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(Apoc., xxii. 8).
17. John viii. 40.
24. II Peter, i, 4. "God deigned to assume the lowliness
18. "Ibid.," i. 18. and frailty of our flesh in order to lift man up to the
highest degree of dignity . . . We may now glory that
19. Thus, in the Mass, when the Priest puts wine and the Son of God is bone of our bone, and flesh of our
water in the chalice, he says: ". . . Grant that by the flesh, a privilege which is not granted to the Angels"
mystery of this water and wine we may be made ("Roman Catechism," "loc. cit.," 11).
partakers of His Divinity who vouchsafed to become
partakers of our humanity, Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Our 25. Matt., xxiv. 28.
Lord."
26. Phil., i. 23.
THE FOURTH ARTICLE: "Suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried."
It is just as necessary for the Christian to believe in the passion and death of the Son of God as it is
to believe in His Incarnation. For, as St. Gregory says, "there would have been no advantage in His
having been born for us unless we had profited by His Redemption." That Christ died for us is so
tremendous a fact that our intellect can scarcely grasp it; for in no way does it fall in the natural way
of our understanding. This is what the Apostle says: "I work in your days, a work which you will
not believe, if any man shall tell it to you."[1] The grace of God is so great and His love for us is
such that we cannot understand what He has done for us. Now, we must believe that, although
Christ suffered death, yet His Godhead did not die; it was the human nature in Christ that died. For
He did not die as God, but as man.[2]
This will be clear from two examples, one of which is taken from himself. Now, when a man dies,
in the separation of the soul from the body the soul does not die but the body or flesh does die. So
also in the death of Christ, His Divinity did not die, but His man nature suffered death. But if the
Jews did not slay the Divinity of Christ, it would seem that their sin was not any greater than if they
killed any ordinary man. In answering this we say that it is as if a king were clothed only in one
garment, and if someone befouled this garment, such a one has committed as grave a crime as if he
had defiled the king himself. Likewise, although the Jews could not slay God, yet in putting to
death the human nature which Christ assumed, they were as severely punished as if they had put the
Godhead itself to death. Another example is had from what we said before, viz., that the Son of God
is the Word of God, and the Word of God made flesh is like the word of a king written on paper.[3]
So if one should tear this royal paper in pieces, it would be considered that he had rent apart the
word of the king. Thus, the sin of the Jews was as grievous as if they had slain the Word of God.
But what need was there that the Son of God should suffer for us? There was a great need; and
indeed it can be assigned to two reasons. The first is that it was a remedy against sin, and the second
is for an example of what we ought to do. It was a remedy to such an extent that in the passion of
Christ we find a remedy against all the evils which we incur by our sins. And by our sins we incur
five different evils.
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EVIL EFFECTS OF SIN
The first evil that man incurs by sin is the defilement of his soul. Just as virtue gives the soul its
beauty, so sin makes it ugly. "How happened it, O Israel, that thou art in thy enemies' land? . . .
Thou art defiled with the dead."[4] But all this is taken away by the passion of Christ, whereby
Christ poured out His blood as a laver wherein sinners are cleansed: "Who hath loved us and
washed us from our sins in His own blood."[5] So, too, the soul is washed by the blood of Christ in
baptism because then a new birth is had in virtue of His blood, and hence when one defiles one's
soul by sin, one offers insult to Christ and sins more gravely than before one's baptism. "A man
making void the law of Moses dieth without any mercy under two or three witnesses. How much
more, do you think, he deserveth worse punishments, who hath trodden underfoot the Son of God
and hath esteemed the blood of the testament unclean!"[6]
Secondly, we commit an offense against God. A sensual man loves the beauty of the flesh, but God
loves spiritual beauty, which is the beauty of the soul. When, however, the soul is defiled by sin,
God is offended and the sinner incurs His hatred: "To God the wicked and his wickedness are
hateful alike."[7] This also is removed by the passion of Christ, which made satisfaction to God the
Father for sin--a thing which man of himself could never do. The charity and obedience of Christ in
His suffering were greater than the sin and disobedience of the first man: "When we were enemies,
we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son."[8]
Thirdly, we have been weakened by sin. When a person sins the first time, he believes that he will
thereafter keep away from sin, but what happens is the very opposite. This is because by that first
sin he is weakened and made more prone to commit sins, and sin more and more has power over
him. Such a one, as far as he alone is concerned, has lowered himself to such a condition that he
cannot rise up, and is like to a man who jumps into a well from which, without God's help, he
would never be rescued. After the fall of man, our nature was weakened and corrupted, and we
were made more prone to sin. Christ, however, lessened this sickness and weakness, although He
did not entirely take it away. So now man is strengthened by the passion of Christ, and sin is not
given such power over him. Moreover, he can rise clean from his sins when aided by God's grace
conferred by the Sacraments, which receive their efficacy from the passion of Christ: "Our old man
is crucified with Him, that the body of sin may be destroyed."[9] Indeed, before the passion of
Christ few there were who lived without falling into mortal sin; but afterwards many have lived and
are living without mortal sin.
Fourthly, we incur the punishment due to sin. For the justice of God demands that whosoever sins
must be punished. This punishment, however, is in proportion to the guilt. But the guilt of mortal
sin is infinite, because it is an offense against the infinite good, namely, God, whose
commandments the sinner holds in contempt. Therefore, the punishment due to mortal sin is
infinite. Christ, however, through His passion has taken away this punishment from us and borne it
Himself: "Who His own self bore our sins in His body upon the tree."[10] "Our sins [that is, the
punishment due to sin] His own self bore in His body." The passion of Christ was of such value that
it sufficed to expiate for all the sins of the whole world, even of a hundred thousand worlds. And so
it is that, when a man is baptized, he is released from all his sins; and so also is it that the priest
forgives sins; and, again, the more one conforms himself to the passion of Christ, the greater is the
pardon and the grace which he gains.
Fifthly, we incur banishment from the kingdom of heaven. Those who offend kings are compelled
to go into exile. Thus, man is expelled from heaven on account of sin. Adam was driven out of
paradise immediately after his sin, and the gate of paradise was shut. But Christ by His sufferings
and death opened this gate and recalled all the exiles to the kingdom. With the opening of the side
of Christ, the gate of paradise is opened; and with the pouring out of His blood, guilt is washed
away, satisfaction is made to God, infirmity is removed, punishment is expiated, and the exiles are
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called back to the kingdom. Hence, the thief received the immediate response: "This day thou shalt
be with Me in paradise."[11] Never before was this spoken to anyone, not to Adam, not to
Abraham, not to David; but this day (i.e., as soon as the gate is opened) the thief, having asked for
pardon, received it: "Having a confidence in the entering into the holies by the blood of Christ."[12]
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