CONTENTS
1. Jesus Christ Is True Man 4. So Shall The Son Of Man Be

2. The Seed of the Woman 5. Behold The Man!

3. Is Not This The Son of Mary? 6. Glorify Me With Thyself

7. One Mediator: The Man, Jesus Christ

No. 58



Why the Knights of Coiumhns

Advertise (Jatho/ic Faith

The reason is simple. We Catho-

lics want our non-Catholic friends

and neighbors to know us as we

really are and not as we are some

times mistakenly represented.

We are confident that when

our religious Faith is better un-

derstood by those who do not

share it, mutual understanding

will promote the good-will which

is so necessary in a predominant-

ly Christian country whose gov-

ernment is designed to serve all

the people—no matter how much

their religious convictions may

differ.

American Catholics are con-

vinced that as the teachings of

Christ widely and firmly take

hold of the hearts and conduct

of our people, we shall remain

free in the sense that Christ

promised (John VIII, 31-38),

and in the manner planned by

the Founding Fathers of this

republic.

Despite the plainly stated will

of the Good Shepherd that there

be "one fold and one shepherd,”

the differences in the understand-

ing of Christ’s teaching are

plainly evident. It has rightfully

been called "the scandal of a

divided Christianity.”

If there is anything which will

gather together the scattered

flock of Christ, it is the nation-

wide understanding of the

Savior, what He did and how He

intended mankind to benefit by

the Redemption.

To this end, we wish our

fellow-Americans to become ac-

quainted with the teachings of

Christ as the Catholic Church

has faithfully presented them,

since the day the apostles in-

vaded the nations of the world

in willing and courageous obedi-

ence to Christ’s command: "Go,

therefore, and make disciples of

all nations .
.

(Matt. XXVIII,

19).

SUPREME COUNCIL

KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS
Religious Information Bureau

4422 LINDELL BLVD. ST. LOUIS 8, MO.

©Knights of Columbus 1960



JESUS CHRIST IS TRUE MAN

Truth is one, while error is

many-sided. Men may look

at a red rose and call it

green, because they happen

to be color blind. Or they

may call it a tulip whereas

it is a rose. But this does

not change the truth: the

red rose is a red rose. So

there is but one true way to

look at Jesus Christ and that

is to look at Him as He is. He is

what He is. When He lived those

who heard Him and saw Him or

who merely heard of Him thought

various things about Him. Some

thought that He was Elias. Others

thought that He was Jeremias.
Herod Antipas thought that He was

John the Baptist come back to life.

Some thought He was good. Some

thought that He was a deceiver.

The truth was and is that He is
true God and true man. The truth

is that He is God in human flesh.

"Thou art the Christ, the Son of

the living God.” These words of

St. Peter express this truth. When
those who lived during Christ s time

first came in contact with Him,

they saw a man, a member of their

race, the Jewish race. As they be-

came acquainted with His words

and actions, some came to think that

He was an extraordinary

man; others began to think

that He was a prophet.
Through divine revelation

(Matthew 16:17), Peter and

the Apostles came to believe

that He was the Son of God,

John, the beloved disciple,

was to express it this way:

"And the Word was made

flesh.”

Today there are millions whp be-

lieve that Jesus Christ is true God

and true man. They worship Him as

God. They also pray to Him as God.

They do not forget that He is man,

but it is more in accord with their

manner of thinking to dwell on His

divinity. Yet if they are to have the

true idea of Jesus Christ, they

should be as aware of His humanity

as of His divinity. Their faith

stresses both natures, for they are

the natures of the Word of God.

It is more than a mere knowl-

edge of Christ as man that is to be

desired. It is through His humanity

that Jesus Christ became our

Brother. It is through His humanity

that He entered this world and lived

and died. This humanity is the in-

strument of our redemption. It is

this through which the graces of

the Sacraments come to us. It is this

1



(with the divinity) that we receive

in the Holy Eucharist. This hu-

manity is exalted at the right hand

of God. Through the man Jesus
Christ we are united to God and to

one another. For there is but one

mediator between God and man,

and that is the man Jesus Christ
(I Timothy 2:5).

No Christian is able to live his
faith unless he understands Jesus

Christ in His human nature. Sacred

Scripture is concerned with Jesus

Christ from its beginning to its end.

It is concerned with Him as the
seed of the woman, as the descend-

ant of Abraham and of David, as

the Son of Mary and the Son of

Man. It is concerned with His pur-

pose in coming. That purpose was

to shed His blood for us. In a word

the Bible tells us about the appear-

ance of God in the flesh.

Our purpose in life is to be

united to God. To study the human

nature of the Son of God is to pave

the way to this union. To grow in

the knowledge of the man Jesus

Christ is to want to grow in the

love of God. To be united to God

we must be united to Jesus Christ.

St. John wrote in his first epistle

(1:3): "What we have seen and

have heard we announce to you, in

order that you also may have fellow-

ship with us, and that our fellow-

ship may be with the Father and

with His Son Jesus Christ.”

It is to be hoped that these few

pages on the humanity of Jesus

Christ will deepen the faith of those

who read them. It is hoped that

these pages will bring Him closer

to all Christians, and that they will

bring minds and hearts and souls

to the Truth Who came to us in the
flesh, to the Way Who showed us
how to live, and to the Life Who

lived as a member of the human

race and continues to live in His

glorified humanity in Heaven.

Christ, therefore, is one, perfect God and perfect Man; and Him

we worship along with the Father and the Spirit, with one obeisance,

adoring even His immaculate flesh, and not holding that the flesh

is not worthy of worship; for in fact it is worshipped in the one

person of the Word, which indeed became person for it. But in this

we do not do homage to that which is created. For we worship Him

not as mere flesh, but as flesh united with Divinity, and because His

two natures are brought under the one Person and one subsistence

of God the Word.

St. John of Damascus

2



THE SEED OF THE WOMAN

Blood will tell! This is usu-

ally taken to mean that the

noble and good qualities of

ones ancestors will sooner

or later manifest themselves.

Jesus Christ as man had

ancestors as do all of us. The

names of many of them we

know. In fact there are two

genealogies preserved for us

in the New Testament. One

of these is to be found in the gospel

of St. Matthew. The other is in the

gospel of St. Luke. Some of these

names are not known to us from

any other source. But then many of

the names are familiar, for they in-

clude the names of men (and of

a few women) found in the Old

Testament.

There is no better way to begin

than at the beginning. St. Luke

does just that. He traces the gen-

ealogy of our Lord to the first par-

ent of all of us, to Adam. Jesus

Christ then has descended from the

father of the human race to which

we belong. He is our brother ac-

cording to the flesh, for we have a

common ancestry. True, this ances-

try is way, way back in time and in

history. But it is common. Should

we wonder why Luke saw fit to

trace the genealogy of our Lord

back to Adam, we will find

the reason in his viewpoint

of Jesus Christ. Luke is writ-

ing about Him as the Savior

of ALL MEN. What better

way to bring this Savior

close to us than to show us

that He belongs to our race,

that He is one of us, be-

cause He comes from Adam

as we do.

The mother of all living human

beings is Eve. Jesus Christ descends

from the common mother of all of

us, as He descends from the com-

mon father of all of us. In fact He

is the "seed of the woman” men-

tioned in Genesis 3:15. This passage

is the first good news. It is the first

promise on God’s part that He will

restore man to His favor. This res-

toration is in the form of a crush-

ing and complete defeat of the

tempter of man. The seed of the

woman is the one who will defeat

the serpent. We who are able to
see the fulfillment of the divine

plan know that Jesus Christ is this

seed, this descendant, Who has de-
feated the devil. He has restored

man to divine favor.

This descent from Adam and Eve

is traced by St. Luke. The source

for the names in the genealogy of

3



Jesus Christ is the Old Testament,

and other sources of which we have

no record. Let us make a closer

study of those names found in the

Old Testament. This will enable us

to undrestand all the better the link

between our Savior and ourselves.

It will also help us to appreciate the

blood that flows in the veins of our

elder brother, Who also is God’s

Son.

In chapter 5 of Genesis the names

to be found in St. Luke (3:36-38)

are listed. The list follows Adam

through one of his sons, Seth, to

the great figure, Noe. In Christ’s

ancestry then are included such men

as Seth, "who began to call upon

the name of the Lord”; Henoch,

who "walked with God, and was

seen no more, because God took

him”; Mathusale, whose name is

synonymous with a long life; and

Noe, of whom his father said, "This

same shall comfort us from the

works and labors of our hands on

the earth, which the Lord has

cursed.” What is noted in this list

is that it includes but one descend-

ant of the various men mentioned.

Adam begot many sons and daugh-

ters but only Seth is named in this

list.

All human beings then do not

have the privilege of having their

blood mixed with the blood of Jesus

Christ, except in so far as they

descend from Adam together with

Him. The direct ancestry of our

Lord is traced through one descend-

ant of Adam, and that is Seth. The

other descendants of Adam, as Cain,

and other unnamed descendants,

have in common with Jesus Christ

their human nature coming from

the first parent. But they do not

enjoy the honor of being in the

direct line of the Savior of all men.

That is reserved to a special de-

scendant, Seth, and one of his spe-

cial descendants, and so on.

We note too that there is no
question of nationality in this list

of ancestors of Christ. They are

united as human beings. The divi-

sion that is made is based on other

grounds than nationality. It should

be recalled that this list in Genesis,

chapter 5, is inserted by the author

of this book for the sake of the

Israelites. It is to show them that

their father, Abraham, can trace his

ancestry back to God, through

Adam, Seth, Noe, Sem. There is

another reason for the separation

of this genealogy from the other

descendants of Adam. This geneal-

ogy is that of the "sons of God.”

It is the list of those men who wor-

shipped the true God, and through

whom the knowledge of God was

made known and passed on. The

other descendants of Adam, as the

story of Cain shows, fell away from

the worship of the true God.

Jesus Christ Is A Semite

This line of "the sons of God”

is the ancestry of Jesus Christ. In

His human nature He descended

from these men. It is indeed fitting

that the Son of God should assume

His "flesh” from that of "the sons

of God.”

Not all the ancestors of our Lord

lived up to this title of "the sons

4



of God.” One of the most faithful

was Noe, who is frequently called

the second father of men. Of his

three sons Sem is included in the

direct ancestry of Christ. Now we

begin to see races, nations, nationali-

ties in the history of the human

race. So we call our Lord a Semite,

that is, a descendant of Sem.

St. Luke traces the genealogy of

our Lord from Sem to Abraham

(3:34-36). It is with Abraham that

St. Matthew begins his genealogy

of Christ (1:1-2). Since St. Matthew

is interested in our Lord as the

Messias, the long-expected seed of

the woman who would come from

the chosen family of Abraham, this

evangelist limits the ancestry of

Christ to this family. Abraham is

the direct ancestor of our Lord; his

blood flows in the veins of the

Messias, Jesus Christ.

The Son of Abraham

St. Matthew begins his gospel in

this way: "The book of the origin

of Jesus Christ, the son of David,

the son of Abraham.” But it is ob-

vious that neither Jesus Christ nor

David is the son of Abraham in the

strict sense. The term means de-

scendant. To the Jews any one who

claimed to be the Messias must

descend from Abraham; for this

reason Matthew is careful to show

that Jesus Christ, Who claimed to
be the Messias, descended from the

great patriarch.

