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«IN THE WILDERNESS»
Since 1947, thanks to the discovery of the
manuscripts at Qumrân, «the mysterious figure of the Baptist is seen
against a precise backdrop instead of arising from a world unknown to us»4.
The region in which he baptised is that which surrounds the Jordan
just before it flows into the Dead Sea, a few kilometres to the north
east of Qumrân. «Matthew calls this region the “wilderness of
Judaea”, observes Father Daniélou, but Saint Luke employs a
different expression: “The word was addressed to John in the
wilderness” (Lk 3.2) as if “the Wilderness” designated a
definite place.4»
As a matter of fact the hermits of Qumrân
used to apply this expression to any region where they lived5.
As we have explained, taking our cue from Jean
Daniélou, Otto Betz and Annie Jaubert, it is there that John the
Baptist was raised as a child: «And he remained in the wilderness
till the day of his manifestation to Israel.» (Lk 1.80)
We cannot do better than restate the
result of all this new data, as we presented it shortly after the Congress at Eichstätt: «In all
probability, Saint John the Baptist was raised by the Essenians
of Qumrân, in the expectation of a purification more perfect than
that of which the repeated ritual baths were but the figure. One day
he left Qumrân to administer nearby in the running waters
of the Jordan a unique baptism, a sign heralding the baptism of the
Spirit which the Messiah would soon administer. The unique, indeed
truly exceptional, role played by John the Baptist, at the junction of the
Old and New Testaments, at the centre of salvation history, was
declared by Jesus Himself: “Truly I say to you, among those born
of women there has risen no one greater than John the Baptist; and yet
he who is least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he.”
(Mt 11.11)6»
«Certainly, his time will be short,
writes the Abbé de Nantes, his audience will be the people of Israel,
people from the country, rather than the Jews, the upper
middle-classes or the priests of Jerusalem... But this was his role, a
role which he fulfilled to perfection: He was not the light, we
are told by him who was the disciple of both, but he came to bear
his testimony – human, biblical and charismatic – to Jesus, the
true Light, so that all might believe through him.7»
THE BAPTISM OF JESUS
In
the first few days of October 28 AD, «John the Baptist
appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the
forgiveness of sins. And there went out to him all the country of
Judaea and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and they were
baptised by him in the waters of the Jordan, confessing their sins.»
(Mk 1.4-5) Having taken leave of the Virgin Mary
and left Nazareth, Jesus in His turn presented Himself for baptism
during the first days of January 29 AD.
Among
the crowds of those who flocked to John the Baptist, He was an
exception. He was the only one not to come from Jerusalem or from
Judaea: «In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of
Galilee and was baptised by John in the Jordan.» (Mk
1.9)
So
Jesus made the same journey, from Galilee in Judaea, that He had made
twenty-eight years earlier, when He was still in the womb of His
Mother (Lk 2.4).
This
comparison is not superfluous; it reminds us that Jesus is a Judaean
by birth: Judaea is His homeland. That is why we should not be
surprised to see Him joining «all the country of Judaea and
all the inhabitants of Jerusalem» who had come
to receive baptism from John «confessing their sins».
Saint
Mark in fact emphasizes that the crowds are baptised while
confessing their sins. But this does not apply to Jesus who is an
exception on this point also. So what should we understand by this
mystery? What is it that brings Jesus to this baptism, given that He
knows no sin?
JESUS MANIFESTED AS SON
The
reply comes from God the Father Himself, who makes His voice heard in
a theophany: «And when he came up out of the water, immediately he
saw the heavens opened and the Spirit descending upon him like a Dove,
and a voice came from heaven: “Thou art my beloved Son; with
thee I am well pleased.”» (Mk 1.10-11)
One
might think that Jesus was the only one to see the heavens torn upon
and the dove of the Holy Spirit descending upon Him. But Saint John
the Baptist also saw this, as Saint John the Evangelist testifies (Jn
1.32). What is this Dove? Is it a real dove, miraculously directed
there like the doves at Fatima? Is it a dove only in appearance?
