The Catholic Church and the Jewish People: Recent Reflections from Rome

7. Israel and the Church—The Two Explorers of the Promised Land: Toward a Christian Theology of Judaism

7. Israel and the Church—The Two Explorers of the Promised Land: Toward a Christian Theology of Judaism Archbishop Bruno Forte 1. Introduction: A Thought-Provoking Image from the Book of Numbers A certain biblical passage, reread from the point of view of the Church Fathers, can help to introduce the question that concerns us: What relationship does Christian faith see between Israel and the Church? The question is indeed quite complex and could be addressed in a variety of ways: What is the reason for the significance and the continued relevance of Israel for the Church? Ought one to think of an economy of salvation based on a single covenant within which they both move, or is the covenant characterized by a plurality, and so the sense of the election and the significance of the promises changeable and progressive? Finally—from a Christian point of view—is it right to ask questions as to the possibility and the modality of a close or remote ‘‘conversion of Israel,’’ or ought we to conceive of a separate path to salvation for the chosen people? The biblical image that helps us throw some light on this intricate forest of questions is that taken from the Book of Numbers , where two explorers come back from the land of Canaan, bringing with them a pole from which hangs a cluster of grapes, in addition to the fruit of the pomegranate and the fig-tree: ‘‘They also reached the Wadi Eshcol, where they cut down a branch with a single cluster of 74 / Archbishop Bruno Forte grapes on it, which two of them carried on a pole, as well as some pomegranates and figs’’ (Num. 13:23). The Fathers of the Church in the patristic era chose to see the pole carried by the two explorers as symbolic of the wood of the cross, from which hangs Christ: Figura Christi pendentis in ligno,1 while in the two bearers, united and separated by this wood, they recognized Israel and the Church: Subvectantes autem phalanguam, duorum populorum figuram ostendebant: unum priorem, scilicet vestrum, terga versum Christo dantem; alium vero posteriorem, racemum respicientem, scilicet noster populus intelligitur.2 On the one hand, since they march one behind the other, the one who goes in front only looks ahead of himself and therefore symbolizes Israel, the people of hope and the people waiting for the new and future things assured by God in His promises. The one who comes behind, on the other hand, sees the one who walks in front of him, as well as the horizon that the latter embraces, through the cluster hanging from the pole, and thus prefigures the Church, who in Christ crucified has the hermeneutical key of ancient Israel and the promise made to the patriarchs. Highlighting the difference, the image manifests nonetheless the continuity existing between the two peoples, not only because of the pole that both explorers bear, but also because of the common horizon to which their gaze is turned. The idea of continuity shall also be emphasized—with a later, poetic remark—through the supposition that the joy of desire lets both sing the same ‘‘hosanna .’’3 United in the song of hope and expectation, Israel and the Church walk together, distinct and at the same time united by the cross of Christ. Three elements of continuity together with discontinuity between Israel and the Church are here stressed in this dense patristic reading: the eschatological character of biblical revelation in the First Testament as much as in the New Testament; the community-oriented notion of salvation, determined by the founding principle of the covenant between the eternal God and His people; and the messianic signi ficance of the two peoples, of the one who waits as well as of the one who contemplates the fulfillment of the promises. 2. The Eschatological Character of Divine Revelation What unites the two explorers as they walk is first of all the horizon to which their gaze is turned: the Truth for whose sake it is worth living is before their eyes. Toward this Truth they move their steps; it is this Toward a Christian Theology of Judaism / 75 Truth that their hearts seek. However, in order to be so, this very same Truth has come and has given itself up to the measure of the human possibility to understand it, has spoken the language...