Abraham’s story is told in Gen-

esis, chapters 12 to 25. There he is

pictured as an obedient and faith-

ful servant of God. When obedi-

ence demanded that he move from

his own country to Canaan (Pales-

tine), he went at once. Wherever

God’s will led, that is where Abra-

ham went. When God promised

him that he would have a son from

Sara, he believed without hesitation.

He was even ready to give up that

son if God willed, but God spared

the son, although He did not spare

His own Son, the descendant of

Abraham.

Abraham and Sara are the direct

ancestors of our Lord; their blood

flows through the body of the

Messias and their characteristics,

far back as they are, made up the

characteristics of their descendants

which flowed into the humanity of

Jesus Christ. The striking obedience

of Abraham to God, and of Sara

(cf. Genesis 12:1 ff; 22:1 ff; I Pet.

3:6), finds its perfection in the

obedience of Christ to His par-

ents, but above all to His heavenly

Father.

The Son of David

Both St. Matthew and St. Luke

give the genealogy of our Lord from

Abraham to David (Matthew 1:2-5;

Luke 3:31-34). Some of these names

are well known to us: Isaac, Jacob,

Judas, Booz, Jesse. Others are not

too well known. An interesting fea-

ture of this part of the genealogy

in St. Matthew is that he mentions

women: Thamar, Rahab, Ruth, and

"the former wife of Urias.” Thamar

was the daughter-in-law of Judas,

yet she conceived through him. She

had twins of whom one is listed as

an ancestor of our Lord: Phares.

5



Rahab is the wife of Salmon; it is

generally thought that this is the

Rahab of the time of Josue and is

usually called "the harlot.” (Josue

2:1 ff; 6:1 ff.) Ruth is a Moabite

but became the great-grandmother

of David. The wife of Urias is Beth-

sabee, whose story is well known

(2 Kings 11:1 ff). It is unusual

that in a Jewish genealogy women

should be mentioned; it is even

more unusual since they are not

necessary for the genealogy itself.

To the Jews at the time of our Lord

these four women would be con-

sidered sinners, either because of

the acts of sin mentioned in the

Old Testament, or because they

were not of the Jewish race. "We

are Jews by birth, and not sinners

from among the Gentiles” writes

St. Paul to the Galatians (2:15).

Since Jesus Christ came for all sin-

ners, it is not surprising that the

blood of sinners should flow in His

veins. Nor is it surprising that the

blood of other nationalities should

be found there; is he not the Savior

of ALL MEN?

Jesus Christ descended then from

Abraham through Juda (Judah,

Judas) to David. St. Matthew is

not merely tracing the human gen-

ealogy of the Messias. The Messias

was to be a king; He was to estab-

lish a kingdom. He was to be the

royal son of David. Hence Jesus

Christ had to have royal blood in

Him. God has said to Abraham

(Genesis 17:6): "And I will make

thee increase exceedingly, and I will

make nations of thee, and KINGS

shall come out of thee.” When

David was appointed king then this

began to be fulfilled, for he traced

his ancestry to Abraham through

Juda.

For the Messias there was nothing

more important than that He should

be the royal descendant of David,

and that He should have the right

to the throne of David (Luke 1:32).

Both St. Matthew and St. Luke are

careful to indicate that Jesus Christ

came from David. Matthew gives

the names of the kings of the line

of David from David himself to

Jechonias, the last one to rule in a

temporal way (Matthew 1:6-11).

The Royal Promise

To David

"And when thy days shall be ful-

filled ... I will raise up thy seed

after thee . . . and I will establish his

kingdom. He shall build a house in

my name and I will establish the

throne of his kingdom forever. I

will be to him a father and he shall

be to me a son . . .” (2 Samuel 7:12-

14.) Jesus Christ then had to be of

the line of David if He wished to

be accepted by His own people. To

be the Messias meant too that He

must be the heir apparent to the

throne of David. Moreover He had

to establish a kingdom that would

last forever.

As time went on in the history

of the Chosen People this promise

to David became more and more

important. It was mentioned in the

Psalms; it became the basis of the

development of the divine plan for

the coming of our Lord. The books

of Paralipomenon were written to

show that it was the dynasty of

David that was chosen by God.

6



When our Lord actually came it was

common knowledge that the Mes-

sias was to be the descendant of

David.

Jesus Christ then had the royal

blood of David flowing in Him.

David himself had the blood of

Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Juda

flowing in his veins. It was through

him that the promise to Abraham

that "kings would come out of him”

was fulfilled. It was through David

that the promise of the scepter to

Juda came to be realized. Yet David

could go back in his genealogy to

Sem, to Noe, to Seth, to Adam, to

God. So could Christ, as St. Luke

indicated in chapter 3, verses 31-38.

From David To Christ

Through the royal promise to

David we now see that the seed

of the woman is to be a royal seed.

Christ’s human nature was not

merely the ordinary human nature

of a descendant of Adam. It was a

human nature clothed with royalty,

a human nature "born to the pur-

ple!
” The picture becomes complete

when we hear the angel speak to

Mary: "Behold, thou shalt conceive

in thy womb, and shall bring forth

a son; and thou shalt call his name

Jesus. He shall be great, and shall

be called the Son of the Most High;

and the Lord God will give him the

throne of David his father, and he

shall be king over the house of

Jacob forever; and of his kingdom

there shall be no end” (Luke 1:31-

32).

Anyone comparing the genealo-

gies of St. Matthew and St. Luke

from David to Christ will note the

differences. Only three names are

found in both: Salathiel, Zorobabel,

and Joseph. Whatever may be the

explanation, and there are several,

one fact is clear. This fact is that

our Lord descended from David.

Matthew is probably giving the

kingly line. As for Luke he may be

giving the legal or the natural line,

or perhaps both. What is more im-

portant however is to show that

Mary came from the line of David.

Joseph was the foster-father of our

Lord. His blood did not enter the

life-stream of Christ. Joseph gave

legal status to our Lord’s descent

from David. He also proves that our

Lord descended from David the

king.

Mary alone gave of her flesh to

our Lord’s human nature. As Joseph

was of the Davidic line it is highly

probable that he would choose a

wife of the same line. This was in

accord with the interpretation of

the Jewish law. It is St. Paul how-

ever who states explicitly that Jesus

Christ "was born . . . according to the

flesh of the offspring of David”

(Romans 1:3). According to the

flesh, that is, naturally, as well as

legally and regally Jesus Christ de-

scended from David.

During His public life He was

recognized as the Son of David.

Thus the blind men near Jericho

cried out: "Lord, Son of David, have

mercy on us” (Matthew 20:30). At

the triumphal entry of Christ into

Jerusalem the crowds "kept crying

out, saying: Hosanna to the Son of

David” (Matthew 21:9).

7



Yet Christ did not come as a

royal descendant of David. He had
no temporal throne to ascend, al-

though He had the right to such a
throne. If He had no royal throne
in this world it was because of the

political and moral failures of His

royal ancestors. The idolatry of

Solomon divided the kingdom of

David (3 Kings 11:1 ff). Later

Davidic kings failed to be the rep-

resentatives of God that they should

have been. They failed to walk in

the footsteps of their ancestor,

David. As a result the throne was

taken from them. When Christ
came there was no Davidic throne.

He then Who was royal was born
in a stable, was the village car-

penter.

Adam To Christ

God had promised to David that

his throne would last forever (2

Samuel 7:1 ff). At the Annuncia-

tion Mary had been told that her

son would be given the throne of

David His father (Luke 1:32).

Christ Himself spoke of the king-

dom that He would establish. He

told Pilate that His kingdom was

not of this world, that He was a

king. He died with a placard over

His head proclaiming Him to be

the king of the Jews.

In view of the length of time that

scholars maintain man has been on

this globe, we are not to think that

we.iiave the complete genealogy of

our Lord. But we have a genealogy

that shows Christ belongs to the

human race descended from Adam.

This is necessary for He came to
redeem the human race through His

humanity. It was God’s choice that

Sem, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Juda

and David should be His direct

ancestors. God’s special providence

watched over the genealogy of Jesus

Christ, for He was not "just any-

body,” He was the special descend-

ant of Adam.

Yet God did not prevent sin and

imperfections from entering this

genealogy. Adam was the first sin-

ner. Abraham had his weaknesses.

So did Isaac and Jacob. Juda was

not above reproach. David com-

mitted adultery and tried to cover

it with murder. The dynasty of

David is made up of idolatrous

kings as well as some who were

good, yet not without sin. This sin-

fulness did not enter the human

nature of Christ. It reached out and

touched Him, not in a personal

way, but as He was to be the Savior

of sinful men. It is a great distinc-

tion for those who were in the

direct ancestry of Jesus Christ. They

gave to Him the very human nature

that would be their salvation. It is a

greater distinction however that He

descended from them: the sinless

and perfect Man from sinful and

imperfect men.

Christ as God is the fatherland where we are going, Christ as Man

is the way by which we go.

St. Augustine

8



ISNOTTHIS THESON

OF MARY?

"Let us make man to our

own image and likeness.” In

this way the special creation

of mankind as well as the

special place of mankind in

creation is taught us by

Sacred Scripture. God delib-

erated before He created

man, something He did not

do in the case of other crea-

tures. Man was made to His

image and likeness. Only of man is

this said, for only man has within

him a soul that reflects the sim-

plicity, the spirituality, and the fac-

ulties of intellect and will to be

found in God Himself.

"In the fullness of time . . . God

sent his Son, born of a woman .

.

For centuries God has prepared for

the coming of His Son in human

nature. There had been many hun-

dreds of years of planning and of

deliberation, if we may apply the

idea of time to God. It did take

hundreds and thousands of years

before all was prepared in time for

the Word to become flesh. Adam

was made to the image and likeness

of God. The Son made man is "the

brightness of his glory and the

image of his substance . . . the image

of the invisible God, the firstborn of

every creature . . . for it has pleased

God the Father that in him

all his fullness should dwell

...” (Heb. 1:3; Colossians

1:15, 19).

In the creation of the first

man, Adam, God did not use

human instruments. Adam

had no father or mother ac-

cording to the flesh. In the

plan for the coming of

His Son was to be found a

mother. At the very beginning of

the divine plan for the coming of

Jesus Christ, we find the seed of

the woman who is to conquer the

devil (Genesis 3:15). The greatest

of the prophets, Isaias, wrote of a

virgin or young maiden who would

bear a son (Isaias 7:14) and his con-

temporary, Micheas, mentioned the

woman who would bring forth the

leader of the Israelites (Micheas

5:2-3).

The divine plan for Jesus Christ

in His human nature unfolds in the

New Testament. It is here that we

perceive the full significance of the

woman, the virgin, the mother of

Genesis, Isaias (Isaiah), and Micheas

(Micah). "Now ... the angel Gabriel

was sent from God to a town of

Galilee, called Nazareth, to a virgin

betrothed to a man named Joseph,

of the house of David, and the vir-

9



gin’s name was Mary . . . And the

angel said to her . . . ’Behold, thou

shalt conceive in thy womb and

shalt bring forth a son; and thou

shalt call his name Jesus’ . . . But

Mary said to the angel, 'How shall

this happen, since I do not know

man?’ And the angel answered and

said to her, 'The Holy Spirit shall

come upon thee and the power of

the Most High shall overshadow

thee; and therefore the Holy One

to be born shall be called the Son

of God’” (Luke 1:26-38).

