49.The Last Words of Christ

I. “He upbraided them with their incredulity and hardness of heart” (Mark xvi. 14). It is remarkable how frequently the Apostles, after their long training, their knowledge of Scripture prophecies, their sight of miracles, disbelieved the evidence of the Resurrection, and how continually Our Lord had to reproach them on that account. This, however, was very different from the malignant incredulity of the chief priests and ancients; it arose from human weakness, instability and grossness of mind, and was without real malice. Therefore Our Lord renewed the proofs of His Resurrection again and again, with infinite patience and love, till all were finally convinced. The disciples were by no means excusable for their incredulity; they were resisting sufficient evidence, they were showing great want of confidence in Our Lord. From this we may learn that there may be serious faults in even good people, that grace does not destroy all the weaknesses of nature, and that, however much we may have received from God, there is still a fund of hard-heartedness in us. Be patient therefore with the slowness and incredulity of others; and be not so rash as to class with the obstinate Pharisees those who are perhaps no worse than the disciples. Perhaps even now you are unfaithful, and resisting some unwelcome demand of God; and you may be giving occasion to Our Lord to reproach you.

II. A considerable portion of Our Lord’s discourses turned upon the constitution of His Church. He spoke to the Apostles of the future of the Kingdom of God on earth; He appointed St. Peter to be their chief, and confirmed his faith that he might support the others; He bestowed on them the power of working miracles, of forgiving sins, of conferring the sacraments; He commissioned them to preach the Gospel to every creature in His name, and to baptize them into union with the Church and with Himself. He opened their minds to the comprehension of the Scriptures, and qualified them to deal with other necessities and other questions which should arise. He promised them the Holy Ghost and His own abiding presence to the end of the world; and with this He gave the Church indefectible life and assured protection against error and the power of hell. He finally confirmed the authority of the Apostolic Church over all men, by the promise of eternal life to those who should believe, and the threat of eternal condemnation to those who should resist. There are also many other things that Jesus said which are not written but were committed to the Church for us; but the words which are written are sufficient for us, that we may believe and recognize the authority of His Church; they show us clearly that he who hears the Church, hears Christ and the Father who sent Him. Thank Our Lord for so clearly revealing your duty, and thus saving you from the uncertainties and responsibilities of being your own sole guide.

III. “Lifting up His hands He blessed them. And it came to pass, whilst He blessed them, that He departed from them” (Luke xxiv. 50, 51). The last words of Our Lord pronounced on earth were words of blessing poured forth on the Apostles, on the Church, and on all mankind. Then the Apostles went forth to their labour in the world. These words of Jesus were the counterpart of the words of malediction pronounced by God on the natural ancestors of the human race, when they went forth from the garden of Eden for their labours. The Church was blessed to “increase and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it, and rule over . . . all living creatures that move upon the earth” (Gen. i. 29). That blessing has been most efficacious; it has come upon you also; be faithful in all things great and small and you will receive its fulness.

48. The Manifestation of the Resurrection

I. “If Christ be not risen again, then is our preaching vain, and your faith also is vain” (1 Cor. xv. 14). There is no more important fact than the Resurrection. It was the greatest of Our Lord’s miracles. He proposes it to the Jews as the final proof of His divine authority (Matt. xii. 39, 40). The Apostles considered themselves as appointed to witness to this in particular, and they rest the claim of their gospel on the fact that its author was Jesus, whom God raised from the dead the third day. They tell us too that all our hopes for this life and the next depend on the Resurrection; and that without it we should “be of all men the most miserable” (1 Cor. xv. 19). In consequence, we may call it the corner-stone of the Christian system, and of all that is built on Christianity, of the civilization of the world, and of all liberty, benevolence, morality, and well-being. The risen Christ not only lives now in His Human Nature, but He has a permanent life in the souls of His faithful followers. This life in us is a standing proof to the world of the truth and power of religion, it is one of the chief manifestations of God and recommendations of His law. Take care that Christ so live in you. Without this, your religion is vain as regards yourself, and powerless for any good influence in the world.

