Seized Jesus

[AI translation] Once again, we have passed the feasts of Good Friday and Easter, when we heard again the gospel of the great fact of salvation. Yes: we are beyond... but I fear that not only calendar-wise, but also spiritually. Spiritually, too, we are again over the effects of the proclamation of the death and resurrection of Christ. What did these feasts mean for us? Because Christ's death and resurrection was obviously not meant to plunge our souls into a mood of piety for a day or two, or for an hour or two, beyond the ordinary - a moving play or a good concert would be enough for that - the death and resurrection of Jesus is much greater and holier than to delight and entertain us with some divine spectacle. The Apostle Paul puts it this way: "For this cause Christ died and rose again and rose again, that he might reign over both the dead and the living." Now let us leave the dead and dwell only on the living. So the death and resurrection of Jesus happened so that he might reign over us. What does this mean now on a very personal level? Well, that is precisely what the apostle Paul uses a strange expression with a rich content to express when he says: "Christ has also taken hold of me!" Paul is referring to an experience that should be in the life of every Christian. Christ has taken hold of me: this is the expression of one's faith relationship with Jesus, its essence, its richness and its potential."Christ has taken hold of me." Paul is referring to the miracle that happened to him when he met the dead and risen Christ. In him there is a glowing memory of that old encounter on the road to Damascus. "To grasp" - the meaning of the original Greek word used here can be rendered in Hungarian in many ways, such as to grasp something, as a cat grasps a mouse; to catch someone, as a burglar is caught; to catch a fugitive, as death catches you; to win, as the Olympic champion wins the first prize; to conquer, to take possession of, as a victorious army takes possession of an enemy country; to welcome, as one welcomes into one's heart the one one one loves; to seize, as one who is drowning in water is seized by his rescuer; to take possession, as a new owner takes possession of a dwelling... This is what happened to Paul: Jesus caught him, surprised him, caught him as he was going to persecute those who believed in Him; caught him as he fled from Him, fought a great spiritual battle with him, and overcame him, and took possession of him, though he was his enemy - and yet took him into his heart as a dear child, and by this very fact he took him into his power, made him his everlasting bond; so took him, so took him that nothing could ever tear him away from him again. The apostle Paul experienced the same thing as another man of God, Jeremiah, had experienced a few hundred years before. What Paul said, "Christ has taken hold of me", Jeremiah put it into words, "You have led me, Lord, and I have led you. You have taken hold of me and overcome me." (Jer 20:7)
I would very much like to emphasize that the essence of faith, the essence of true faith, is always this: Christ has taken hold of me! I believe in God: that is, I feel, I acknowledge that God has overcome me, that God has become Lord over me! And the wonderful thing is that this feeling of being defeated is not at all paralyzing, humiliating, but even blissful and uplifting. True faith is always an encounter with God that brings me to my knees before him and lifts me up. So don't see faith as a mere calling to something that cannot be explained intellectually, that is, to believe that there is a God, to hold as true, to approve of all that Jesus did and taught - such faith will get you nowhere. It is little more than the gullibility that the world rightly criticises. Moreover, faith is not just accepting certain gifts from God, such as forgiveness of sins, or some help or comfort when I am sad... It is undoubtedly a great thing that all this is possible by faith: to accept what God offers. But even this is a narrowing of the concept of faith. True faith is about something much more powerful, much more sublime. It is what Paul and Jeremiah experienced: "Christ has taken hold of me - you have persuaded me, Lord, and overcome me." Because what is most important in the fact of faith is not what I do - for example, that I approve of something, that I believe it to be true, that I accept something - but mainly what God does for me, what God means to me. Faith does not mean that I have finally grasped God, that I have finally understood the miracle of salvation, the meaning of Jesus' death and resurrection, but the other way round: I have been grasped by God, by Jesus, conquered and empowered, by the irresistible power of His divine justice and love! He has taken me into His power, and I do not resist, I let myself be, I submit to the divine hand, to the divine will that has taken hold of me.