Mary, The Mother

Yet A Virgin
Let us now turn to Matthew ( 1

:

18-25) where we find Joseph per-

plexed because of the obvious con-

dition of Mary. Matthew is careful

to tell us that "Mary his mother

(mother of Jesus Christ) had been

betrothed to Joseph, and before they

came together, she was found to be

with child by the Holy Spirit.” Jo-

seph’s perplexity was removed by a

special revelation from God. "Do

not be afraid, Joseph, son of David,

to take to thee Mary thy wife, for

that which is begotten in her is of

the Holy Spirit. And she shall bring

forth a son, and thou shalt call his

name Jesus; for he shall save his

people from their sins. Now all this

came to pass that what was spoken

by the Lord through the prophet

might be fulfilled, 'Behold, the vir-

gin shall be with child, and shall

bring forth a son; and they shall

call his name Emmanuel .
.

(Isaias

7:14; Matthew 1:20-23).

Mary is the mother of Jesus

Christ. His conception took place

through the Holy Spirit. She was a

virgin at the time of the conception.

She was also a virgin to the birth

of Jesus, for "he (Joseph) did not

know her till she brought forth her

firstborn son” (Matthew 1:25). It

should be added that it is the teach-

ing of the Catholic Church that

Mary remained a virgin in the birth

of our Lord, and that she remained

a virgin after His birth. The per-

petual virginity of Mary is a doc-

trine taught down through the cen-

turies of the Church, and taught and

believed today by all Catholics.

At the moment however our con-

cern is with Mary and her Son Who
is her Son in a unique way. She

alone of human creatures was the

parent of Jesus Christ. There was

no human father. It is this that both

St. Luke and St. Matthew are telling

us in their gospels. It is this too

that God had in mind when He

stressed the woman in Genesis 3:15,

Isaias’ young maiden, and the

mother in Micheas 5:2-3.

St. Luke brings out the same

point at the beginning of the gene-

alogy of our Lord (3:23): "And

Jesus himself, when he began his

work, was about thirty years of age,

being-AS WAS SUPPOSED-the
son of Joseph.” Luke is supplement-

ing what he has already written con-

cerning the conception of our Lord

in chapter one, verses 26-38. It is

noteworthy too that in the two inci-

dents involving the Holy Family,

this same author gives prominence

to Mary (2:22-52). It is to Mary

that Simeon speaks. It is Mary who

speaks to the Son when He is found

in the temple.

10



The beloved disciple is not less

careful to indicate the special

motherhood of Christ. Steeped in

Jewish traditions as John was,

nevertheless it is Mary who is men-

tioned. For Jewish tradition and

Jewish custom paid little attention

to women. John however makes no

mention of Joseph. At the marriage

feast in Cana of Galilee (2:1 ff) it

is Mary who acts and intercedes. At

the foot of the cross it is Mary who

is present and it is Mary to whom

our Lord speaks.

When the disciples of Christ
were awaiting the coming of the

Holy Spirit, Mary is with them

(Acts 1:14). There is no further

mention of the presence of Mary

after this. St. Paul however has a

passage that confirms the special

motherhood of Mary. In writing to

the Galatians (4:4) he says: "But

when the fullness of time came,

God sent his Son, BORN OF A
WOMAN, born under the law .

.

Jesus, The Son

Of The Virgin

Mary alone gave our Lord His

human body. Through the power

of the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:35;

Matthew 1:18) she conceived in her

womb. She was a virgin at that

moment. She remained a virgin

throughout the time that she car-

ried her son in her womb. Such is

the teaching of Sacred Scripture (cf.

Matthew 1:25). Such also is the

teaching of the Catholic Church.

Outside of Adam and Eve all of
us have a father and a mother. Jesus

Christ had but one human parent,

and that was Mary, His virgin

mother. The sacred humanity, the

human flesh, the body, the bones,

the blood, all these came from Mary

without the aid of a human father.

Mary could claim her Son in a way

that no other woman could claim

her son. Christ could look upon His

mother in a way that no other son

could look on a mother. When Mary

said "My Son” there was a unique-

ness about this never equalled in

history. For she did not share Him

with any other human being. She

shared Him with God the Father.

God the Father could say, as He

did: My Son. Mary could say: My

Son. God could say: My Only-begot-

ten Son. Mary could say: My Only-

begotten Son. She alone begot Him

as a human being.

Jesus The Only

Child of Mary

From the very beginning the

Catholic Church has taught that

Mary retained her virginity. In the

Apostles’ Creed it is stated that

Jesus Christ "was born of the Vir-

gin Mary.” Our Lord was Mary’s

only child. This teaching of the

Church is not contradicted by

Sacred Scripture. There are certain

passages in the New Testament that

cause difficulties to those who do

not accept the Church as the guide

for the interpretation of the Bible.

One of these passages is to be

found in Luke (2:7), where our

Lord is called "the first-born son.”

Does this imply other children? It

may and it may not. Even today

this expression is used of the first

child, and no one knows if there

will be a second or a third. What

11



then did Luke mean by "first-born.”

In the context he means that our

Lord was her first child, for he con-

tinues to describe the ceremonies

that must take place in the temple

upon the birth of the first-born

(Luke 2:22 ff). St. Luke then is not

implying that there were more chil-

dren; he is pointing out that our

Lord was Mary’s first child without

any reference to more.

A greater stumbling block how-
ever is to be found in the mention

of "brothers and sisters” of our Lord

(Matthew 13:55; Mark 6:3). Once

again we must study the texts to

find out what Matthew and Mark

meant. In all languages brother and

sister may mean blood brothers and

sisters; the terms may also mean in-

dividuals united in some way or

other. Nurses are called "sisters” in

some countries. In religious life

members of the community are called

"brother.” In lodges we find the

same thing. In Sacred Scripture it

is the same. Abraham for example

spoke of Lot as his brother (Genesis

13:8), whereas Lot was his nephew.

In Genesis 29:15, Laban says to

Jacob, "Because thou art my brother

. .

” Actually, in the context it is

clear that Laban was the uncle of

Jacob. In 1 Par. (1 Chronicles) 23:

22, we read that Eleazar died leav-

ing no sons, "but only daughters,

and the sons of Cis their brothers

took them,” the brothers who mar-

ried them were really their cousins.

A close scrutiny of those who are
called "brothers” of our Lord will

help to unravel the problem. Four

men are called His brothers: James

and Joseph and Simon and Jude.

Both Matthew and Mark refer later

on to James and Joseph as the sons

of a Mary (Matthew 27:56; Mark

15:40). This Mary is very obviously

not the mother of our Lord. From

John 19:25, she would seem to be

related to the mother of Jesus. In

this case then James and Joseph

would be cousins of our Lord. More-

over, we would be obliged to look

upon Simon and Jude as relatives,

and not blood brothers of our Lord.

Simon and Jude are always named

together, next to James in the list

of the Apostles and next to James

and Joseph in the list of the "breth-

ren of the Lord.” Jude gives himself

the title "brother of James” in the

first verse of his own epistle. It is

then very probable that Simon and

Jude are blood brothers of James

and Joseph, and therefore bear the

same relationship of cousin to our

Lord. The same would be true of

the "sisters” mentioned in this

same text. Moreover, nowhere in

the Bible is Mary, the mother of

Christ, called the mother of any

of them.

Christ’s giving John to Mary as

her son (John 19:26) with the right

and duty of caring for her, would

be strange if Mary had other chil-

dren naturally possessing that right

and duty.

Matthew 1:25 is frequently quot-

ed as a proof that our Blessed

Mother did not remain a virgin:

"And he did not know her till she

brought forth her first-born son.”

The word "till” is the crux of the

interpretation. Careful study will

show that what St. Matthew is say-

ing is this: Mary and Joseph did not

live as man and wife to the time of

12



the birth of our Lord. There is no

indication of what happened after

the birth. The word "till” as used

in the Scripture (cf. also Genesis

8:7; Matthew 12:20; 1 Timothy

4:13) may merely signify a point

of time until which something has

been done without implying any-

thing different after that time. In

other words the text does not indi-

cate a change after Christ’s birth.

Neither before nor after Christ’s

birth did Mary violate her virginity.

Thy Son Is The

Son of God

"Behold, thou shalt conceive . .

.

and shalt bring forth a son . . . He

shall be great and shall be called

THE SON OF THE MOST HIGH
. . . the Holy One to be born shall

be called THE SON OF GOD’’
(Luke 1:31,35). Mary is to beget

a son Who is also the Son of God.
There is then in Jesus Christ a two-

fold sonship. He is God’s Son. He

is Mary’s son.

One of the great mysteries of

Jesus Christ is to be found in this

fact: both the Father and Mary call

Him Son. There is but one Son, the

Son of God and the son of Mary.

The reason for this is found in the

Incarnation. The Second Person of

the Blessed Trinity, the Word, as-

sumed human nature. Two natures,

divine and human, are there, but

only one person. Perhaps a schema

comparing Jesus Christ with God

on the one hand and with angels

and men on the other will enlighten

us.

God

Three Persons

One Divine Nature

Jesus Christ

One Divine Person

Two Natures: Divine and Human

Angels and Men

One Person

One Nature

Even though there are three per-

sons in God, there is only one God

because there is but one divine na-

ture. In angels and men there is

but one individual, one "I” because

there is only one person and one

nature. But in Jesus Christ there

are two natures. True, but there is

only one "I” since there is only one

divine person. There is no human

person in Jesus Christ. There is no

human "I” in Him, only a divine

"I.” This is the reason that we say

our Blessed Mother is the Mother

of God, for she is the mother of

Jesus Christ.

The human nature of our Lord is

unique. It is unique because while it

is a human nature, there is no hu-

man person. In the place of the

human person is the divine person,

the Word. There never was a hu-

man person, for at the moment of

the union of the divine nature with

the human, the Word became flesh.

If there were two persons, then we

would not have the Word as the

"I” of the human nature of our

Lord. There would be the divine

"I” and the human "I.” Then there

would be two persons with two

natures, two individuals. It could

not be said then that God became

man, or that Mary was the Mother

of God. Neither could it be said

that God the Son redeemed man.

13



Throughout the accounts of our

Lord’s life one thing is clear: JESUS

CHRIST WAS ONE INDIVID-
UAL. He Himself used the pro-
noun "I” to refer to divine actions

as well as human actions. He said
that "I and the Father are one” but

He also said "the Father is greater

than I” (John 10:30; 14:28). It was

the same Jesus Christ Who brought
forth Lazarus from the tomb and

Who wept over Jerusalem. It was
the same individual Who came
forth from Mary’s womb and Who
came forth from the tomb. The

leaders of His people understood

this for they accused Him of blas-

phemy, He a man claiming to be

God (cf. John 5:18; 19:7; Matthew

26:62-64).

The Son Assumed

A Human Nature
Herein is the great mystery of

the sacred humanity of Jesus Christ.

It is the humanity of God the Son.

It is united to the divine nature

through the person of the Word.

It is a human nature that looks to

a divine person for its "I.” How

much better is it to have a divine

"I” than a human "I”! There was

no need for a human person because

the divine person could do all and

do it better than a human person.

This is the uniqueness of Jesus

Christ: HE IS MAN AND GOD.

