Raw reference: nos. 512-667
CCC 512
Concerning Christ's life the
Concerning Christ's life the Creed speaks only about the mysteries of the Incarnation (conception and birth) and Paschal mystery (passion, crucifixion, death, burial, descent into hell, resurrection and ascension). It says nothing explicitly about the mysteries of Jesus' hidden or public life, but the articles of faith concerning his Incarnation and Passover do shed light on the whole of his earthly life. "All that Jesus did and taught, from the beginning until the day when he was taken up to heaven", is to be seen in the light of the mysteries of Christmas and Easter.
CCC 513
According to circumstances
According to circumstances catechesis will make use of all the richness of the mysteries of Jesus. Here it is enough merely to indicate some elements common to all the mysteries of Christ's life (I), in order then to sketch the principal mysteries of Jesus' hidden (II) and public (III) life.
CCC 514
Many things about Jesus of
Many things about Jesus of interest to human curiosity do not figure in the Gospels. Almost nothing is said about his hidden life at Nazareth, and even a great part of his public life is not recounted. [Cf. Jn 20:30.] What is written in the Gospels was set down there "so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name." [Jn 20:31.]
CCC 515
The Gospels were written by
The Gospels were written by men who were among the first to have the faith [Cf. Mk 1:1; Jn 21:24.] and wanted to share it with others. Having known in faith who Jesus is, they could see and make others see the traces of his mystery in all his earthly life. From the swaddling clothes of his birth to the vinegar of his Passion and the shroud of his Resurrection, everything in Jesus' life was a sign of his mystery. [Cf Lk 2:7; Mt 27: 48; Jn 20:7.] His deeds, miracles and words all revealed that "in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily." [Col 2:9.] His humanity appeared as "sacrament", that is, the sign and instrument, of his divinity and of the salvation he brings: what was visible in his earthly life leads to the invisible mystery of his divine sonship and redemptive mission
CCC 516
Christ's whole earthly life -
Christ's whole earthly life - his words and deeds, his silences and sufferings, indeed his manner of being and speaking - is Revelation of the Father. Jesus can say: "Whoever has seen me has seen the Father", and the Father can say: "This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!" [Jn 14:9; Lk 9:35; cf. Mt 17:5; Mk 9:7, "my beloved Son".] Because our Lord became man in order to do his Father's will, even the least characteristics of his mysteries manifest "God's love. . . among us". [Jn 4:9[ETML:C/].]
CCC 517
Christ's whole life is a
Christ's whole life is a mystery of redemption. Redemption comes to us above all through the blood of his cross, [Cf. Eph 1:7; Col 1:13-14; 2 Pt 1:18-19.] but this mystery is at work throughout Christ's entire life: -already in his Incarnation through which by becoming poor he enriches us with his poverty; [Cf. 2 Cor 8:9.] - in his hidden life which by his submission atones for our disobedience; [Cf. Lk 2:51.] - in his word which purifies its hearers; [Cf. Jn 15:3.]- in his healings and exorcisms by which "he took our infirmities and bore our diseases"; [Mt 8:17; cf. Is 53:4.] - and in his Resurrection by which he justifies us. [Cf. Rom 4:25.]
CCC 518
Christ's whole life is a (518)
Christ's whole life is a mystery of recapitulation. All Jesus did, said and suffered had for its aim restoring fallen man to his original vocation:
CCC 519
All Christ's riches "are for
All Christ's riches "are for every individual and are everybody's property." [John Paul II, RH II.] Christ did not live his life for himself but for us, from his Incarnation "for us men and for our salvation" to his death "for our sins" and Resurrection "for our justification". [I Cor 15:3; Rom 4:25.] He is still "our advocate with the Father", who "always lives to make intercession" for us. [I Jn 2:1 Heb 7:25.] He remains ever "in the presence of God on our behalf, bringing before him all that he lived and suffered for us." [Heb 9:24.]
CCC 520
In all of his life Jesus
In all of his life Jesus presents himself as our model. He is "the perfect man", [GS 38; cf. Rom 1 5:5; Phil 2:5.] who invites us to become his disciples and follow him. In humbling himself, he has given us an example to imitate, through his prayer he draws us to pray, and by his poverty he calls us to accept freely the privation and persecutions that may come our way. [Cf. Jn 13:15; Lk 11:1; Mt 5:11-12.]
CCC 521
Christ enables us to live in
Christ enables us to live in him all that he himself lived, and he lives it in us. "By his Incarnation, he, the Son of God, has in a certain way united himself with each man." [GS 22 # 2.] We are called only to become one with him, for he enables us as the members of his Body to share in what he lived for us in his flesh as our model:
CCC 522
The coming of God's Son to
The coming of God's Son to earth is an event of such immensity that God willed to prepare for it over centuries. He makes everything converge on Christ: all the rituals and sacrifices, figures and symbols of the "First Covenant". [Heb 9:15.] He announces him through the mouths of the prophets who succeeded one another in Israel. Moreover, he awakens in the hearts of the pagans a dim expectation of this coming.
CCC 523
St. John the Baptist is the
St. John the Baptist is the Lord's immediate precursor or forerunner, sent to prepare his way. [Cf. Acts 13:24; Mt 3:3[ETML:C/].] "Prophet of the Most High", John surpasses all the prophets, of whom he is the last. [Lk 1:76; cf. 7:26; Mt 11:13.] He inaugurates the Gospel, already from his mother's womb welcomes the coming of Christ, and rejoices in being "the friend of the bridegroom", whom he points out as "the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world". [Jn 1 29; cf. Acts 1:22; Lk 1:41; 16:16; Jn 3:29.] Going before Jesus "in the spirit and power of Elijah", John bears witness to Christ in his preaching, by his Baptism of conversion, and through his martyrdom. [Lk 1:17; cf. Mk 6:17-29.]
CCC 524
When the Church celebrate (524)
When the Church celebrates the liturgy of Advent each year, she makes present this ancient expectancy of the Messiah, for by sharing in the long preparation for the Saviour's first coming, the faithful renew their ardent desire for his second coming. [Cf Rev 22:17.] By celebrating the precursor's birth and martyrdom, the Church unites herself to his desire: "He must increase, but I must decrease." [Jn 3:30.]
CCC 525
Jesus was born in a humble
Jesus was born in a humble stable, into a poor family. [Cf. Lk 2:61.] Simple shepherds were the first witnesses to this event. In this poverty heaven's glory was made manifest. [Cf. Lk 2:8-20.] The Church never tires of singing the glory of this night:
CCC 526
To become a child in relation
To become a child in relation to God is the condition for entering the kingdom. [Cf. Mt 18:3-4.] For this, we must humble ourselves and become little. Even more: to become "children of God" we must be "born from above" or "born of God". [Jn 3 7; 1:13; 1:12; cf. Mt 23:12.] Only when Christ is formed in us will the mystery of Christmas be fulfilled in us. [Cf. Gal 4:19.] Christmas is the mystery of this "marvellous exchange":
CCC 527
Jesus' circumcision, on the
Jesus' circumcision, on the eighth day after his birth, [Cf. Lk 2:21.] is the sign of his incorporation into Abraham's descendants, into the people of the covenant. It is the sign of his submission to the Law [Cf. Gal 4:4.] and his deputation to Israel's worship, in which he will participate throughout his life. This sign prefigures that "circumcision of Christ" which is Baptism. [Cf. Col 2:11-13.]
CCC 528
The Epiphany is the
The Epiphany is the manifestation of Jesus as Messiah of Israel, Son of God and Saviour of the world. the great feast of Epiphany celebrates the adoration of Jesus by the wise men (magi) from the East, together with his baptism in the Jordan and the wedding feast at Cana in Galilee. [Mt 2:1; cf. LH, Epiphany, Evening Prayer II, Antiphon at the Canticle of Mary.] In the magi, representatives of the neighbouring pagan religions, the Gospel sees the first-fruits of the nations, who welcome the good news of salvation through the Incarnation. the magi's coming to Jerusalem in order to pay homage to the king of the Jews shows that they seek in Israel, in the messianic light of the star of David, the one who will be king of the nations. [Cf Mt 2:2; Num 24:17-19; Rev 22:16.] Their coming means that pagans can discover Jesus and worship him as Son of God and Saviour of the world only by turning towards the Jews and receiving from them the messianic promise as contained in the Old Testament. [Cf Jn 4 22; Mt 2:4-6.] The Epiphany shows that "the full number of the nations" now takes its "place in the family of the patriarchs", and acquires Israelitica dignitas [St. Leo the Great, Sermo 3 in epiphania Domini 1-3, 5: PL 54, 242; LH, Epiphany, OR; Roman Missal, Easter Vigil 26, Prayer after the third reading.] (is made "worthy of the heritage of Israel").
CCC 529
The presentation of Jesus in
The presentation of Jesus in the temple shows him to be the firstborn Son who belongs to the Lord. [Cf. Lk 2:22-39; EX 13:2, 12-13.] With Simeon and Anna, all Israel awaits its encounter with the Saviour - the name given to this event in the Byzantine tradition. Jesus is recognized as the long-expected Messiah, the "light to the nations" and the "glory of Israel", but also "a sign that is spoken against". the sword of sorrow predicted for Mary announces Christ's perfect and unique oblation on the cross that will impart the salvation God had "prepared in the presence of all peoples".
CCC 530
The flight into Egypt and the
The flight into Egypt and the massacre of the innocents [Cf. Mt 2:13-18.] make manifest the opposition of darkness to the light: "He came to his own home, and his own people received him not." [Jn 1:11.] Christ's whole life was lived under the sign of persecution. His own share it with him. [Cf. Jn 15:20.] Jesus' departure from Egypt recalls the exodus and presents him as the definitive liberator of God's people. [Cf. Mt 2:15; Hos 11:1.]
