nonsacramental view of baptism and communion, it is just possible that we have much to learn. If we have a sacramental view of communion and baptism, it is also possible that we have much to learn. In both instances our cut and dried positions may be our prisons. I think I can say with assurance that if we think we see the entire picture regarding baptism and communion that we have a lot to learn; I doubt that it is possible to see the entire picture of either one, for to see the entire picture is to see the entire Christ. We can swim in this ocean, but we cannot comprehend this ocean.

 

If we will read the Bible passages that Bonhoeffer quotes and references, if we will read all of the passages in context that reference and allude to baptism and the Lord’s Table (and I think we have the opportunity to continually discover these texts on this pilgrimage), then I think we will see…if we are honest…that there is indeed great mystery in Christ in these sacraments, paradigms, dimensions of koinonia. For sure this honesty will create heartburn in those who insist on neat and tidy propositional and doctrinal statements that are limiting rather than liberating (and doctrine should be liberating!), but we can trust Christ and His Spriit to care for us on this pilgrimage. Yes? I think so.

 

Bonhoeffer wants us to understand that as we “receive the community of the body of Christ” (page 197) that the terms “with Christ,” “in Christ,” and “Christ in us,” will have clear meaning for us. I would add that these terms and the reality within them become our Way of Life in Christ Jesus and with one another.

 

The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ are seen as events which “involve all human beings (Rom. 5:18ff; 1 Cor. 15:22; 2 Cor. 5:14)” (page 197).

 

Here is a list of passages that Bonhoeffer quotes and lists on the bottom of page 197 and the top of 198:

 

Rom. 6:8; Col. 2:20; Rom. 6:6; Rom. 6:4; Col. 2:12; Rom. 6:5; Rom. 6:8; Eph. 2:5; Col. 2:12 (again); 2 Tim. 2:11; 2 Cor. 7:3; Rom. 2:12; 3:19; 7:5; 8:3, 8, 9; 2 Cor. 10:3; 1 Cor. 15:22.

 

He writes of those who know Christ, “With their entire existence and throughout all expressions of their life they are henceforth “in Christ”” (page 198).

 

I hope we see that Bonhoeffer is grounding his message in the Bible. As foreign as what he writes may be to us, he is not saying anything that isn’t grounded in the Word of God. Note that he is viewing Scripture as a whole, he is not basing his message on a verse here or there, but rather on an integrated vision of Jesus Christ and His Body as seen through many facets of the Bible.

 

Bonhoeffer shows us the forest first, and then the trees. He shows us how the patterns of trees and groups of trees make up the forest. Let us not be so foolish as to think our patches of woodland are all there is; the Body is expansive, transcendent, and ever growing up into Him.

 

“Everything we have said thus far may be summed up in the phrase: Christ is “for us” (page 198). This is what Bonhoeffer wants us to know, that Jesus Christ came for us, lived for us, died for us – bearing not only our sins, but ourselves, bearing us as individuals and us as humanity – that he died for us, was buried for us, and that He rose and ascended for us – and that we were with Him in all of this.

 

Is this not what Paul writes in Romans 8:31? “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?”

 

“Paul can describe the miracle of Christ’s incarnation in an almost infinite variety of perspectives” (page 198).

 

As I read this statement, I want to emblazon it in the mind of every Christian, print it in every small group booklet, and paste it on every pulpit. One difference between an infant in Christ and an adult is that an adult realizes the truth of Bonhoeffer’s statement, while an infant or adolescent is convinced that its parochial perspective is all there is to know, and most certainly all there is to believe, teach, and preach.

 

Not only is there an almost infinite variety of Biblical perspectives on the incarnation, but when we understand the comprehensiveness of the Incarnation, the same is true of the Cross, the Atonement, the Resurrection, the Ascension, the coming of the Holy Spirit, and the Church of Jesus Christ. Now for sure, all of these perspectives radiate from Jesus Christ, display Jesus Christ, and glorify Jesus Christ; they are all from, through, and to Jesus Christ.

 

If Jesus Christ is God, which He is, and if God is infinite, then knowing Him and growing in Him, as individuals and as His People, is never-ending. The nature of the Bible is divinely infinite. The Bible displays Jesus Christ in unending dimensions, showing forth His beauty, drawing us deeper into Him – as individuals and as His People – if we will look for Him, seek Him, and allow Him.

 

Jesus says that what the Father has is His, and that the Holy Spirit will disclose to us what the Father has given Him. What the Father has belongs to Jesus, what Jesus has belongs to us (John 16:12 – 15), we are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ (Rom. 8:17, 32). Surely this is a never-ending experience.

 

Bonhoeffer is illustrating, with his many Biblical references, what he means when he writes of Paul’s “almost infinite variety of perspectives.” This can be uncomfortable for those of us who are accustomed to narrow views and rote statements on the Incarnation and Atonement.