Sinless Man

Sin has always been familiar to

us. So much is it a part of our

human nature that it is easy to

think that it came with our natures.

In a sense this is true, for we were

born with original sin. But in the

beginning when human nature came

from God, it was good (cf. Genesis

1:26-27,31). There was no sin, for

God and sin are opposed—as are

light and darkness. Cardinal New-

man once remarked that sin is so

much opposed to God that if any-

thing could make God less God, it

would be sin.

Jesus Christ is human, but He is

sinless. He had to be sinless because

He is also God. Openly He had

challenged the people of His time:

"Which of you can convict me of

sin?” (John 8:46). Actual sin, as we

call it, was foreign to Him, as His

life shows. A careful reading of His
gospels brings before us a life of

perfect union with God, of perfect

control of all the movements of

human nature. No moral imperfec-
tion is even hinted at. When He was

brought to trial the crimes attrib-

uted to Him were political, except

for one. This one was blasphemy.

But there is no blasphemy for God

to claim to be God, and Jesus Christ

was God.

If nothing stained or soiled with

sin is able to enter heaven, then no

sin could touch Him Who is divine.
In the epistle to the Hebrews Jesus

Christ is presented as a high priest

"who can have compassion on our

infirmities . . . one tried as we are

in all things, except sin” (4:15). In

another passage (7:26-27) the sin-

lessness of Christ is stated explic-

itly: "For it was fitting that we

should have such a high priest, holy,

innocent, undefiled, set apart from

sinners and become higher than the

heavens. He does not need to offer

14



sacrifices daily (as the other priests

did), first for his own sins, and

then for the sins of the people; for

this latter he did once for all in of-

fering up himself.”

A Sinless Son From
An Immaculate Mother

Adam came forth from God’s

creative act in a sinless state. The

second Adam, Christ, came forth

from a virgin as a sinless son. We
have already noted that He could

not sin since He is God. Yet He is

human. He had a mother who be-

longs to the human race. Is not

original sin transmitted from one

human being to another through

the act of generation? Yes, it is.

There was no act of generation

however in the conception of Jesus

Christ. "The Holy Spirit shall come

upon thee and the power of the

Most High shall overshadow thee

. .

.” Mary begot Christ without the

aid of man, not however without

the aid of God. If then we needed

to show that our Lord did not in-

herit original sin, we could show it

this way.

The sinlessness of the human na-

ture of our Lord becomes all the

more apparent when we consider a

great privilege of His mother. This

privilege is called her Immaculate

Conception. St. Paul wrote in his

letter to the Ephesians that "Christ

also loved the Church, and delivered

himself up for her, that he might

sanctify her ... in order that he

might present to himself the Church

in all her glory, not having spot or

wrinkle, or any such thing, but that

she might be holy and without

blemish” (5:25-26). He did the

same thing for His mother. He

delivered Himself up for her (as

He did for all men), yet in a spe-

cial way. If the Church, the mystical

body of Christ, is without stain,

should not His virginal mother be

without stain?

Original sin did not stain the soul

of Mary. As a member of the hu-

man race she would be thought to

have it, as all of us do. Yet Christ

saw to it that original sin did not

touch her because she was to be His

mother. He delivered Himself for

her as He did for us, but there is a

difference. We are redeemed from
sin. Mary was redeemed not from

sin, but by prevention of sin reach-

ing her soul. The mother of all liv-

ing humans, Eve, came into the

world without sin. The Mother of

all Life (I am the life, says her Son)

should not be less pure than Eve.

Since Mary did not have original

sin, she could not transmit it to her

Son. The human nature of Christ

stands out all the better in its sin-

less condition when we view the

Mother. She who was not touched

by original sin begot a Son Who
could not inherit original sin. Yet

even if He could have inherited this

sin, He would not since His mother

did not have it.

Like Mother

Like Son

On one occasion when a woman

in the listening crowd praised His

mother, our Lord answered: "Who-

ever does the will of my Father in

heaven, he is my brother and sister

and mother” (Matthew 12:46-50).

No one fulfilled this better than His
Mother. In this way there is a like-

15



ness between Mother and Son that

is most striking. Both had but one

aim in life: to do God’s will. Christ

said that He came to do the will of

His Father. His mother said that it

should be done to her according to

God's will. Mary resembled her Son

in holiness, in virtue, especially in

the virtue of obedience.

It is only natural that children

resemble their parents. Physically

this is often obvious. Often traits

of parents are evident in their chil-

dren. At times the resemblance is

more from the father than the

mother. Other times it is in the

opposite way. Our Lord had a hu-

man mother, but no human father.

Hence whatever resemblance is to

be found can only be between Son

and Mother. Sacred Scripture has

left us no indication of the physical

characteristics of Christ or of His

mother. We can only conclude to a
resemblance from the principle (not

always applicable) stated above. It

may be conceded then that our Lord

looked like His mother.

Mary was a Jewess, a Semite.

There are general physical traits

ascribed to this race. If Mary fol-

lowed these general traits, we might

be able to describe her physical

characteristics. She would be dark

rather than fair, with dark hair

rather than light. She would be of

medium height. Her face would be

oval rather than round, olive com-

plexion rather than ruddy or light.

Her eyes would be dark, if not

black.

If this is a portrait of Mary, then

with some diffidence we may say

that our Lord was dark, with black

or dark brown eyes, oval face with

an olive complexion. It is probable

that He wore a beard. As for His

physical build, anything that might

be said would be conjecture. Should

the Shroud of Turin be accepted as

genuine, then our Lord could be

said to be about six feet in height,

weighing around 170 or 180 pounds.

What should not be forgotten is

that He was of the Jewish race. His

blood was of the best for it came

directly from Abraham through

King David. He could not be more

Jewish in the mind of His own

people. In fact He was THE JEW!
He was to found and to establish

the spiritual Israel; to do this He

had to be of the Jewish race, for it

had been promised that a member

of this nation would establish this

spiritual Israel. The fact that our

Lord belonged to this race did not

prevent Him from founding the

spiritual kingdom of David. It was

required that He should be of this

race in order to establish it. This

spiritual Israel is of course the Cath-

olic Church, of which Jesus Christ,

the son of David, is the founder.

Only-begotten Son and Word of God, Who art immortal and didst
vouchsafe for our salvation to take flesh of the holy Mother of God

and ever Virgin Mary, and without change didst become Man, and

wast crucified, Christ God, and by death didst overcome death, being

one of the holy Trinity and glorified with the Father and the Holy

Ghost: save us! Prayer from Byzantine Horologion

16



.

SO SHALL THE SOH
OF MAM BE!

Our Lord often used the

phrase "son of man” instead

of the first person pronoun.

"The Son of Man came eat-

ing and drinking,” "the Son

of Man is Lord of the Sab-

bath,” "the Son of Man came

to save that which was lost.”

Its exact meaning is dis-

cussed among scholars. To

us today the phrase calls to

mind Christ’s human nature. He

belongs to our race, He is one of

us. He is a man.

There are certain qualities that

we expect of a man, qualities of

mind and heart in particular. When

these qualities are present in a very

high degree, then we have an excep-

tional man. When they are found

in the degree discoverable in Christ,

we have a man among men. At the

age of twelve He amazed the teach-

ers in the midst of whom He sat in

the temple. "And all who were

listening to him were amazed at

his understanding and his answers”

(Luke 2:47). The crowds who heard

Him "were astonished at his teach-

ing...” (Matthew 7:28). Even the

attendants of the chief priests and

Pharisees admitted, "Never has man

spoken as this man” (John 7:46).

There are several ways of measur-

ing a man’s mind. One of

them is to note the clarity

of expression. This must be

weighed by the expressions

of the time as well as by the

adaptations to the audience.

This is said lest some should

think this measure cannot be

applied to Christ’s mind.

Today some of His expres-

sions may not be too clear.

This is due to the difference in time

and in audience. We are almost two
thousand years away in time. We
are an audience of different men-

tality and outlook than that to

which our Lord spoke. By way of

parenthesis it is for this reason that

Christ established the living voice

of His Church: to explain what He

taught today and to the people of

today.

Yet it is true that by far the

majority of our Lord’s sayings are as

clear today as they were centuries

ago. Who is able to misunderstand
"therefore all that you wish men

to do to you, even so do you also

to them”? Or "Ask and it shall be

given to you; seek, and you shall

find; knock, and it shall be opened

to you”? Or "Seek first the king-

dom of God and his justice, and all

these things shall be given you be-

17



sides”? Or "Our Father, who art in

heaven . .
.

give us this day our daily

bread . . . forgive us our debts . . .”?

Not only was our Lord clear. He

adapted Himself to His audience.

Most of the time He had before
Him simple, ordinary, uneducated

people. His expressions could be

understood by them. They knew the

terms that He used, such as "king-

dom of heaven,” "the birds of the

air,” "lilies of the field” and "false

prophets.” Parables were familiar to

the people as a method of teaching.

Our Lord’s parables were from

scenes of their daily lives, such as

the sower in the field, the banquet

table, the Pharisees praying so that

every one could see them, the wed-

ding feasts, the younger son want-

ing his freedom and the older son

pouting. But when Christ stood be-

fore the leaders of the people He

spoke in their language. So when

Nicodemus came to Him at night,

our Lord began in terms that this

member of the Great Council should

have understood. And when Christ

spoke to the Samaritan woman at

the well of Jacob, He adapted Him-

self to her condition. He asked for

a drink and gradually opened her

heart and mind.

Christ Has

Revealed God

There has never been a teacher

like Christ. There has never been

any one whose teachings have cap-

tured the minds of men as His

teaching. Not only during His own

time, but throughout the centuries,

men have studied and read and

meditated upon and written about

what He said. Then no one had a

mind as the mind of Christ. It was

incisive, clear, simple yet profound.

It penetrated to the heart of men’s

minds, it cut through to the very

marrow of truth. As no man could

convict Him of sin, so no one could
convict Him of error. His mind was
the mind of Truth, for it was the

mind of Him Who was the Word.
Another way to measure a man’s

mind is to note how it is related to

God. For man has been created for

God. There can be no true knowl-

edge unless it is from God and

unless it tends to God. Over and

over again Christ proclaimed that

what He had He received from His
Father. "All things have been deliv-

ered to me by my Father; and

no one knows the Son except the

Father; nor does anyone know the

Father except the Son, and him to

whom the Son chooses to reveal
him” (Matthew 11:27). Christ came

to reveal God. "God . . . last of all

in these days has spoken to us by

his Son...” (Hebrews 1:2). "I have

manifested thy name to the men

whom thou hast given me out of

the world” (John 17:6).

Never did any man’s mind cling

to God as did the mind of Christ.

Never did any one’s thoughts tend

towards God as did the thoughts of

Christ. Never was divine knowledge

found in man’s mind as in the mind

of Christ. Never then was there a

man like unto the man, Jesus Christ.

It is no wonder that the crowds fol-

lowed Him, even into the desert.

It is no wonder that they listened

to Him, with no regard to time or

discomfort or hunger or thirst. It is

no wonder that He attracted fol-

lowers and that they gave up all to

18



be near Him, to hear His voice, to

hear the Truth.

