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Reply. It is denied that Christ received knowledge from the angels,
because His soul was filled with knowledge and grace by reason of its
immediate union with the Word of God.
Thus indeed the Evangelist says that in the garden of Gethsemane "an
angel from heaven appeared to Christ, strengthening
Him,"[1259] and this strengthening must be understood, as
stated in this article,[1260] for the purpose not of instructing
Him, but of proving the truth of His human nature, as Venerable
Bede explains.[1261] Likewise St. Thomas remarks that
Christ was strengthened by an angel by way of companionship and
compassion, just as by the presence and conversation of a friend a man
is naturally consoled in sadness, or also the angel strengthened the
body of Christ, for instance, by wiping away the blood from His
face.
This concludes the questions concerning the threefold knowledge of
Christ. From what has been said, it is evident how sublime, even in
this life, was Christ's contemplation, which continued on the
cross, when He said, viewing all the fruits of the mystery of
redemption: "It is consummated.... Father, into Thy hands I
commend My spirit."[1262]
Christ's doctrine, which St. Thomas discusses farther
on,[1263] is the complimentary of this question. He shows that
it was fitting for this doctrine to be preached both by Christ Himself
and by the apostles, first of all only to the Jews, to whom He was
sent. It was also His duty publicly to refute the scribes and
Pharisees for the preservation and salvation of souls. It was
likewise fitting that He should teach all that pertains to the
salvation of mankind not secretly but openly. Nevertheless He often
proposed to the people spiritual matters disguised in the form of
parables, and more explicitly to the apostles so that they could teach
others. Finally, St. Thomas shows[1264] that it was not
fitting for Christ to commit His doctrine to writing, for the most
excellent manner of teaching is for one to make his doctrine appeal
immediately to the mind and hearts of his hearers. Moreover,
Christ's sublime doctrine and all He accomplished in souls could not
be understood in writing, and finally the new law was not first
written, but it was first imprinted on the hearts by grace, as St.
Paul says: "You are the epistle of Christ... written not with
ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, not in tables of stone,
but in the fleshly tables of the heart."[1265]
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