ARTICLE2 "AND IN JESUS CHRIST, HIS ONLY SON, OUR LORD"
ARTICLE 3 "HE WAS CONCEIVED BY THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, AND WAS BORN OF THE VIRGIN MARY"
ARTICLE 3 "HE WAS CONCEIVED BY THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, AND WAS BORN OF THE VIRGIN MARY"
ARTICLE 5
"HE DESCENDED INTO HELL. ON THE THIRD DAY HE ROSE AGAIN"
PARAGRAPH 1: CHRIST DESCENDED INTO HELL
PARAGRAPH 2: ON THE 3RD DAY HE ROSE FROM THE DEAD
PARAGRAPH 2. ON THE THIRD DAY HE ROSE FROM THE DEAD
638
"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."488 (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:
Christ
is risen from the dead!
Dying,
he conquered death;
To
the dead, he has given life.489
I.
THE HISTORICAL AND TRANSCENDENT EVENT
639
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. . ."490 (I Cor 15:3-4. ) The Apostle speaks here of the living the tradition of the Resurrection which he had learned after his conversion at the
gates of Damascus.491
The
empty tomb
640
"Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen."492 (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.493 (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.494 (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".495 (Jn 20:2, 6, 8. ) This suggests that he realized from the empty tomb's a 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.496 (Cf. ⇒ Jn 11:44; ⇒ 20:5-7. )
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.493 (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.494 (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".495 (Jn 20:2, 6, 8. ) This suggests that he realized from the empty tomb's a 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.496 (Cf. ⇒ Jn 11:44; ⇒ 20:5-7. )
The
appearances of the Risen One
641
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, was the first to encounter the Risen One.497 (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.498 (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,499 (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!"500 (Lk 24:34, ⇒ 36. )
642
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.501
643
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 a 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.502 (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 u a community seized by a mystical exaltation,
the Gospels present us with disciples demoralized ("looking sad"503( 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".504 (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."505 ( Mk 16:14.)
644
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."506 (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."507 (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.
The
condition of Christ's risen humanity
645
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.508 (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.509 (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.510
646
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".511
The Resurrection as transcendent event
647
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! 512 (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 a 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 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."513 (Acts 13:31; cf. ⇒ Jn 14:22. )
II.
THE RESURRECTION - A WORK OF THE HOLY TRINITY
648
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".514 (Rom I 3-4; cf. ⇒ Acts 2:24. ) St. Paul insists on the
manifestation of God's power515 (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.
649
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.516 (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 the power to lay it down, and I have the power to take it
again."517 (Jn 10:17-18.) "We believe that Jesus died and rose again."518
650
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."519
III.
THE MEANING AND SAVING SIGNIFICANCE OF THE RESURRECTION
651
"If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your
faith is in vain."520 (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.
652
Christ's Resurrection is the fulfillment of the promises both of the Old
Testament and of Jesus himself during his earthly life.521 ( Cf. ⇒ Mt 28:6; ⇒ Mk 16:7; ⇒ Lk 24:6-7, ⇒ 26-27, ⇒ 44-48.) The phrase "in
accordance with the Scriptures"522 ( Cf. ⇒ I Cor 15:3-4; cf. the Nicene Creed.) indicates that Christ's Resurrection
fulfilled these predictions.
653
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."523 (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.'"524 (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 fulfillment in
accordance with God's eternal plan.
654
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 victories over the death
caused by sin and a new participation in grace.526 (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."527 (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.
655
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."528 (I Cor 15:20-22. ) The risen Christ lives
in the hearts of his faithful while they await that fulfillment. In Christ,
Christians "have tasted. . . the powers of the age to come"529 (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."530 (2 Cor 5:15; cf. ⇒ Col 3:1-3. )
IN
BRIEF
656
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.
657
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.
658
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).
GO TO:
ARTICLE 5
PARAGRAPH 1: CHRIST DESCENDED INTO HELL
PARAGRAPH 2: ON THE 3RD DAY HE ROSE FROM THE DEAD
CHAPTER TWO
ARTICLE 5
PARAGRAPH 1: CHRIST DESCENDED INTO HELL
PARAGRAPH 2: ON THE 3RD DAY HE ROSE FROM THE DEAD
CHAPTER TWO
ARTICLE2 "AND IN JESUS CHRIST, HIS ONLY SON, OUR LORD"
ARTICLE 3 "HE WAS CONCEIVED BY THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, AND WAS BORN OF THE VIRGIN MARY"
ARTICLE 3 "HE WAS CONCEIVED BY THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, AND WAS BORN OF THE VIRGIN MARY"
Copyright © 2020 by Ekklesia Katholos (9:31)
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