Christ's stay in the tomb constitutes the real link between his passible state before Easter and his glorious and risen state today. The same person of the "Living One" can say, "I died, and behold I am alive for evermore." - CCC 625 - Rev. 1:18 -
God [the Son] did not impede death from separating his soul from his body according to the necessary order of nature, but has united them to one another in the Resurrection, so that he himself might, in his person, the meeting point for death and life, by arresting in himself the decomposition of nature produced by death and so becoming the source of reunion for the separated parts. - St. Gregory of Nyssa -
Since the "Author of life" who was killed is the same "living one [who has] risen" the divine person of the Son of God necessarily continued to possess his human soul and body, separated from each other by death: - CCC 626 - Acts 3:15; Luke 24:5-6 -
By the fact that at Christ's death his soul was separated from his flesh, his one person is not itself divided into two persons; for the human body and soul of Christ have existed in the same way from the beginning of his earthly existence, in the divine person of the Word; and in death, although separated from each other, both remained with one and the same person of the Word. - St. John Damascene -
Christ's death was a real death in that it put an end to his earthly human existence. But because of the union his body retained with the person of the Son, his was not a mortal corpse like others, for "divine power preserved Christ's body from corruption." Both of these statements can be said of Christ: "He was cut off out of the land of the living," and "My flesh will dwell in hope. For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, nor let your Holy One see corruption." Jesus' Resurrection "on the third day" was the proof of this, for bodily decay was held to begin on the fourth day after death. - CCC 627 - St. Thomas Aquinas, Is. 53:8; Ps. 16:9-10; Jon. 2:1; Hos. 6:2; Acts 2;26-27; 1Cor. 15:4; Matt. 12:40; Luke 24:46; John 11:39 -
Baptism, the original and full sign of which is immersion, efficaciously signifies the descent into the tomb by the Christian who dies to sin with Christ in order to live a new life. "We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death. so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life," - CCC 628 - Rom. 6:4; Col. 2:12; Eph. 5:26 -
To the benefit of every man, Jesus tasted death. It is truly the Son of God made man who died and was buried. - CCC 629 -
During Christ's period in the tomb, his divine person continued to assume both his soul and his body, although they were separated from each other by death. For this reason the dead Christ's body "saw no corruption". - Acts 13:37 - CCC 630 -
Jesus "descended into the lower parts of the earth. He who descended is he who also ascended far above all the heavens." The Apostles' Creed confesses in the same article Christ's descent into hell and his Resurrection from the dead on the third day because in his Passover it was precisely out of the depths of death that he made life spring forth: - CCC 631 - Eph. 4:9-10 -
Christ, the Morning Star, who came back from the dead,
and shed his peaceful light on all mankind,
your Son who lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen. - Roman Missal, Easter Vigil 18, Exsultet -
The frequent New Testament affirmations that Jesus was "raised from the dead" presuppose that the crucified one sojourned in the realm of the dead prior to his resurrection. This was the first meaning given in the apostolic preaching to Christ's descent into hell: that Jesus, like all men, experienced death and in his soul joined the others in the realm of the dead. But he descended there as Savior, proclaiming the Good News to the spirits imprisoned there. - CCC 632 - Rom. 8:11; 1Cor. 15:20; Heb. 13:20; 1Peter 3:18-19 -
Scripture calls the abode of the dead, to which the dead Christ went down, "hell" - Sheol in Hebrew or Hades in Greek - because those who are there are deprived of the vision of God. Such is the case for all the dead, whether evil or righteous, while they await the redeemer: which does not mean that their lot is identical, as Jesus shows through the parable of the poor man Lazarus who was received into "Abraham's bosom". It is precisely these holy souls, who awaited their Savior in Abraham's bosom, whom Christ the Lord delivered the damned, nor to destroy the hell of damnation, but free the just who had gone before him. - CCC 633 - 1Sam. 28:19; Ezk. 32:17-32; Ps. 89:49; Luke 16:22-26; Acts 2:24; Phil. 2:10; Eph. 4:9 -
"The gospel was preached even to the dead." The descent into hell brings the Gospel message of salvation to complete fulfillment. This is the last phase of Jesus' messianic mission, a phase which is condensed in time but vast in its real significance: the spread of Christ's redemptive work to all men of all times and all places, for all who are saved have been sharers in the redemption. - CCC 634 - 1Peter 4:6 -
Christ went down into the depths of death so that "the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live." 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 - Matt. 12:24; John 5:25; Acts 3:15; Rom. 10:7; Heb. 2:14-15 -
By the expression "He descended into hell," the Apostles' Creed confesses that Jesus did really die and through his death for us conquered death and the devil "who has the power of death." - CCC 636 -
In his human souls united to his divine person, the dead Christ went down to the realm of the dead. He opened heaven's gates for the just who had gone before him. - CCC 637 -
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Sunday, May 24, 2009
I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!
I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.
HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -
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