It would be incredible to think

that the revealed truth of God given

by Jesus Christ should perish. It did

not. He told His Apostles that "the

Holy Spirit . . . will teach you all

things and bring to your mind

whatever I have said to you” (John

14:15-17; 14:26; 16:12-14). Shortly

before He ascended into heaven He

commissioned His Apostles: "Go,

therefore, and make disciples of all

nations . . . teaching them to observe

all that I have commanded you”

(Matthew 28:19-20). This same

commission exists today. It is found

in the Pope and the bishops of the

Catholic Church for the Pope is the

successor of Peter and the bishops

are the successors of the Apostles.

They have inherited through the

power granted them the commis-

sion of Jesus Christ. Today they are

the "mind” of Christ for all men.

Not My Will
But Thine Be Done

The two faculties of the soul that

distinguish man from animals and

that set him off too from other

men are the intellect and the will.

Christ’s intellect puts Him apart
from all men, for it was the intel-

lect of the God-man. The will of

Christ is also the will of the God-

man. While its nature is the same

as that of all men, this fact of being

the will of the Word made flesh

sets Him apart from all others.
When we see Him exercising this
will, we perceive at once a dif-

ference.

Since Adam sinned men have

rebelled against God. In fact they

come into the world as rebels. For

original sin sets them apart from

God. Jesus Christ did not rebel

against God. He did not have orig-

inal sin. His challenge "which of

you can convict me of sin?” was un-

answered. On the positive side His

own life may be summed up in this

phrase: I CAME TO DO THE
WILL OF HIM THAT SENT ME!
This He did perfectly from the be-

ginning of His life to its end. In the

epistle of the Hebrews is summed

up this perfect obedience to God:

"It is in this will’ that we have been

sanctified through the offering of

the body of Jesus Christ once for

all” (10:10).

Christ Himself proclaimed that

"I do as the Father has commanded

me” (John 14:31). Again He spoke,
this time to His Fathef : "I have

glorified thee on earth; I have ac-

complished the work that thou hast

given me to do” (John 17:4). In the
agony that preceded His passion

He submitted to His Father’s will:

"Father, if you are willing, remove

this cup from me; yet not my will
but thine be done” (Luke 22:42).

19



God’s will is made known
through proper' authority. St. Paul

expressed this principle very clearly

in writing to the Romans (13:1):

"Let everyone be subject to the

higher authorities, for there exists

no authority except from God, and

those who exist have been appoint-

ed by God.” The measure of a man

then comes from his recognition of

this principle, but more so from his

obedience to it.

There is only one measure for

Christ. It is the measure of perfec-

tion. As He perfectly fulfilled His
Father’s will, so too did He per-
fectly fulfill the will of those placed

over Him. For Him this was but a
manifestation of His Father’s will.

Our Lord had parents. He was their
Son; hence obedience was due to

Mary, His mother, and to Joseph,

His legal father. "And he went

down with them and came to Naz-

areth, and was subject to them”

(Luke 2:51).

For the Jews, the Chosen People

of God, the Law of Moses was the

manifestation of God’s will. One of

the first laws was that a male child

should be circumcised on the eighth

day (Genesis 17:1-14). Jesus Christ

through His parents carried out this

law: "And when eight days were

fulfilled for his circumcision, his

name was called Jesus ...” (Luke 2:

21). At the end of forty days a male

child was to be presented to God in

the temple (Exodus 13:2). Christ

was presented on the fortieth day

by His parents (Luke 2:22-40). On

feast days pious Jews came to Jerus-

alem, if it was at all possible (Levit-

icus 23:1-44). Throughout the gos-

pels we find our Lord in Jerusalem

on various feast days (Luke 2:41

ff; John 2:13 ff; 5:1 ff; 7:1 ff; etc.).

The great commandments of the

Law were the same as in Chris-

tianity. These commandments were

those of love (Deuteronomy 6:5;

Leviticus 19:18; Matthew 22:34-

40). Love means a perfect fulfill-

ment of the will of the one loved.

"If you love me, keep my com-

mandments” Christ had told His

Apostles (John 14:15). Since Christ

perfectly fulfilled God’s will, He

loved God perfectly. This was the

reason that the Father called Him

"my beloved Son, in whom I am

well pleased.”

There can be no love of God

without the love of the neighbor.

For it is God’s will that we love the

neighbor. To love God is to do

what He wills us to do. Jesus Christ

loved us with a great love. "Greater

love than this no one has, that one

lay down his life for his friends”

(John 15:13). The name of Jesus

was given to Him "for he shall

save his people from their sins”

20



(Matthew 1:21). "I am the good

shepherd. The good shepherd lays

down his life for his sheep” (John

10 : 11 ).

The entire life of Christ was a

life of love, for it was a life of serv-

ice. He lived as He did to give us

an example that would serve for

our daily life. His public life was

a life devoted to serving first His

Apostles, then the people. He spent

hours and hours teaching the Apos-

tles. Many of the discourses in the

gospels were addressed to them.

Other times He took them apart

from the crowds and instructed

them.

He moved from town to town

preaching in the synagogues, or

wherever a crowd gathered. He used

His divine power to feed them

when they followed Him into the

desert. He cured their sick, He

drove out devils, He even brought

back to life the dead. He summed

up this life of service in these words

(Matthew 20:28): "...the Son of

Man has not come to be served, but

to serve, and to give his life as a

ransom for many.”

In word Christ taught this same

life of love. In the parable of the

Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-36),

He taught that love is the mani-

festation of neighborliness. Christ

Himself is THE GOOD SAMAR-
ITAN Who came to pour into the
sinful wounds of our souls the wine

and oil of divine grace. Love forgets

self and thinks only of the one in

need. Christ forgot Himself and gave

Himself to be our food and our drink

because of our great need (John 6:

54-59).

Down through the centuries the

mind and heart of Christ have fas-

cinated men. The words that came

from Him have been repeated over

and over. The teachings that He

gave in His own time have become

the thoughts and the guide of mil-

lions. The love that He manifested

has been the inspiration of cen-

turies. It has been more than that.

This love has been the source of the

love of God by millions of the fol-

lowers of the Son of Man. It has

been the source too of the love of

the neighbor. For greater love than

that of the Son of Man, the world

has never seen or experienced or

known.

For two reasons He is called a Priest: first, because He offered up

His body as an oblation and victim to God the Father for us; second,

because through us He condescends day after day to be offered up.

He is the Way along which we journey to our salvation; the Truth,

because He rejects what is false; the Life, because He destroys death.

He is the Vine, because He spread out the branches of His arms that

the world might pluck in clusters the grapes of consolation from

the cross.

St. Niceta of Remesiana

21



BEHOLD THEMAN

I

Death is not attractive. The

thought of death is not one

calculated to fill the human

heart with joy. Death came

to man as a result of sin

(Romans 5:12); it is a pun-

ishment. This makes it less

attractive. There are many

ways of dying. At times it is

said that some one has had

an "easy” death. This is in

contrast to the violent and hard

deaths that others have.

Jesus Christ came to die for the

sins of men. It was for this purpose

that God fitted Him with a human

nature. "Sacrifice and oblation thou

wouldst not, but a body thou hast

fitted to me . . . Behold, I come to

do thy will, O God ... It is in this
will’ that we have been sanctified

through the offering of the BODY
OF JESUS CHRIST once for all”

(Hebrews 10:5-10). To understand

this need for a body or a human

nature, we must appreciate who it

was that sinned, and who was of-

fended, and how the offended one

wanted reparation.

Man had sinned, therefore man

should repair the sin. Hence the

human nature of our Lord. It was

God Who was offended. An offense
is measured by the dignity of the

one offended. God is infin-

ite, therefore the sin had an

infinite side to it. Only one

then who was infinite could

offer God proper reparation.

Jesus Christ is God and man.

As God He could offer in-

finite reparation. It was up

to God to decide in what

way and to what extent rep-

aration was to be made. He

determined that the reparation

should fit the sin, in fact that it

should abound more than the of-

fense (Romans 5: 12-21). "But where

the offense has abounded, grace has

abounded yet more.”

Christ’s death was not a sudden

matter. He began to speak of it

many months before it actually

came. The first time recorded in the

gospels is to be found in St. Matt-

hew, chapter 16:21 ff. After the

famous confession made by Peter,

"from that time Jesus began to

show his disciples that he must go

to Jerusalem and suffer many things

from the elders and Scribes and

chief priests, and be put to death,

and on the third day rise again.”

Not too long after this prediction

He told the three apostles who had

been privileged to be present at the

Transfiguration (Matthew 17:9):

22



"tell the vision to no one, till the

Son of Man has risen from the

dead.”

Later He added some details

(Matthew 20:18-19): "Behold, we

are going up to Jerusalem, and the

Son of Man will be betrayed to the

chief priests and the Scribes; and

they will condemn him to death,

and will deliver him to the Gentiles

to be mocked and scourged and cru-

cified; and on the third day he will

rise again.” To the apostles this was

unintelligible. "And they understood

none of these things and this saying

was hidden from them . . .” (Luke

18:34). Suffering implied the no-

tion of sin to the people of the time

of our Lord (John 9:2). To suffer

in the ignominious way described

by our Lord would indicate some

crime, some great sin. Had the apos-

tles not come to believe that He

was the Son of the living God?

What the apostles grasped later

on, our Lord was telling them in His

predictions of His sufferings. He

had been given a human nature for

the very purpose of suffering. "He

was wounded for our iniquities, he

was bruised for our sins ... all we

like sheep have gone astray . . . and

the Lord hath laid on him the in-

iquity of us all. He was offered be-

cause it was his own will . . .” (Isaias

53:5-7). It is not easy for us to

realize the divine plan. To realize

it we must understand God’s holi-

ness, sin, God’s love, God’s mercy,

God’s justice, suffering, death.

God’s ways and thoughts are not

our ways and thoughts. Jesus Christ

was God as well as man. There was

a divine person in this human na-

ture. That person guided the human

nature and directed it to the pur-

pose for which it had been given.

This purpose was to die for the sins

of man. This was ever before Jesus

Christ. "This saying is true and

worthy of entire acceptance, that

Jesus Christ came into the world

to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15).

Ultimately it was the divine will of

the Father that guided Jesus Christ.

This divine will of the Father

was that Jesus Christ should suffer

the ignominy of a shameful death.

Jesus Christ accepted that will in

its entirety. Before Him was a pic-

ture of this shameful death and all

its circumstances, as the predictions

indicate. Anticipation is hard on

human nature. It troubles us, to

know ahead of time what we must

suffer; and that death is inevitable,

causes any man to shudder and to

draw back. Yet Jesus Christ moved

forward to this shameful death.

"Now it came to pass, when the

days had come for him to be taken

up, that he steadfastly set his face

to go to Jerusalem .
.

(Luke 9:51).

Remove This Chalice ! !

!

We must not imagine that Jesus
Christ was a superman to whom

the ordinary emotions and feelings

of human nature were foreign. He

did have control over them, a con-

trol we do not have. He had them

however. The story of the agony in

the Garden tells us what the antici-

pation of His sufferings and death

could have made Him undergo, if

He had allowed it. In the agony He

did allow it. "He began to be sad-

dened and exceedingly troubled.

Then he said to them (His three

favorites), My soul is sad, even unto

23



death . . .’ and he prayed, saying,

'Father, if it is possible, let this cup

pass away from me; yet not as I

will, but as thou wiliest’ ” (Matthew

26:37-39). St. Luke (22:39-46) tells

us that "his sweat became as drops

of blood running down upon the

ground.”

