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For St. Paul, Jesus is not 'a figure of the past,' Pope notes (Subscribe to RSS Feed) 
Vatican, Oct. 8, 2008 (CWNews.com) -
At his regular weekly public audience on October 8, Pope Benedict XVI (bio - news) related how St. Paul learned about the life of Jesus from the Apostles.
The Holy Father reminded his Wednesday audience that "it seems certain Paul did not meet Jesus during His earthly life." Still the epistles of St. Paul are full of references to what Jesus said and did during His public ministry, including such key events as the Sermon on the Mount and the Last Supper.
In the epistles, St. Paul makes a distinction between the treatment of Jesus before and after the Resurrection. The Apostle writes about the Kingdom of God, noting how Jesus provided instructions on how His followers can attain that Kingdom, and these instructions-- which apply to Paul as well-- require "an attitude of humility and openness" to the salvation brought by Christ's Sacrifice.
Prior to the Resurrection, Jesus refers to Himself as the "Son of Man." Afterward he uses "the Son of God." St. Paul echoes that change, the Pope observed. "This is why the title preferred by Paul for Jesus is 'Lord', which indicates His divinity."
The Pope concluded that although he was thoroughly informed about the events of the Lord's public life, "St. Paul does not think of Jesus as a historian would; he does not see Jesus as a figure of the past." For Paul, "Jesus lives and speaks with us today. This is the true form of knowing Jesus and the tradition about Him."
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Posted by: Lisa Nicholas - Oct. 08, 2008 6:24 PM ET USA
I share with St. Paul a distaste for referring to our Lord in too familiar terms. I cringe when I hear preachers repeatedly referring to "Jesus" (even when they refer to him as the risen & ascended Lord, rather than to his earthly, mortal life), without ever referring to him as "Christ," "the Lord," "Jesus Christ" or some combination thereof. This has always struck me as overly-familiar, verging on irreverent. Even his closest friends addressed him more respectfully than that.