This
is the interpretation of the Abbé de Nantes: swept up by the Spirit of whom She is the dwelling-place, the Virgin Mary
was there, like the spouse in the Song of Songs (Sg 5.2; 9.9); not as
Mediatrix, but like a lamp in which a light has been placed, «fair
as the moon, bright as the sun» (Sg 6.10).
The Holy Spirit comes
down on Her and She manifests Herself in the form most proper to Her,
namely Her purity and holiness, of which the dove is a symbol, to
testify that Jesus is indeed the Son of God, virginally conceived by
Her, through the operation of the Holy Spirit.
She could not be absent
from this theophany. She is present in a special way, perceived by
Jesus and by John the Baptist if not by the crowd: it is not a real
animal, as were Noah's Dove and the miraculous doves at Fatima; it is
a vision of a Dove, «like a Dove» writes Saint
Luke, who recorded the confidences of «those who from the beginning
were eyewitnesses and ministers of the Word» (Lk 1.2), that is to
say John the Evangelist and without any doubt Mary Herself. As for
Mark (1.10), he learned about it from Peter; and Peter and Matthew
(3.16) learned about it from Jesus Himself. As we have seen, the
eyewitnesses are solid!
As for Saint John, he
does not record the baptism of Jesus, but he presupposes it in his
account of John the Baptist's testimony: «He sees Jesus coming toward
him and he says: “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin
of the world. This is he of whom I said:
After me comes a man
who ranks before me,
for he was before me”.» (Jn 1.29-30)
Through the mouth of Saint John
the Baptist, the whole of the Old Testament reveals Jesus to be «the
Lamb of God» who was prefigured by the numerous lambs sacrificed
during a thousand years of Mosaic liturgy. Isaac especially, the son of
the Promise, prefigured Him two thousand years beforehand! Had he not
already taken the place of the Lamb of sacrifice (Gn 22.7-10)?
Of the “twenty-seven”
scholars who spoke about John the Baptist in the Arte broadcast,
it was Daniel Marguerat who won first prize for failing to understand the
clearest texts: «From the historical point of view, he declared,
the most adequate explanation is that in the beginning Jesus was a
disciple of the Baptist, and that his baptism led him to enter the
popular revivalist movement directed by John.8»
Amidst all this confusion, of
which the episode dedicated to “John the Baptist” in this
series offered a perfect example, the Abbé de Nantes is the only only
author, to my knowledge, to have clearly explained «the kind of
elliptical play on words used by John the Evangelist in his Prologue» but which here
reappear in their natural context. His
account of this event, unique in the history of the world, is
remarkable: that of two men one of whom announces the coming of the
other, who nevertheless has authority over the former because He is
anterior to him in every way! Even before John the Baptist knew
Him, it was for Him that he preached. For it was a mission that had been
given to him from on high.9»
So it was that another had
witnessed to Jesus even before He had appeared! «Furthermore, this witness'
oracles placed the manifestation of the Messiah in direct continuity
with the great biblical past of His people and in line with its most
imposing prophecies. From the very first moment of His entry into public
life, Jesus was declared by the greatest and the last of Israel's
prophets to be the “Servant of Yahweh” announced five
centuries earlier in the Book of Isaiah's prophecies. It is certainly impressive.
