Sunday, December 6, 2015

Youcat commented through CCC - Question n. 100.



YOUCAT Question n. 100 - On the Mount of Olives on the night before his death, did Jesus really experience fear of death?


(Youcat answer) Since Jesus was true man, he truly experienced fear of death on the Mount of Olives.        

A deepening through CCC

(CCC 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 (Cf. Mt 26:42; Lk 22:20), making himself "obedient unto death". Jesus prays: "My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me…" (Phil 2:8; Mt 26:39; cf. Heb 5:7-8). Thus he expresses the horror that death represented for his human nature. Like ours, his human nature is destined for eternal life; but unlike ours, it is perfectly exempt from sin, the cause of death (Cf. Rom 5:12; Heb 4:15). Above all, his human nature has been assumed by the divine person of the "Author of life", the "Living One" (Cf. Acts 3:15; Rev 1:17; Jn 1:4; 5:26). By accepting in his human will that the Father's will be done, he accepts his death as redemptive, for "he himself bore our sins in his body on the tree" (1 Pt 2:24; cf. Mt 26:42). 612

Reflecting and meditating 

(Youcat comment) With the same human strength that we all possess, Jesus had to fight in order to consent interiorly to the Father’s will that he give his life for the life of the world. Abandoned in his darkest hour by everyone, even his friends, Jesus managed after a struggle to say Yes. “My Father, if this [cup] cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done” (Mt 26:42).    

(CCC Comment)

(CCC 1009) Death is transformed by Christ. Jesus, the Son of God, also himself suffered the death that is part of the human condition. Yet, despite his anguish as he faced death, he accepted it in an act of complete and free submission to his Father's will (Cf. Mk 14:33-34; Heb 5:7-8). The obedience of Jesus has transformed the curse of death into a blessing (Cf. Rom 5:19-21).      

(The next question is:  Why did Jesus have to redeem us on the Cross, of all places?)

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