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Christ gained victory over death first of all by His glorious
resurrection, and He announced the resurrection of the body, which
will take place on Judgment Day.
He had chosen and announced His resurrection to be the sign in proof
of His miracles and the indisputable argument of His divine
mission.[2228] This is developed at length in apologetics. We
wish here only to show the connection between Christ's victory over
sin and His victory over death.
The apostles particularly appeal to the miracle of Christ's
resurrection to confirm the truth of their preaching.[2229] In
fact, St. Paul twice declares: "If Christ be not risen again,
your faith is vain."[2230]
St. Paul does not mean that other miracles are insufficient motives
of credibility, but he intends to say and expressly affirms: "If
Christ be not risen again, then is our preaching vain.... Yea,
and we are found false witnesses of God";[2231] that is, our
preaching is false that rests on this fact attested to by all the
apostles. Moreover, he explains himself by saying: "And if Christ
be not risen again, your faith is vain for you are yet in your
sins."[2232] This means that if Christ did not rise again,
then faith in Christ risen, which is the root of
justification,[2233] is false, and does not cleanse us from
sins. In fact, as St. John Chrysostom, Theophylactus, and
Oecumenius say, Christ's death proved inefficacious for the
remission of sins, if Christ remained dead, and was conquered by it.
For if Christ by His resurrection was unable to conquer death, then
He did not conquer sin, for to conquer sin is more important and more
difficult than to conquer death. Therefore sin is not destroyed unless
its effect, namely, death, is destroyed.
St. John Chrysostom says: "If the dead cannot rise again, then
neither sin is destroyed, nor death is overcome, nor the curse is
taken away."[2234] Theophylactus is of the same
opinion.[2235] Oecumenius likewise says: "If Christ Himself
was also detained by death... then neither was sin destroyed by
Christ's death; for if sin had been destroyed, then certainly death
also which was caused by sin, would have been abolished."[2236]
Cornelius a Lapide, quoting the above-mentioned authors, offers the
same interpretation. In recent times, similar views are expressed by
Father Ladeuze[2237] and Father J. M. Voste.[2238]
In the foregoing we truly see the intimate connection between
Christ's resurrection and the other mysteries of Christianity. This
connection may be expressed by saying that, if Christ did not overcome
sin by rising again, then we are not certain that He overcame sin on
the cross and that our redemption was accepted by God. Why so?
Because as explained at length in the Old Testament and also by St.
Paul: "As by one man sin entered into this world and by sin death;
and so death passed upon all men in whom all have sinned."[2239]
And again: "The wages of sin is death. But the grace of God,
life everlasting in Christ Jesus our Lord."[2240] He also
says: "And if Christ be in you, the body indeed is dead, because
of sin, but the spirit liveth, because of
justification."[2241] Therefore He who invisibly takes away
sin, must visibly take away death, or the effect of sin, so that we
may have a most certain sign of His victory over sin and of our
redemption.[2242] Christ on the cross does not appear visibly as
conqueror but rather as conquered; through the Resurrection, on the
contrary, He shows Himself as the master of death, and so we
understand how He could say to His disciples: "In the world you
shall have distress, but have confidence, I have overcome the
world."[2243] Hence Christ's resurrection is the greatest
motive of credibility, inasmuch as, according to divine providence,
it is a most splendid sign of Christ's victory over sin and the
devil; it is also the fulfillment of several of Christ's prophecies
and the pledge of our future resurrection.
St. Thomas says about the same in the following passage: "Because
it was shown above, that through Christ we have been freed from those
things which we incurred through the sin of the first man; because the
first man sinned, not only sin was transmitted to us, but also death,
which is the penalty of sin (Rom. 5:12); it is necessary for
Christ to free us from both, that is, from sin and from death."
Hence the Apostle says: "For if by one man's offense death reigned
through one, much more they who receive abundance of grace, and of
justice, shall reign in life through one, Jesus Christ.
Therefore, that He might prove both to us, He willed to die and to
rise again. He willed to die, indeed, that He might cleanse us from
sin.... He willed to rise again, however, that He might deliver
us from death,"[2244]
Therefore Christ's victory over death, by His own glorious
resurrection, is the result and sign of His victory over sin and the
devil. And because the Blessed Virgin Mary was associated with
Christ's perfect victory over the devil and sin, it was most fitting
that she be associated with His perfect victory over death, and for
this to be perfect her resurrection had to be anticipated as also her
assumption. It was impossible for Christ to be detained in the bonds
of death, for then He would have been conquered by death and not be
its conqueror. The same must be said with due reservations for the
Blessed Virgin Mary.[2245]
Finally, Christ's victory over death will be made manifest on
Judgment Day, when all will rise again. He Himself announced
this, saying: "This is the will of My Father that sent Me; that
everyone who seeth the Son, and believeth in Him, may have life
everlasting, and I will raise Him up in the last day.... No man
can come to Me, except the Father who hath sent Me, draw Him, and
I will raise him up on the last day.... He that eateth My flesh
and drinketh My blood, hath everlasting life, and I will raise him
up on the last day,"[2246] St. Paul reaffirms this: "And
as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive....
And the enemy death shall be destroyed last; for He hath put all
things under His feet.... And when this mortal hath put on
immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:
Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy victory? O
death, where is thy sting? Now the sting of death is sin.... But
thanks be to God, who hath given us the victory through our Lord
Jesus Christ."[2247] On this question, St. Thomas says:
"The necessity of dying is a defect in human nature resulting from
sin. But Christ by the merit of His passion repaired the defects of
nature, which were visited upon Him because of the sin of man; for as
the Apostle says: "But not as the offense, so also the gift. For
if by the offense of one, many died; much more the grace of God, and
the gift, by the grace of one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto
many, (Rom. 5:15). From this we see that Christ's merit is
more efficacious in taking away death, than Adam's sin was in
bringing it about. Therefore those who rise again through Christ's
merit, are freed from death, and no longer will suffer from the
penalty of death,"[2248] Hence St. John says: "Death
shall be no more, nor mourning nor crying nor sorrow shall be any
more, for the former things are passed away."[2249]
From this it becomes apparent what already has been said, namely,
Christ's perfect victory over the devil implies perfect victory over
sin as presupposed and its consequence, perfect victory over death by
an anticipated resurrection. The same must be said, with due
reservations, of the Blessed Virgin Mary, inasmuch as, in that she
is the Mother of the Savior, particularly on Calvary, she is most
closely associated with Christ's perfect victory over the devil and
sin. Hence she is also associated with His perfect victory over
death, as the ancient and venerated prayer for the feast of the
Assumption states, which says: "The Holy Mother of God underwent
temporal death, yet could not be held down by the bonds of death, who
of herself begot Thy incarnate Son our Lord."[2250]
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