II. Consider the character of the evidence for the Resurrection. Our Lord remained on earth for forty days, and appeared at frequent intervals to St. Mary Magdalene, St. Peter and the disciples at Jerusalem and Emmaus, and to five hundred at once in Galilee. He submitted to the test demanded by St. Thomas, and at a later date appeared in vision to Saul, a most bitter opponent of Christianity, and converted him. These all bore witness to the miracle by word, by the tenor of their lives, and by their constancy under torments and martyrdom. The evidence of sight was granted but to the few; to others was given only the evidence of their testimony. “Him God raised up the third day, and gave Him to be made manifest, not to all the people, but to witnesses preordained of God” (Acts x. 40, 41). Our Lord might indeed have done more. He might have appeared in His glorious invulnerable body before the tribunals where He had been condemned. He might have had the miracle registered, like His birth, in the annals of the Roman Empire. But such is not the way of Divine Providence. God makes knowledge accessible to all, but He does not force conviction. Faith in divine truths is the product of sufficient evidence united to purity of soul, earnest desire, readiness to believe, humble submission and prayer. Cultivate these qualities, or the most obvious truths of religion will evade your merely natural powers.

III. The sufficiency of the evidence of the Resurrection is shown by its all but universal acceptance. Its sufficiency is shown even by the perversity of those who rejected it. They did not examine the case and give it a fair hearing. The chief priests determined not to recognize the Resurrection on any terms; they bribed the guards of the sepulchre, suppressed their testimony, and invented a theory of their own to explain the facts; this was widely promulgated, and, no doubt, deterred many from embracing Christianity. Such men are impervious to all proof. Had the miracle been forced upon them, it would have been to them no more than an isolated historical fact and not a saving truth. Intellectual consent might be compelled, but this would not constitute a meritorious act of faith in Jesus the Redeemer; their hearts would still have remained hardened against Him. Be on your guard that you do not imitate the Jews, and mistake obstinate resistance for frank sincerity.

47. The Resurrection

 I. “His sepulchre shall be glorious” (Isa. xi. 10). The extremity of Christ’s abasement is the first beginning of His glory. Everything had appeared to be at an end. The shepherd was stricken and the flock dispersed (Zach. xiii. 7). One more was added to the multitude of lost causes. Evil had again triumphed over good. Satan and his instruments on earth were jubilant. Pilate was uneasy, but relieved that all was over. The chief priests felt that Judaism had escaped from the greatest peril that as yet had threatened it, and that it had taken a new lease of existence. The believers in Jesus had lost all heart; His name was to them no more than a memory of a disappointment, an illusion perhaps. There was only one who kept the faith in the silence of her heart, the Mother of Jesus. The tension of men’s minds was relaxing; when suddenly the rumour ran that the Dead had risen, and evidence accumulated that He had been seen alive. Dread and awe and despair invaded the minds of Herod and Pilate, Pharisees and Chief Priests. Satan perceived that he was conquered at the moment of his greatest success. Never had there been so sudden and complete a revulsion, such a victory for the cause of God. That cause is yours. That history repeats itself continually in each man’s life, and in the Church. To all the followers of Jesus will come similar disappointments and similar triumphs. Give glory to your Lord.

II. “Thou wilt not leave My soul in hell; nor wilt Thou give Thy Holy One to see corruption” (Ps. xv. 10). The Resurrection was the necessary termination of Our Lord’s Passion. Death could not hold dominion over the Son of God. The Sacred Body, elevated by its union with the Divinity, could not pass through corruption into dust. These things are necessary stages in our evolution, in order that all which is of sin in us may be eradicated, and our bodies re-formed afresh, adapted to the conditions of heavenly life. In Our Lord’s case, it would have been a retrogression, an undoing of the work of God, a recalling of His gift, if, after matter and human nature had completed their cycle by being united with the Divinity, this union had been broken by the return of the Sacred Body to original dust. Further, as being our true Life, and as being Lord of life and death, Jesus necessarily triumphed over death, and His triumph was more manifest in His submitting to death and rising from it by His own power, than if He had not undergone it. Again, it was the fitting reward merited by Our Lord’s unparalleled sufferings. “According to the multitude of My sorrows in My heart, Thy comforts have given joy to My soul” (Ps. xciii. 19). Congratulate with Our Lord on His supremacy over the universal domination of death. Thank Him that He will make its domination over you only temporary, and that He will grant you one day to rise superior to it.

