101. No one can say “God does not know what I’m suffering.”

No one can say “God does not know what I’m suffering.”

YOUCAT Catechism + Catechism of the Catholic Church Lesson 101

Ave Maria series

101  Why did Jesus have to redeem us on the Cross, of all places?

The Cross on which Jesus, although innocent, was cruelly executed is the place of utmost degradation and abandonment.  Christ, our Redeemer, chose the Cross so as to bear the guilt of the world and to suffer the pain of the world.  So he brought the world back home to God by his perfect love.  [613-617, 622-623]

Scenes from the Passion of Christ .....101

God could not show his love more forcibly than by allowing himself in the person of the Son to be nailed to the Cross for us.  Crucifixion was the most shameful and most horrible method of execution in antiquity.  It was forbidden to crucify Roman citizens, whatever crimes they were guilty of.  Thereby God entered into the most abysmal sufferings of mankind.  Since then, no one can say “God does not know what I’m suffering.”

“God stretched out his hands on the Cross so as to embrace the farthest corners of the universe.”  St. Cyril of Jerusalem (ca. 313-386/387, Father of the Church)

“When we look at the Cross, we understand the greatness of his love.  When we look at the crib, we understand the tenderness of his love for you and me, for your family and every family.”  Bl. Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997)

“His death on the Cross is the culmination of that turning of God against himself in which he gives himself in order to raise man up and save him.  This is love in its most radical form”  Pope Benedict XVI, Encyclical “Deus Caritas est”

[613-617, 622-623]

Christ's death is the unique and definitive sacrifice

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", (John 1:29; compare Jn 8:34-36; 1 Corinthians 5:7; 1 Peter 1:19.)⁴³⁹  and the sacrifice of the New Covenant, which restores man to communion with God by reconciling him to God through the "blood of the covenant, which was poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins". (Matthew 26:28; compare Exodus 24:8; Leviticus 16:15-16; 1 Corinthians 11:25.)⁴⁴⁰ --Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition

614 This sacrifice of Christ is unique; it completes and surpasses all other sacrifices. (Compare Hebrews 10:10.)⁴⁴¹ 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. At the same time it is the offering of the Son of God made man, who in freedom and love offered his life to his Father through the Holy Spirit in reparation for our disobedience. (Compare John 10:17-18; Jn 15:13; Hebrews 9:14; 1 John 4:10.)⁴⁴² --CCC

Jesus substitutes his obedience for our disobedience

615 "For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by one man's obedience many will be made righteous." (Romans 5:19.)⁴⁴³ 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 of many", and who "shall make many to be accounted righteous", for "he shall bear their iniquities". (Isaiah 53:10-12.)⁴⁴⁴ Jesus atoned for our faults and made satisfaction for our sins to the Father. (Compare Council of Trent (1547): Denzinger-Schonmetzer 1529)⁴⁴⁵ --CCC

Jesus consummates his sacrifice on the cross

616 It is love "to the end" (John 13:1.)⁴⁴⁶ 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. (Compare Galatians 2:20; Ephesians 5:2, 25.)⁴⁴⁷ Now "the love of Christ controls us, because we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died." (2 Corinthians 5:14.)⁴⁴⁸ No man, not even the holiest, was ever able to take on himself the sins of all men and offer himself as a sacrifice for all. The existence in Christ of the divine person of the Son, who at once surpasses and embraces all human persons, and constitutes himself as the Head of all mankind, makes possible his redemptive sacrifice for all. –CCC

617 The Council of Trent emphasizes the unique character of Christ's sacrifice as "the source of eternal salvation" (Hebrews 5:9.)⁴⁴⁹ and teaches that "his most holy Passion on the wood of the cross merited justification for us." (Council of Trent: DS 1529)⁴⁵⁰ And the Church venerates his cross as she sings: "Hail, O Cross, our only hope." (LH, Lent, Holy Week, Evening Prayer, Hymn Vexilla regis.)⁴⁵¹  –CCC

IN BRIEF

622 The redemption won by Christ consists in this, that he came "to give his life as a ransom for many" (Matthew 20:28), that is, he "loved [his own] to the end" (John 13:1), so that they might be "ransomed from the futile ways inherited from [their] fathers" (I Peter 1:18). --CCC

623 By his loving obedience to the Father, "unto death, even death on a cross" (Philippians 2:8), Jesus fulfills the atoning mission (compare Isaiah 53:10) of the suffering Servant, who will "make many righteous; and he shall bear their iniquities" (Is 53:11; compare  Romans 5:19). --CCC