CCC 531
During the greater part of
During the greater part of his life Jesus shared the condition of the vast majority of human beings: a daily life spent without evident greatness, a life of manual labour. His religious life was that of a Jew obedient to the law of God, [Cf. Gal 4:4.] a life in the community. From this whole period it is revealed to us that Jesus was "obedient" to his parents and that he "increased in wisdom and in stature, and in favour with God and man." [Lk 2:51-52.]
CCC 532
Jesus' obedience to his
Jesus' obedience to his mother and legal father fulfils the fourth commandment perfectly and was the temporal image of his filial obedience to his Father in heaven. the everyday obedience of Jesus to Joseph and Mary both announced and anticipated the obedience of Holy Thursday: "Not my will. . ." [Lk 22:42.] The obedience of Christ in the daily routine of his hidden life was already inaugurating his work of restoring what the disobedience of Adam had destroyed. [Cf. Rom 5:19.]
CCC 533
The hidden life at Nazareth
The hidden life at Nazareth allows everyone to enter into fellowship with Jesus by the most ordinary events of daily life:
CCC 534
The finding of Jesus in the
The finding of Jesus in the temple is the only event that breaks the silence of the Gospels about the hidden years of Jesus. [Cf. Lk 2:41-52.] Here Jesus lets us catch a glimpse of the mystery of his total consecration to a mission that flows from his divine sonship: "Did you not know that I must be about my Father's work?" [Lk 2:49 alt.] Mary and Joseph did not understand these words, but they accepted them in faith. Mary "kept all these things in her heart" during the years Jesus remained hidden in the silence of an ordinary life.
CCC 535
Jesus' public life begins
Jesus' public life begins with his baptism by John in the Jordan. [Cf. Lk 3:23; Acts 1:22.] John preaches "a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins". [Lk 3:3[ETML:C/].] A crowd of sinners [Cf. Lk 3:10-14; Mt 3:7; 21:32.] - tax collectors and soldiers, Pharisees and Sadducees, and prostitutes - come to be baptized by him. "Then Jesus appears." the Baptist hesitates, but Jesus insists and receives baptism. Then the Holy Spirit, in the form of a dove, comes upon Jesus and a voice from heaven proclaims, "This is my beloved Son." [Mt 3:13-17.] This is the manifestation ("Epiphany") of Jesus as Messiah of Israel and Son of God.
CCC 536
The baptism of Jesus is on
The baptism of Jesus is on his part the acceptance and inauguration of his mission as God's suffering Servant. He allows himself to be numbered among sinners; he is already "the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world". [Jn 1:29; cf. Is 53:12.] Already he is anticipating the "baptism" of his bloody death. [Cf. Mk 10:38; Lk 12:50.] Already he is coming to "fulfil all righteousness", that is, he is submitting himself entirely to his Father's will: out of love he consents to this baptism of death for the remission of our sins. [Mt 3:15; cf. 26:39.] The Father's voice responds to the Son's acceptance, proclaiming his entire delight in his Son. [Cf. Lk 3:22; Is 42:1.] The Spirit whom Jesus possessed in fullness from his conception comes to "rest on him". [Jn 1:32-33; cf. Is 11:2.] Jesus will be the source of the Spirit for all mankind. At his baptism "the heavens were opened" [Mt 3:16.] - the heavens that Adam's sin had closed - and the waters were sanctified by the descent of Jesus and the Spirit, a prelude to the new creation.
CCC 537
Through Baptism the Christian
Through Baptism the Christian is sacramentally assimilated to Jesus, who in his own baptism anticipates his death and resurrection. the Christian must enter into this mystery of humble self-abasement and repentance, go down into the water with Jesus in order to rise with him, be reborn of water and the Spirit so as to become the Father's beloved son in the Son and "walk in newness of life": [Rom 6:4.]
CCC 538
The Gospels speak of a time
The Gospels speak of a time of solitude for Jesus in the desert immediately after his baptism by John. Driven by the Spirit into the desert, Jesus remains there for forty days without eating; he lives among wild beasts, and angels minister to him. [Cf. Mk 1:12-13.] At the end of this time Satan tempts him three times, seeking to compromise his filial attitude toward God. Jesus rebuffs these attacks, which recapitulate the temptations of Adam in Paradise and of Israel in the desert, and the devil leaves him "until an opportune time". [Lk 4:13.]
CCC 539
The evangelists indicate the
The evangelists indicate the salvific meaning of this mysterious event: Jesus is the new Adam who remained faithful just where the first Adam had given in to temptation. Jesus fulfils Israel's vocation perfectly: in contrast to those who had once provoked God during forty years in the desert, Christ reveals himself as God's Servant, totally obedient to the divine will. In this, Jesus is the devil's conqueror: he "binds the strong man" to take back his plunder. [Cf. Ps 95:10; Mk 3:27] Jesus' victory over the tempter in the desert anticipates victory at the Passion, the supreme act of obedience of his filial love for the Father.
CCC 540
Jesus' temptation reveals the
Jesus' temptation reveals the way in which the Son of God is Messiah, contrary to the way Satan proposes to him and the way men wish to attribute to him. [Cf Mt 16:2 1-23.] This is why Christ vanquished the Tempter for us: "For we have not a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sinning." [Heb 4:15.] By the solemn forty days of Lent the Church unites herself each year to the mystery of Jesus in the desert.
CCC 541
"Now after John was arrested,
"Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying: 'The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent, and believe in the gospel.'" [Mk 1:14-15.] "To carry out the will of the Father Christ inaugurated the kingdom of heaven on earth." [LG 3.] Now the Father's will is "to raise up men to share in his own divine life". [LG 2.] He does this by gathering men around his Son Jesus Christ. This gathering is the Church, "on earth the seed and beginning of that kingdoms". [LG 5.]
CCC 542
Christ stands at the heart of
Christ stands at the heart of this gathering of men into the "family of God". By his word, through signs that manifest the reign of God, and by sending out his disciples, Jesus calls all people to come together around him. But above all in the great Paschal mystery - his death on the cross and his Resurrection - he would accomplish the coming of his kingdom. "and I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself." Into this union with Christ all men are called. [Jn 12:32; cf. LG 3.]
CCC 543
Everyone is called to enter
Everyone is called to enter the kingdom. First announced to the children of Israel, this messianic kingdom is intended to accept men of all nations. [Cf. Mt 8:11 10:5-7; 28:19.] To enter it, one must first accept Jesus' word:
CCC 544
The kingdom belongs to the
The kingdom belongs to the poor and lowly, which means those who have accepted it with humble hearts. Jesus is sent to "preach good news to the poor"; [Lk 4:18; cf. 7:22.] he declares them blessed, for "theirs is the kingdom of heaven." [Mt 5:3[ETML:C/].] To them - the "little ones" the Father is pleased to reveal what remains hidden from the wise and the learned. [Cf. Mt 11:25.] Jesus shares the life of the poor, from the cradle to the cross; he experiences hunger, thirst and privation. [Cf. Mt 21:18; Mk 2:23-26; Jn 4:6 1; 19:28; Lk 9:58.] Jesus identifies himself with the poor of every kind and makes active love toward them the condition for entering his kingdom. [Cf. Mt 25:31-46.]
CCC 545
Jesus invites sinners to the
Jesus invites sinners to the table of the kingdom: "I came not to call the righteous, but sinners." [Mk 2:17; cf. l Tim 1:15.] He invites them to that conversion without which one cannot enter the kingdom, but shows them in word and deed his Father's boundless mercy for them and the vast "joy in heaven over one sinner who repents". [Lk 15:7; cf. 7:11-32.] The supreme proof of his love will be the sacrifice of his own life "for the forgiveness of sins". [Mt 26:28.]
CCC 546
Jesus' invitation to enter
Jesus' invitation to enter his kingdom comes in the form of parables, a characteristic feature of his teaching. [Cf. Mk 4:33-34.] Through his parables he invites people to the feast of the kingdom, but he also asks for a radical choice: to gain the kingdom, one must give everything. [Cf. Mt 13:44-45; 22:1-14.] Words are not enough, deeds are required. [Cf. Mt 21:28-32.] The parables are like mirrors for man: will he be hard soil or good earth for the word? [Cf. Mt 13:3-9.] What use has he made of the talents he has received? [Cf. Mt 25:14-30.] Jesus and the presence of the kingdom in this world are secretly at the heart of the parables. One must enter the kingdom, that is, become a disciple of Christ, in order to "know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven". [Mt 13:11.] For those who stay "outside", everything remains enigmatic. [Mk 4:11; cf. Mt 13:10-15.]
CCC 547
Jesus accompanies his words
Jesus accompanies his words with many "mighty works and wonders and signs", which manifest that the kingdom is present in him and attest that he was the promised Messiah. [Acts 2:22; cf. Lk 7:18-23.]
CCC 548
The signs worked by Jesus
The signs worked by Jesus attest that the Father has sent him. They invite belief in him. [cf. Jn 5:36; 10:25, 38.] To those who turn to him in faith, he grants what they ask. [Cf. Mk 5:25-34; 10:52; etc.] So miracles strengthen faith in the One who does his Father's works; they bear witness that he is the Son of God. [Cf. Jn 10:31-38.] But his miracles can also be occasions for "offence"; [Mt 11:6.] they are not intended to satisfy people's curiosity or desire for magic Despite his evident miracles some people reject Jesus; he is even accused of acting by the power of demons. [Cf. Jn 11:47-48; Mk 3:22.]