III. Our Lord’s Resurrection was necessary on our account as well. 1. It established the faith of the Apostles, and through them of all mankind in His Divinity; and it gave them the energy to propagate His religion. “Predestinated Son of God in power, according to the Spirit of sanctification, by the resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead” (Rom. i. 4). 2. It confirms our confidence, by showing that no obstacles of violence or fraud, no sophisms of incredulity, can cause one iota of His words to fail. He, and His Church, and His elect will in like manner triumph over the world, the flesh, and the devil. 3. It is the assurance of our resurrection and glory. “Christ is risen from the dead, the first-fruits of them that sleep. . . . And as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive” (1 Cor. xv. 20, 22). You can hardly calculate the immense influence that the Resurrection of Christ has on your life and your happiness. It gives you a definite certainty as to the hereafter, it is the solution of the most urgent problems of humanity, it is your comfort and strength in life and death.

43. Christ on The Cross

I. Consider the motives and thoughts of Our Lord. Always most perfect, they were especially so in His Crucifixion, the crowning act of His earthly life. Towards the Eternal Father He had a burning love, and He desired to render to Him an infinite sacrifice of praise and service, not only from Himself, but from the human race and all creation. He wished also to make atonement to Him for the wrongs inflicted by men, and to restore that glory of which He had been robbed. Jesus was moved by an ardent love for men and pity for their miseries. As God, in union with the Father and the Holy Ghost, He had created men; as Man, He was one of them. Mankind were thus doubly His; and He wished to make them still more His, by redeeming them to Himself, and gaining their love in return. Our Lord suffered a most bitter anguish at the sight of the sins of the world, of which He was bearing all the responsibility and the burden; but most bitter of all was the thought of human ingratitude, of the unprofitableness to so many of all that He was enduring, of their wicked folly in rejecting Him, and of their eternal obstinacy in the midst of most fearful misery. Strive to enter into Our Lord’s sentiments, and to carry out His objects and intentions towards His Father and Himself, towards yourself and your brethren.

II. Consider the words of Christ on the Cross. His dying words merit the most careful consideration, for they show us the action of His soul at that supreme moment, and the details to which we ought to direct our attention. He first thinks of the furious, blaspheming, blood-thirsty crowd who had brought Him to the Cross, and He prays that God will take account of their ignorance and pardon them. Then He turns to the most miserable of all there present, one of the malefactors suffering with Him, accords him pardon and grace, and declares him to be one of the elect in the eternal kingdom. Only after the wicked does Our Lord think of His own best beloved, the holiest of all creatures, His Blessed Mother; He bequeaths her to His chosen Apostle, and through him to humanity. Next He fulfils the Scripture by giving evidence of His desolation of spirit, and of the pangs of thirst which otherwise would have escaped our notice and sympathy. Last of all He declares that His work is finished, and commends His human spirit to the Father who had bestowed it on Him. Take each word separately, see how it applies to you; either say it with Our Lord, or hear it as said to you, and glorify Him for each one of them.

III. Consider what was achieved by Jesus Christ in His Crucifixion. He completed the work of creation and evolution which had been broken off at the point where Adam sinned. Man otherwise had remained on the level of mere nature, a little higher than the beasts, belonging only to the mundane sphere, incapable of raising himself higher. The Crucifixion infused into mankind the higher life, the supernatural breathing of God upon the face of man. Thereby it is in the power of all to become what God had intended that they should be. A new human society was formed, the universal Church, born on Calvary, and proceeding, like Eve, from the wounded side of the second Adam. Though consisting of sinful erring men, it was yet “a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing” (Eph. v. 27). He gave it an indomitable life, as against the ravages of time and human violence; an incorruptible life, as against error. The death of Christ reversed the defeat of Adam, and made humanity triumphant over Satan, it assured the predominance of good over evil. It rendered to the Almighty the full glory that was His due from creatures, appeased His anger, obliterated sin, and opened to men the gates of eternal life. Glorify Jesus for this great work; be faithful to Him in order that you may participate in it.

42. Christ’s Death for all Men

I. “He is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world” (1 John ii. 2). The magnificent superabundance of Our Lord’s Redemption is shown in this, that He did not die for the elect only, but also for the reprobate; He suffered the penalties not only of the sins that we shall repent of, but of those which will remain unforgiven through our perverse obstinacy. No sinner, however atrocious, is excluded from Christ’s love and the benefit of His death. He desires the salvation of all, and provides them with the means of obtaining forgiveness and eternal life. “He will have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. ii. 4). Some labour under particularly adverse conditions, but there is more abundant grace and more generous allowance for them. However great the disadvantages of a man’s surroundings, however handicapped he may be by the prejudices of a bad education and an heredity of evil, he has, somehow, compensation for all this, and the means of saving his soul. So much has been done for us, that nothing remains undone which might have been done. We are saved almost in spite of ourselves. Nothing can outweigh Our Lord’s propitiation except a man’s own full and deliberate rejection of it. Only by persevering ill-will on our part can we fail of salvation. What immense confidence in Our Lord you ought to have for yourself and others!

