The Perspective of Justice

Presenting Jesus

They bring Jesus to the temple to be “presented to the Lord,” for he is “the Anointed of the Lord.” One way of responding to this event is to reflect on our own ‘presentation of the Lord.’

How do we present Jesus Christ to others? Is the Jesus we present to others a convenient cover for a life of personal misbehavior and social indifference, or is he “the king of glory” whose person and teachings should govern us individually and collectively? Do we present Jesus to others on such a pedestal that people can dismiss his example as unreasonable expectation, or is he “like his brothers in every way,” one of us, a brother human whose love of justice and peace can and should be imitated? Is the Jesus we present to others an indictment of them, or is he God’s “saving deed displayed for all the peoples to see,” the Messiah who rescues us from our personal and social sinfulness?

Is the Jesus we present to others a support for our dealings with death, our wars, abortions, and death penalties, or is he “a lamb without blemish (offered) for the life of the world”? Is the Jesus we present others a special ‘god’ for the privileged, or is he “the light of all peoples,” including people who are weak and outcast?.

God’s Word, through whom all things were made, was himself made flesh and dwelt on man’s earth. Thus he entered the world’s history as a perfect man, taking that history up into himself and summarizing it. He himself revealed to us that ‘God is love’ (I John 4:8) and at the same time taught us that the new command of love was the basic law of human perfection and hence of the world’s transformation. To those, therefore, who believe in divine love, he gives assurance that the way of love lies open to men and that the effort to establish a universal brotherhood is not a hopeless one.

Vatican II, Constitution on the Church in the Modern World,
1965: 38

Gerald Darring

**From Saint Louis University