CCC 549
By freeing some individuals
By freeing some individuals from the earthly evils of hunger, injustice, illness and death, [Cf. Jn 6:5-15; Lk 19:8; Mt 11:5.] Jesus performed messianic signs. Nevertheless he did not come to abolish all evils here below, [Cf. Lk 12 13-14; Jn 18:36.] but to free men from the gravest slavery, sin, which thwarts them in their vocation as God's sons and causes all forms of human bondage. [Cf. Jn 8:34-36.]
CCC 550
The coming of God's kingdom
The coming of God's kingdom means the defeat of Satan's: "If it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you." [Mt 12:26, 28.] Jesus' exorcisms free some individuals from the domination of demons. They anticipate Jesus' great victory over "the ruler of this world". [Jn 12:31; cf. Lk 8:26-39.] The kingdom of God will be definitively established through Christ's cross: "God reigned from the wood." [LH, Lent, Holy Week, Evening Prayer, Hymn Vexilla Regis: Regnavit a ligno Deus.]
CCC 551
From the beginning of his
From the beginning of his public life Jesus chose certain men, twelve in number, to be with him and to participate in his mission. [Cf. Mk 3:13-19.] He gives the Twelve a share in his authority and 'sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal." [Lk 9:2[ETML:C/].] They remain associated for ever with Christ's kingdom, for through them he directs the Church:
CCC 552
Simon Peter holds the first
Simon Peter holds the first place in the college of the Twelve; [Cf Mk 3:16; 9:2; Lk 24:34; I Cor 15:5.] Jesus entrusted a unique mission to him. Through a revelation from the Father, Peter had confessed: "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Our Lord then declared to him: "You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it." [Mt 16:18.] Christ, the "living Stone", [I Pt 2:4.] thus assures his Church, built on Peter, of victory over the powers of death. Because of the faith he confessed Peter will remain the unshakeable rock of the Church. His mission will be to keep this faith from every lapse and to strengthen his brothers in it. [Cf. Lk 22:32.]
CCC 553
Jesus entrusted a specific
Jesus entrusted a specific authority to Peter: "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." [Mt 16:19.] The "power of the keys" designates authority to govern the house of God, which is the Church. Jesus, the Good Shepherd, confirmed this mandate after his Resurrection: "Feed my sheep." [Jn 21:15-17; Cf. 10:11.] The power to "bind and loose" connotes the authority to absolve sins, to pronounce doctrinal judgements, and to make disciplinary decisions in the Church. Jesus entrusted this authority to the Church through the ministry of the apostles [Cf. Mt 18:18.] and in particular through the ministry of Peter, the only one to whom he specifically entrusted the keys of the kingdom.
CCC 554
From the day Peter confessed
From the day Peter confessed that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, the Master "began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things. . . and be killed, and on the third day be raised." [Mt 16:21.] Peter scorns this prediction, nor do the others understand it any better than he. [Cf. Mt 16:22-23; 17:23; Lk 9:45.] In this context the mysterious episode of Jesus' Transfiguration takes place on a high mountain, [Cf. Mt 17:1-8 and parallels; 2 Pt 1:16-18.] before three witnesses chosen by himself: Peter, James and John. Jesus' face and clothes become dazzling with light, and Moses and Elijah appear, speaking "of his departure, which he was to accomplish at Jerusalem". [Lk 9:31.] A cloud covers him and a voice from heaven says: "This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!" [Lk 9:35.]
CCC 555
For a moment Jesus discloses
For a moment Jesus discloses his divine glory, confirming Peter's confession. He also reveals that he will have to go by the way of the cross at Jerusalem in order to "enter into his glory". [Lk 24:26.] Moses and Elijah had seen God's glory on the Mountain; the Law and the Prophets had announced the Messiah's sufferings. [Cf. Lk 24:27.] Christ's Passion is the will of the Father: the Son acts as God's servant; [Cf. Is 42:1.] The cloud indicates the presence of the Holy Spirit. "The whole Trinity appeared: the Father in the voice; the Son in the man; the Spirit in the shining cloud." [St. Thomas Aquinas, STh III, 45, 4, ad 2.]
CCC 556
On the threshold of the
On the threshold of the public life: the baptism; on the threshold of the Passover: the Transfiguration. Jesus' baptism proclaimed "the mystery of the first regeneration", namely, our Baptism; the Transfiguration "is the sacrament of the second regeneration": our own Resurrection. [St. Thomas Aquinas, STh III, 45, 4, ad 2.] From now on we share in the Lord's Resurrection through the Spirit who acts in the sacraments of the Body of Christ. the Transfiguration gives us a foretaste of Christ's glorious coming, when he "will change our lowly body to be like his glorious body." [Phil 3:21.] But it also recalls that "it is through many persecutions that we must enter the kingdom of God": [Acts 14:22.]
CCC 557
"When the days drew near for
"When the days drew near for him to be taken up [Jesus] set his face to go to Jerusalem." [Lk 9:51; cf. Jn 13:1.] By this decision he indicated that he was going up to Jerusalem prepared to die there. Three times he had announced his Passion and Resurrection; now, heading toward Jerusalem, Jesus says: "It cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem." [Lk 13:33; cf. Mk 8:31-33; 9:31-32; 10:32-34.]
CCC 558
Jesus recalls the martyrdom
Jesus recalls the martyrdom of the prophets who had been put to death in Jerusalem. Nevertheless he persists in calling Jerusalem to gather around him: "How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not!" [Mt 23:37.] When Jerusalem comes into view he weeps over her and expresses once again his heart's desire: "Would that even today you knew the things that make for peace! But now they are hid from your eyes." [Lk 19:41-42.]
CCC 559
How will Jerusalem welcome
How will Jerusalem welcome her Messiah? Although Jesus had always refused popular attempts to make him king, he chooses the time and prepares the details for his messianic entry into the city of "his father David". [Lk 1:32; cf. Mt 21:1-11; Jn 6:15.] Acclaimed as son of David, as the one who brings salvation (Hosanna means "Save!" or "Give salvation!"), the "King of glory" enters his City "riding on an ass". [Ps 24:7-10; Zech 9:9.] Jesus conquers the Daughter of Zion, a figure of his Church, neither by ruse nor by violence, but by the humility that bears witness to the truth. [Cf. Jn 18:37.] and so the subjects of his kingdom on that day are children and God's poor, who acclaim him as had the angels when they announced him to the shepherds. [Cf. Mt 21:15-16; cf. Ps 8:3; Lk 19:38; 2:14.] Their acclamation, "Blessed be he who comes in the name of the Lord", [Cf. Ps 118:26.] is taken up by the Church in the Sanctus of the Eucharistic liturgy that introduces the memorial of the Lord's Passover.
CCC 560
Jesus' entry into Jerusalem
Jesus' entry into Jerusalem manifested the coming of the kingdom that the King-Messiah was going to accomplish by the Passover of his Death and Resurrection. It is with the celebration of that entry on Palm Sunday that the Church's liturgy solemnly opens Holy Week.
CCC 561
"The whole of Christ's life
"The whole of Christ's life was a continual teaching: his silences, his miracles, his gestures, his prayer, his love for people, his special affection for the little and the poor, his acceptance of the total sacrifice on the Cross for the redemption of the world, and his Resurrection are the actualization of his word and the fulfilment of Revelation" John Paul II, CT 9).
CCC 562
Christ's disciples are to
Christ's disciples are to conform themselves to him until he is formed in them (cf Gal 4:19). "For this reason we, who have been made like to him, who have died with him and risen with him, are taken up into the mysteries of his life, until we reign together with him" (LG 7 # 4).
CCC 563
No one, whether shepherd or
No one, whether shepherd or wise man, can approach God here below except by kneeling before the manger at Bethlehem and adoring him hidden in the weakness of a new-born child.
CCC 564
By his obedience to Mary and
By his obedience to Mary and Joseph, as well as by his humble work during the long years in Nazareth, Jesus gives us the example of holiness in the daily life of family and work.
CCC 565
From the beginning of his (565)
From the beginning of his public life, at his baptism, Jesus is the "Servant", wholly consecrated to the redemptive work that he will accomplish by the "baptism" of his Passion.
CCC 566
The temptation in the desert
The temptation in the desert shows Jesus, the humble Messiah, who triumphs over Satan by his total adherence to the plan of salvation willed by the Father.
CCC 567
The kingdom of heaven was
The kingdom of heaven was inaugurated on earth by Christ. "This kingdom shone out before men in the word, in the works and in the presence of Christ" (LG 5). the Church is the seed and beginning of this kingdom. Its keys are entrusted to Peter.
CCC 568
Christ's Transfiguration aims
Christ's Transfiguration aims at strengthening the apostles' faith in anticipation of his Passion: the ascent on to the "high mountain" prepares for the ascent to Calvary. Christ, Head of the Church, manifests what his Body contains and radiates in the sacraments: "the hope of glory" ( Col 1:27; cf.: St. Leo the Great, Sermo 51, 3: PL 54, 310C).
CCC 569
Jesus went up to Jerusalem
Jesus went up to Jerusalem voluntarily, knowing well that there he would die a violent death because of the opposition of sinners (cf Heb 12:3).
CCC 570
Jesus' entry into Jerusal (570)
Jesus' entry into Jerusalem manifests the coming of the kingdom that the Messiah-King, welcomed into his city by children and the humble of heart, is going to accomplish by the Passover of his Death and Resurrection.
CCC 571
The Paschal mystery of
The Paschal mystery of Christ's cross and Resurrection stands at the centre of the Good News that the apostles, and the Church following them, are to proclaim to the world. God's saving plan was accomplished "once for all" [Heb 9:26.] by the redemptive death of his Son Jesus Christ.
