Moscú. 7 de noviembre de 2019.

Iglesia ortodoxa rusa.

“Church care for mentally ill people: religious mystical experience and mental health”

Was Jesus a Mystic?

Gabino Uríbarri Bilbao, SJ

Pontifical University Comillas (Madrid)
International Theological Commission (Rome - Holy See)

1. WAS JESUS A MYSTIC?

1. If we were to affirm that Jesus was or was not a mystic, this argument
would rely on the idea of a mystic that we have1. I would like to start this paper
clearly stating the understanding of a mystic that I will work from. I shall follow the
catholic theologian Karl Rahner. In a very famous essay, he states: «the Christian
of the future will be a mystic, this means, someone who has experienced
something, or he will not be a Christian»2. In light of this formulation, I will consider
a mystic one who lives a personal encounter with God and who has a deep
personal experience of God. To be even more precise, a mystic is a person who
has been touched in his or her life by the real and profound mystery of God.

2. Given this understanding of a mystic, can we consider Jesus a mystic?

Without a doubt yes; we can and must do so. If we look at the best testimonies
we have of Jesus Christ’s life, the canonical Gospels, there we find two major
elements that support our argument. First of all, the Gospels explicitly point out
that Jesus prayed in several moments of his life. For instance, there are the
following well-known scenes in which Jesus appears praying: the scene of the
agony in the garden of the olive trees (Mc 14: 36 and par.; Heb 5: 7), the
exclamation of jubilation (Lk 10: 21-22), and the more indirect scene of his
teaching the Our Father (Mt 6: 9-13 and par.). In addition, the Gospels confirm
his custom of retiring early to pray or of spending long periods in prayer (e.g. Mc
1: 35; 6: 46; Lk 5: 16), as seen in the prayer before the election of the disciples
(Lc 6: 12-13). The evangelical texts also report his prayer before some miracles

1
In this essay I gather ideas from my book: G. Uríbarri, La mística de Jesús.
Desafío y propuesta (Santander: Sal Terrae, 2017).
2
K. Rahner, «Espiritualidad antigua y actual», in Id., Escritos de Teología VII
(Madrid: Taurus, 1969), 13-135, here 15.
Was Jesus a Mystic? G. Uríbarri, SJ 2

such as the multiplication of the loaves (e.g. Mc 6: 41; 8: 6) or the resurrection of

Lazarus (Jn 11: 41-42), as well as the prayer on the cross (Mt 27: 46; Mc 15: 38;
Lk 23: 46; Jn 19: 28), and the so-called priestly prayer (Jn 17). Consequently, we
can considerer Jesus as a man of prayer.

Secondly, we might ask ourselves: what happened during this prayer? We

must acknowledge that we would like to have more information than we have.
Nevertheless, we get a good hint as to Jesus’ intimacy with God in prayer by way
of the content of his prayer and its impact in his life. The content of his prayer is
frequently thanksgiving (e.g.: Mc 8: 6 y par.: Mt 15,36; Jn 6: 11. 23; 11: 41-42;
1Cor 11: 23-24 y Lk 22: 19; Mt 26: 27 y Mc 14,23; Lk 22,17) and blessing God
(e.g.: Mc 8: 7; Lk 9: 16; Mt 26: 27 y Mc 14: 23)3. In an even clearer indication of
the content of his prayer, we have the scene before the crucifixion in the garden
of Gethsemane, in which he uttered these words: «“Abba, Father, all things are
possible to thee; remove this cup from me; yet not what I will, but what thou wilt”»
(Mc 14: 36). Here, where the window of Jesus’ relation with the Father is slightly
opened, we grasp from a distance its depth and intimacy, its tenderness and
openness. We receive the confirmation, that in fact Jesus’ life really was touched
and guided by the mystery of God, and that God was present in his life,
transparent to his conscience4.

The impact of prayer in his life is suggested through his obedience to the
will of the Father. The whole life of Jesus can be understood as obedience to his
Father: «“My food is to do the will of him who sent me, and to accomplish his
work”» (Jn 4: 34; cf. Jn 5: 30; 6: 38; Rm 5: 19; Filp 2: 8; Heb 5: 8; 10: 910). The
union with his Father through the Holy Spirit is the thread of his life, his action,
his teaching, his options.