«As for Jesus, he touches
down, if I may say so, without any miracles or fuss, in the most simple
but also the most convincing manner, without scaring away the simple or
striking a false note.10»
THE CONSECRATION OF THE MESSIAH-KING
«Now, when all the people
had been baptised and while Jesus after his own baptism was at prayer,
heaven opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily shape, like
a Dove. And a voice came from heaven: “Thou art my Son; today
I have begotten Thee.”» (Lk 3.21-22)
Jesus' baptism is His
consecration, His epiphany, which “manifests” Him to the world, just
like the adoration of the Magi had manifested Him before in the days of
His Nativity. Saint Matthew emphasises this fact in his own way when he
refers to John the Baptist's protest that he is unworthy to baptise
Jesus, for to do so would be a definite reversal of roles! «It is I
who need baptism from you, and yet you come to me!» (Mt 3.14) And
yet, despite appearances, it is Jesus who is the Master; John the Baptist
understands this and obeys: «But Jesus replied: “Let it be so
for now: for thus it is fitting for us to fulfil all righteousness.” Then
he left him.» (Mt 3.15)
As Michel Quesnel observes, one
should not translate this as: «Then he let him do this», for
the verb “to do” is not in the text. «John leaves Jesus to receive
baptism, in the same way as the devil will leave him a little later when
he has resisted three successive temptations (Mt 4.11). It is not
insignificant that the Evangelist employs the same term for the
devil and for John who both “leave” Jesus after a trial. Just like Peter at
the announcement of the Passion (Mt 16.23), John is here the Tempter who
obstructs God's will by trusting overmuch in his entirely human vision
of things.11»
«JESUS WAS ABOUT THIRTY»
Father Quesnel writes: «It is
always difficult to describe a supernatural experience in human
words and, in the case of Jesus' baptism, we may wonder what it was that
the Evangelists wished to convey.12»
Yet Saint Luke was perfectly
explicit when he wrote immediately after the theophany following Jesus'
baptism: «And Jesus, when He began His ministry, was about thirty
years of age.» (Lk 3.23) This is the age at which David was
consecrated king of Israel at Hebron: «And then all the tribes of
Israel came to David at Hebron and said: “Behold, we are your bone
and flesh. In times past, when Saul was king over us, it was you that
led Israel in all their exploits, and Yahweh said to you: It is you who
shall be the shepherd of my people Israel and it is you who shall
be the leader of Israel.” So all the elders of Israel came to the
king at Hebron; and King David made a covenant with them at Hebron
before Yahweh, and they anointed David king over Israel. David was
thirty years old when he began to reign and he reigned for forty years.»
(2S 5.1-4)
Sylvie Chaber d'Hyères clearly
saw the parallel with David: «David was also thirty when he exercised
power in Israel. He had been anointed by the prophet Samuel when he was
very young, but it was only when he was thirty that he was invested with
power over his people. The similarity with the beginning of Jesus' public
life makes itself felt immediately, especially in regard to this expression
of the Annunciation: “The Lord God will give him the
throne of his father David” (Lk 1.32).13»
It is therefore vain to speculate on Christ's age, as authors vie with
each other in doing14.
Like his father David, Jesus begins His reign. But He must still capture
His Kingdom from His Adversary, the Prince of this world.
THE COMBAT BEGINS
Immediately after His
consecration, Jesus is driven by the Spirit into the wilderness. «And
he was in the wilderness for forty days, tempted by the devil. And he
was with the wild beasts, and the angels ministered to him.» (Mk
1.12-13)
The wilderness of Juda, above
Jericho, was the favourite place of the Essenian ascetics, whose
existence at the time of Christ is confirmed by the caves and the
cemetery at Qumrân. Later on, the wilderness was used by the Christian
monks who wished to follow Christ into solitude, as evidenced by the great
number of monasteries and hermitages built between the 4th
and 7th centuries AD15.
But more recent archaeological discoveries, made on the east bank of the
Jordan, lead one to think rather that Jesus stayed «on the far
side of the Jordan» in order to undergo the trial of the desert, as
did once the Hebrew people who remained on the far side of the river
before entering the Promised Land (see our inset BETHANY
ON THE FAR SIDE OF THE JORDAN, p. 8-9).
In any case, Saint Mark's sober
presentation lets us understand that Jesus' stay in the wilderness
restores the lost paradise, including the presence of the tempting
Serpent! Saint Matthew and Saint Luke make it clear that it was not
without a struggle: in the wilderness Jesus triumphed over the three
temptations (Mt 4.1-11; Lk 4.1-13) which Israel had succumbed to during
its forty years of wandering in the desert (Nb 14.34). Faithful to His
Father, Jesus refuses to seek His food outside of Him (Dt 8.3; cf Ex
16), to put Him to the test (Dt 6.16; cf. Ex 17.1-7), or to deny Him in
order to adore the devil who will give him domination of the world (Dt
6.10-15; cf. Ex 23.23-33).