CCC 572
The Church remains faithful
The Church remains faithful to the interpretation of "all the Scriptures" that Jesus gave both before and after his Passover: "Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?" [Lk 24:26-27, 44-45.] Jesus' sufferings took their historical, concrete form from the fact that he was "rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes", who handed "him to the Gentiles to be mocked and scourged and crucified". [Mk 8:31; Mt 20:19.]
CCC 573
Faith can therefore try to
Faith can therefore try to examine the circumstances of Jesus' death, faithfully handed on by the Gospels [Cf. DV 19.] and illuminated by other historical sources, the better to understand the meaning of the Redemption.
CCC 574
From the beginning of Jesus'
From the beginning of Jesus' public ministry, certain Pharisees and partisans of Herod together with priests and scribes agreed together to destroy him. [Cf. Mk 3:6; 14:1.] Because of certain acts of his expelling demons, forgiving sins, healing on the sabbath day, his novel interpretation of the precepts of the Law regarding purity, and his familiarity with tax collectors and public sinners [Cf. Mt 12:24; Mk 2:7, 14-17; 3:1-6; 7:14-23.]--some ill-intentioned persons suspected Jesus of demonic possession. [Cf. Mk 3:22; Jn 8:48; 10:20.] He is accused of blasphemy and false prophecy, religious crimes which the Law punished with death by stoning. [Cf. Mk 2:7; Jn 5:18; 7:12, 52; 8:59; 10:31, 33.]
CCC 575
Many of Jesus' deeds and
Many of Jesus' deeds and words constituted a "sign of contradiction", [Lk 2:34.] but more so for the religious authorities in Jerusalem, whom the Gospel according to John often calls simply "the Jews", [Cf. Jn 1:19; 2:18; 5:10; 7:13; 9:22; 18:12; 19:38; 20:19.] than for the ordinary People of God. [Jn 7:48-49.] To be sure, Christ's relations with the Pharisees were not exclusively polemical. Some Pharisees warn him of the danger he was courting; [Cf Lk 13:31.] Jesus praises some of them, like the scribe of Mark 12:34, and dines several times at their homes. [Cf. Lk 7:36; 14:1.] Jesus endorses some of the teachings imparted by this religious elite of God's people: the resurrection of the dead, [Cf. Mt 22:23-34; Lk 20:39.] certain forms of piety (almsgiving, fasting and prayer), [Cf. Mt 6:18.] The custom of addressing God as Father, and the centrality of the commandment to love God and neighbour. [Cf. Mk 12:28-34.]
CCC 576
In the eyes of many in
In the eyes of many in Israel, Jesus seems to be acting against essential institutions of the Chosen People: - submission to the whole of the Law in its written commandments and, for the Pharisees, in the interpretation of oral tradition; - the centrality of the Temple at Jerusalem as the holy place where God's presence dwells in a special way; - faith in the one God whose glory no man can share.
CCC 577
At the beginning of the
At the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount Jesus issued a solemn warning in which he presented God's law, given on Sinai during the first covenant, in light of the grace of the New Covenant:
CCC 578
Jesus, Israel's Messiah and
Jesus, Israel's Messiah and therefore the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, was to fulfil the Law by keeping it in its all embracing detail - according to his own words, down to "the least of these commandments". [Mt 5:19.] He is in fact the only one who could keep it perfectly. [Cf. Jn 8:46.] On their own admission the Jews were never able to observe the Law in its entirety without violating the least of its precepts. [Cf. Jn 7:19; Acts 13:38-41; 15:10.] This is why every year on the Day of Atonement the children of Israel ask God's forgiveness for their transgressions of the Law. the Law indeed makes up one inseparable whole, and St. James recalls, "Whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it." [Jas 2:10; cf. Gal 3:10; 5:3.]
CCC 579
This principle of integral
This principle of integral observance of the Law not only in letter but in spirit was dear to the Pharisees. By giving Israel this principle they had led many Jews of Jesus' time to an extreme religious zeal. [Cf. Rom 10:2.] This zeal, were it not to lapse into "hypocritical" casuistry, [Cf. Mt 15:31; Lk 11:39-54.] could only prepare the People for the unprecedented intervention of God through the perfect fulfilment of the Law by the only Righteous One in place of all sinners. [Cf Is 53:11; Heb 9:15.]
CCC 580
The perfect fulfilment of the
The perfect fulfilment of the Law could be the work of none but the divine legislator, born subject to the Law in the person of the Son. [Cf. Gal 4:4.] In Jesus, the Law no longer appears engraved on tables of stone but "upon the heart" of the Servant who becomes "a covenant to the people", because he will "faithfully bring forth justice". [Jer 31:33; Is 42:3, 6.] Jesus fulfils the Law to the point of taking upon himself "the curse of the Law" incurred by those who do not "abide by the things written in the book of the Law, and do them", for his death took place to redeem them "from the transgressions under the first covenant". [Gal 3:13; 3:10; Heb 9:15.]
CCC 581
The Jewish people and their
The Jewish people and their spiritual leaders viewed Jesus as a rabbi. [Cf Jn 11:28; 3:2; Mt 22:23-24, 34-36.] He often argued within the framework of rabbinical interpretation of the Law. [Cf. Mt 12:5; 9:12; Mk 2:23-27; Lk 6:6-g; Jn 7:22-23.] Yet Jesus could not help but offend the teachers of the Law, for he was not content to propose his interpretation alongside theirs but taught the people "as one who had authority, and not as their scribes". [Mt 7:28-29.] In Jesus, the same Word of God that had resounded on Mount Sinai to give the written Law to Moses, made itself heard anew on the Mount of the Beatitudes. [Cf. Mt 5:1[ETML:C/].] Jesus did not abolish the Law but fulfilled it by giving its ultimate interpretation in a divine way: "You have heard that it was said to the men of old. . . But I say to you. . ." [Mt 5:33-34.] With this same divine authority, he disavowed certain human traditions of the Pharisees that were "making void the word of God". [Mk 7:13; cf. 3:8.]
CCC 582
Going even further, Jesus
Going even further, Jesus perfects the dietary law, so important in Jewish daily life, by revealing its pedagogical meaning through a divine interpretation: "Whatever goes into a man from outside cannot defile him. . . (Thus he declared all foods clean.). . . What comes out of a man is what defiles a man. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts. . ." [Mk 7:18-21; cf. Gal 3:24.] In presenting with divine authority the definitive interpretation of the Law, Jesus found himself confronted by certain teachers of the Law who did not accept his interpretation of the Law, guaranteed though it was by the divine signs that accompanied it. [Cf. Jn 5:36; 10:25, 37-38; 12:37.] This was the case especially with the sabbath laws, for he recalls, often with rabbinical arguments, that the sabbath rest is not violated by serving God and neighbour, [Cf. Num 28 9; Mt 12:5; Mk 2:25-27; Lk 13:15-16; 14:3-4; Jn 7:22-24.] which his own healings did.
CCC 583
Like the prophets before him
Like the prophets before him Jesus expressed the deepest respect for the Temple in Jerusalem. It was in the Temple that Joseph and Mary presented him forty days after his birth. [Lk 2:22-39.] At the age of twelve he decided to remain in the Temple to remind his parents that he must be about his Father's business. [Cf. Lk 2 46-49.] He went there each year during his hidden life at least for Passover. [Cf. Lk 2 41.] His public ministry itself was patterned by his pilgrimages to Jerusalem for the great Jewish feasts. [Cf. Jn 2 13-14; 5:1, 14; 7:1, 10, 14; 8 2; 10:22-23.]
CCC 584
Jesus went up to the Temple
Jesus went up to the Temple as the privileged place of encounter with God. For him, the Temple was the dwelling of his Father, a house of prayer, and he was angered that its outer court had become a place of commerce. [Cf. Mt 21:13.] He drove merchants out of it because of jealous love for his Father: "You shall not make my Father's house a house of trade. His disciples remembered that it was written, 'Zeal for your house will consume me.'" [Jn 2:16-17; cf. Ps 69:10.] After his Resurrection his apostles retained their reverence for the Temple. [Cf. Acts 2:46; 3:1; 5:20, 21; etc.]
CCC 585
On the threshold of his (585)
On the threshold of his Passion Jesus announced the coming destruction of this splendid building, of which there would not remain "one stone upon another". [Cf. Mt 24:1-2.] By doing so, he announced a sign of the last days, which were to begin with his own Passover. [Cf. Mt 24:3; Lk 13:35.] But this prophecy would be distorted in its telling by false witnesses during his interrogation at the high priest's house, and would be thrown back at him as an insult when he was nailed to the cross. [Cf Mk 14:57-58; Mt 27 39-40.]
CCC 586
Far from having been hostile
Far from having been hostile to the Temple, where he gave the essential part of his teaching, Jesus was willing to pay the Temple-tax, associating with him Peter, whom he had just made the foundation of his future Church. [Cf. Mt 8:4; 16:18; 17:24-27; Lk 17:14; Jn 4:22; 18:20.] He even identified himself with the Temple by presenting himself as God's definitive dwelling-place among men. [Cf. Jn 2:21; Mt 12:6.] Therefore his being put to bodily death [Cf. Jn 2:18-22.] presaged the destruction of the Temple, which would manifest the dawning of a new age in the history of salvation: "The hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father." [Jn 4:21; cf. 4:23-24; Mt 27:5; Heb 9:11; Rev 21:22.]