To conclude, we are right when we affirm that Jesus was a mystic in the
sense that he did have a real experience of a deep encounter with God, that he
was touched, in his humanity, by the real and profound mystery of God. Does this
statement agree with Christological dogma? Let us take a look.

2. JESUS AS A MYSTIC IN THE FRAME OF CHRISTOLOGICAL DOGMA

When I speak of Jesus’ mysticism or of Jesus as a mystic I am always

speaking about his humanity. That his human nature had a real experience of the
mystery of God can be defended by at least three reasons, gathered from the
best of patristic theology.

1. According to Irenaeus of Lyon, in the scene of Jesus’ baptism (cf. Mc 1: 9-

11 and par.), at the beginning of his public ministry, Jesus was anointed by the

3
Cf. A. Vanhoye, Jesús, modelo de oración (Bilbao: Mensajero, 2014).
4
This is a main point in Joseph Ratzinger’s book, Jesus of Nazareth. See G.
Uríbarri, «La oración de Jesús según J. Ratzinger, teólogo y papa. Líneas maestras de
una cristología espiritual», Estudios Eclesiásticos 91 (2016) 363-390.
Was Jesus a Mystic? G. Uríbarri, SJ 3

Holy Spirit. This anointing fell upon his humanity5. Through the anointing of the
Spirit, the humanity of Christ started his messianic and filial ministry, which the
next scene, the temptations (cf. Mc 1: 12-13 and par.) confirm. This means, then,
that it was through the guidance and strength provided by the Holy Spirit over his
humanity that Jesus Christ accomplished his work of salvation. We can
presuppose as a theological and spiritual reading, without fear of making an
extreme judgment, that this anointing of the Spirit on the humanity of Jesus
implies a true, real, continuous and profound experience of connection with God
in his mystery.

2. The first Council of Constantinople condemned the position of Apollinaire

of Laodicea (cf. DH6 151). It is well known, that Apollinaire rejected the presence
of a human soul in the incarnate Word of God? The condemnation of Apollinaire
himself and all derivations of Apollinarism means that we must defend the
presence and activity in Jesus Christ of a human soul, i.e.: a human intellect
(noûs), a human will (thélema), and so on. This represents the main trend of
patristic Christology, as for instance seen in Gregory of Nazianzus’s rejection of
Apollinaire’s position7.

3. With Maximus Confessor8, the first Lateran Synod (year 640; cf. DH 500),
and the third Council of Constantinople (year 680-681; cf. DH 555-556) the
presence and the activity of a human will in Jesus Christ. This human will, was
active in the obedience to the will of the Father. Through this human will Jesus
Christ accomplished the work of salvation.

So, to summarize, the human will (against Apollinaire and with Gregory of
Nazianzus), anointed by the Holy Spirit (Irenaeus) was really active in the work
of salvation (Maximus Confessor). This means, the humanity of Christ, because
of the intimate relation it had with the mystery of God, with the Father, lived as
the true servant of God, as the real Son of God, as the one who always obeyed
the Father. In this sense, Jesus was the highest mystic we can think of, his
humanity lived in the deepest and purest experience and relation to the mystery
of God.

3. MAIN FEATURES OF JESUS’ MYSTICISM

5
Irenaeus of Lyon, Adv. Haer. III, 9,6 (SCh 211, 206-208); III, 9,3 (SCh 211,
110s); III, 17,1 (SCh 211, 330); III, 18,7 (SCh 211, 364-370; IV, 14,2 (SCh 100, 542-
544). See, for instance: A. Orbe, La unción del Verbo. Estudios Valentinianos III (Roma:
Pontificia Università Gregoriana, 1961); L. F. Ladaria, Jesús y el Espíritu: la unción
(Burgos: Monte Carmelo, 2013).
6
H. Denzinger - P. Hünermann, El magisterio de la Iglesia. Enchiridion
Symbolorum et Declarationum de rebus Fidei et Morum (Barcelona: Herder, 1999).
7
Cf. Gregory of Nazianzus, Ep. 101, ad Cledonium, 32 (SCh 208, 50).
8
Maximus Confessor, Opusc. 6 (PG 91, 65-69); 16 (PG 91, 184-212); Disputatio
cum Pyrrho (PG 91, 288-353).
Was Jesus a Mystic? G. Uríbarri, SJ 4

Five fundamental characteristics stand out in the mysticism of Jesus.

