Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ

Catechism 10A
New Testament Revelation
As the material universe is a stage for man, so all
human history, Jew or Gentile, is a stage for Christ.

As the universe would be in chaos without us

organizing it, so history would be meaning less if it
were not a highway which provided the way for all
people to realize their capacities for love, truth
and life in Christ.

This centrality of Christ in history is revealed to us

in the New Testament.
The New Testament and the Church
Which comes first the New Testament scripture
or the Church?

The Bible testifies that the Church of the living God

is the pillar and foundation of the truth. (1Timothy
3:15)

The Church did not begin as a religion of the book.

It was first preached as a living voice, fallen not
from a pen, but from the lips of the Master.
The New Testament and the Church
The doctrine of the Church in the beginning was
not a collection of writings.
It was called the Word of God, the word of
salvation, and the first Apostles and ministers of the
Church were called Ministers of the Word.
The Church did not begin as a religion of the book.

Our Lord did not write, nor were the Gospels

written immediately after His death, nor He told His
Apostles to write.
The New Testament and the Church
The doctrine of the Church in the beginning was
not a collection of writings.
It was called the Word of God, the word of
salvation, and the first Apostles and ministers of the
Church were called Ministers of the Word.
The Church did not begin as a religion of the book.

Our Lord did not write, nor were the Gospels

written immediately after His death, nor He told His
Apostles to write.
The New Testament and the Church
Our Lord did not write because He was not an
author, but an authority.
…the fact is Christ did not want to give grounds to
the temptation to look upon the words written
about Him
He wanted us to take hold of His Person!

He would set His doctrine in the members of His

new covenant, or New Testament.
The New Testament and the Church
The Church existed before the gospels.
It was the Church that composed the gospels.

It was in the Church where the New Testament was

written.
This is the meaning of the word “evangel,” or
gospel. It means good tidings, not a good book, but
good tidings of salvation brought by servants of the
Word.
The New and the Old Testaments
The New Testament documents reveal the Bible
has two acts.

Both acts are covenants, agreements, or testaments.

One of the principle covenants of the Old

Testament was given on Mount Sinai, and the New
is very much related to Calvary.
The New and the Old Testaments

Under the Old Testament or old covenant,

justification was by the law. In the New
Testament, justification is by grace.

The emphasis in the Old Testament was on doing

certain things God commanded; and the emphasis in
the New Testament is on being something.
The New and the Old Testaments
If we had only the Old Testament we would have
a lock without a key, a story without a plot, a
promise without fulfillment, a seed without fruit.

If we had the New Testament without the Old, it

would be an end without a beginning, a fulfillment
without a promise, a superstructure without a
foundation.
The New and the Old Testaments

As it was said long ago:

The New is in the Old, concealed,

The Old is in the New, revealed;
The New is in the Old, contained,
The Old is in the New, explained.
The New Testament
In the New Testament, there are four gospel accounts
of our Lord Jesus Christ; Matthew, Mark, Luke and
John.

Why four?

Because each wanted to bring out a different

phase of the life of our Lord.
The New Testament
Each of the four gospels is addressed to a different
audience to bring out one phase of the multiple
variety of the person of Christ.

Matthew wrote principally for the Jews; Mark, for

the Romans; Luke, for the Greeks, and John, for
all Christians.
The Divinity of Christ
Our Lord called himself Son of God and Son of man
which can be read in the Gospels. He is both God and
man. This is a great mystery and we call it the
mystery of Incarnation.
Incarnation means incarnate, in the flesh. God
assumed a human nature. He was enfleshed, St. John
has a very beautiful description; he says, The Word
became flesh (John 1:14). The Word means God, or
the second Person of the blessed Trinity.
The Divinity of Christ
When God came to this world, He did not leave
heaven empty, and when He came to this world, He
was not whittled down to human proportions.

Christ was the life of God dwelling in human flesh.

St. Thomas Aquinas has a very beautiful description

of this in one of his hymns. He said, “The heavenly
Word proceeding forth, yet leaving not the Father’s
side.”
The Divinity of Christ
Why did God become man?

He became man in order to redeem us from sin;

therefore, we have to describe why it was necessary
for God to become man to completely atone for our
sins.
The Divinity of Christ

Whenever we sin we contract an infinite debt, but

we cannot pay an infinite debt because we are finite
and limited.

We will state the reason in the form of a principle and

then we will give examples.
The Divinity of Christ
First,
Honor is in the one honoring.

Example:
Suppose a citizen of the United States, the Mayor of a
city, the Governor of a state, and the President of the
United States pay a visit to the Holy Father. Who pays
the Holy Father the greater honor, the citizen or the
President? Is it not the President?
The Divinity of Christ
Second,
Guilt or sin is always measured by the one sinned
against.

Example:
If a citizen and a Mayor commit a crime, which is the
greater sin? Guilt or sin is always measured by the
one sinned against. If the sin of the Mayor or the guilt
was against the President of the United States,
obviously, the Mayor would be guilty of the greater
sin, would he not?
The Divinity of Christ
Let us apply this to humanity.

We have sinned.
Against whom have we sinned?
Against God.
Sin is measured by the one sinned against.
We sinned against God, He is infinite;
therefore, our guilt and sin are infinite.
The Divinity of Christ
Let us take the other proposition:
“Honor is in the one honoring.”

We are going to try to pay the debt.