Yes, the human nature of our

Lord was capable of the deepest

suffering. He could feel sorrow,

sadness, fear, anxiety. He drew back

from the thought of suffering and

of death, "if it is possible, let this

cup pass away from me.” He could

feel these emotions more than we

do because they were so deliberae

in Him. He could feel them more

than we do because of the inno-

cence of His human nature. We all
know the terrible pain and hurt in

the heart of an innocent child, when

its trust is suddenly betrayed. Sin

had never dulled the heart and the

senses and the emotions of the God-

man.

There is however a deeper reason

for this terrible suffering on the

part of Christ. That reason is sin.

Christ and sin were enemies. Yet

He could suffer the effects of sin. It

was the sins of all men that caused

His suffering. These sins now came

upon Him in all their foulness and

offensiveness. "This is your hour

and the power of darkness,” our

Lord had said when He handed

Himself over to those who sought

Him.

He Who could not sin had be-
come sin for us (2 Corinthians 5:

21). He took upon Himself the rep-

aration of our sins. He Who was
Innocence itself appeared before

His Father in the guise of our sins.

It is no wonder that He said, "Now
my soul is troubled. And what shall
I say? Father, save me from this
hour. No, this is why I came to this

hour” (John 12:27).

Ibis ad Crucem

The physical sufferings of the

man, Jesus Christ, were horrible.

That is the only way to describe

them. All writers of the time of our

Lord spoke of crucifixion as the

worst possible punishment. In the

Roman Empire it was reserved for

slaves and the worst of criminals.

Roman citizens were exempt from

it as if it were too ignominous for

such highly honored men. It was not

too ignominious for Jesus Christ!

The Roman governor, Pontias Pi-

late, sentenced Him to die by cru-
cifixion: Ibis ad crucem! To the

cross!

There were many sufferings con-

nected with crucifixion. Some of

them were physical, such as the car-

rying of the cross, the terrible ordeal

of being hoisted upon the cross, and

often, as in the case of Christ, the

scourging which preceded it. There

were different ways of holding the

victim on the cross. Our Lord was

held there by nails. There was the

horrible pain from the piercing of

nerve centers by the nails. There

was the asphyxiating suffering from

the abnormal position of the body

on the cross. Loss of blood caused

weakness, as well as thirst. Usually

the victim was stripped of his

clothes. For Christ there was then

the added pain of nakedness.

Added to these sufferings in the

case of Christ was the sorrow He

experienced at the sins of those who

24



taunted Him and who were respon-

sible for His sufferings. Judas

caused Him untold sorrow. His

apostles had abandoned Him. His

Mother stood at the foot of the

cross. Christ’s heart bled at the

thought of the suffering He was

occasioning His beloved Mother. "A

sword shall pierce thy soul” (Luke

2:35).

The stature of a man has not a

better gauge than to study him as

he suffers and as he dies. With our

Lord we must remember that He

deliberately accepted the cross and

its form of death. He wanted to
suffer this way. Why? Because His
Father had decreed it. This is the

highest motive a man could have to

accept anything. Abraham received

the height of praise from God Him-

self because he willingly took Isaac

to offer him in sacrifice (Genesis

22:1 ff). God the Father’s praise of

His Son is to be seen in the exalta-

tion of the Son because of His

obedience. "And appearing in the

form of a man, he (Jesus Christ)

humbled himself, becoming obedi-

ent to death, even to death on a

cross. THEREFORE God also has

exalted him and bestowed upon him

a name that is above every name

...” (Philippians 2:7-9).

In the midst of His sufferings

Christ thought little of Himself. He

tried to reach the soul of Judas at

the very moment of betrayal (Matt-

hew 26:47-50). He cured the man

struck by Peter (Luke 22:49-51).

He tried to convert the Roman gov-

ernor (John 18:33-38). He spoke

consoling words to the women. He

prayed to His Father asking for for-

giveness for those involved in His

crucifixion. He promised heaven to

one of those crucified with Him. He

spoke tenderly 'to His Mother. At

the very last moment He commend-

ed Himself to His Father.

We are in the presence of no
ordinary man. But we are in the

presence of THE MAN! The gran-
deur of the soul of Jesus Christ is

nowhere so manifest as in His

passion and at the moment of

His death. His magnanimity, His

thoughtfulness of others, His con-

cern for those who loved Him, His

silent acceptance of His sufferings:

these stamp Him as one above the
ordinary. But they also stamp Him

as a man. He was a man as the rest

of us, for He could suffer pain, He

could endure suffering, He could

die, as all of us can. The way He

did these things places Him above
all men.

He Gave Up His Spirit

Death is the separation of body

and soul. In Sacred Scripture no

sooner had Christ died than His

body is spoken of. It is now the

25



body that is taken down from the

cross. It is the body that is placed

in the tomb (John 19:31-42). Jesus

Christ was dead. The Son of Man
had died on the cross. His body was

there to be seen by all. As for His

soul, it is St. Peter who tells us that

"put to death indeed in the flesh,

he was brought to life in the spirit,

in which also he went and preached

to those spirits that were in prison”

(1 Peter 3:18-19).

Christ’s soul then was active

even though His body was inactive

in death. St. Peter says that He
preached, that is, He announced the

good news of salvation. He preached

"to those spirits that were in

prison.” Peter is referring to the

souls of the just who died before

Christ became man. Heaven had

been closed by the sin of Adam.

The just among the dead could not

enter Heaven until Christ satisfied

for man’s sin and repaired its in-

juries. They awaited their redemp-

tion in a place or state of rest, called

by Catholic theologians the "Limbo

of the Fathers.” This expression is

not itself found in the Sacred Scrip-

tures but was chosen by theologians

to designate that place referred to

in the Bible as "Abraham’s bosom”

(Luke 16:22), "Paradise” (Luke 23:

43), and "prison” (1 Peter 3:18-20).

Christ descended into this under-

world to announce to the souls wait-

ing there the joyful news that He

had reopened Heaven to mankind.

It was the common belief among
all ancient peoples and the Israelites

that the soul or spirit, after its de-

parture from the body, continued to

live. Earliest Jewish theology spoke

of Sheol, sometimes translated as

pit. The Old Testament presents us

in general with a dismal view of

living conditions in Sheol. With the

development of Israel’s belief in a

complete distinction of fates be-

tween the good and wicked, and in

future retribution a few centuries

before the Christian era, Sheol lost

some of its dreary implications. The

Jews, at the time of Christ, knew

that there was a place of punish-

ment after death for the wicked, as

well as a place of reward for the

just (Luke 16:19 ff). They had

no very clear revelation concerning

these places, however. Christian

teaching has made clear many things

that the Jews could only guess at.

While the soul of our Lord was

active, the body was inactive, for it

was a dead body. It was placed in

the tomb to await the return of the

soul. Even though the soul was not

present, this was still the body of

the Son of God. The divine nature

had not departed from the body or

the soul. Death came from the sep-

aration of the body and the soul;

there was no need for the divinity

to depart. Divine life was there in

the tomb, but not human life. Hu-

man life was to return in three days,

as He had so often predicted.

26



GLORIFY ME WITH THYSELF

Death and life are contrast-

ing facts.When death comes,

life disappears. Where there

is life, there is no death. Yet

when our Lord spoke of His

death, He also spoke of a

return to life. "The Son of

Man is to be betrayed into

the hands of men, and they

will kill him; and on the

f! . HPyv iBr 1

the end of all human na-

tures. For death is the lot

of all human beings. Yet He

had said: "On the third day

I will rise again.” And rise

He did!

Early on the third day

1 after the death of Jesus

1 Christ on the cross, His soul

was reunited to His body.

Once more there was human

(Matthew 17:21-22). That He died

even His enemies admitted. They

told Pontius Pilate, "we have re-

membered how that deceiver said,

while he was yet alive, 'After three

days I will rise again’ ” (Matthew 27

:

63). The contrast between Christ’s

death and His resurrection is all the

greater when we view the type of

death He suffered. It was not an

ordinary death. It was the death of

a crucified man.

Rise He did! At the moment of

His death His body was broken and

bruised and bloodless. His soul had

departed and had gone to preach

"to those spirits that were in prison.”

Death had conquered the God-man.

No longer was there human life,

for the separation of body and soul

produces death. This human nature

that Jesus Christ had assumed in the

womb of His Mother had come to

life. The same God-man Who had

died now arose from the tomb. "I

will rise again.” "I am he.” "And

none of those reclining dared ask

him, Who art thou?’ knowing that

it was the Lord.” Never was there

doubt in the minds of the apostles

and disciples that it was the same

Jesus they had known before His

death. Doubt arose concerning the

fact of His resurrection. Doubts

never did arise on the identity of

the one Who stood before them or

Whom they saw.
It was then the same Jesus Christ

Who had arisen. There were differ-

ences however. He could be seen

and not recognized. Mary saw Him

at the tomb and did not recognize

Him until He said, "Mary” (John

20:11-18). The two disciples going

to Emmaus talked to Him for some

time, yet they failed to know Him.

27



At the breaking of the bread they

recognized Him (Luke 24:13-31).
He could suddenly appear before
His apostles and as suddenly dis-

appear. He could come to them
"though the doors where the di-

sciples gathered had been closed”

(John 20:19). Yet He could talk
as before; He could eat (Luke 24:
41-42). His wounds were in His

hands and feet as well as His side

(John 20:24-29). Thomas could

touch Him. In many ways Jesus

Christ showed that He was the same

Jesus, but the manner of His life

was different. "To them (the apos-

tles) also he showed himself alive

after his passion by many proofs . .
”

(Acts 1:3).

Glorified Body

His body had certain gifts that it

did not exercise before His death.

It could pass through solid doors;

this is called the gift of subtlety. As

the soul is spiritual and so not im-

peded by solid material, so our

Lord’s body was now endowed with

this same quality. We noted that
our Lord suddenly appeared and

then disappeared. This is called the

gift of agility, whereby the body

passes from place to place with the

speed of thought. No longer could
our Lord suffer. This is the gift of

impassability. In a word, our Lord

has a glorified humanity, for all

these gifts belong to glory.

Before His death our Lord sub-

jected Himself to the ordinary life

of any man. Our bodies restrict our

souls. Through our bodies we suf-

fer, we have pain, we can be but

in one place and to move requires

time. We are impeded by solid mat-

ter; we need rest and sleep. We are
liable to death. After our Lord’s

resurrection His soul was no longer

restricted by His body. So it will

be with us after our own resurrec-

tion. St. Paul implies this when he

writes: "But as it is, Christ has risen

from the dead, the FIRST-FRUITS

OF THOSEWHO HAVE FALLEN
ASLEEP. For since by a man came

death, by a man also comes resur-

rection of the dead” (I Corinthians

15:20-21).

The first-fruits is the way St.

Paul describes the resurrected Christ.

But the first-fruits are the same as

the "second-fruits and the third-

fruits,” except that they are first.

So as Christ arose, so shall we. As

He arose in a glorified body, so shall
we. St. Paul develops this thought

of Christ being the first to come

forth from the grave in his epistle

to the Colossians (1:18): "Again,

he is the head of his body, the

Church; he, who is the beginning,

the FIRST-BORN FROM THE
DEAD, that in all things he may
have the first place.”