CCC 587
If the Law and the Jerusalem
If the Law and the Jerusalem Temple could be occasions of opposition to Jesus by Israel's religious authorities, his role in the redemption of sins, the divine work par excellence, was the true stumbling-block for them. [Cf. Lk 2:34; 20:17-18; Ps 118:22.]
CCC 588
Jesus scandalized the
Jesus scandalized the Pharisees by eating with tax collectors and sinners as familiarly as with themselves. [Cf. Lk 5:30; 7:36; 11:37; 14:1.] Against those among them "who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others", Jesus affirmed: "I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." [Lk 18:9; 5:32; cf. Jn 7:49; 9:34.] He went further by proclaiming before the Pharisees that, since sin is universal, those who pretend not to need salvation are blind to themselves. [Cf. Jn 8:33-36; 9:40-41.]
CCC 589
Jesus gave scandal above all
Jesus gave scandal above all when he identified his merciful conduct toward sinners with God's own attitude toward them. [Cf. Mt 9:13; Hos 6:6.] He went so far as to hint that by sharing the table of sinners he was admitting them to the messianic banquet. [Cf. Lk 15:1-2, 22-32.] But it was most especially by forgiving sins that Jesus placed the religious authorities of Israel on the horns of a dilemma. Were they not entitled to demand in consternation, "Who can forgive sins but God alone?" [Mk 2:7[ETML:C/].] By forgiving sins Jesus either is blaspheming as a man who made himself God's equal, or is speaking the truth and his person really does make present and reveal God's name. [Cf. Jn 5:18; 10:33; 17:6,26.]
CCC 590
Only the divine identity of
Only the divine identity of Jesus' person can justify so absolute a claim as "He who is not with me is against me"; and his saying that there was in him "something greater than Jonah,. . . greater than Solomon", something "greater than the Temple"; his reminder that David had called the Messiah his Lord, [Cf. Mt 12:6, 30, 36, 37, 41-42.] and his affirmations, "Before Abraham was, I AM", and even "I and the Father are one." [Jn 8:58; 10:30.]
CCC 591
Jesus asked the religious
Jesus asked the religious authorities of Jerusalem to believe in him because of the Father's works which he accomplished. [Jn 10:36-38.] But such an act of faith must go through a mysterious death to self, for a new "birth from above" under the influence of divine grace. [Cf. Jn 3:7; 6:44.] Such a demand for conversion in the face of so surprising a fulfilment of the promises [Cf. Is 53:1.] allows one to understand the Sanhedrin's tragic misunderstanding of Jesus: they judged that he deserved the death sentence as a blasphemer. [Cf. Mk 3:6; Mt 26:64-66.] The members of the Sanhedrin were thus acting at the same time out of "ignorance" and the "hardness" of their "unbelief". [Cf. Lk 23 34; Acts 3: 17-18; Mk 3:5; Rom 11:25, 20.]
CCC 592
Jesus did not abolish the Law
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).
CCC 593
Jesus venerated the Temple by
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.
CCC 594
Jesus performed acts, such as
Jesus performed acts, such as pardoning sins, that manifested him to be the Saviour 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.
CCC 595
Among the religious
Among the religious authorities of Jerusalem, not only were the Pharisee Nicodemus and the prominent Joseph of Arimathea both secret disciples of Jesus, but there was also long-standing dissension about him, so much so that St. John says of these authorities on the very eve of Christ's Passion, "many.. . believed in him", though very imperfectly. [Jn 12:42; cf. 7:50; 9:16-17; 10:19-21; 19:38-39.] This is not surprising, if one recalls that on the day after Pentecost "a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith" and "some believers. . . belonged to the party of the Pharisees", to the point that St. James could tell St. Paul, "How many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed; and they are all zealous for the Law." [Acts 6:7; 15:5; 21:20.]
CCC 596
The religious authorities in
The religious authorities in Jerusalem were not unanimous about what stance to take towards Jesus. [cf. Jn 9:16; 10:19.] The Pharisees threatened to excommunicate his followers. [Cf Jn 9:22.] To those who feared that "everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and destroy both our holy place and our nation", the high priest Caiaphas replied by prophesying: "It is expedient for you that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation should not perish." [Jn 11:48-50.] The Sanhedrin, having declared Jesus deserving of death as a blasphemer but having lost the right to put anyone to death, hands him over to the Romans, accusing him of political revolt, a charge that puts him in the same category as Barabbas who had been accused of sedition. [Cf. Mt 26:66; Jn 18:31; Lk 23:2, 19.] The chief priests also threatened Pilate politically so that he would condemn Jesus to death. [Cf. Jn 19:12, 15, 21.]
CCC 597
The historical complexity of
The historical complexity of Jesus' trial is apparent in the Gospel accounts. the personal sin of the participants (Judas, the Sanhedrin, Pilate) is known to God alone. Hence we cannot lay responsibility for the trial on the Jews in Jerusalem as a whole, despite the outcry of a manipulated crowd and the global reproaches contained in the apostles' calls to conversion after Pentecost. [Cf. Mk 15:11; Acts 2:23, 36; 3:13-14; 4:10; 5:30; 7:52; 10:39; 13:27-28; I Th 2:14-15.] Jesus himself, in forgiving them on the cross, and Peter in following suit, both accept "the ignorance" of the Jews of Jerusalem and even of their leaders. [Cf. Lk 23:34; Acts 3:17.] Still less can we extend responsibility to other Jews of different times and places, based merely on the crowd's cry: "His blood be on us and on our children!", a formula for ratifying a judicial sentence. [Mt 27:25; cf. Acts 5:28; 18:6.] As the Church declared at the Second Vatican Council: . . .
CCC 598
In her Magisterial teaching
In her Magisterial teaching of the faith and in the witness of her saints, the Church has never forgotten that "sinners were the authors and the ministers of all the sufferings that the divine Redeemer endured." [Roman Catechism I, 5, 11; cf. Heb 12:3.] Taking into account the fact that our sins affect Christ himself, [Cf. Mt 25:45; Acts 9:4-5.] The Church does not hesitate to impute to Christians the gravest responsibility for the torments inflicted upon Jesus, a responsibility with which they have all too often burdened the Jews alone:
CCC 599
Jesus' violent death was not
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." [Acts 2:23.] This Biblical language does not mean that those who handed him over were merely passive players in a scenario written in advance by God. [Cf. Acts 3:13.]
CCC 600
To God, all moments of time
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." [Acts 4:27-28; cf. Ps 2:1-2.] For the sake of accomplishing his plan of salvation, God permitted the acts that flowed from their blindness. [Cf. Mt 26:54; Jn 18:36; 19:11; Acts 3:17-18.] "He died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures"
CCC 601
The Scriptures had foretold
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. [Is 53:11; cf. 53:12; Jn 8 34-36; Acts 3:14.] Citing a confession of faith that he himself had "received", St. Paul professes that "Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures." [1 Cor 15:3; cf. also Acts 3:18; 7:52; 13:29; 26:22-23.] In particular Jesus' redemptive death fulfils Isaiah's prophecy of the suffering Servant. [Cf. Is 53:7-8 and Acts 8:32-35.] Indeed Jesus himself explained the meaning of his life and death in the light of God's suffering Servant. [Cf. Mt 20:28.] After his Resurrection he gave this interpretation of the Scriptures to the disciples at Emmaus, and then to the apostles. [Cf. Lk 24:25-27, 44-45.]
CCC 602
Consequently, St. Peter can
Consequently, St. Peter can formulate the apostolic faith in the divine plan of salvation in this way: "You were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your fathers... with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. He was destined before the foundation of the world but was made manifest at the end of the times for your sake." [I Pt 1:18-20.] Man's sins, following on original sin, are punishable by death. [Cf. Rom 5:12; I Cor 15:56.] By sending his own Son in the form of a slave, in the form of a fallen humanity, on account of sin, God "made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." [2 Cor 5:21; cf. Phil 2:7; Rom 8:3.]
CCC 603
Jesus did not experience
Jesus did not experience reprobation as if he himself had sinned. [Cf. Jn 8:46.] 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?" [Mk 15:34; Ps 22:2; cf. Jn 8:29.] Having thus established him in solidarity with us sinners, God "did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all", so that we might be "reconciled to God by the death of his Son". [Rom 8:32; 5:10.]
CCC 604
By giving up his own Son for
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." [I John 4:10; 4:19.] God "shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us." [Rom 5:8.]
CCC 605
At the end of the parable of
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." [Mt 18:14.] 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. [Mt 20:28; cf. Rom 5:18-19.] 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." [Council of Quiercy (853): DS 624; cf. 2 Cor 5:15; I Jn 2:2[ETML:C/].]
CCC 606
The Son of God, who came down
The Son of God, who came down "from heaven, not to do (his) own will, but the will of him who sent (him)", [Jn 6:38.] 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." [Heb 10:5-10.] 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." [Jn 4:34.] The sacrifice of Jesus "for the sins of the whole world" [1 Jn 2:2[ETML:C/].] 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." [Jn 10:17; 14:31.]
CCC 607
The desire to embrace his
The desire to embrace his Father's plan of redeeming love inspired Jesus' whole life, [Cf Lk 12:50; 22:15; Mt 16:21-23.] for his redemptive passion was the very reason for his Incarnation. and so he asked, "and what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? No, for this purpose I have come to this hour." [Jn 12:27.] and again, "Shall I not drink the cup which the Father has given me?" [Jn 18:11.] From the cross, just before "It is finished", he said, "I thirst." [Jn 19:30; 19:28.]
