Jesus of Nazareth

For the past several weeks I've been going through Pope Benedict XVI's book, Jesus of Nazareth.  It is a fascinating book, about which Pope Benedict says, "This book is...my personal search 'for the face of the Lord.'"  (At least, that's what it says on the back of the book.)  Anyway, I wanted to share a portion of it:

"What did Jesus actually bring, if not world peace, universal prosperity, and a better world?  What has he brought? 

The answer is simple: God.  He has brought God.  He has brought the God who formerly unveiled his countenance gradually, first to Abraham, then to Moses and the Prophets, and then in the Wisdom Literature - the God who revealed his face only in Israel, even though he was also honored among the pagans in various shadowy guises.  It is this God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the true God, whom he has brought to the nations of the earth.

He has brought God, and now we know his face, now we can call upon him.  Now we know the path that we human beings have to take in this world.  Jesus has brought God and with God the truth about our origin and destiny: faith, hope, and love.  It is only because of our hardness of heart that we think this is too little.  Yes indeed, God's power works quietly in this world, but it is the true and lasting power.  Again and again, God's cause seems to be in its death throes.  Yet over and over again it proves to be the only thing that truly endures and saves.  The earthly kingdoms that Satan was able to put before the Lord at that time have all passed away.  Their glory, their doxa, has proven to be a mere semblance.  But the glory of Christ, the humble, self-sacrificing glory of his love, has not passed away."

(page 44 in the paperback edition from Ignatius Press)