II. Notwithstanding the infinite efficiency of the death of Christ, and its application to all, it is ineffective in many cases. St. John explains this; the light shined in the darkness, but the darkness would not comprehend it (John i. 5). God sent His Son for the illumination of all men, yet “men loved darkness rather than the light, for their works were evil” (John iii. 19). The sun pours forth light and warmth upon all the earth, yet it is possible for men to conceal themselves from its rays, and make it to themselves as if it did not exist. There are three stages of grace prepared for us by the passion of Christ. There is a first grace moving men to abandon sin and turn towards truth and holiness. All receive this; it makes salvation possible for all. Next there is sanctifying grace, the state of possessing God and loving Him. Not all are willing to go so far as this; and of those who do, some fail and return to sin and final loss. The third stage is of those who persevere to the end and attain to glory. Thus it is that many who are called are not finally chosen. They reject grace and pervert Redemption itself to their ruin. You cannot trust yourself. Whatever you are or have, there is in you a root of perversity, which may bring you to destruction if you fail in humility or prayer.

III. There are many now who will not take the trouble to secure for themselves their share in the Atonement of Christ. They think it a bad bargain to sacrifice the advantages of the present for those which, though eternal, are not at present visible to them. Many prefer to follow the animal impulses of the lower nature rather than the calls of the supernatural. They say that the law of Christ is too difficult for human nature, or is actually opposed to it, that grace and the evidence of truth are insufficient, that God expects to reap where He has not sown. But sooner or later, the sufficiency of grace, light, and strength, is placed within their reach; and the power of Christ’s merit makes all things possible to them. A day will come when the groundlessness of all excuses will be proved. Then sinners will recognize their folly and hate themselves for it. In the multitudes of the elect brought out of the great tribulation, they will see how easily salvation might have been attained, how it was actually within their grasp, and how completely their destruction is their own fault. Be wise in time. Take account of the future as well as of the present. Know that Jesus will never fail you if you be true to yourself and Him.

41. The Excess of the Passion

 

I. From one point of view it might seem unnecessary for Our Lord to go to the extreme of suffering so much and dying; for His smallest action was of infinite merit, so that it exceeded all the demerits of the world, and could have purchased life for all. Yet there is a beautiful appropriateness and fitness in the excesses of the Passion. The death of Christ is in accordance with that fundamental law, typified in all the ceremonies of the Old Testament, that “without the shedding of blood there is no remission” (Heb. ix. 22). Throughout nature we may trace the principle that death produces life. The spring is preceded by winter. “That which thou sowest is not quickened unless it die first” (1 Cor. xv. 36). Of old this was represented by the fable of the phœnix. After a hundred years of life it built itself a funeral pyre, and out of its ashes a new phœnix arose. Life, then, must be preceded by an adequate death. Death is a vivifying action, a creative action, we may say, and is itself the cure of death. The supernatural life of man, being a participation in the Infinite, must proceed from an infinite death. Our death in sin is irremediable, as far as we are concerned, and in a manner infinite. It requires to be remedied by a death which is productive of God in us. Therefore God died in His human nature. See then the great efficiency of the death of Jesus; and estimate rightly the greatness of the evil that sin inflicts, and the greatness of the boon bestowed on you.
II. The excess of Our Lord’s Passion is in full accordance with universal law. God destroys nothing; not even the energies of evil. He allows all things to work out their activities to the full; He lets the battle rage till evil exhausts itself, and is broken like a wave on an iron-bound coast. Sin, therefore, being, in its tendency, destructive of God, is allowed to go to its last extremity in destroying the life of God in human nature. Not till then had it done its worst; and after that, it can do no further harm except what we deliberately invite upon ourselves. Our Lord rose again unharmed by it, and in that consists His victory. His triumph is thus far greater than if He had prevented sin, or stifled its energies by an extra-legal intervention of new forces in the universe. In His Passion Our Lord bore the whole brunt of all the sins of the world, and not merely those of His actual enemies. The hatred and fury of Caiphas, Pilate and Herod, were the embodiment of our malice. But, further, in Gethsemani He actually saw and endured the full horror of each individual sin that we have committed. How fearful would have been the consequences of your sins to you if they had not been exhausted on Our Lord! “If in the green wood they do these things, what shall be done in the dry?” (Luke xxiii. 31).

