In today’s post, we will look at what the suffering and
death of Our Lord reveal about him and us.
I have written previously on the suffering of Jesus in two
posts, and some of the material there I may reference here, as well, but there
will be some new material here, as well:
There were three themes in Jesus’ preaching that led the
people of Jesus’ time to put him on trial, which led to his death: his teaching
on the Law, his teaching on the Temple, and his teaching about his identity.
Regarding the law, the Catechism (#592) states: Jesus did
not abolish the Law of Sinai, but rather fulfilled it (cf. Mt 5:17-19) with such perfection (cf.
Jn 8:46) that he revealed its
ultimate meaning (cf.: Mt 5:33)
and redeemed the transgressions against it (cf. Heb 9:15). Jesus
is the New Law, the fulfillment of the Law, and people did not like the way he
was interpreting it. As we have written about before, Jesus had
great respect for the law, but he knew the ultimate law was written in the
human heart, and fulfilled by him. The
people of his time, though, thought he was teaching blasphemy. See my post for more details: http://jimscatholicblog.blogspot.com/2017/09/the-law.html
Regarding the temple, the Catechism states (#593) Jesus
venerated the Temple by going up to it for the Jewish feasts of pilgrimage, and
with a jealous love he loved this dwelling of God among men. The Temple
prefigures his own mystery. When he announces its destruction, it is as a
manifestation of his own execution and of the entry into a new age in the
history of salvation, when his Body would be the definitive Temple. Jesus identifies himself with the
Temple, God’s dwelling place among men.
For Jews, the Temple in Jerusalem is the holy place where God dwells in
a special way. But as great a respect
as Our Lord had for the Temple, he says in Matthew 12:6 “I tell you, something greater
than the temple is here.”
Regarding his identity, the Catechism states: (#594) Jesus
performed acts, such as pardoning sins, that manifested him to be the Savior
God himself (cf. Jn 5:16-18).
Certain Jews, who did not recognize God made man (cf. Jn 1:14), saw in him only a man who made himself God (Jn 10:33), and judged him as a
blasphemer. Jesus equates
himself with God because he is God.
So there are indeed natural, human reasons that can help explain
why Our Lord was put to death. But, as
the Catechism reminds us (#599-#600), it is ultimately all a part the mystery
of God’s plan for our redemption, and so, ultimately there are higher reasons
why God allowed it:
Jesus' violent death was not the result of chance in an unfortunate
coincidence of circumstances, but is part of the mystery of God's plan, as St.
Peter explains to the Jews of Jerusalem in his first sermon on Pentecost:
"This Jesus [was] delivered up according to the definite plan and
foreknowledge of God. This Biblical language does not mean that those who
handed him over were merely passive players in a scenario written in advance by
God. To God, all moments of time are present in
their immediacy. When therefore he establishes his eternal plan of
"predestination", he includes in it each person's free response to
his grace: "In this city, in fact, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the
Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, gathered together against your holy servant
Jesus, whom you anointed, to do whatever your hand and your plan had
predestined to take place." For the sake of accomplishing his
plan of salvation, God permitted the acts that flowed from their blindness.
There a few other key points about the suffering and death
of Our Lord that the Catechism reveals:
1) "He died for our sins in accordance
with the Scriptures" (1 Corinthians 15:3) The Scriptures had foretold
this divine plan of salvation through the putting to death of "the
righteous one, my Servant" as a mystery of universal redemption, that is,
as the ransom that would free men from the slavery of sin (#601) Jesus’ death was for our sake.
2) "For our sake God made him to be sin" (2 Corinthians
5:21) Jesus did not experience reprobation as if he himself had sinned. But in the redeeming love that always united him to the Father, he assumed us
in the state of our waywardness of sin, to the point that he could say in our
name from the cross: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
(#603). Jesus did not sin,
but he took on our sin.
3) God takes the initiative of universal
redeeming love By giving up his own Son for our sins,
God manifests that his plan for us is one of benevolent love, prior to any
merit on our part: "In this is love, not that we loved God but that he
loved us and sent his Son to be the expiation for our sins." God "shows his love for us in that while
we were yet sinners Christ died for us." At the
end of the parable of the lost sheep Jesus recalled that God's love excludes no
one: "So it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of
these little ones should perish." He affirms that he came
"to give his life as a ransom for many"; this last term is not
restrictive, but contrasts the whole of humanity with the unique person of the
redeemer who hands himself over to save us. The Church, following
the apostles, teaches that Christ died for all men without exception:
"There is not, never has been, and never will be a single human being for
whom Christ did not suffer." (#604-#605) Jesus loves all, and everything he does is out of love.
4) His whole life, and his suffering in
particular, is an offering to the Father.
The Son of God, who came down "from heaven, not to do [his] own
will, but the will of him who sent [him]", said on coming into
the world, "Lo, I have come to do your will, O God." "And by
that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus
Christ once for all." From the first moment of his Incarnation
the Son embraces the Father's plan of divine salvation in his redemptive
mission: "My food is to do the will of him who sent me, and to accomplish
his work." The sacrifice of Jesus "for the sins of the
whole world" expresses his loving communion with the Father.
"The Father loves me, because I lay down my life", said the Lord,
"[for] I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know
that I love the Father." (#606) Our Lord “embraced in his human heart the Father’s love for all men. “(#609) Jesus was sent by the loving Father
for our salvation.
5) Christ’s death is the unique and
definitive sacrifice. This sacrifice of Christ is unique; it
completes and surpasses all other sacrifices. First, it is a gift
from God the Father himself, for the Father handed his Son over to sinners in
order to reconcile us with himself. At the same time it is the offering of the
Son of God made man, who in freedom and love offered his life to his Father
through the Holy Spirit in reparation for our disobedience. Jesus is the one sacrifice necessary for
us to be saved. This sacrifice was consummated on the Cross.
As his followers, as
I have spoken about before, we can participate in that one sacrifice of
Christ. The Catechism states, quoting
Scripture: The cross is the unique sacrifice of Christ, the "one mediator
between God and men". But because in his incarnate divine
person he has in some way united himself to every man, "the possibility of
being made partners, in a way known to God, in the paschal mystery" is
offered to all men. He calls his disciples to "take up
[their] cross and follow [him]", for "Christ also
suffered for [us], leaving [us] an example so that [we] should follow in his
steps."
You may have noticed
I have not gone into much detail into many of the specific events/ steps of the
Passion that occurred in Our Lord’s final week (i.e. the Last Supper, the Agony
in the Garden, the Trial, and the Crucifixion); this was more than just an
overview of the Passion and Death as a whole, and what they say about Jesus, which is what this series is all about.
In the “The Mystery of Suffering, Part Four” post I linked to above, I
did give a list of these events. During
Lent, and especially during Holy Week each year, we meditate deeply upon each
of these events, and so, we should.
I know I said the
next post would be about the Resurrection.
However before that, we should do a post on the “in between time”: the
burial, and the decent into the dead, and so we shall in the next post.
Joseph, solace of
the wretched, pray for us.
No comments:
Post a Comment