THE LIVING CHRIST

"Jesus answered, 'I am the way and the truth and the life.'" (John 14:6a NIV)

In the two thousand years since the birth of Christ, men and women in all parts of the world have found that the key to the present and to the future has been centering their lives in Christ. They have sought to understand His unique life and death and discover what it means to follow Him in the circumstances of their lives.

In each of the twenty centuries since Christ's birth, people of faith have recorded rich and colorful images of Christ and His impact on their lives. Consider that the Epistle of Barnabus in the second century described Christ as the true and eternal milk and honey by which we will be fed and given understanding. John Climacus in the seventh century called Christ the Sun whose light we can see as we become accustomed to the light through meekness and humility... Catherine of Siena envisions Christ as the true bridge between humanity and God so that we might pass over the bitterness of the world and reach life. Each of these persons was seeking to express in simple, understandable language how his or her life had been reshaped and given new meaning through the presence of the living Christ. The language and the images are strikingly different, but each adds nuances of lived meaning as these persons try to capture the difference that Christ has made for them.

-- Janice T. Grana, adapted from 2000 Years Since Bethlehem


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