Christ 'for me'

I am starting with Yr 2 Doctrine Moore Theological College tomorrow on a part of the course entitled 'The Person and Work of Christ'. I thought I'd get a famous piece of Bonhoeffer into circulation - this from his 1933 Christology lectures. You have to remember the political circumstances, of course:


"Christ is Christ not as Christ in himself, but in his relation to me. His being Christ is his being 'pro me'. This being 'pro me' is in turn not meant to be understood as an effect which emanates from him, or as an accident; it is meant to be understood as the essence, as the being of the person himself. This personal nucleus itself is the 'pro me'. That Christ is 'pro me' is not an historical or an ontical statement, but an ontological one. That is, Christ can never be thoughtof in his being in himself, but only in his relationshop to me. That in turn menas that Christ can only be conceived of existentially, viz. in the community... It is not only useless to meditate on a Christ in himself, but even godless."

So: Christ cannot besomething or someone remote from us or he is not Christ... The very nature of Christ's mission (check Peter's declaration of Jesus' title) is for others in a suffering way.