Man is finite and limited;
thus, he cannot pay an infinite debt in strict justice.
The Divinity of Christ
We have an infinite debt against God, which we cannot
pay. Could God forgive us? Could He say, “Oh, forget it!
It’s nothing.”
He might say, “Forget it,” but He could not say it is
nothing.
Suppose He did forgive us. He would be merciful, but He
would not satisfy justice.
Man does not want to be let off by God; he has a sense of
his own dignity. He wants to pay the debt in some way
that he owes to God.
The Divinity of Christ
We have yet to answer how it is to be paid.

If justice and mercy are to be satisfied, then God had to

become man.

Unless He became man, He could not be our

representative. He could not stand for us, and man would
not be paying the debt.
In as much as man is involved, in some way, God has to
share our nature.
The Divinity of Christ
Sin demands some kind of suffering and expiation. If He
ever became man, He could suffer as man and suffer in
our name.

Not only would He have to be man, but He would also

have to be God.

He would have to be man in order to act in our name; He

would have to be God so the infinite debt could be paid
by someone Who was infinite.
The Divinity of Christ
Every action of God would have an infinite value. The
outrage against God could be atoned for, and He would
have to be God to be sinless.

If He were full of sin, He would need redemption.

No man can atone for his own sins.

If both justice and mercy are to be satisfied, God would

have to become man to pay the infinite debt.
The Divinity of Christ
Salvation must come from without humanity but it has to
be done, in some way, within humanity.

God had to become man to be redeemed from within.

If God did not become man, He would have no relation to

us. Man does not want just to have his sins forgiven; he
wants to atone for them

So God became man.

The Divinity of Christ

You put these two conditions together and you have the
reason why the redeemer should be both God and man:
God, from without; man to be within humanity.

That is the Incarnation, God becoming man in the

person of Christ so He might save us from our sins.
The Divinity of Christ

What is hypostatic union?

A hypostatic union means there are two natures and

one person in Christ. Remember this, very important!
The Divinity of Christ
Was God, therefore, a human person?
No. He was a Divine Person.

Did He have a human nature?

Yes.
Did He have a divine nature?
Yes. They were united in the divine Person of God.

Christ has two natures: one human; one divine.

They are both united in the person of God.
The Divinity of Christ
Perhaps we can make this clear if you will take a
pencil or a ball-pen in your hand. The pencil has a
nature.

A nature is something that operates.

Example: A cow has a nature; a pig has a nature; a

carpet has a nature; a pigeon has a nature; your
finger has a nature.
The Divinity of Christ

Is a cow a person?
No.

A person is a source of responsibility.

Example: A dog is not responsible for its actions, but

man is.
The Divinity of Christ
Using the pencil in your hand, do you notice there are
before you two natures: one, the nature of the pencil; the
other, the nature of your hand?
Is your hand a person? No, because you could lose
your hand and still be yourself.
We have in the hand now, combined with the pencil, two
natures. How are they united?

In your one person. It is possible to have a union of two

natures in one person.
The Divinity of Christ
The pencil of and by itself cannot write. Put it down
on a chair or table. That pencil cannot write. When
you bring your hand down to that pencil you have a
union of two natures in one person. Now the pencil
can write. It could do something it could not do
before.

When it writes do you say, “The pencil writes,” or, “I

write”?
The Divinity of Christ

Notice we are always attributing the actions of a

nature to a person. If you sign a check there is a
responsibility involved and neither the hand nor the
pencil is the source of that responsibility.
The Divinity of Christ
Let us apply the analogy. Put the pencil down again
on the table.
The pencil is like man; he cannot pay the debt he
owes to God.

Pick up the pencil. Here you have a union of the

nature of the hand, which is united with your person,
and the nature of a pencil.
The Divinity of Christ
The hand, with your personality coming down to the
pencil, represents the person of God and the divine
nature coming down to human nature.
When God comes down and takes upon Himself a
human nature, unites it with His divine nature and
divine Person, you have the union of two natures;
namely, the nature of God, and the nature of man in
the unity of the person of God.
The Divinity of Christ
Just as that pencil could do something which of and
by itself it could not do, so human nature, united with
the person of God, can begin to do something which
of and by itself it could not do before.

The pencil is the instrument of my personality. When

God, with His divine nature, came down to this world
and took upon Himself a human nature from the
womb of His blessed Mother, He took upon Himself
an instrument.
The Divinity of Christ
Once God took upon Himself our human nature, He
could act in our name. Every one of the actions of
that human nature would have an infinite value.

Not a sigh, a word, a tear, a step of that human

nature was inseparable from the person of God. One
breath of God would have been enough to have
redeemed the world.
Why? Because it was the breath of God and had an
infinite value.
The Divinity of Christ
Why did God suffer so much when He took upon
Himself our human nature?

There are more grains of sand in this world than are

necessary, and so love knows no limits. The only way
to prove perfect love is by a surrender of all one has.

God took upon Himself our human nature and He

said He loved us unto the end, even unto death.
The Divinity of Christ
Now you see the beauty and the majesty of Christ.
He became man at Bethlehem and took upon Himself the
form of a babe. He was born without a mother in heaven
and without a father on earth. He who made the world
was born in it. The maker of the sun, born under the sun;
molder of the earth, born on the earth; ineffably wise,
born a little infant; filling the world, lying in a manger;
ruling the stars, nursed by His mother. The mirth of
heaven weeps, God becomes man. Divinity, incarnate;
Eternity, time; Lord, scourged; Power, bound with ropes;
King, crowned with thorns.
The Divinity of Christ

If you were the only person in the world who ever lived
and sinned, He would have come down to earth, died and
suffered just for you alone.

This is how much He loves you!