Grace and Life

Through Jesus Christ

The human nature of Adam was

first in time. From his human na-

ture stem all other human natures

and all human beings. Adam was

the head of the human race. His

actions as head affected the entire

human race. "Therefore as through

one man (Adam) sin entered into the

world and through sin death . . . for

if by reason of one man’s offense

death reigned...” (Romans 5:12-

17). The human nature of Christ

is the first to rise from the tomb.

28



"For as in Adam all die, so in Christ

all will be made to live” (1 Corin-

thians 15:22). Christ is then the

head of the human race as is Adam,

but in a different way.

When Jesus Christ came forth

from the tomb, He came forth to a

new life (Romans 6:1 ff). This new

life is not for Him alone. It is for

all who are united to Him through

the waters of baptism. "Do you not

know that all we who have been

baptized into Christ Jesus, have

been baptized into his death? For

we were buried with him by means

of baptism into death, in order that,

just as Christ has arisen from the

dead through the glory of the Father,

so we also may walk in newness

of life . . . But if we have died with

Christ, we believe that we shall

also live together with Christ; for

we know that Christ, having risen

from the dead, dies now no more

. . . Thus do you consider yourselves

also as dead to sin, but alive to

God in Christ Jesus” (Romans 6:

3
- 11 ).

The instrument of our redemp-

tion was the humanity of our Lord.

The instrument of our resurrection

to the life of grace through baptism

is the resurrected humanity of our

Lord. So St. Paul writes: . . and the

gift in the grace of the one man

Jesus Christ abounded unto the

many” (Romans 5:15). God consti-

tuted Adam the head of all men; in

fact Adam was all mankind when

he sinned. That is the reason St.

Paul could say that "through one

man (Adam) sin entered into the

world, and through sin death, and

thus death has passed unto all men

because all have sinned” (Romans

5 : 12 ).

God constituted Jesus Christ the

second Adam, the new head of the

human race. St. Irenaeus is very

clear on this point (Adv. Haer.

iii, 18,7): "The Son of God be-

came incarnate and became man; in

doing so He summed up in Himself

the long line of men who make up

the world of men, and He gave us

salvation in order that we might

regain in Him what we lost in

Adam ...” Listen again to St. Paul;

this time he is writing to the Co-

lossians (2:12-14): "For you were

buried together with him in Bap-

tism, and in him also rose again

through faith in the working of

God who raised him from the dead

. . . and you ... he brought to life

along with him, forgiving you all

your sins.”

In summary this is the teaching

of St. Paul. Through one man,

Adam, all men sinned. Through one

man, Jesus Christ, all men have re-

ceived grace. The reason for all men

sinning in Adam is to be found in

Adam’s position as head of the hu-

man race. The reason for all men

receiving grace in Jesus Christ is

to be found in His position as the

second head of the human race. All

men come from Adam. All men

come from Jesus Christ through

baptism. Baptism unites all to Jesus

Christ and makes those baptized one

with Him. The instrument of this

union is the humanity of Jesus

Christ. From this humanity flows

the graces won through the redemp-

tive passion and death and resurrec-

tion. It is not a dead Christ to which

Christians are united; it is the living

Christ Whose glorified human na-

29



ture is the exemplar of their human

nature.

At times we speak of a man who

seems to be from two countries. Our

Lord puzzled at times His listeners

by telling them that He came down
from heaven: "Is not this Jesus the

son of Joseph, whose father and

mother we know? How, then, does

he say, I have come down from

heaven’?” (John 6:42). On this same
occasion He said to some of His
faltering disciples: "Does this (what

He had said concerning His body
and blood) scandalize you? What

then if you should see the Son of

Man ascending where he was be-
fore?” (John 6:62-63).

Carried Up Into Heaven
Forty days after His resurrection

Jesus Christ did ascend into heaven.

The apostles watched Him ascend.

While they stood there two angels

appeared to them and spoke to

them: "Men of Galilee, why do you

stand looking up to heaven? This

Jesus who has been taken up from

you into heaven, shall come in the

same way, as you have seen him

going up to heaven” (Acts 1:11).

The human nature that had been

born of Mary and that had died on

the cross, only to conquer death,

was now in heaven. It was the first

to enter heaven. Through the man,

Jesus Christ, heaven was pierced

and men once again could pierce

heaven. The Catholic Church has

always taught that the sin of Adam

closed heaven to men. It also

teaches that Jesus Christ opened

heaven, that He was the first to

ascend there.

Every time a Catholic recites the

Apostles’ Creed, he says that he be-

lieves in Jesus Christ Who has
ascended into heaven. He then adds
that He is seated at the right hand
of God the Father. In believing this

the Catholic is but following the

teaching of the apostles. And the

apostles were teaching what they

had heard from Christ and what

they had been taught by the Holy

Spirit.

Exalted At The

Right Hand of God

When our Lord stood before the
Great Council of His own people

(Matthew 26:57-64), He ended His

testimony in these words: "Never-

theless I say to you, hereafter you

shall see the Son of Man sitting at

the right hand of the Power and

coming upon the clouds of heaven.”

In the discourse at the Last Supper

He repeated several times that He

was going to the Father (John 14:

28; 16: 16). He prayed to His Father

in these words: "I have glorified

thee on earth . . . and now do thou,

Father, glorify me with thyself, with

the glory that I had with thee be-

fore the world existed” (John 17:

4-5).

In the very first speech of the

newly born Church St. Peter an-

nounced that Jesus Christ was

exalted by the right hand of God.”

St. Stephen "looked up to heaven

and saw the glory of God, and Jesus

standing at the right hand of God”

(Acts 7:55). Another witness to this

teaching of the early Church is St.

Paul: "Therefore God has exalted

him . . . the Lord Jesus Christ is in

30



the glory of God the Father” (Phi-

lippians 2:9-11).

Our lowly human nature then is

exalted to the highest place in heav-

en. To sit at the right hand is to sit

in the place of honor, is to be sec-

ond only to the one at whose right

hand the one honored is seated.

Jesus Christ is seated at the right

hand of God. The glorified hu-

manity is receiving its meed of

honor and of praise. More: it is

receiving the confession of every

tongue (Philippians 2:11) that Jesus

Christ "is in the glory of God the

Father.”

Judge of The Living

And The Dead

"From thence He shall come to

judge the living and the dead.” These

words are to be found in the Apos-

tles’’ Creed, that creed which sum-

marizes the teaching of the apostles.

It also summarizes the teaching of

the Catholic Church. This doctrine

that Jesus Christ as man is the judge

of all men comes from the lips of

Christ Himself.

"For neither does the Father judge

any man, but all judgment he has

given to the Son... and he has

granted him power to render judg-

ment because he is SON OF MAN

... as I hear, I judge, and my judg-

ment is just...” (John 5:22, 27,

30). St. Peter told Cornelius (Acts

10:42): "...And he charged us to

preach to the people and to testify

that he it is who has been appointed

by God to be JUDGE OF THE

LIVING AND THE DEAD.” He is
Jesus Christ. Note that the very

formula of the Apostles’ Creed is to

be found on the lips of St. Peter

within a few years of our Lord’s

ascension.

While on earth Jesus Christ

would not claim the right to judge

(John 12:47), for He came "to save

the world.” Now in heaven He is
working to save the world through

the Holy Spirit and through the

Church. The day will come how-

ever when Jesus Christ, the second

head of the human race, will exer-

cise His God-given right to judge.

Now He is glorified as Savior and

as Redeemer. Then He will be

glorified as JUDGE. "And I saw

heaven standing open; and behold,

a white horse, and he who sat upon

it is called Faithful and True, and

with justice he judges . . . and his

name is called The Word of God”

(Apocalypse 19:11-13).

This I know full well now, and did not know then, that the Catholic

Church allows no image of any sort, material or immaterial, no

dogmatic symbol, no rite, no sacrament, no saint, not even the blessed

Virgin herself, to come between the soul and its Creator. It is face

to face, solus cum solo, in all matters between man and his God. He

alone creates; He alone has redeemed; before His awful eye we go

in death; in the vision of Him is our eternal beatitude.

Cardinal Newman

31



ONE MEDIATOR: THE

MAN, JESUS CHRIST

On this earth Jesus Christ

used His human nature as

the instrument of redemp-

tion. In heaven He now uses

that same human nature as

the instrument of salvation.

Note the words "redemp-

tion” and "salvation.” Re-

dempjtion comes to us

through the death of our

Lord on the cross. Salvation

comes to us through the application

of the merits He gained for us on

the cross. This application takes

place through His mediation,

through His intercession.

The author of the epistle to the

Hebrews writes of this intercessor

and intercession: ". . . but he (Jesus

Christ), because he continues for-

ever, has an everlasting priesthood.

Therefore he is able at all times to

save those who come to God through

him, since he lives always to make

intercession for them” (7:24-25).

Again he writes: "Having there-

fore a great high priest who has

passed into the heavens, Jesus the

Son of God, let us hold fast our

confession. For we have not a high

priest who cannot have compassion

on our infirmities, but one tried as

we are in all things except sin”

(4:14-15).

It is as man that Jesus

Christ redeemed us, that is,

through His human nature

as an instrument. Now He
as man intercedes for us
before God His Father. For

there He shows to His
Father His glorified human

nature, bearing the wounds

of our redemption. It is as

man that he is a priest, as

one "taken from among men . . . ap-

pointed for men in the things per-

taining to God.” "For Jesus has...

entered into heaven itself, to appear

now before the face of God on our

behalf.”

What a consolation it is to us to

know that one of our own, a brother

in the flesh, and such a brother, is

seated at the right hand of God!

What a consolation to realize that

He is interceding on our behalf!

What a consolation to know that

His great love for us, a love mani-

fested by dying for us, continues to

burn in His Sacred Heart! What a

consolation to have the victim of

our salvation at the throne of God,

pleading for us "through the offer-

ing of the body of Jesus Christ . .
.”

(Hebrews 10:10).

In writing to St. Timothy, St.

Paul calls Jesus Christ "one Medi-

32



ator between God and men, himself

man, Christ Jesus, who gave him-

self a ransom for all” (I Timothy

2:5). As there is but one Jesus

Christ, as there is but one victim

for our salvation, so there is but

one mediator. The Catholic Church

teaches this doctrine and her mem-

bers accept it. The sense of this

mediatorship is this: Jesus Christ

and Jesus Christ alone has redeemed

man from sin; His merits and His

merits alone free men from the sin

of Adam and from all their actual

sins.

Only One Mediator

As will be noted in the above,

the teaching of the Church corres-

ponds with that of St. Paul. St. Paul

speaks of the one Mediator "who

gave himself a ransom for all.” The

Church speaks in the same lan-

guage: Christ is the one Mediator

for He alone frees men of sin

through the merits of His expiatory

death on the cross. As Adam’s sin

and his alone affected the entire

human race, so Christ’s obedience

and His alone affected all men.

Mary, Cooperator

With Christ

Yet as all of us know, Eve co-

operated with Adam in the fall of
man. "And the woman saw that the

tree was good to eat . . . and she took

of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and

gave to her husband who did eat”

(Genesis 3:6). So we speak of the

fall of our first parents, of the

cooperation of Eve in the sin of

Adam, although we also know that

Adam and he alone was the head
of the human race. He then is res-
sponsible for our lot!