We are not surprised to find
this episode omitted in Saint John. He also omitted the Baptism, the
Transfiguration, the agony, the institution of the Eucharist, and the
trial before the Sanhedrin. Saint John showed in his Gospel that the
whole of Jesus' public life was a judicial trial and that doing the will
of His Father was His daily bread (Jn 4.34). He was continually fighting
the devil and his henchmen, not only in Jerusalem where He, the
Son of God, confronted the leaders of the Jews, all sons of the devil
(Jn 8.43-44), but also among those of His own community (Jn 6.70-71)!
John enters straightway into an
account of events of which he was not only a spectator but a
participant, and often one of the main participants.
LONG LIVE THE KING!
The first meeting between John
the Evangelist, then a disciple of the Baptist, and Jesus is recorded
within the context of a memorable week (1.19 - 2.12). Having seen John
the Baptist reply to the priests and levites sent by the
Jews from Jerusalem to gather information, he hears him proclaim, when
Jesus returns from the wilderness via the ford at Bethany:
«I saw the Spirit descend
as a Dove from heaven and remain on him. And I myself did not know him,
but he who sent me to baptise with water said to me: “He on whom
you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptises with the
Holy Spirit.” And I have seen and I bear witness that this is the
Elect of God.» (Jn 1.32-34)
This declaration by the
Precursor is equivalent to the ritual acclamation which follows the
anointing at an enthronement: «Long live the King!» (1K 1.34-39) This
is certainly how Nathanael understood it: «Rabbi, you are the Son of
God. You are the King of Israel!» (Jn 1.49)
«It is very simple, comments
the Abbé de Nantes; for the faithful Israelites, the Elect of God,
the Lamb of God, is the “Servant of Yahweh”,
the Light of the nations and the glory of His people Israel, but also a
man of sorrows, the victim of a expiatory sacrifice for the sins of all
men, foretold by the prophet Isaiah centuries beforehand (Is 42-53). And it is
over Him that John had already seen the Holy Spirit hovering.»
It was at the cost of this redemptive
sacrifice (Is 53.10) that the Spirit, breathed forth from the mouth of
Jesus at His death (Jn 19.30), will be spread through baptism on all
those whom He has redeemed. Baptised in His death (Rm 6.3-11), they will
in their turn become sons of God.
«This then is the Messiah,
whom God designates to His Precursor by the presence above Him of the
Holy Spirit coming from Heaven in the form of a mysterious dove of peace
hovering over the deep. And the few devout Israelites of good will who
remain with John and share his expectation, joyously welcome the Good
News, for the fullness of time has come! In the calm of a clear spring
morning, at Bethany on the far side of the Jordan, it was truly
an unforgettable moment!16»
The site has recently been
discovered by Jordanian archaeologists (see our inset BETHANY
ON THE FAR SIDE OF THE JORDAN, p. 8-9).
«The next day,
therefore, the disciples of John, hearing him repeat the same words on
seeing Jesus passing, went and followed him. This passage
from the Gospel is of an incomparable purity. It is full of verbs of
action, and of what action! It was a matter of hearing, following,
seeking and finding Jesus, and then of coming to Him,
seeing Him, and finally of staying with Him.
«After that, it was a matter of meeting
other disciples and of bringing them too so that they can do
likewise. One of them is immediately given a new name by Jesus: “Cephas”,
which means Peter or Rock. Another, Philip, hears himself being
called: “Follow me!” As for Nathanael, when he first hears
the glad tidings that “We have found Him of whom Moses and the
prophets wrote in the Law: Jesus, the son of Joseph, from Nazareth”,
he objects, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” He
should know, he is from that part of the country! Nevertheless, he goes,
and Jesus, in His superhuman knowledge of the most secret things, hails
him as though He already knew him: “Before Philip called you, when
you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” And at this intimidating
revelation, Nathanael exclaims: “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You
are the King of Israel!”