III. The excess of the Passion teaches us important lessons. 1. It is an instance of the extraordinary prodigality of bounty which appears in all God’s works. Let this move you always to do the most you can, and not the least that you are obliged. Be generous towards God and your neighbour. 2. It lays down the important rule of self-sacrifice, as the grandest source of good in this world, and the only force that can counteract the terrible effects of selfishness. “Contempt of death is the source of all moral force.” “Those who are ready to die will always master those who prefer to live” (Lacordaire). 3. Considering the enormous destructiveness of sin, and the share of our burden which Jesus assumed, we should be content to endure such minor consequences of it as come upon us. 4. Judge of the horrible power which sin will exert in hell on those who are so foolish as to refuse the benefits of Redemption. 5. Reflect on the greatness of the love of Jesus for you, in that He endured such excesses for your sake, without compulsion, and with nothing to gain. In return give yourself to Him without reserve.

40. The Last Supper

 
I. In the Last Supper Jesus Christ exhibits His love, and proves Himself to be our best Friend. The account of it begins: “having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end” (John xiii. 1). This was the farewell banquet on the last evening of His earthly life; in it He delivered His Testament, His final word of love, and bequeathed us a keepsake and eternal memorial of Himself. This bequest was not His portrait, not even the most valuable of His created works, not an empty type or figure of Himself; it was Himself under the form of a simple creature, it was His own Body and Blood, it was the food of eternal life for our souls under the appearance of perishable bodily nourishment. This gift was not bestowed in its reality on the twelve alone, and as a mere historical remembrance for succeeding generations, but it was to be a personal gift for every human being to the end of time; it was to be the means of incorporating Christ, not merely with the human species in general, but with each individual soul. In this Supper Our Lord gives expression in act to that which He declared of old: “My delights are to be with the children of men” (Prov. viii. 31); and He literally fulfils that other promise: “Behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world” (Matt. xxviii. 20). This gift is the supreme expression of Christ’s love for you: the devout reception of it is the supreme expression of your love for Him. You receive in it the full effects of His love, and you are able to make Him a full and adequate return.




II. On this occasion Our Lord further exhibits the most profound humility, and makes Himself our Servant; according to His word: “the Lord . . . will gird Himself, and make” His servants “sit down to meat, and passing will minister unto them” (Luke xii. 37). In this He places us above Himself: “Which is greater, he that sitteth at table, or he that serveth? . . . But I am in the midst of you as he that serveth” (Luke xxii. 27). Our Lord showed His humble servitude by kneeling before His Apostles and washing their feet. By this He cleansed them from the remnants of their sins, and represented the much more lowly servitude by which He cleanses mankind from the intolerable loathsomeness of their iniquity. Thank Our Lord for this exceeding humiliation. He points out its lesson to you: “I have given you an example, that as I have done to you, so you do also” (John xiii. 14). “You also ought to wash one another’s feet” (ib.), by humble service towards them. How have you done this in the past; how will you carry it out in the future? By doing so to men you repay the debt that you owe to Christ.




III. The Last Supper was also the inauguration of the Eternal Sacrifice, and in it Jesus exhibits Himself as our High Priest. In the giving of His Body and Blood, He connects it significantly with the sacrifice that He was to offer on the cross the following day. “This is My body that shall be delivered, My blood which shall be shed.” The action in the supper-room was an anticipation of the action on Calvary. That mystical banquet was not only a memorial of Our Lord to us, it is also an act of worship on the part of men towards God. We receive in it a gift from heaven, we render back a sacrifice to Our Maker. Further, Our Lord conveyed the participation in His priestly office to the Apostles and their successors, saying: “Do this for a commemoration of Me” (Luke xxii. 19). By this instrumentality the Sacrifice of Calvary was made an eternal sacrifice, to be offered unceasingly among the Gentiles from the rising of the sun to its setting (Mal. i. 11). The Pasch of that evening was the Pasch of all time, and all mankind are called to partake of it with Jesus and His Apostles. This was the compendium of all God’s bounties: “He hath made a remembrance of His wonderful works; He hath given food to them that fear Him” (Ps. cx. 4, 5). Venerate this mystery of mysteries. In it you really partake in that solemn supper and in the sacrifice that Jesus offered on Calvary.