CCC 608
After agreeing to baptize him
After agreeing to baptize him along with the sinners, John the Baptist looked at Jesus and pointed him out as the "Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world". [Jn 1:29; cf. Lk 3:21; Mt 3:14-15; Jn 1:36.] By doing so, he reveals that Jesus is at the same time the suffering Servant who silently allows himself to be led to the slaughter and who bears the sin of the multitudes, and also the Paschal Lamb, the symbol of Israel's redemption at the first Passover. [Is 53:7, 12; cf. Jer 11:19; Ex 12:3-14; Jn 19:36; 1 Cor 5:7.] Christ's whole life expresses his mission: "to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." [Mk 10:45.]
CCC 609
By embracing in his human
By embracing in his human heart the Father's love for men, Jesus "loved them to the end", for "greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." [Jn 13:1; 15:13.] In suffering and death his humanity became the free and perfect instrument of his divine love which desires the salvation of men. [Cf. Heb 2:10, 17-18; 4:15; 5:7-9.] Indeed, out of love for his Father and for men, whom the Father wants to save, Jesus freely accepted his Passion and death: "No one takes [my life] from me, but I lay it down of my own accord." [Jn 10:18.] Hence the sovereign freedom of God's Son as he went out to his death. [Cf. Jn 18:4-6; Mt 26:53.]
CCC 610
Jesus gave the supreme
Jesus gave the supreme expression of his free offering of himself at the meal shared with the twelve Apostles "on the night he was betrayed". [Roman Missal, EP III; cf. Mt 26:20; I Cor 11:23.] On the eve of his Passion, while still free, Jesus transformed this Last Supper with the apostles into the memorial of his voluntary offering to the Father for the salvation of men: "This is my body which is given for you." "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins." [Lk 22:19; Mt 26:28; cf. I5.7Cor 5:7.]
CCC 611
The Eucharist that Christ
The Eucharist that Christ institutes at that moment will be the memorial of his sacrifice. [1 Cor 11:25.] Jesus includes the apostles in his own offering and bids them perpetuate it. [Cf. Lk 22:19.] By doing so, the Lord institutes his apostles as priests of the New Covenant: "For their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth." [Jn 17:19; cf. Council of Trent: DS 1752; 1764.]
CCC 612
The cup of the New Covenant,
The cup of the New Covenant, which Jesus anticipated when he offered himself at the Last Supper, is afterwards accepted by him from his Father's hands in his agony in the garden at Gethsemani, [Cf. Mt 26:42; Lk 22:20.] making himself "obedient unto death". Jesus prays: "My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. . ." [Phil 2:8; Mt 26:39; cf. Heb 5:7-8.] Thus he expresses the horror that death represented for his human nature. Like ours, his human nature is destined for eternal life; but unlike ours, it is perfectly exempt from sin, the cause of death. [Cf. Rom 5:12; Heb 4:15.] Above all, his human nature has been assumed by the divine person of the "Author of life", the "Living One". [Cf. Acts 3:15; Rev 1:17; Jn 1:4; 5:26.] By accepting in his human will that the Father's will be done, he accepts his death as redemptive, for "he himself bore our sins in his body on the tree." [2 Pt 224; cf. Mt 26:42.]
CCC 613
Christ's death is both the
Christ's death is both the Paschal sacrifice that accomplishes the definitive redemption of men, through "the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world", [Jn 1:29; cf. 8:34-36; 1 Cor 5:7; 2 Pt 1:19.] and the sacrifice of the New Covenant, which restores man to communion with God by reconciling him to God through the "blood of the covenant, which was poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins". [Mt 26:28; cf. Ex 24:8; Lev 16:15-16; 2 Cor 11:25.]
CCC 614
This sacrifice of Christ is
This sacrifice of Christ is unique; it completes and surpasses all other sacrifices. [Cf. Heb 10:10.] 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. [Cf. Jn 10:17-18; 15:13; Heb 9:14; 1 Jn 4:10.]
CCC 615
"For as by one man's
"For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by one man's obedience many will be made righteous." [Rom 5:19.] By his obedience unto death, Jesus accomplished the substitution of the suffering Servant, who "makes himself an offering for sin", when "he bore the sin of many", and who "shall make many to be accounted righteous", for "he shall bear their iniquities". [Is 53:10-12.] Jesus atoned for our faults and made satisfaction for our sins to the Father. [Cf. Council of Trent (1547): DS 1529.]
CCC 616
It is love "to the end" [Jn
It is love "to the end" [Jn 13:1.] that confers on Christ's sacrifice its value as redemption and reparation, as atonement and satisfaction. He knew and loved us all when he offered his life. [Cf. Gal 2:20; Eph 5:2, 25.] Now "the love of Christ controls us, because we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died." [2 Cor 5:14.] No man, not even the holiest, was ever able to take on himself the sins of all men and offer himself as a sacrifice for all. the existence in Christ of the divine person of the Son, who at once surpasses and embraces all human persons, and constitutes himself as the Head of all mankind, makes possible his redemptive sacrifice for all.
CCC 617
The Council of Trent (617)
The Council of Trent emphasizes the unique character of Christ's sacrifice as "the source of eternal salvation" [Heb 5:9.] and teaches that "his most holy Passion on the wood of the cross merited justification for us." [Council of Trent: DS 1529.] and the Church venerates his cross as she sings: "Hail, O Cross, our only hope." [LH, Lent, Holy Week, Evening Prayer, Hymn Vexilla Regis.]
CCC 618
The cross is the unique
The cross is the unique sacrifice of Christ, the "one mediator between God and men". [1 Tim 2:5.] 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. [GS 22 # 5; cf. # 2.] He calls his disciples to "take up [their] cross and follow (him)", [Mt 16:24.] for "Christ also suffered for (us), leaving (us) an example so that (we) should follow in his steps." [I Pt 2:21.] In fact Jesus desires to associate with his redeeming sacrifice those who were to be its first beneficiaries. [Cf Mk 10:39; Jn 21:18-19; Col 1:24.] This is achieved supremely in the case of his mother, who was associated more intimately than any other person in the mystery of his redemptive suffering. [Cf. Lk 2:35.] Apart from the cross there is no other ladder by which we may get to heaven. [St. Rose of Lima: cf. P. Hansen, Vita mirabilis (Louvain, 1668).]
CCC 619
"Christ died for our sins in
"Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures" ( I Cor 15:3).
CCC 620
Our salvation flows from
Our salvation flows from God's initiative of love for us, because "he loved us and sent his Son to be the expiation for our sins" ( I Jn 4:10). "God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself" ( 2 Cor 5:19).
CCC 621
Jesus freely offered himself
Jesus freely offered himself for our salvation. Beforehand, during the Last Supper, he both symbolized this offering and made it really present: "This is my body which is given for you" ( Lk 22:19).
CCC 622
The redemption won by Christ
The redemption won by Christ consists in this, that he came "to give his life as a ransom for many" ( Mt 20:28), that is, he "loved [his own] to the end" ( Jn 13:1), so that they might be "ransomed from the futile ways inherited from [their] fathers" ( I Pt 1:18).
CCC 623
By his loving obedience to
By his loving obedience to the Father, "unto death, even death on a cross" ( Phil 2:8), Jesus fulfils the atoning mission (cf Is 53:10) of the suffering Servant, who will "make many righteous; and he shall bear their iniquities" ( Is 53:11; cf. Rom 5:19).
CCC 624
"By the grace of God" Jesus
"By the grace of God" Jesus tasted death "for every one". [Heb 2:9.] In his plan of salvation, God ordained that his Son should not only "die for our sins" [I Cor 15:3.] but should also "taste death", experience the condition of death, the separation of his soul from his body, between the time he expired on the cross and the time he was raised from the dead. the state of the dead Christ is the mystery of the tomb and the descent into hell. It is the mystery of Holy Saturday, when Christ, lying in the tomb, [Cf. Jn 19:42.] reveals God's great sabbath rest [Cf. Heb 4:7-9.] after the fulfilment [Cf. Jn 19:30.] of man's salvation, which brings peace to the whole universe. [Cf Col 1: 18-20.]
CCC 625
Christ's stay in the tomb
Christ's stay in the tomb constitutes the real link between his passible state before Easter and his glorious and risen state today. the same person of the "Living One" can say, "I died, and behold I am alive for evermore": [Rev 1:18.]
CCC 626
Since the "Author of life"
Since the "Author of life" who was killed [Acts 3:15.] is the same "living one [who has] risen", [Lk 24:5-6.] The divine person of the Son of God necessarily continued to possess his human soul and body, separated from each other by death:
CCC 627
Christ's death was a real
Christ's death was a real death in that it put an end to his earthly human existence. But because of the union his body retained with the person of the Son, his was not a mortal corpse like others, for "divine power preserved Christ's body from corruption." [St. Thomas Aquinas, STh III, 51, 3.] Both of these statements can be said of Christ: "He was cut off out of the land of the living", [Is 53:8.] and "My flesh will dwell in hope. For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, nor let your Holy One see corruption." [Acts 2:26-27; cf. Ps 16:9-10.] Jesus' Resurrection "on the third day" was the proof of this, for bodily decay was held to begin on the fourth day after death. [Cf. I Cor 15:4; Lk 24:46; Mt 12:40; Jon 2:1; Hos 6:2; cf. Jn 11:39.]
CCC 628
Baptism, the original and
Baptism, the original and full sign of which is immersion, efficaciously signifies the descent into the tomb by the Christian who dies to sin with Christ in order to live a new life. "We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life." [Rom 6:4; cf. Col 2:12; Eph 5:26.]
CCC 629
To the benefit of every man,
To the benefit of every man, Jesus Christ tasted death (cf Heb 2:9). It is truly the Son of God made man who died and was buried.