Yes: Christ takes hold! Not in the same way that one is captivated by an exciting novel, or by a great piece of music, or even by a great feeling, a passionate love - not like that! More powerful than that. I am always afraid that you who love to listen to the Word will be content to be touched by a few pious words, or perhaps stirred by a little Christian sentiment, but otherwise everything will remain the same. But have you ever reached the point where the crucified and risen Jesus himself personally comes into your life and draws it into the reach of his will? Because that is what it means to be a Christian! - Someone might ask: but what is it about Christ that can grip you in this way, that can grip you so existentially? Well, first of all, it is His person. That wonderfully perfect, true, pure humanity, through which the being of God shines out in such a way that man blushes, is ashamed before it, is struck down, realizes what a miserable worm, what a filthy heap of sin his whole life is, and has no excuse! So it is above all His person, in whom God Himself comes before man! Then His death and resurrection. The mystery of redemption, from which the forgiving love of God pours out upon the dust-covered man. The happy realisation that God is not treating me as I deserve! I always hear the words of a much-suffering, believing brother, whom I once met on the street and asked in a compassionate voice, "How are you?" Well, you see, the conviction that whatever my troubles, I am still much better than I deserve - that is, how gracious God is to me - that is what impresses a man, what obliges a man, what grips a man's heart.
So let me stress again: it is nothing to be captivated by a good sermon, or to be captivated by a church cause - I knew someone who was once very captivated by the diaconal work in the church and participated in it with great enthusiasm, but his heart was far from Jesus. It is not much more than being captivated by a good preacher, nor is being captivated by the warmth of the church fellowship found here, or the memory of whitewashed walls: all of these things together do not make a Christian. All of this can be disappointing, it is not a basis for a life that can withstand the strain... The Christian life begins with the realisation that "Christ has taken hold of me!" He has taken my soul captive to Jesus; and now I could not get away from him if I wanted to!
And this being taken hold of by Christ is a very practical thing! For in this, for example, is the secret of the unheard-of power and activity which characterized the life of the Apostle Paul. Why was he able to plant so many churches, to pour new life into so many discouraged people, to suffer so happily and fruitfully, to do so much blessed work with a frail body? Because Jesus took hold of him and empowered him. And that is what makes Christian faith different from all other religions. Religion is generally held up in the world as a spiritual crutch for weak and unlivable people, on which it is easier to hobble along the bumpy roads of life. The strong, the confident, have no need of it. They can stand on their own two feet. Or they see religion as an opportunity to satisfy the supernatural desires of the human soul, its thirst for mystery. The sober, the enlightened have no need of it.
I also say that such religiosity is not much needed today. But Christianity is different. Christianity means to be gripped by a divine purity, goodness, holiness, love, power, which I can say in one word: "JESUS!" He has taken me and put me at his service. It is not that I am now sinless, but that, in spite of my many faults and miseries, Jesus holds me in His hand and uses me! Yes: He is using me! Imagine what our life, our ministry, could be if it were really used by that divine love, purity, goodness, holiness and power! Heavenly love, purity, goodness, blessing could flow into the lives of those around us! Well: God uses us where we are, to humanize human life, to alleviate suffering, to comfort the sorrowful, to encourage the discouraged, to lift up the fallen, to reconcile the quarrelsome, to strengthen the weary... Uses? To the extent that Christ takes hold of you, He works miracles in and through you!
It is an unspeakable thing when someone is truly touched by Christ! Such a person can rejoice with all the people on the feast of the kingdom. He can give thanks from the heart for what has been achieved since the end of the war; he can see God's gift and the good, the progress that has been made in the last 19 years. To pray and work with hope for tomorrow, for the possibility of a peaceful future for human life. The man who has been embraced by Christ, even as a believer, can truly find his place and his task in an atheistic social order, and can joyfully work together with people of other ideologies for the upliftment of human life. - It is precisely the man who has grasped Jesus who can believe that Christianity is not something outdated in the modern world, but that what the world really needs now is for true humanity, human love, trust, respect and mutual help, in other words, true Christlike forces, to permeate the world! It is not the religious man, but the man who has grasped Christ, who can convince the world that the true believer is not anti-progressive, not reactionary, but a useful, necessary worker for the party power, a blessing for the whole of life. That is why I have said that it is a great and good thing, unspeakable, if one is truly touched by Christ!
Our whole Christian life turns on the extent to which Christ has taken hold of us. Of course, no one can force this on himself, but he can give it: yes, he can ask for it. I could say: let us regularly expose ourselves to His influence, seek to meet Him day by day. The Bible and prayer are the means by which we can come under His influence today. Let us try to read His Word daily and to engage with Him in prayer in such a way that He can take hold of us, draw us under His rule - for it was for this purpose that Christ died and was raised and resurrected, that He might reign over both the dead and the living.
Amen!
Date: 5 April 1964.