Following the Pattern: Meditations on the Humanity and Divinity of Jesus

Following the Pattern examines the environment in which Jesus was born, the parents on whom he would be dependent, and the education which would one day enable his human lips to speak the words of God with authority. Jesus led an exemplary life, and we are asked to emulate it, but to emulate it we must meditate on what his life in an Israeli culture might have been like.

While the Son of God worked with human hands and thought with a human mind, we assume Jesus possessed only that divine knowledge required by his age-stage. He functioned as a normal person would, being born into a world of the Scriptures and living the life we wish to pattern ourselves after. He was humble enough to recognize authority and meek enough to obey such authority. As his stature grew, the revelations needed to teach and influence others were given to his human nature to the extent his divine mission necessitated.

With this book, intended for a general audience, Julian Bauer hopes the reader will remember the words of St. John of the Cross that the closer our attachment to God, the greater the likeness between us. To be totally "one" requires an equality of love. The effort to pattern ourselves after Jesus is a never-ending undertaking in pursuit of a divine communion with God.