Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (To the Greater Glory of God)
First Reading:
From: 1 Corinthians 15:1-8
Christ's Resurrection and His Appearances
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[1] Now I would remind you, brethren, in what terms I preached to you the gospel, which you received, in which you stand, [2] by which you are saved, if you hold it fast--unless you believed in vain.
[3] For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, [4] that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, [5] and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. [6] Then he appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. [7] Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. [8] Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.
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Commentary:
1-58. Some of the Corinthian Christians were objecting to the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead, because this was a belief with which Greeks were unfamiliar, even those Greeks who held that the soul was immortal. Given the great importance of this doctrine, St Paul replies at length, pointing first to the historical fact of Christ's resurrection (vv. 1-11 ) and how it necessarily connects up with the resurrection of the dead in general (vv. 12-34). He then goes on to discuss what form this resurrection will take (vv. 35-58). This epistle, which began with an exposition on Jesus Christ crucified, the power and wisdom of God (cf. 1:18-2:5), ends with a development of doctrine on the resurrection of Christ and the consequent resurrection of the members of his mystical body.
To understand what St Paul is saying it is useful to bear in mind that here he is referring only to the glorious resurrection of the just. Elsewhere in Sacred Scripture it is clearly stated that all men will rise from the dead (cf., e.g., Jn 5:28-29; Acts 24:15).
1-11. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is one of the essential doctrines of the Catholic faith, explicitly stated in the first creeds or symbols of the faith. It is in fact the supreme argument in favor of the divinity of Jesus and his divine mission: our Lord proclaimed it many times (cf., e.g., Mt 16:21-28; 17:22-27; 20:17-19), and by rising from the dead he provided the sign which he had promised those who did not believe him (cf. Mt 12:38-40).
This point is so important that the primary role of the Apostles is to bear witness to Christ's resurrection (cf. Acts 1:22; 2:32; 3:15; etc.); the proclamation of the resurrection of the Lord is the very core of apostolic catechesis (cf., e.g., the discourses of St Peter and St Paul reported in the Acts of the Apostles).
3-8. On the verbs "deliver" and "receive" see the note on 1 Cor 11:23-26. St Paul reminds the Corinthians of certain basic points in his preaching--that Jesus Christ died for our sins; "that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures" (a statement which has passed directly into the Creed) and was seen by many people.
It should be pointed out that the Greek verb translated as "appeared" refers to being seen by the eye. This is relevant to studying the nature of the appearances of the risen Jesus: St Paul is speaking of true, ocular, sight; there seems to be no way this can be identified with imagination or intellectual vision.
The appearances of the risen Christ are a direct proof of the historical fact of his resurrection. This argument gains special force when one remembers that at the time this letter was written many people who had seen the risen Lord were still alive (v. 6). Some of the appearances referred to by St Paul are also mentioned in the Gospels and in Acts--that to Peter (cf. Lk 24:34), those to the Apostles (cf., e.g., Lk 24:36-49; Jn 20:19-29), that to St Paul himself (cf. Acts 9:1-6); others--that to James and to the five hundred brethren—are mentioned only here.
The importance of this passage is enhanced by the fact that it is the earliest documentary record earlier than the Gospels--of our Lord's resurrection, which had taken place scarcely twenty years earlier.
4. "Was buried": in recounting the death of Christ, all four evangelists expressly mention that his body was buried (cf. Mt 27:57-61 and par.). St Paul also confirms the fact in this letter, written very soon after the time, thereby confirming a tradition which had come down from the beginning (v. 3). The fact that Christ's body was buried eliminates any doubt about his death, and underlines the miracle of the Resurrection: Jesus Christ rose by his own power, rejoining his soul with his body, and leaving the tomb with the same human body (not merely the appearance of a body) as died and was buried, although now that body was glorified and had certain special properties (cf. note on 15:42-44). The Resurrection, therefore, is an objective, physical event, witnessed to by the empty tomb (cf. Mt 28:1ff and par) and by Christ's appearances.
"He was raised on the third day": Jesus died and was buried on the evening of Good Friday; his body lay in the tomb the entire sabbath, and rose on the Sunday. It is correct to say that he rose on the third day after his death, even though it was not a full seventy-two hours later.
"According to the scriptures": St Paul may be referring to certain passages of the Old Testament which--"after" the event--were seen to foreshadow the Resurrection--for example, the episode of Jonah (chaps.1-2), which Jesus in fact applied to himself (cf. Mt 12:39-40; cf. also Hos 6:1-2 and Ps 16:9-10).
From: John 14:6-14
Jesus Reveals the Father (Continuation)
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(Jesus said to Thomas), [6] "I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father, but by Me." [7] "If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; henceforth you know Him and have seen Him.
[8] Philip said to Him, "Lord, show us the Father, and we shall be satisfied." [9] Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you so long, and yet you do not know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, `Show us the Father?' [10] Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does His works. [11] Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me; or else believe Me for the sake of the words themselves.
[12] "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I go to the Father. [13] Whatever you ask in My name, I will do it, that the Father may be glorified in the Son; [14] if you ask anything in My name, I will do it."
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Commentary:
4-7. The Apostles did not really understand what Jesus was telling them: hence Thomas' question. The Lord explains that He is the way to the Father. "It was necessary for Him to say `I am the Way' to show them that they really knew what they thought they were ignorant of, because they knew Him" (St. Augustine, "In. Ioann. Evang.", 66, 2).
