THE CATECHISM OF
THE
CATHOLIC CHURCH
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THE PROFESSION OF FAITH
SECTION TWO
Divisions among the Jewish authorities concerning Jesus
595 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.[378]
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."[379]
596 The religious authorities in Jerusalem were not unanimous about what
stance to take towards Jesus.[380] The Pharisees threatened to excommunicate
his followers.[381] 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."[382] 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.[383]
The chief priests also threatened Pilate politically so that he would
condemn Jesus to death.[384]
Jews are not collectively responsible for Jesus' death
597 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.[385] 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.[386] 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.[387] As the Church declared at
the Second Vatican Council: . . . neither all Jews indiscriminately at
that time, nor Jews today, can be charged with the crimes committed during
his Passion. . . the Jews should not be spoken of as rejected or accursed
as if this followed from holy Scripture.[388]
All sinners were the authors of Christ's Passion
598 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."[389]
Taking into account the fact that our sins affect Christ himself,[390] 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:
We must regard as guilty all those who continue to relapse into their
sins. Since our sins made the Lord Christ suffer the torment of the cross,
those who plunge themselves into disorders and crimes crucify the Son of
God anew in their hearts (for he is in them) and hold him up to contempt.
And it can be seen that our crime in this case is greater in us than in
the Jews. As for them, according to the witness of the Apostle, "None of
the rulers of this age understood this; for if they had, they would not
have crucified the Lord of glory." We, however, profess to know him. And
when we deny him by our deeds, we in some way seem to lay violent hands on
him.[391]
Nor did demons crucify him; it is you who have crucified him and crucify
him still, when you delight in your vices and sins.[392]
"Jesus handed over according to the definite plan of God"
599 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."[393] This Biblical language does not mean that
those who handed him over were merely passive players in a scenario
written in advance by God.[394]
600 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."[395] For the sake of accomplishing his plan of salvation, God
permitted the acts that flowed from their blindness.[396]
"He died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures"
601 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.[397] Citing a confession of faith that he himself had
"received", St. Paul professes that "Christ died for our sins in accordance
with the scriptures."[398] In particular Jesus' redemptive death fulfils
Isaiah's prophecy of the suffering Servant.[399] Indeed Jesus himself
explained the meaning of his life and death in the light of God's
suffering Servant.[400] After his Resurrection he gave this interpretation
of the Scriptures to the disciples at Emmaus, and then to the apostles.[401]
"For our sake God made him to be sin"
602 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."[402] Man's sins, following on original sin, are punishable by
death.[403] 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."[404]
603 Jesus did not experience reprobation as if he himself had sinned.[405]
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?"[406]
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".[407]
God takes the initiative of universal redeeming love
604 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."[408] God "shows his love for us in that while
we were yet sinners Christ died for us."[409]
605 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."[410] 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.[411] 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."[412]
Christ's whole life is an offering to the Father
606 The Son of God, who came down "from heaven, not to do [his] own will,
but the will of him who sent [him]",[413] 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."[414] 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."[415] The
sacrifice of Jesus "for the sins of the whole world"[416] 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."[417]
607 The desire to embrace his Father's plan of redeeming love inspired
Jesus' whole life,[418] 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."[419] And
again, "Shall I not drink the cup which the Father has given me?"[420] From
the cross, just before "It is finished", he said, "I thirst."[421]
"The Lamb who takes away the sin of the world"
608 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".[422] 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.[423]
Christ's whole life expresses his mission: "to serve, and to give his life
as a ransom for many."[424]
Jesus freely embraced the Father's redeeming love
609 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."[425] In suffering and death his
humanity became the free and perfect instrument of his divine love which
desires the salvation of men.[426] 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."[427] Hence the sovereign freedom of God's Son as he went out to
his death.[428]
At the Last Supper Jesus anticipated the free offering of his life
610 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".[429] 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."[430]
611 The Eucharist that Christ institutes at that moment will be the
memorial of his sacrifice.[431] Jesus includes the apostles in his own
offering and bids them perpetuate it.[432] 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."[433]
The agony at Gethsemani
612 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,[434] making himself
"obedient unto death". Jesus prays: "My Father, if it be possible, let
this cup pass from me. . ."[435] 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.[436] Above all, his human nature has been assumed by the
divine person of the "Author of life", the "Living One".[437] 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."[438]
Christ's death is the unique and definitive sacrifice
613 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",[439] 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".[440]
614 This sacrifice of Christ is unique; it completes and surpasses all
other sacrifices.[441] 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.[442]
Jesus substitutes his obedience for our disobedience
615 "For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by one
man's obedience many will be made righteous."[443] 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".[444] Jesus atoned for our faults and made satisfaction for our
sins to the Father.[445]
Jesus consummates his sacrifice on the cross
616 It is love "to the end"[446] 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.[447] Now "the love of Christ
controls us, because we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore
all have died."[448] 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.
617 The Council of Trent emphasizes the unique character of Christ's
sacrifice as "the source of eternal salvation"[449] and teaches that "his
most holy Passion on the wood of the cross merited justification for
us."[450] And the Church venerates his cross as she sings: "Hail, O Cross,
our only hope."[451]
Our participation in Christ's sacrifice
618 The cross is the unique sacrifice of Christ, the "one mediator between
God and men".[452] 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.[453]
He calls his disciples to "take up [their] cross and follow [him]",[454] for
"Christ also suffered for [us], leaving [us] an example so that [we]
should follow in his steps."[455] In fact Jesus desires to associate with
his redeeming sacrifice those who were to be its first beneficiaries.[456]
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.[457]
Apart from the cross there is no other ladder by which we may get to
heaven.[458]
IN BRIEF
619 "Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures" (I Cor
15:3).
620 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).
621 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).
622 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).
623 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).
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