Catechism of the Catholic Church · Part One › Section Two › Chapter Two › Article 4 · Paragraph 2 (§§595–623)
Paragraphs · 29
The Catechism's text is under copyright, so each paragraph is quoted briefly here with a link to the full text at vatican.va.
Divisions among the Jewish authorities concerning Jesus
- §595 — Among the religious authorities of Jerusalem, not only were the Pharisee Nicodemus and the prominent Joseph of Arimathea both secret disciples of Jesus, but there was also long-standing dissension about him, so much so that St.vatican.va
- §596 — The religious authorities in Jerusalem were not unanimous about what stance to take towards Jesus. The Pharisees threatened to excommunicate his followers. To those who feared that "everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and destroy both our holy place and our…vatican.va
- §597 — The historical complexity of Jesus' trial is apparent in the Gospel accounts. the personal sin of the participants (Judas, the Sanhedrin, Pilate) is known to God alone.vatican.va
- §598 — In her Magisterial teaching of the faith and in the witness of her saints, the Church has never forgotten that "sinners were the authors and the ministers of all the sufferings that the divine Redeemer endured."vatican.va
Ii. Christ's Redemptive Death in God's Plan of Salvation
- §599 — Jesus' violent death was not the result of chance in an unfortunate coincidence of circumstances, but is part of the mystery of God's plan, as St.vatican.va
- §600 — To God, all moments of time are present in their immediacy. When therefore he establishes his eternal plan of "predestination", he includes in it each person's free response to his grace: "In this city, in fact, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and…vatican.va
- §601 — The Scriptures had foretold this divine plan of salvation through the putting to death of "the righteous one, my Servant" as a mystery of universal redemption, that is, as the ransom that would free men from the slavery of sin.vatican.va
- §602 — Consequently, St. Peter can formulate the apostolic faith in the divine plan of salvation in this way: "You were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your fathers...vatican.va
- §603 — Jesus did not experience reprobation as if he himself had sinned. But in the redeeming love that always united him to the Father, he assumed us in the state of our waywardness of sin, to the point that he could say in our name from…vatican.va
- §604 — By giving up his own Son for our sins, God manifests that his plan for us is one of benevolent love, prior to any merit on our part: "In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the expiation for our sins."vatican.va
- §605 — At the end of the parable of the lost sheep Jesus recalled that God's love excludes no one: "So it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish."vatican.va
Iii. Christ Offered Himself to His Father for Our Sins
- §606 — The Son of God, who came down "from heaven, not to do (his) own will, but the will of him who sent (him)", said on coming into the world, "Lo, I have come to do your will, O God."vatican.va
- §607 — The desire to embrace his Father's plan of redeeming love inspired Jesus' whole life, for his redemptive passion was the very reason for his Incarnation.vatican.va
- §608 — After agreeing to baptize him along with the sinners, John the Baptist looked at Jesus and pointed him out as the "Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world".vatican.va
- §609 — By embracing in his human heart the Father's love for men, Jesus "loved them to the end", for "greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."vatican.va
- §610 — Jesus gave the supreme expression of his free offering of himself at the meal shared with the twelve Apostles "on the night he was betrayed".vatican.va
- §611 — The Eucharist that Christ institutes at that moment will be the memorial of his sacrifice. Jesus includes the apostles in his own offering and bids them perpetuate it.vatican.va
- §612 — The cup of the New Covenant, which Jesus anticipated when he offered himself at the Last Supper, is afterwards accepted by him from his Father's hands in his agony in the garden at Gethsemani, making himself "obedient unto death".vatican.va
- §613 — Christ's death is both the Paschal sacrifice that accomplishes the definitive redemption of men, through "the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world", and the sacrifice of the New Covenant, which restores man to communion with God by reconciling him to…vatican.va
