The Christ Mystery

by Bruno Barnhart, OSB Cam

 

INTRODUCTORY

The Mystery is difficult to describe or analyze in linear prose. It is the dense core of meaning and energy in which all things are drawn together and held together. We can only describe it, it seems, in terms of its 'components'; but all of these are emphatically one in Christ. Nouns, even those such as 'mystery' and 'event' inevitably dampen both the dynamism and the participatory immediacy of that which we are considering.

The facets of limbs of this Mystery extend outwards into all reality, and therefore are not easily circumscribed. And, on the other hand, they are drawn together by an intense gravitational force into their center which is Christ - and the 'Christ-Moment' which is the paschal event of his death and resurrection. Because of this 'simultaneity' of the Mystery and its aspects, one senses a dissonance in putting one facet after another. But so we must do.

The Christ-Mystery was the center of the Christian vision of the patristic age (first 5 centuries, roughly) and it emerges clearly once again in the time of Vatican II. (see Constitution on the Church, nos. 2-5; Constitution on Divine Revelation, nos. 2-4,17; Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, no. 5).

Some of this reality is treated in books on patristics, theology and liturgy under the terms 'mystery', 'mystery of Christ' etc., but the Christ-Mystery is the subject of the whole of the New Testament, and is powerfully expressed in many places where this 'mystery' language does not appear. Paul's 'in Christ', 'in him' expressions are only one example, Jesus' parables of the Kingdom are another.

A few useful references: 1) Louis Bouyer, The Christian Mystery (St. Bede's Publications, Petersham MA, 1995), 2) Cyprian Vagaggini OSB, Theological Dimensions of the Liturgy, 4th Ed., Liturgical Press, Collegeville MN 1976, pp. 12-18, Xavier Leon Dufour SJ, Dictionary of Biblical Theology, 2nd ed., New York, Seabury, 1973, article 'mystery', pp. 374-377.

THE CHRIST-MYSTERY: A Series of Assertions

  1. The Christ-Mystery, or Christ-Event, is the centering of all reality in Christ.
  2. This is a participative or unitive centering in which all things are brought together 'in Christ.' Irenaeus calls this, following Paul (Eph 1:10), the Recapitulation of all things in Christ. In this way all created things are reunited with God. Col 1:15-20
  3. The Christ-Mystery is the mystery of the Cross. In some way the whole of the Mystery is contained in the event of the Cross and signified in the symbolism of the Cross. See 1 Cor 1-2, especially 1:18, 'the word of the cross'.
  4. Thus the Christ-Mystery is centered in the 'Paschal Mystery' of Christ: his death and resurrection. (see Vatican II documents, paragraphs listed above)
  5. The fullness of the Mystery is communicated to human persons through faith and the sacrament of baptism. Thus the fullness is present at the beginning of Christian life, not only at the end.
  6. Baptism communicates a participation in the death and resurrection of Christ - both at the moment of baptismal initiation and throughout life. Baptism is equivalent to death and burial with Christ and to a participation in his risen life. Rom 6:3-6, Phil 3
  7. This initiation is adoption as a Child of God in the 'only Son of God'; one becomes one with Christ, is 'in the name' of Jesus Christ, standing in the place of Christ.
  8. Initiation is the reception of the gift of the Holy Spirit, in whom are contained all the spiritual gifts. It is the beginning of a new life 'in the Spirit.' Rom 8, Galatians.
  9. The Holy Spirit is equivalent to the Divine Sophia, Wisdom, newly immanent - dwelling within one. 1 Cor 2:6-10. (Christ is also called the divine Wisdom in the NT)
  10. The Holy Spirit is a participation in the love of God which is not only receptive but active. Rom 5:1
  11. Baptism, this personal initiation into the Christ-Mystery, or new participation in Christ, is thus the birth or liberation of the person, liberation of the true self or Christ-self. Galatians passim, Eph.
  12. In early Christianity, this new identity with Christ and with God is the basic unitive or 'contemplative' experience, in which further interior and contemplative experience is rooted. This is the 'vertical' unitive experience.
  13. The corresponding 'horizontal' expression of personal participation in the unitive Mystery through baptism is the new koinonia (communion) which is experienced in the Christian community. cf 1 Jn 1:1-3, Acts passim
  14. The Christ-Mystery is cruciform; Jesus Christ in his death and resurrection becomes the center both of the 'great chain of being' extending between God and material creation, and of history. History and cosmic reality, history and the 'perennial philosophy', intersect in the cross of Christ.
  15. In this Mystery God and Creation (cosmos) are brought newly together in a unitive participation. Trinity and Creation correspond to the figure of the cross. The fullness of this Mystery soon disappeared from Christian consciousness as participation gave way to objectification of 'the faith.'
  16. The Christ-Mystery or Event is the reconciliation of Jews and Gentiles in the 'one body' of Christ; symbolically, this is the historical gathering of all humanity into unitive divine participation in Christ. Col 1:26-27, 2:8-14; Eph Ch 2-3.
  17. Christ and the Christ-Event become the center of 'salvation history' and the center of all history. This seemingly 'triumphalistic' statement is essential to Christianity, at the heart of its identity and life.
  18. Thus the 'Big Bang' of the Christ-Event continues to impel the 'expanding universe' of human history, even in its most disconcerting and unlikely moments. 
  19. In the Event and Mystery of the cross both the wisdom and power of God are manifest in a radical inversion or revolution, confounding the wisdom and power of this world. 1 Cor Ch 1-2
  20. Both the participative presence of this divine Wisdom and the dynamic presence of divine Power become eclipsed in the course of history. Both the unitive and the dynamic movements of the Mystery are suppressed by institutional containment. At the same time, however, more spectacular manifestations of the Wisdom and Power may give way to a living presence beneath the surface of ordinary life.
  21. The Son, or Word, of God exists before creation and is the source, center and goal of the creation. Col 1:15-20; Eph Ch 1; Jn 1:1-18
  22. Jesus is the 'Second Adam' or 'Cosmic Person' who gathers all humanity into himself. Rom 5, Col 1, Eph 2 (Bouyer, The Christian Mystery, Ch. 8, Griffiths, A New Vision of Reality, pp. 113-127, 272-275.)
  23. The 'body of Christ' is the comprehensive 'After' of the Christ-Event, the all-gathering unitive sacrament which is celebrated and partaken in the Eucharist.
  24. The shape of human and Christian life, corresponding to the shape of Jesus' life, moves from 'unitive birth' or Baptism to 'unitive death' or Eucharist.
  25. The 'Mystery of the Church' is the obverse and continuation of the Mystery of Christ. (Vatican II Constitution on the Church, Nos. 2-7)
  26. The Christ-Mystery is contained, through the centuries, not only in the New Testament but in the Liturgy (particularly the sacramental initiation of baptism and eucharist). (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Nos. 2,5-10)
  27. The Mystery or Event becomes actualized, however, in living human persons in the dynamic presence of the Holy Spirit.