1. It is a filial mysticism. What is transparent in Jesus’ prayer is that he

addresses God as Abba, as “Father”. In this way he stands before God as “Son”.
Using a term like Abbá, which comes from a more infantile language, he
manifests a relationship of closeness, intimacy, and tenderness. However, the
scene in which it appears, the prayer in the garden of Gethsemane, reveals that
the filial relationship includes obedience to the will of God.

As a Son, then, Jesus lives in trust and surrender. He lives his filiation as
an expression of mission: to fulfill the commission that the Father has given him.
For this reason, his mysticism does not center him in himself, rather it centers
him in God and in the mission of proclaiming the Kingdom of God. At the same
time, this mysticism generates the confidence of knowing himself in the hands of
the Father, of knowing himself as heard and sustained, even in the dark moments
of the garden and the cross.

The Father, with whom Jesus relates in prayer, is the Father of mercies.
For this reason, in his ministry of preaching the advent of the Kingdom of God,
Jesus manifests a preferential and merciful love for the poor, the sinners. The
parable called the “prodigal son” (Lk 15: 11-32), which could be called the “father
of the lost son”, reflects the face of God that Jesus lives in his mystical prayer
and fulfills in his ministry.

2. His is a praying mysticism. In the Lord’s Prayer, the fundamental features

of Jesus’ way of praying are revealed to us. If we follow the structure of the Lord’s
Prayer, the first thing that is confirmed is the image of God as “father”, for that is
how this prayer begins: “Our Father who art in heaven” (Mt 6: 9).

The seven petitions in the Lord's Prayer are usually divided into two parts.
The first three, according to Matthew's version, which I am following, constitute
what are called the “thou” petitions, because they are addressed to God:

“Hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come,
thy will be done” (Mt 6: 9-10).

In these petitions, we perceive a clear theological dimension. They are addressed

to God, and they do not seek immediate benefit for the person praying. They
open themselves so that the adorable mystery of God may be recognized, so that
his kingdom and his will may be implanted on earth. It is a prayer that floats over
God’s glory, his holiness, his majesty. And he asks, with humility, that what divine
majesty means may burst forth.

The remaining four petitions are called “we”, for we are the beneficiaries.
They are the following:

“Give us this day our daily bread;

And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors;
And led us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil” (Mt 6: 11-13).
Was Jesus a Mystic? G. Uríbarri, SJ 5

On the one hand, these petitions look towards daily life: the daily bread, which
the Church Fathers will interpret as the Eucharistic bread, the authentic bread of
life; the debts and the sins, which have to be forgiven by generating an authentic
fraternity. The last two, temptation and evil, point towards the final fate of the
individual and eternal life.

3. It is a mysticism of service. From his filial relationship with the Father,

Jesus gives himself to the service of the proclamation of the good news (Gospel)
of the irruption of the Kingdom of God. His entire public ministry is structured
around this service.

Jesus’ relationship with God situates him as a servant. He identifies

himself with the Old Testament figure of the Servant of Yahweh. In the washing
of the feet (Jn 13), he performs a typical work of servants: washing the feet. This
scene is a splendid manifestation of the mysticism of service that characterizes
his life.

This service leads him to an important teaching activity. In this area the
parables stand out. His teaching highlights that the mysticism of Jesus includes
language about God, by means of symbols and images. It is not that God cannot
be known, rather there are symbols that allow us to understand how he acts and
how the Kingdom of God comes.

In this service, Jesus eats with sinners, and in this way he manifests the
face of the Father, of the God of mercies. For this reason, the mysticism of Jesus
includes, as a fundamental component, the community. Namely, he calls
disciples as followers, and invites them to an experience of commensality: he
gathers in houses to eat and is unafraid to sit and eat with sinners (cf. e.g. Lk 15:
1-2). The figure of Jesus that appears in the Gospels contrasts with the
asceticism of John the Baptist and the rigorism of the scribes. In other words, the
mysticism of Jesus is joyful and festive.