And so from those earliest days
Jesus received from His precursor five young men who all gave Him their
faith not only on the testimony of John but also on what they themselves
had seen and heard while they were with Him.17»
Among them was «he whom
Jesus loved», John the son of Zebedee. He will never leave Jesus,
following Him everywhere, even into the palace of the high priest on the
day of the Passion, to the foot of the Cross and finally to His burial.
He saw and understood everything, he remembered and meditated on
everything with his keen intelligence, in imitation of Mary, now his
Mother (Jn 19.26-27), who «carefully retained all these things,
meditating upon them in Her Heart» (Lk 2.19 and 51).
He did not consign all these
things to his Gospel, as «the world itself could not contain the
books that would need to be written» (Jn 21.25). But he said enough
to allow us to follow Jesus step by step.
THE WEDDING FEAST OF THE KING
«As John's former disciples
gone over to the service of the Messiah, the King of Israel, they are
charmed and conquered, and when he He decides to leave for Galilee,
they follow Him, all the more readily in that they are returning to their
own home country.18»
There was John the son of Zebedee, Andrew and Simon Peter his brother,
Philip who was from Bethsaida, the village of Andrew and Peter, and
Nathanael, still called Bartholomew (Mt 10.3). The distance to be
covered was about one hundred and twenty kilometres: a five day walk.
«They did not know what a
feast and what a reward was being prepared for them by this Master whom
God had given them! But here they are at Cana, invited to a wedding at
which the Mother of Jesus is already present. With what eyes they
contemplated Her and with what affection did John, the witness who records
this wonderful memory, immediately love Her it is impossible to say. But
from the way he relates the event, so soon after becoming Jesus'
disciple, it is clear that his soul is already overcome with love. And
for us who know the extraordinary mystery of this Mother ever
virgin, the spouse of God in the conception and begetting of Jesus, how
moving it is to meet Her so early in John's Gospel!
«There was no more wine
when they arrived. Jesus' Mother told Him this, and in answer to Her
secret request to do something, He said to Her: “What is that to me
and to thee, Woman?” (Jn 2.4)19»
According to Father Feuillet,
this expression «however we might imagine it softened by the tone of
voice, marks a blunt refusal and a certain separation between Jesus and
His Mother»20.
A deplorable misinterpretation! Let us listen to the Abbé de Nantes
instead:
«On this occasion it means: “Have
I ever refused you anything, O most noble of women?” It is
extremely rare for a son to address his mother in this way, and it
denotes a relationship of such total love and grace that any other term
based on a lesser mutual relationship would be inadequate. One unique relationship
expresses this: that which united the first man Adam to Eve the first woman, formed of his own flesh. That is in the mind of
both Jesus and John here.»
This is an allusion to the cry of
delight and love uttered by Adam when he first caught sight of her whom
God had just drawn from his side: «This at last is bone of my bones and
flesh of my flesh; she shall be called “woman”,
because she was taken out of man!» (Gn 2.23)
«John has recorded this moving
expression of intimacy which was justified by the solemnity of the Hour.
We shall understand more later... at the end. But I believe that, from
this very moment, the Witness allows us to see that he felt for Her a
veneration and a love no less than he felt for Him, as though they were
of one and the same Heart.20»
An exegesis of unrivalled
profundity, which brings out the continuity of God's designs; from the
very beginnings, God in fact seems to submit Himself to the wishes
of this Immaculate Heart, waiting on Her every command:
«Let it be done unto me
according to thy word.» (Lk 1.38)
«The sequel is no less
mysterious. “My hour is not yet come”, says Jesus.»
This reply reveals to us Mary's
intention in asking for the miracle. It was not simply to help out the
people at the wedding feast, but also and especially to allow Jesus to
manifest Himself to the world. The theophany which had accompanied the
Jesus' baptism in the Jordan, in which She had taken part «like a
Dove», did it not make Her regard this manifestation as imminent?
