2022/03/21

31. "My Church" of Jesus

In the previous article, we discussed how the ''my church'' of Jesus came into being as three Marys. Jesus mentioned the ''my church'' when he taught his disciples on what foundation he would build it. Jesus first asked his disciples, "But who do you say that I am?"(Matthew 16:15). Peter replied, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God" (Matthew 16:16). Because Jesus said, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it" (Matt. 16:17-18), the ''my church'' of Jesus is to be built on the words of Peter's reply so to speak. Therefore, the church, established on his words as its foundation, must also have the words. If we think about it, the words Peter replied are a combination of the message of the angel who appeared to Joseph in his dream for the first time, "He will save his people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21), and the message of the angel given to Mary: "Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God" (Luke 1:35). Thus, the Holy Family can be taken as a model for the ''my church'' of Jesus. Because Jesus was God, the Holy Family that received Jesus as a son had been prepared in the likeness of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, of whom Jesus spoke. It is also why the ''my church'' of Jesus was born as the three Marys. In addition, as Jesus said, ''Blessed,'' Jesus' question and Peter's answer are to be connected to the new space in linkage with the Book of Revelation. In our age, in which online communities and organisations that are connected to each other worldwide are everyday things, if the ''my church'' of Jesus appears in the likeness of God, modelled on the Holy Family, it will provide us with the chance to make the biblical world real and to inject the image of God into the highly information-oriented society. The ''my church'' of Jesus, who draws all people on the cross, plays a significant role in being a community where visitors can see and experience God in reality. If so, Christians will be aware that they need to form themselves towards the new role Jesus has brought for the new men and women. We will continue this theme in the next issue.

Maria K. M.