- §614 — This sacrifice of Christ is unique; it completes and surpasses all other sacrifices. First, it is a gift from God the Father himself, for the Father handed his Son over to sinners in order to reconcile us with himself.vatican.va
- §615 — "For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by one man's obedience many will be made righteous." By his obedience unto death, Jesus accomplished the substitution of the suffering Servant, who "makes himself an offering for sin", when "he bore the sin…vatican.va
- §616 — It is love "to the end" that confers on Christ's sacrifice its value as redemption and reparation, as atonement and satisfaction. He knew and loved us all when he offered his life.vatican.va
- §617 — The Council of Trent emphasizes the unique character of Christ's sacrifice as "the source of eternal salvation" and teaches that "his most holy Passion on the wood of the cross merited justification for us."vatican.va
- §618 — The cross is the unique sacrifice of Christ, the "one mediator between God and men". But because in his incarnate divine person he has in some way united himself to every man, "the possibility of being made partners, in a way known to God, in the paschal mystery" is offered to all men.vatican.va
In Brief
- §619 — "Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures" (I Cor 15:3).vatican.va
- §620 — Our salvation flows from God's initiative of love for us, because "he loved us and sent his Son to be the expiation for our sins" (I Jn 4:10).vatican.va
- §621 — Jesus freely offered himself for our salvation. Beforehand, during the Last Supper, he both symbolized this offering and made it really present: "This is my body which is given for you" (Lk 22:19).vatican.va
- §622 — The redemption won by Christ consists in this, that he came "to give his life as a ransom for many" (Mt 20:28), that is, he "loved [his own] to the end" (Jn 13:1), so that they might be "ransomed from the futile ways inherited from [their] fathers" (I Pt 1:18).vatican.va
- §623 — By his loving obedience to the Father, "unto death, even death on a cross" (Phil 2:8), Jesus fulfils the atoning mission (cf Is 53:10) of the suffering Servant, who will "make many righteous; and he shall bear their iniquities" (Is 53:11; cf.vatican.va
Scripture cited · 177 verses
Exodus 12:3 · Exodus 12:4 · Exodus 12:5 · Exodus 12:6 · Exodus 12:7 · Exodus 12:8 · Exodus 12:9 · Exodus 12:10 · Exodus 12:11 · Exodus 12:12 · Exodus 12:13 · Exodus 12:14 · Exodus 24:8 · Leviticus 16:15 · Leviticus 16:16 · Psalm 2:1 · Psalm 2:2 · Psalm 22:2 · Isaiah 53:7 · Isaiah 53:8 · Isaiah 53:10 · Isaiah 53:11 · Isaiah 53:12 · Jeremiah 11:19 · Matthew 3:14 · Matthew 3:15 · Matthew 16:21 · Matthew 16:22 · Matthew 16:23 · Matthew 16:24 · Matthew 18:14 · Matthew 20:28 · Matthew 25:45 · Matthew 26:20 · Matthew 26:28 · Matthew 26:39 · Matthew 26:42 · Matthew 26:53 · Matthew 26:54 · Matthew 26:66 · Matthew 27:25 · Mark 10:39 · Mark 10:45 · Mark 15:11 · Mark 15:34 · Luke 2:35 · Luke 3:21 · Luke 12:50 · Luke 22:15 · Luke 22:19 · Luke 22:20 · Luke 23:2 · Luke 23:19 · Luke 23:34 · Luke 24:25 · Luke 24:26 · Luke 24:27 · Luke 24:44 · Luke 24:45 · John 1:4 · John 1:29 · John 1:36 · John 4:34 · John 5:26 · John 6:38 · John 8:29 · John 8:34 · John 8:35 · John 8:36 · John 8:46 · John 9:16 · John 9:22 · John 10:17 · John 10:18 · John 10:19 · John 11:48 · John 11:49 · John 11:50 · John 12:27 · John 13:1 · John 14:31 · John 15:13 · John 17:19 · John 18:4 · John 18:5 · John 18:6 · John 18:11 · John 18:31 · John 18:36 · John 19:11 · John 19:12 · John 19:15 · John 19:21 · John 19:28 · John 19:30 · John 19:36 · John 21:18 · John 21:19 · Acts 2:23 · Acts 2:36 · Acts 3:13 · Acts 3:14 · Acts 3:15 · Acts 3:17 · Acts 3:18 · Acts 4:10 · Acts 4:27 · Acts 4:28 · Acts 5:28 · Acts 5:30 · Acts 6:7 · Acts 7:52 · Acts 8:32 · Acts 8:33 · Acts 8:34 · Acts 8:35 · Acts 9:4 · Acts 9:5 · Acts 10:39 · Acts 13:27 · Acts 13:28 · Acts 13:29 · Acts 15:5 · Acts 18:6 · Acts 21:20 · Acts 26:22 · Acts 26:23 · Romans 5:8 · Romans 5:10 · Romans 5:12 · Romans 5:18 · Romans 5:19 · Romans 8:3 · Romans 8:32 · 1 Corinthians 2:8 · 1 Corinthians 5:7 · 1 Corinthians 11:23 · 1 Corinthians 15:3 · 1 Corinthians 15:56 · 2 Corinthians 5:14 · 2 Corinthians 5:15 · 2 Corinthians 5:21 · 2 Corinthians 11:25 · Galatians 2:20 · Ephesians 5:2 · Ephesians 5:25 · Philippians 2:7 · Philippians 2:8 · Colossians 1:24 · 1 Thessalonians 2:14 · 1 Thessalonians 2:15 · 1 Timothy 2:5 · Hebrews 2:10 · Hebrews 2:17 · Hebrews 2:18 · Hebrews 4:15 · Hebrews 5:7 · Hebrews 5:8 · Hebrews 5:9 · Hebrews 6:6 · and 17 more