Therefore She royally takes the initiative... and Jesus submits to Her
wishes:
The Abbé de Nantes continues: «Yet
divining that Her Son will obey Her discreet plea, His Mother advises
the servants with an expression of sovereign command: “Do whatever
he tells you”, however disconcerting it might seem to them.
«And in fact, from the water
poured into the six stone jars meant for the purification of the Jews,
Jesus made a wine so superior to that which had gone before, the wedding
wine which had all been used up, that the bridegroom elicited
this remark from the chief steward of the feast: “You have kept the
good wine back until now!”»
Since the jars could each hold «two
or three measures» (2.6), and a measure corresponded to forty litres,
the enormous quantity involved – five or six hectolitres! – clearly
exceeded the basis necessities of the feast.
«The incomprehension shown by
the people warns us that there is some mystery here. And in fact, when
John testifies to these events, he attaches a hidden meaning to every
detail, not through excess of imagination, but in a more profound
knowledge of the “truth” about Jesus. In those six
empty jars meant for the purification of the Jews and in the
wedding wine which had run out, soon to be judged inferior, John
will see signs of the Old Covenant nearing its end. On the other
hand, the water drawn at Jesus' command and changed by Him, at Mary's
gentle behest, into a wine so much better than the other, will appear to
him, not of course as the great miracle whose hour has not yet come,
but as its harbinger and sign. He will witness this great miracle at the
precise Hour when Jesus will change wine into His own Blood, the
Blood of the New and Eternal Covenant, poured out and distributed in
order to purify the sin of the world, at the time of His wedding feast
with the Church...
«This, the first of his
signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory; and his
disciples believed in him. (Jn 2.11)
«It is the account of a
passing scene, concludes the Abbé de Nantes. But the disciple's faith
is so keen that the mystery of this Son of man whom he scarcely
knows, appears to him to be unveiled at this point. He has the angels
ascending and descending above his new Master, to use His words to
Nathanael (Jn 1.51), and the Holy Spirit resting on Him, inspiring His
entire conduct... He has already discerned, beyond any doubt, the future
mystery of the “Woman”, blessed and
beautiful above all others, who is His mother and more than a
mother, the spouse of grace as Isaiah says about Sion, and who will soon
display another kind of maternity, even now smiling on the
disciples gathered in Sion. So he affords us a glimpse, beyond the
appearance and figure of this country wedding, of the divine reality of
the Wedding of the Lamb of God and the future Jerusalem and, to
put it better, of the New Adam and His New Eve, the
Immaculate Virgin and Universal Mother.»
A YEAR OF THE LORD'S GRACE
«After this, he went down
to Capernaum, with his mother and his brothers and his disciples; and
there they stayed for a few days.» (Jn 2.12) Long enough, however,
for «a report to spread about him throughout the whole region.»
(Lk 4.14)
The said «region» included
Nazareth:
«He came to Nazareth where he
had been brought up; and he went to the synagogue, as his custom was, on
the sabbath day. And he stood up to read; and there was given to him the
book of the prophet Isaiah. He opened the book and found the place where
it was written:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
to proclaim a year of the Lord's grace.”
«He closed the book, gave it
back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue
were fixed on him. And he began to say to them: “Today this passage
from Scripture is being fulfilled even as you listen.”» (Lk
4.16-21)
According to Saint Clement of
Alexandria (200 AD), this expression should be understood literally: «His
preaching was to last but one year, as it is written in these words: He
has sent me to preach a year of the Lord's grace. Thus speak at one
and the same time both the Prophet and the Evangelist.21»
This is what we will try to examine very soon, please God. At any rate, all the indications are that
Jesus pronounced these words when the new liturgical year was just
beginning, which according to the Hebrew calendar started in the month
of Nisan, the month of the Passover. This would justify John the
Baptist's statement that Jesus was coming to «clear his
threshing floor and gather the wheat into his barn».
Brother Bruno of Jesus
(1) Cf. B. Bonnet-Eymard, In the
year 1 of His era, Jesus was born at Bethlehem, English CRC no
325, December 1999, p. 1-12; The date of Christ’s birth, a
critical examination, English CRC no 326, January 2000, p.