CCC 630
During Christ's period in the
During Christ's period in the tomb, his divine person continued to assume both his soul and his body, although they were separated from each other by death. For this reason the dead Christ's body "saw no corruption" ( Acts 13:37).
CCC 631
Jesus "descended into the
Jesus "descended into the lower parts of the earth. He who descended is he who also ascended far above all the heavens." [Eph 4:9-10.] The Apostles' Creed confesses in the same article Christ's descent into hell and his Resurrection from the dead on the third day, because in his Passover it was precisely out of the depths of death that he made life spring forth:
CCC 632
The frequent New Testament
The frequent New Testament affirmations that Jesus was "raised from the dead" presuppose that the crucified one sojourned in the realm of the dead prior to his resurrection. [Acts 3:15; Rom 8:11; I Cor 15:20; cf. Heb 13:20.] This was the first meaning given in the apostolic preaching to Christ's descent into hell: that Jesus, like all men, experienced death and in his soul joined the others in the realm of the dead. But he descended there as Saviour, proclaiming the Good News to the spirits imprisoned there. [Cf. I Pt 3:18-19.]
CCC 633
Scripture calls the abode of
Scripture calls the abode of the dead, to which the dead Christ went down, "hell" - Sheol in Hebrew or Hades in Greek - because those who are there are deprived of the vision of God. [Cf. Phil 2:10; Acts 2:24; Rev 1:18; Eph 4:9; Pss 6:6; 88:11-13.] Such is the case for all the dead, whether evil or righteous, while they await the Redeemer: which does not mean that their lot is identical, as Jesus shows through the parable of the poor man Lazarus who was received into "Abraham's bosom": [Cf. Ps 89:49; I Sam 28:19; Ezek 32:17-32; Lk 16:22-26.] "It is precisely these holy souls, who awaited their Saviour in Abraham's bosom, whom Christ the Lord delivered when he descended into hell." [Roman Catechism 1, 6, 3.] Jesus did not descend into hell to deliver the damned, nor to destroy the hell of damnation, but to free the just who had gone before him. [Cf. Council of Rome (745): DS 587; Benedict XII, Cum dudum (1341): DS 1011; Clement VI, Super quibusdam (1351): DS 1077; Council of Toledo IV (625): DS 485; Mt 27:52-53.]
CCC 634
"The gospel was preached even
"The gospel was preached even to the dead." [I Pt 4:6.] The descent into hell brings the Gospel message of salvation to complete fulfilment. This is the last phase of Jesus' messianic mission, a phase which is condensed in time but vast in its real significance: the spread of Christ's redemptive work to all men of all times and all places, for all who are saved have been made sharers in the redemption.
CCC 635
Christ went down into the
Christ went down into the depths of death so that "the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live." [Jn 5:25; cf. Mt 12:40; Rom 10:7; Eph 4:9.] Jesus, "the Author of life", by dying destroyed "him who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and [delivered] all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong bondage." [Heb 2:14-15; cf. Acts 3:15.] Henceforth the risen Christ holds "the keys of Death and Hades", so that "at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth." [Rev 1:18; Phil 2:10.]
CCC 636
By the expression "He
By the expression "He descended into hell", the Apostles' Creed confesses that Jesus did really die and through his death for us conquered death and the devil "who has the power of death" ( Heb 2:14).
CCC 637
In his human soul united to
In his human soul united to his divine person, the dead Christ went down to the realm of the dead. He opened heaven's gates for the just who had gone before him.
CCC 638
"We bring you the good news
"We bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers, this day he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus." [Acts 13:32-33.] The Resurrection of Jesus is the crowning truth of our faith in Christ, a faith believed and lived as the central truth by the first Christian community; handed on as fundamental by Tradition; established by the documents of the New Testament; and preached as an essential part of the Paschal mystery along with the cross:
CCC 639
The mystery of Christ's
The mystery of Christ's resurrection is a real event, with manifestations that were historically verified, as the New Testament bears witness. In about A.D. 56 St. Paul could already write to the Corinthians: "I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, and that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve. . ." [I Cor 15:3-4.] The Apostle speaks here of the living tradition of the Resurrection which he had learned after his conversion at the gates of Damascus. [Cf. Acts 9:3-18.]
CCC 640
"Why do you seek the living
"Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen." [Lk 24:5-6.] The first element we encounter in the framework of the Easter events is the empty tomb. In itself it is not a direct proof of Resurrection; the absence of Christ's body from the tomb could be explained otherwise. [Cf. Jn 20:13; Mt 28:11-15.] Nonetheless the empty tomb was still an essential sign for all. Its discovery by the disciples was the first step toward recognizing the very fact of the Resurrection. This was the case, first with the holy women, and then with Peter. [Cf. Lk 24:3, 12, 22-23.] The disciple "whom Jesus loved" affirmed that when he entered the empty tomb and discovered "the linen cloths lying there", "he saw and believed". [Jn 20:2, 6, 8.] This suggests that he realized from the empty tomb's condition that the absence of Jesus' body could not have been of human doing and that Jesus had not simply returned to earthly life as had been the case with Lazarus. [Cf. Jn 11:44; 20:5-7.]
CCC 641
Mary Magdalene and the holy
Mary Magdalene and the holy women who came to finish anointing the body of Jesus, which had been buried in haste because the Sabbath began on the evening of Good Friday, were the first to encounter the Risen One. [Mk 16:1; Lk 24:1; Jn 19:31, 42.] Thus the women were the first messengers of Christ's Resurrection for the apostles themselves. [Cf Lk 24:9-10; Mt 28:9-10; Jn 20:11-18.] They were the next to whom Jesus appears: first Peter, then the Twelve. Peter had been called to strengthen the faith of his brothers, [Cf I Cor 15:5; Lk 22:31-32.] and so sees the Risen One before them; it is on the basis of his testimony that the community exclaims: "The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!" [Lk 24:34, 36.]
CCC 642
Everything that happened
Everything that happened during those Paschal days involves each of the apostles - and Peter in particular - in the building of the new era begun on Easter morning. As witnesses of the Risen One, they remain the foundation stones of his Church. the faith of the first community of believers is based on the witness of concrete men known to the Christians and for the most part still living among them. Peter and the Twelve are the primary "witnesses to his Resurrection", but they are not the only ones - Paul speaks clearly of more than five hundred persons to whom Jesus appeared on a single occasion and also of James and of all the apostles. [I Cor 15:4-8; cf. Acts 1:22.]
CCC 643
Given all these testimonies,
Given all these testimonies, Christ's Resurrection cannot be interpreted as something outside the physical order, and it is impossible not to acknowledge it as an historical fact. It is clear from the facts that the disciples' faith was drastically put to the test by their master's Passion and death on the cross, which he had foretold. [Cf. Lk 22:31-32.] The shock provoked by the Passion was so great that at least some of the disciples did not at once believe in the news of the Resurrection. Far from showing us a community seized by a mystical exaltation, the Gospels present us with disciples demoralized ("looking sad" [1 Lk 24:17; cf. Jn 20:19.]) and frightened. For they had not believed the holy women returning from the tomb and had regarded their words as an "idle tale". [Lk 24:11; cf. Mk 16:11, 13.] When Jesus reveals himself to the Eleven on Easter evening, "he upbraided them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen." [Mk 16:14.]
CCC 644
Even when faced with the
Even when faced with the reality of the risen Jesus the disciples are still doubtful, so impossible did the thing seem: they thought they were seeing a ghost. "In their joy they were still disbelieving and still wondering." [Lk 24:38-41.] Thomas will also experience the test of doubt and St. Matthew relates that during the risen Lord's last appearance in Galilee "some doubted." [Cf Jn 20:24-27; Mt 28:17.] Therefore the hypothesis that the Resurrection was produced by the apostles' faith (or credulity) will not hold up. On the contrary their faith in the Resurrection was born, under the action of divine grace, from their direct experience of the reality of the risen Jesus.
CCC 645
By means of touch and the
By means of touch and the sharing of a meal, the risen Jesus establishes direct contact with his disciples. He invites them in this way to recognize that he is not a ghost and above all to verify that the risen body in which he appears to them is the same body that had been tortured and crucified, for it still bears the traces of his Passion. [Cf. Lk 24:30, 39-40, 41-43; Jn 20:20, 27; 21:9, 13-15.] Yet at the same time this authentic, real body possesses the new properties of a glorious body: not limited by space and time but able to be present how and when he wills; for Christ's humanity can no longer be confined to earth, and belongs henceforth only to the Father's divine realm. [Cf. Mt 28:9, 16-17; Lk 24:15, 36; Jn 20:14, 17, 19, 26; 21:4.] For this reason too the risen Jesus enjoys the sovereign freedom of appearing as he wishes: in the guise of a gardener or in other forms familiar to his disciples, precisely to awaken their faith. [Cf. Mk 16:12; Jn 20:14-16; 21:4, 7.]
CCC 646
Christ's Resurrection was not
Christ's Resurrection was not a return to earthly life, as was the case with the raisings from the dead that he had performed before Easter: Jairus' daughter, the young man of Naim, Lazarus. These actions were miraculous events, but the persons miraculously raised returned by Jesus' power to ordinary earthly life. At some particular moment they would die again. Christ's Resurrection is essentially different. In his risen body he passes from the state of death to another life beyond time and space. At Jesus' Resurrection his body is filled with the power of the Holy Spirit: he shares the divine life in his glorious state, so that St. Paul can say that Christ is "the man of heaven". [Cf. 1 Cor 15:35-50.]
