Week 13: Passages 624-667

We are up to passages 624-667. These readings cover the death and Resurrection of Jesus.

Paragraph 3. Jesus Christ was Buried
Before his Easter Resurrection Christ actually experienced death, his soul was separated from his body so that he “might be, in his person the meeting point for death and life.” (CCC 625)
Jesus’ body was kept free from corruption, because his divine person was still present in his body and soul even though they were separated from each other. This is evidenced in his Resurrection on the third day as the fourth day was the day it was traditionally believed that decay began. Baptism (which was originally immersion) signifies our descent in to the tomb with Christ so that we may also experience being raised up with him.

Article 5 “He Descended Into Hell On the Third Day He Rose Again”
Paragraph 1. Christ Descended into Hell

Jesus experienced death as all men do, but when he descended into Hell it was “as Savior, proclaiming the Good News to the spirits imprisoned there.” (CCC 632)
“Hell” refers to the dwelling place of all souls who died awaiting the Redeemer, because they are deprived of the vision of God. Jesus delivers the righteous, but not the damned. The descent into Hell brings the Gospel message to fulfillment, spreading it to all people of all times. This brief event of Jesus’ descent is vastly significant.

“Jesus, ‘the Author of life,’ by dying destroyed ‘him who has the power of
death, that is, the devil, and [delivered] all those who through fear of death
were subject to lifelong bondage.’ Henceforth the risen Christ holds ‘the keys
of Death and Hades,’ so that ‘at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in
heaven and on earth and under the earth.’” (CCC 635)

Paragraph 2. On the Third Day He Rose from the Dead

“The Resurrection of Jesus is the crowning truth of our faith in Christ, a faith
believed and lived as the central truth by the first Christian community; handed
on as fundamental by Tradition; established by the documents of the New
Testament; and preached as an essential part of the Paschal mystery along with
the cross.” (CCC 638)

I. The Historical and Transcendent Event
The Resurrection of Christ was a real event that is historically verified. When the disciples enter the empty tomb they find evidence that the absence of Jesus’ body is not of human doing and that Jesus has not simply returned to earthly life as Lazarus did. This is suggested in the Gospel when John enters the tomb, “he saw and believed.” (CCC 640)
Mary Magdalene and the holy women were the first to encounter the Risen Christ, and they became the first messengers of Christ’s Resurrection for the apostles. Next Jesus appeared to Peter, then the other apostles and many more disciples.
All these testimonies provide evidence of the Resurrection as a historical fact. The apostles faith was put to the test by Jesus’ death on the cross, many were demoralized and had a hard time believing the tales of the Resurrection. Even when Jesus appeared to them directly they wondered if he was a ghost.
The Resurrection did not spring from the faith of the apostles, but rather their faith in the Resurrection came from divine grace and their direct experience with the reality of the risen Jesus.
Jesus’ risen body bears the marks of the passion, but it is a glorified body with new properties. Christ is now outside of time and space and belongs to his Father’s divine realm. His body is filled with the Holy Spirit so that he can share his divine life with us.
The Resurrection is a mystery that was not witnessed by anyone. It is a transcendent event, while historically verifiable surpasses history. That is why Christ appeared not to everyone but to his disciples so that they might be his witnesses to the people.
II. The Resurrection – A Work of the Holy Trinity
In the work of the Resurrection the three divine persons act together as one while manifesting their own characteristics.
III. The Meaning and Saving Significance of the Resurrection
Christ’s Resurrection is the fulfillment of the Old Testament. It is also proof of Jesus’ divinity. Christ’s death liberates us from sin, and his Resurrection opens the way to new life. The new life is the justification that reinstates God’s grace, and allows us to become adopted children of God. Finally, Christ’s Resurrection is the source of our future resurrection.

“In Christ, Christians ‘have tasted…the powers of the age to come’ and their
lives are swept up by Christ into the heart of divine life, so that they may
‘live no longer for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was
raised.’” (CCC 655)

Article 6 “He Ascended Into Heaven and is Seated at the Right Hand of the Father”
Christ’s body is glorified at the Resurrection, but that glory is veiled until the event of the Ascension when he takes his place at the right hand of the Father to remain there for all time.
The Ascension is linked to the Incarnation, only one who came from the Father can return to the Father. Jesus is our high priest who enters the greatest sanctuary of all, heaven itself, to permanently make intercession for all who draw near to God through him.
Being seated at the right hand of the Father signifies the beginning of the Messiah’s kingdom and the fulfillment of the prophecy:

“To him was given dominion and glory and kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and
languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall
not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.” (CCC 664)

Questions for Reflection:

• CCC 641 describes the role of women in passing on the Gospel message. What does that mean for us? How can we be witnesses to the men around us?


• CCC 644 states that the apostle's faith was born from divine grace and direct experience of the reality of the risen Jesus. How can we nourish our faith by more fully experiencing Jesus?