17-24. – (2) S. Chabert d’Hyères, Des jours
de lumière, Anne Sigier 1998, p. 28. – (3) Ibid.,
p. 29. – (4) Jean Daniélou, Les manuscrits de
la mer Morte et les origines du christianisme, Orante 1974, p.
13. – (5) «When these things happen to the
Community in Israel, they will separate from the dwellings of evil men
and go into the Wilderness to prepare the way for Him, as it is
written: “In the wilderness prepare the way of ••••
Make straight in the desert a path for our God. (1 QS 8.13-14)
The pronoun “Him” designates Yahweh, and the four dots replace the
name of Yahweh, which may not be pronounced, in this quotation from
Isaiah 40.3. This prophecy of Isaiah’s is quoted again a little
further on in the same Rule of the Community (1 QS 9.19-21).
Now, as we have pointed out on several occasions, the four Evangelists
apply this text to John the Baptist.» cf. Bible, Archéologie,
Histoire (BAH), vol. 1, p. 84, 115-116; English CRC no 308, April
1998, p. 7. – (6) BAH, vol. 1, p. 84. –
(7) G. de Nantes, The testimony of John at the trial of
Jesus Christ, Son of God, BAH, vol. 2, p. 140. – (8) Cf.
English CRC no 308, April 1998, p. 4 and 6. – (9)
G. de Nantes, op. cit., English CRC no 235, January 1991, p. 8;
BAH, vol. 2, p. 138. – (10) Ibid., p.
140. – (11) M. Quesnel, Le baptême de
Jésus, in Le Monde de la Bible no 65 (1990), p.
30-31. – (12) Ibid., p. 36. –
(13) S. Chabert d’Hyères, op. cit., p. 22. –
(14) The Jerusalem Bible comments: «Jesus is therefore at least
thirty years old, perhaps even thirty-five or thirty-six. The indication
given in v. 23 is approximate and perhaps simply underlines the fact
that Jesus had the age required to exercise a public mission.» Louis
Dupraz protests: «“The age required”! By who? By what? Jesus'
mission had nothing official about it, neither in the tetrarchy of Herod
Antipas, nor in the procuratorial province of Judaea, nor again in that
redoubtable politico-sacerdotal institution that was the Temple.» (De
l'association de Tibère au principat à la naissance du Christ, in Studia
Friburgentia, new series, no 43, 1966, p. 130) For his part, he
translates: «And Jesus himself was in some way beginning his
thirtieth year», affirming energetically: «No other translation
can be justified either grammatically or within the context.» Then he
explains: «In other words, he had completed thirty years and was now in
his thirty-first year. For our calculations we adopt one month as the
maximum duration indicated by the phrase “in some way” (hôsei
in Greek, quasi in Latin).» Why? Because, having established «the
certain date [the word certain is emphasised by the author] of 18
April 779 (= 26 AD) for the first Passover of his public life, the
arithmetic leads us rigorously to a day between 19 December 748 (= 6 BC)
and 18 January 749 (= 5 BC) for the birth of Jesus.» (ibid., p.
140-141) Our rehabilitation of Denis delivers us from these vain and
arbitrary speculations. – (15) Cf. Le Monde de
la Bible no 68 (1991), devoted to the desert of Juda and its
Christian monasteries. – (16) G. de Nantes, op.
cit., p. 8; in BAH, vol. 2, p. 138. – (17) Ibid.
– (18) Ibid. – (19) Ibid.,
p. 139. – (20) A. Feuillet, Jésus et sa Mère,
Gabalda 1974, p. 130. – (21) Quoted by S. Chabert
d'Hyères who follows him without hesitation: «Nothing permits us to
affirm that the period of Jesus' manifestation lasted two years or
longer, and with this in mind, Isaiah's prophecy can be seen to be
valid.» She draws up a chronology of this «year of grace», in
which the acts and teachings each have their place «without any
particular obstacle arising».
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