4. It is a combative mysticism. In his ministry Jesus clashes with different

groups. His ministry is accompanied by conflict, whose keystone is the image of
God as Father. In other words, when Jesus translates into practice what God’s
fatherhood means, sparks fly.

He clashes with the Pharisees because he understands the Law

differently. On the one hand, he does not comply with the laws of purity
concerning food and utensils. But also, on the other hand, he skips the Sabbath
observance and heals on Saturday. Thus, he shows not only that the Son of Man
is Lord of the Sabbath, but also that God rejoices in the deliverance of his children
who are oppressed by demons or diseases.

Jesus’ criticism of the sacrificial system of the Temple clashed head-on

with the Sadducees and the priestly families, to the point of leading to his death.
With his critique of the Temple, Jesus presents an image of God who is not
served unless there is the practice of mercy and justice; a God who does not
discriminate between Jews and non-Jews, between pure and impure. Moreover,
Was Jesus a Mystic? G. Uríbarri, SJ 6

with the irruption of the Kingdom of God thanks to Jesus, the two great institutions
of the OT, which mediated the relationship with God, the Law and the Temple,
are relativized.

Thus, the mysticism of Jesus teaches us to face conflict, to not

compromise with accommodations when the true image of God and the way of
pleasing Him is at stake.

5. Finally, the mysticism of Jesus is paschal. On account of this conflict,

Jesus’ mysticism led him to death. Jesus’ surrender and fidelity to the mission
entrusted to him reaches the point of death on the cross. That is why it is a
sacrificial mysticism. His surrender to death is an act of obedience before God
and of generosity for us, for our sins, as can be deduced from the gestures and
words of the Last Supper. God the Father accepts this sacrifice, delights in him
to the point of raising him from the dead through the Spirit, exalting him, seating
him at his right on the throne of glory, declaring him Lord of the universe and
making him the source of all his blessings.

For all these reasons, Christian mysticism – in following Christ and

conforming our lives to him by the gift of the Spirit and the sacraments – is a
mysticism that is filial, prayerful, realized in service, combative and paschal.

4. THE HEALTHINESS OF JESUS’ MYSTICISM

As we have seen, the mysticism of Jesus is closely intertwined with his

prayer, calling God Abbá, and with the active presence of the Holy Spirit in his
humanity. Consequently, if we can pray precisely as Jesus did (cf. Mc 14: 36),
also calling God in prayer Abbá (cf. Gal 4: 6; Rm 8: 15); and if this prayer is
induced in us by the same Holy Spirit that anointed and guided Jesus’ humanity
(cf. Gal 4: 6; Rm 8: 15), then we can partake, in a different level, in the mysticism
of Jesus.

The mysticism of Jesus generates health and well-being in those who live
it. I will only point out three reasons that justify this affirmation.

1. We are created in the image of the Son (Gen 1:26-27; Col 1:15). Therefore,
the filial mysticism of the Son responds to what we, as creatures, radically are:
called to configure ourselves with the Son (cf. Rom 8: 29).

2. The mysticism of Jesus does not require extraordinary abilities or special

circumstances to be lived. It is for everyone, for daily life, for work, for the family,
for situations of conflict that arise, for friction in living together. It helps us to live
daily life from God and towards God and, as a result, with depth and peace.

3. The mysticism of Jesus, the new Adam, teaches us the way not to lose
ourselves in the face of multiple temptations under the cloak of good. The new
Adam, with his filial life, teaches us the authentic virtues and the way to overcome
Was Jesus a Mystic? G. Uríbarri, SJ 7

the vices that threaten to ruin our path towards God, our authentic humanization9.
Thus, the mysticism of Jesus includes the potential to teach us to overcome all
situations from the roots in God, including conflict, abandonment, loneliness10
and death.

9
Cf. J.-C. Larchet, Terapéutica de las enfermedades espirituales (Salamanca:
Sígueme, 2014).
10
Cf. O. González de Cardedal, Jesucristo. Soledad y compañía (Salamanca:
Sígueme, 2016).