CCC 647
O truly blessed Night, sings
O truly blessed Night, sings the Exsultet of the Easter Vigil, which alone deserved to know the time and the hour when Christ rose from the realm of the dead! [O vere beata nox, quae sola meruit scire tempus et horam, in qua Christus ab inferis resurrexit!] But no one was an eyewitness to Christ's Resurrection and no evangelist describes it. No one can say how it came about physically. Still less was its innermost essence, his passing over to another life, perceptible to the senses. Although the Resurrection was an historical event that could be verified by the sign of the empty tomb and by the reality of the apostles' encounters with the risen Christ, still it remains at the very heart of the mystery of faith as something that transcends and surpasses history. This is why the risen Christ does not reveal himself to the world, but to his disciples, "to those who came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now his witnesses to the people." [Acts 13:31; cf. Jn 14:22.]
CCC 648
Christ's Resurrection is an
Christ's Resurrection is an object of faith in that it is a transcendent intervention of God himself in creation and history. In it the three divine persons act together as one, and manifest their own proper characteristics. the Father's power "raised up" Christ his Son and by doing so perfectly introduced his Son's humanity, including his body, into the Trinity. Jesus is conclusively revealed as "Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his Resurrection from the dead". [Rom I 3-4; cf. Acts 2:24.] St. Paul insists on the manifestation of God's power [Cf. Rom 6:4; 2 Cor 13:4; Phil 3:10; Eph 1:19-22; Heb 7:16.] through the working of the Spirit who gave life to Jesus' dead humanity and called it to the glorious state of Lordship.
CCC 649
As for the Son, he effects
As for the Son, he effects his own Resurrection by virtue of his divine power. Jesus announces that the Son of man will have to suffer much, die, and then rise. [Cf. Mk 8:31; 9:9-31; 10:34.] Elsewhere he affirms explicitly: "I lay down my life, that I may take it again. . . I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again." [Jn 10:17-18.] "We believe that Jesus died and rose again." [I Th 4:14.]
CCC 650
The Fathers contemplate the
The Fathers contemplate the Resurrection from the perspective of the divine person of Christ who remained united to his soul and body, even when these were separated from each other by death: "By the unity of the divine nature, which remains present in each of the two components of man, these are reunited. For as death is produced by the separation of the human components, so Resurrection is achieved by the union of the two." [St. Gregory of Nyssa, In Christi res. Orat. I: PG 46, 617B; cf. also DS 325; 359; 369.]
CCC 651
"If Christ has not been
"If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain." [I Cor 15:14.] The Resurrection above all constitutes the confirmation of all Christ's works and teachings. All truths, even those most inaccessible to human reason, find their justification if Christ by his Resurrection has given the definitive proof of his divine authority, which he had promised.
CCC 652
Christ's Resurrection is the
Christ's Resurrection is the fulfilment of the promises both of the Old Testament and of Jesus himself during his earthly life. [Cf. Mt 28:6; Mk 16:7; Lk 24:6-7, 26-27, 44-48.] The phrase "in accordance with the Scriptures" [Cf. I Cor 15:3-4; cf. the Nicene Creed.] indicates that Christ's Resurrection fulfilled these predictions.
CCC 653
The truth of Jesus' divinity
The truth of Jesus' divinity is confirmed by his Resurrection. He had said: "When you have lifted up the Son of man, then you will know that I am he." [Jn 8:28.] The Resurrection of the crucified one shows that he was truly "I AM", the Son of God and God himself. So St. Paul could declare to the Jews: "What God promised to the fathers, this he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus; as also it is written in the second psalm, 'You are my Son, today I have begotten you.'" [Acts 13:32-33; cf. Ps 2:7[ETML:C/].] Christ's Resurrection is closely linked to the Incarnation of God's Son, and is its fulfilment in accordance with God's eternal plan.
CCC 654
The Paschal mystery has two
The Paschal mystery has two aspects: by his death, Christ liberates us from sin; by his Resurrection, he opens for us the way to a new life. This new life is above all justification that reinstates us in God's grace, "so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life." Justification consists in both victory over the death caused by sin and a new participation in grace. [Cf. Eph 2:4-5; I Pt 1:3.] It brings about filial adoption so that men become Christ's brethren, as Jesus himself called his disciples after his Resurrection: "Go and tell my brethren." [Mt 28:10; Jn 20:17.] We are brethren not by nature, but by the gift of grace, because that adoptive filiation gains us a real share in the life of the only Son, which was fully revealed in his Resurrection.
CCC 655
Finally, Christ's
Finally, Christ's Resurrection - and the risen Christ himself is the principle and source of our future resurrection: "Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. . . For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive." [I Cor 15:20-22.] The risen Christ lives in the hearts of his faithful while they await that fulfilment. In Christ, Christians "have tasted. . . the powers of the age to come" [Heb 6:5.] and their lives are swept up by Christ into the heart of divine life, so that they may "live no longer for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised." [2 Cor 5:15; cf. Col 3:1-3.]
CCC 656
Faith in the Resurrection has
Faith in the Resurrection has as its object an event which as historically attested to by the disciples, who really encountered the Risen One. At the same time, this event is mysteriously transcendent insofar as it is the entry of Christ's humanity into the glory of God.
CCC 657
The empty tomb and the linen
The empty tomb and the linen cloths lying there signify in themselves that by God's power Christ's body had escaped the bonds of death and corruption. They prepared the disciples to encounter the Risen Lord.
CCC 658
Christ, "the first-born from
Christ, "the first-born from the dead" ( Col 1:18), is the principle of our own resurrection, even now by the justification of our souls (cf Rom 6:4), and one day by the new life he will impart to our bodies (cf Rom 8:11).
CCC 659
"So then the Lord Jesus,
"So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God." [Mk 16:19.] Christ's body was glorified at the moment of his Resurrection, as proved by the new and supernatural properties it subsequently and permanently enjoys. [Cf Lk 24:31; Jn 20:19, 26.] But during the forty days when he eats and drinks familiarly with his disciples and teaches them about the kingdom, his glory remains veiled under the appearance of ordinary humanity. [Cf. Acts 1:3; 10:41; Mk 16:12; Lk 24:15; Jn 20:14-15; 21:4.] Jesus' final apparition ends with the irreversible entry of his humanity into divine glory, symbolized by the cloud and by heaven, where he is seated from that time forward at God's right hand. [Cf. Acts 1:9; 2:33; 7:56; Lk 9:34-35; 24:51; Ex 13:22; Mk 16:19; Ps 110:1.] Only in a wholly exceptional and unique way would Jesus show himself to Paul "as to one untimely born", in a last apparition that established him as an apostle. [1 Cor 15:8; cf. 9:1; Gal 1:16.]
CCC 660
The veiled character of the
The veiled character of the glory of the Risen One during this time is intimated in his mysterious words to Mary Magdalene: "I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brethren and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God." [Jn 20:17.] This indicates a difference in manifestation between the glory of the risen Christ and that of the Christ exalted to the Father's right hand, a transition marked by the historical and transcendent event of the Ascension.
CCC 661
This final stage stays
This final stage stays closely linked to the first, that is, to his descent from heaven in the Incarnation. Only the one who "came from the Father" can return to the Father: Christ Jesus. [Cf. Jn 16:28.] "No one has ascended into heaven but he who descended from heaven, the Son of man." [Jn 3:13; cf. Eph 4:8-10.] Left to its own natural powers humanity does not have access to the "Father's house", to God's life and happiness. [Jn 14:2.] Only Christ can open to man such access that we, his members, might have confidence that we too shall go where he, our Head and our Source, has preceded us. [Missale Romanum, Preface of the Ascension: sed ut illuc confideremus, sua membra, nos subsequi quo ipse, caput nostrum principiumque, praecessit.]
CCC 662
"and I, when I am lifted up
"and I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself." [Jn 12:32.] The lifting up of Jesus on the cross signifies and announces his lifting up by his Ascension into heaven, and indeed begins it. Jesus Christ, the one priest of the new and eternal Covenant, "entered, not into a sanctuary made by human hands. . . but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf." [Heb 9:24.] There Christ permanently exercises his priesthood, for he "always lives to make intercession" for "those who draw near to God through him". [Heb 7:25.] As "high priest of the good things to come" he is the centre and the principal actor of the liturgy that honours the Father in heaven. [Heb 9:11; cf. Rev 4:6-11.]
CCC 663
Henceforth Christ is seated
Henceforth Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father: "By 'the Father's right hand' we understand the glory and honour of divinity, where he who exists as Son of God before all ages, indeed as God, of one being with the Father, is seated bodily after he became incarnate and his flesh was glorified." [St. John Damascene, Defide orth. 4, 2: PG 94, 1104C.]
CCC 664
Being seated at the Father's
Being seated at the Father's right hand signifies the inauguration of the Messiah's kingdom, the fulfilment of the prophet Daniel's vision concerning the Son of man: "To him was given dominion and glory and kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed." [Dan 7:14.] After this event the apostles became witnesses of the "kingdom [that] will have no end". [Nicene Creed.]
CCC 665
Christ's Ascension marks the
Christ's Ascension marks the definitive entrance of Jesus' humanity into God's heavenly domain, whence he will come again (cf Acts 1:11); this humanity in the meantime hides him from the eyes of men (cf Col 3:3).
CCC 666
Jesus Christ, the head of the
Jesus Christ, the head of the Church, precedes us into the Father's glorious kingdom so that we, the members of his Body, may live in the hope of one day being with him for ever.
CCC 667
Jesus Christ, having entered
Jesus Christ, having entered the sanctuary of heaven once and for all, intercedes constantly for us as the mediator who assures us of the permanent outpouring of the Holy Spirit.