In the Church the same thing is

true in regard to Jesus Christ and

His Mother. Jesus Christ alone re-

deemed us. Yet the Church can

never forget His Mother. She gave

Him the instrument of our redemp-

tion, namely, His human nature.

She freely consented to His con-

ception in her womb. She is the

Mother of the Redeemer and Savior

of all men. More than that, she

united her sufferings with His own,

for no Mother could stand at the

foot of the cross of her Son and

not suffer. She offered her Son to

the heavenly Father. At the moment

she freely and willingly consented

to the Incarnation, she consented to

be the Mother of all that her son

The Catholic Church then speaks

of Mary as the cooperator of her

Son in the redemption of mankind.

But the Church does not teach that

Mary cooperates as an equal. She

herself was redeemed by her Son.

Eve had her origin from the side

of Adam, yet this did not prevent

her from cooperating in the fall of

mankind. Mary has her origin as

a redeemed member of the human

race from the second Adam. Yet

this did not prevent her from co-

operating in the redemption of the

human race.

33



Other Mediators and

Intercessors

While Jesus Christ is the only

mediator, the only one who saved
us from sin, yet Sacred Scripture

abounds with examples of others

who mediated and who interceded
for men. Thus Moses told the Israel-

ites (Deuteronomy 5:5): "I was the

mediator and stood between the

Lord and you . . He interceded for
the rebellious people on several oc-

casions (Numbers 14:13 ff; Ex.

17:8 ff). A very interesting exam-
ple of intercession is to be found in

the story of Abraham begging God
to save Sodom and Gomorrha (Gen-
esis 19:15 ff). David prayed for

the life of the child born to him

through his adulterous union (2

Kings 12:13 ff).

In the New Testament we find
Mary, the Mother of our Lord, com-

ing to Him to intercede for the
young couple of Cana (John 2:1

ff). When Peter was in prison,
"prayer was made to God for him
by the Church without ceasing”

(Acts 12:5). St. Paul tells Timothy

(1 Timothy 2:1 ff): "I urge there-

fore, first of all, that supplications,

prayers, intercessions, and thanks-

givings be made for all men; for
kings, and for all in high positions,

that we may lead a quiet and peace-
ful life in all piety and worthy

behavior. This is good and agree-

able in the sight of God our Savior,
Who wishes all men to be saved
and to come to the knowledge of

the truth. For there is one God, and

one Mediator, between God and
men, himself man, Christ Jesus.”

Observe that in the very same con-

text St. Paul speaks of Jesus Christ

as the one mediator, yet he teaches

that prayers and intercessions should

be made by all for all.

Invisible Mediator of

A Visible Church
"For Jesus has . . . entered . . . into

heaven itself, to appear now before
the face of God on our behalf.”
Thus wrote the author of the epistle

to the Hebrews (9:24). Our Lord

Himself had said to the apostles

(Matthew 28:20): "Go, therefore,

and make disciples of all nations

. . . and behold, I am with you all
days, even unto the consummation

of the world.” When He appeared
to Saul on the way to Damascus

(Acts 9:1 ff), He asked: "Saul, Saul,
why dost thou persecute me?” He
was identifying Himself with those

whom Saul was dragging out of
their homes and persecuting, name-

ly, the Christians. It was this same

Saul, now called Paul, who devel-

oped this notion of the union of

Christ with Christians. "For just as

in one body we have many mem-

bers, yet all the members have not

the same function, so we, the many,

34



are one body in Christ, but sev-

erally members one of another”

(Romans 12:4-5). In the first epis-

tle to the Corinthians (12:12 ff)

Paul develops the same thought:

"Now you are the body of Christ,

member for member.”

The Christians form the Church.

The Church is the body of Christ,

of which He is the head. ". . . and

him he gave as head over all the

Church, which indeed is his body

. .
.” (Ephesians 1:22-23). ". . . Christ

is head of the Church, being himself

savior of the body . . ” (Ephesians

5:23). "...on the contrary he (the

husband) nourishes and cherishes it

(his flesh), as Christ also does the

Church (because we are members

of his body...)” (Ephesians 5:29-

30).

Christ then is united to His

Church and to the members of His

Church. This Church is a visible

organization, for it is made up of

men, who are joined together under

a visible head. At the time of the

apostles Christians banded together

under the apostles, who in turn

were united under Peter. Christ had

promised Peter the headship of His

Church (Matthew 16:17-19). Then

He had conferred this headship

upon him, when He said to him:

"Feed my sheep, feed my lambs”

(John 21:15 ff). In the Acts of the

Apostles it is clear that Peter was

the leader (1:15 ff; 2:14 ff; 10:1

ff; 15:6 ff). The apostles had au-

thority, as the writings of Paul and

John exemplify. They in turn gave

this authority to others (Acts 20:

28 ff).

Christ Himself is in heaven. He
is invisible to our eyes. Yet He is

with His visible Church. As we saw

above He told the apostles He
would be with them to the very

end of the world. He spoke for all

times. He said: "I am,” using the

present. He is called the head of the

Church. Now a head is united to its
body. The body of Christ is the

Church, and the Church is on earth.

Yet Christ is its head. He is then

an invisible head of a visible

Church. He is the invisible Medi-

ator between God and the members

of His body, the Church on earth.

Into The World”

The glorified humanity of Jesus

Christ is the instrument of His re-

demption. It is also the instrument

of His mediation. For it is the man,

Jesus Christ, Who is the mediator.
That glorified humanity is seated

at the right hand of God the Father.

Those who are to receive the merits

of His mediation are on earth. As

He completed His work on earth,

He ascended into heaven. But He

sent the Holy Spirit, "another Ad-

vocate”, to continue the work of

the salvation of souls.

35



While on earth Jesus Christ

worked through His human nature.

The Holy Spirit works through hu-

man beings, through men. Jesus

Christ Himself selected twelve men

with whom and through whom He

worked. To these men He gave His

own power: "All power is given to

me.” He sent them as His heavenly

Father sent Him: "Even as thou

hast sent me into the world, so also

I have sent them into the world”

(John 17:18).

The work of our redemption was

accomplished through the man,

Jesus Christ. The work of our sal-

vation is now being accomplished

through the man, Jesus Christ, in

union with chosen instruments: the

Pope, the bishops, and the priests

of the Catholic Church. In this way

Jesus Christ multiplies Himself on

earth. There is but one Christ, one

Mediator, one priesthood. There are

however on earth many who have

Christ s power, many who apply the

merits of His mediation, many who

are priests and so intercede with

Him for the salvation of souls.
Thus the Word made flesh con-

tinues His redemptive work. He is
not idle, any more than He was
idle on earth. Thus the Word made
flesh brings souls to God, unites

them to God, gives them life,

teaches them the truth of divine

revelation. "I am the vine, you the

branches.” The prayer that He spoke

to His apostles at the Last Supper

is being fulfilled: "Yet not for these

only do I pray, but for those also

who through their word are to be-

lieve in me, that all may be one,

even as thou, Father, in me and I

in thee; that they also may be one

in us . . . Father, I will that where

I am, they also whom thou hast

given me may be with me; in order

that they may behold my glory ...”

(John 17:20, 24).

Never to have known Jesus Christ in any way is the greatest of

misfortunes, but it involves no perversity or ingratitude. But, after

having known Him, to reject or forget Him, is such a horrible and

mad crime as to be scarcely credible. For He is the origin and source

of all good, and just as mankind could not be freed from slavery but

by the sacrifice of Christ, so neither can it be preserved but by

His power.

Pope Leo XIII

36



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List of pamphlets available at the above address. One title may be requested at a time free

of charge. Several titles, complete sets, and quantities of individual pamphlets may be ordered

at 7$ for each pamphlet, plus postage.

3. The Bible is a Catholic Book

5. Christ’s Seven Sacraments

6. The Holy Sacrifice — the Catholic
Mass

7. Why the Catholic Church says "Inves-
tigate” — Masons, Inquisition, Nuns

8. Speaking of Tolerance — Controver-
sial periods in history.

9. These Men They Call "Knights”

10. Why Catholics Believe As They Do
— Existence of God, Immortality

11. A Short Story of the Popes

12. Let’s Stick to Moses — Ten Com-
mandments explained

13. But Can It Be Found in the Bible? —

Bible not sole rule of faith

14. What Happens After Death? — Pur-
gatory, Resurrection, etc.

15. Yes ... I Condemned the Catholic

Church — Drinking and Gambling,
Annulments, Mixed Marriages

16. What Do You Mean "Only One True
Church”?

17. But How Can Educated People Be
Catholics?— Reliability of the Gospel’s

account of Christ

18. No . . . Belief in God is not Enough!
Meaning of religion

19. The Real Secret of Successful Mar-

riage

20. The Way to Everlasting Life . . . The
Catholic Church — God’s plan of re-
demption

21. Is the Catholic Church a Menace to

Democracy?

22. But Do You Really Understand the
Bible? — Rules for understanding

23. A Letter to Our Non-Catholic Neigh-
bors — Aspects of Catholic faith

24. Yes, the Mother of God Will Help
You!

25. What Makes a Woman Choose Such
a Life? — Life of a Catholic Nun

26. I’ll Tell You Why I Am a Catholic
27. Why So Many Decide to Become

Catholics — Convert stories
28. Let Us Judge Catholics by the Bible

— Prayer to Saints, unmarried priests
29. But Would Christ Call You a Chris-

tian? — Application of Beatitudes to
daily life

30. But Do You Understand What God
Has Told Us? — Apostles’ Creed

31. Should Children Learn About God

in School?

32. The Bible Is Not Our Sole Guide

33. This Was the Faith of Our Fathers

34. These Are Our Seven Deadly Enemies

— Seven capital sins explained
35. Let’s Test Catholic Loyalty — A Good

Catholic is a good citizen

36. Remember the Sabbath . . . Keep It

Holy — The "Sabbath Question”

37. I Am a Catholic Priest
38. But Why the Candles, Holy Water

and Beads ? — Sacramentals

39. The Reformation. Was It Reform or
Revolt?

40. Why I Had to Embrace the Catholic
Faith — Convert stories

41. Yes, Miracles Happened at Fatima

42. Does the Bible Contradict Itself? —

Peter the Rock, Faith and/or Works

43. I Was Warned About the Catholic
Church! — Religious Liberty

44. Why a Woman Needs the Catholic
Faith!

45. The Early Years of the Catholic

Church — First three centuries
46. Yes ... A Priest Can Forgive Your

Sins — Sacrament of Penance
47. But Why Don’t You Pray to the

Saints? — Communion of Saints
48. God’s Story of Creation — Genesis
49. Is the Catholic Church Out of Place

Here? — Catholicism and Loyalty
50. This Is the Catholic Church — Creed,

Sacraments, Mass, Commandments

51. Revelation ... A Divine Message of
Hope — Revelations or Apocalypse

52. Does It Pay to be a Catholic? — How
to be a Catholic

53. Think About Death and Start to Live

— Catholic attitude toward death
54. What Do You Find Wrong With

the Catholic Church? — Loss of faith,
how to return to the Church

55. His Name Shall Be Called God With
Us — Divinity of Christ

56. The Infallible Church, Truth or Trick-

ery? — Church of the Scriptures
57. Tell Us About God... Who Is He?

Existence and nature of God



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