 

I would love to ask a small group, “Please share some facets of the Incarnation. Please share some dimensions of the Cross and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. How do you participate in the Incarnation on a daily basis? How do you participate in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ as a way of life?” (You might want to mediate on Galatians 2:20 and 6:14).

 

If our people can’t respond to these questions, what does that say?

 

What is my answer to these questions?

 

What is your answer?

 

How would our congregations respond to these questions?

 

Editorial Note: If you are carefully reading Bonhoeffer, I will mention that there are some things I do not quite see as Bonhoeffer does, however I very much agree with his central thrust, vision, and message. I would love to chat with him about a statement or two to better understand what he means, but alas he isn’t available. Any quotes are statements I endorse, unless I make qualifying comments. I have chosen not to draw attention, as a rule, to the occasional point on which we may differ in order not to distract from the beauty of Bonhoeffer’s message of Christ and the Body, the Church, the Bride, the Temple. After all, the material is dense enough without me adding tangents.

"Ask"

 

“In that day you will not ask Me about anything. Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask the Father for anything in My name, He will give it to you. Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be made full.

 

“These things I have spoken to you in figurative language; an hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figurative language, but will tell you plainly of the Father. In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I will request of the Father on your behalf; for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me and have believed that I came forth from the Father” (John 16:23 – 27). (See also John 14:13 – 13; 15:7, 16).

 

Since in previous Upper Room reflections we pondered initial elements of asking in prayer, we’ll consider additional facets of the diamond in our current passage, for here we are transitioning into the Holy of Holies of Chapter 17.

 

“In that day” of verse 23 points us to the birthing of verse 21 and the going to the Father of verse 5. One reason it is vital to meditate on the entire Upper Room passage (chapters 13 – 17) is to retain, and hold in tension, the themes found throughout the passage. We must not look at verses and paragraphs in isolation.

 

The Upper Room begins with, “Jesus, knowing that His hour had come that He would depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end” (John 13:1). In 16:28 we have an inclusio when Jesus says, “I came forth from the Father and have come into the world; I am leaving the world again and gong to the Father.” While we will devote much more thought to this, I point it out now to draw our attention to the unity of the Upper Room and the importance of the theme of Jesus coming and going – not just in an immediate sense, but in a cosmic missional sense.

 

Compare:

 

“After a little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me; because I live, you will live also” (14:19).

 

“A little while, and you will no longer see Me; and again a little while and you will see Me” (16:16).

 

Then compare:

 

“In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you” (14:20).

 

“In that day you will not ask Me about anything. Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask the Father for anything in My name, He will give it to you…for the Father Himself loves you” (16:23, 27).

 

The “day” that Jesus speaks of will soon be upon the disciples, though this new reality will take a while to dawn on them (isn’t that the way days come about?) On the Day of His Resurrection Jesus will say, “Go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God’” (John 20:17). Yet, the disciples will not immediately grasp the import of these words, even though Jesus spent the entire Upper Room speaking to them about this glorious New Day! Indeed, Jesus had spent His entire ministry revealing the Father to His brothers and sisters, and yet they had not come to see this, or had they? In some measure did they know more than they realized? We will look at this in future reflections.

 

In John 16:23 – 27 Jesus speaks of the intimacy that His disciples will have with the Father “in that day,” a Day which dawns on Easter morning. This is a penumbra to the Holy of Holies of Chapter 17 in which the fulness of this intimacy comes into view.

 

Isn’t there a sense in which Jesus has been teaching and modeling intimacy with the Father throughout His ministry? Consider that the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew chapters 5 – 7) is Jesus’ first extended recorded teaching. How does the Son of God teach us to approach His Father?

 

“Pray to your Father…your Father knows what you seek before you ask Him…pray, then, in this way: Our Father who is in heaven…” (see Matthew 6:6 – 9).

 

From the beginning of His ministry to its earthly conclusion, Jesus Christ is bringing us into a relationship with His Father and our Father, with His God and our God.

 

Paul teaches that we cry out, “Abba! Father!” (Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:6). James reminds us that our Father is the “Father of lights” (James 1:17). Peter writes that our Father has chosen us and that we are to be holy as He is holy (1 Peter 1:2 - 3, 14 – 16). John shares that he and his brethren have koinonia with the Father and Son (1 John 1:3). Jude tells the recipients of his letter that they are “beloved in God the Father” (Jude 1:1). The author of Hebrews writes that Jesus and His brethren are all of one Father (Heb. 2:10 – 11).

 

And yet, so many of us view God as distant and unapproachable. We pray “Our Father” not with a sense of love, affection, security, and intimacy, but with a sense of distance. In light of all that Jesus has taught and done, how can this be?

 

Well, many of us have a lot of baggage to overcome when trying to see God as our Father. I can think of no better healing ointment than the reassuring words of Jesus Christ. I am convinced we can trust what Jesus says. I am convinced that the Father loves you and me just as He loves Jesus (John 17:23). I think this is pretty amazing!

 

What do you think?