{"id":3144,"date":"2007-05-20T13:26:00","date_gmt":"2007-05-20T13:26:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2007\/05\/christ-pantocrator\/"},"modified":"2007-05-20T13:26:00","modified_gmt":"2007-05-20T13:26:00","slug":"christ-pantocrator","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2007\/05\/christ-pantocrator.html","title":{"rendered":"Christ Pantocrator"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

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I\u2019m not sure where in the New Testament it indicates that Jesus is our best buddy. When I read the gospels he certainly went to parties, was sociable and was very popular, but he is always treated either with extreme respect or with disdain. Even with his apostles there is a distance. He loves people, but he doesn\u2019t come across to me as full of bonhomie, high fives and hearty slaps on the back.<\/span><\/div>\n
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Yet the predominant image of Jesus in our American Evangelical society is that of \u2018friend and brother\u2019 isn\u2019t it? People are told they can have a \u2018personal relationship with Jesus\u2019 and one gets the impression that this is of the same order as the sort of relationship you have with your best buddy from high school days. It\u2019s almost Jesus the work colleague, or Jesus the team leader.<\/span><\/div>\n
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I\u2019m sure that\u2019s all well and good up to a point, but I doubt if it\u2019s really a Scriptural image, nor is it an image that was popular throughout Church history. The closest we get to a chummy, up close and personal Jesus is the intimacy of Jesus the Good Shepherd, and certainly we Catholics love the tenderness of Jesus of the Sacred Heart.<\/span><\/div>\n
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The more dominant image in the New Testament is one of Jesus Christ glorified. The readings for the Ascension emphasize the \u2018cosmic Christ\u2019. He is the one under whose feet God has put all things. He is the one who has claimed dominion over all the spiritual forces in the heavenly places. He is the one through whom all things exist, who is in all and through all. In other words, he is Christ the King, Christ Pantocrator. <\/span><\/div>\n
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Why is this image so neglected today, and why has it never (in my experience) been emphasized within Protestantism? Is it just that we are democratic? We\u2019re egalitarian and want Jesus to be \u2018an ordinary guy\u2019? Is it because we are uncomfortable with all the supernatural language associated with him being over all the \u2018thrones and principalities and powers and dominions\u2019?<\/span><\/div>\n
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Or is it the fact that Jesus\u2013the Dreadful Judge of the Last Day makes us a wee bit, well, squirmy?<\/span><\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m not sure where in the New Testament it indicates that Jesus is our best buddy. When I read the gospels he certainly went to parties, was sociable and was very popular, but he is always treated either with extreme respect or with disdain. Even with his apostles there is a distance. He loves people, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":557,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3144","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nChrist Pantocrator<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I'm not sure where in the New Testament it indicates that Jesus is our best buddy. 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