Jesus is the way to the Father--through what He teaches, for by keeping to His teaching we will reach Heaven; through faith, which He inspires, because He came to this world so "that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life" (John 3:15); through His example, since no one can go to the Father without imitating the Son; through His merits, which make it possible for us to enter our Heavenly home; and above all He is the way because He reveals the Father, with whom He is one because of His divine nature.
"Just as children by listening to their mothers, and prattling with them, learn to speak their language, so we, by keeping close to the Savior in meditation, and observing His words, His actions, and His affections, shall learn, with the help of His grace, to speak, to act, and to will like Him.
"We must pause here...; we can reach God the Father by no other route...; the Divinity could not be well contemplated by us in this world below if it were not united to the sacred humanity of the Savior, whose life and death are the most appropriate, sweet, delicious and profitable subjects which we can choose for our ordinary meditations" (St. Francis de Sales, "Introduction to the Devout Life", Part II, Chapter 1, 2).
"I am the way": He is the only path linking Heaven and Earth. "He is speaking to all men, but in a special way He is thinking of people who, like you and me, are determined to take our Christian vocation seriously: He wants God to be forever in our thoughts, on our lips and in everything we do, including our most ordinary and routine actions.
"Jesus is the way. Behind Him on this Earth of ours He has left the clear outlines of His footprints. They are indelible signs which neither the erosion of time nor the treachery of the Evil One have been able to erase" (St J. Escriva, "Friends of God", 127).
Jesus' words do much more than provide an answer to Thomas' question; He tells us: "I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life". Being the Truth and the Life is something proper to the Son of God become man, who St. John says in the prologue of his Gospel is "full of grace and truth" (1:14). He is the Truth because by coming to this world He shows that God is faithful to His promises, and because He teaches the truth about who God is and tells us that true worship must be "in spirit and truth" (John 4:23). He is Life because from all eternity He has divine life with His Father (cf. John 1:4), and because He makes us, through grace, sharers in that divine life. This is why the Gospel says: "This is eternal life, that they know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou has sent" (John 17:3).
By His reply Jesus is, "as it were, saying, By which route do you want to go? I am the Way. To where do you want to go? I am the Truth. Where do you want to remain? I am the Life. Every man can attain an understanding of the Truth and the Life; but not all find the Way. The wise of this world realize that God is eternal life and knowable truth; but the Word of God, who is Truth and Life joined to the Father, has become the Way by taking a human nature. Make your way contemplating His humility and you will reach God" (St. Augustine, "De Verbis Domini Sermones", 54).
8-11. The Apostles still find our Lord's words very mysterious, because they cannot understand the oneness of the Father and the Son. Hence Philip's persistence. Then Jesus "upbraids the Apostle for not yet knowing Him, even though His works are proper to God--walking on the water, controlling the wind, forgiving sins, raising the dead. This is why He reproves him: for not recognizing His divine condition through His human nature" (St. Augustine, "De Trinitate", Book 7).
Obviously the sight of the Father which Jesus refers to in this passage is a vision through faith, for no one has ever seen God as He is (cf. John 1:18; 6:46). All manifestations of God, or "theophanies", have been through some medium; they are only a reflection of God's greatness. The highest expression which we have of God our Father is in Christ Jesus, the Son of God sent among men. "He did this by the total fact of His presence and self-manifestation--by words and works, signs and miracles, but above all by His death and glorious resurrection from the dead, and finally by sending the Spirit of truth. He revealed that God was with us, to deliver us from the darkness of sin and death, and to raise us up to eternal life" (Vatican II, "Dei Verbum", 4).
12-14. Before leaving this world, the Lord promises His Apostles to make them sharers in His power so that God's salvation may be manifested through them. These "works" are the miracles they will work in the name of Jesus Christ (cf. Acts 3:1-10; 5:15-16; etc.), and especially the conversion of people to the Christian faith and their sanctification by preaching and the ministry of the sacraments. They can be considered greater works than Jesus' own insofar as, by the Apostles' ministry, the Gospel was not only preached in Palestine but was spread to the ends of the earth; but this extraordinary power of apostolic preaching proceeds from Christ, who has ascended to the Father: after undergoing the humiliation of the cross Jesus has been glorified and from Heaven He manifests His power by acting through His Apostles.
The Apostles' power, therefore, derives from Christ glorified. Christ our Lord says as much: "Whatever you ask in My name, I will do it". "It is not that he who believes in Me will be greater than Me, but that only that I shall then do greater works than now; greater, by him who believes in Me, than I now do by myself without Him" (St. Augustine, "In Ioann. Evang.", 72, 1).
Jesus Christ is our intercessor in Heaven; therefore, He promises us that everything we ask for in His name, He will do. Asking in His name (cf. 15:7, 16; 16:23-24) means appealing to the power of the risen Christ, believing that He is all-powerful and merciful because He is true God; and it also means asking for what is conducive to our salvation, for Jesus is our Savior. Thus, by "whatever you ask" we must understand what is for the good of the asker. When our Lord does not give what we ask for, the reason is that it would not make for our salvation. In this way we can see that He is our Savior both when He refuses us what we ask and when He grants it.