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To confirm our belief in the truth of Christ's divinity, it was
necessary for Him to rise soon, and that His resurrection be not
delayed until the end of the world. But to confirm our belief in the
truth of His humanity and death it was necessary that there be some
delay between His death and resurrection. That the truth of His
death be made manifest, however, it sufficed that His resurrection be
deferred until the third day.
The third day, on which Christ rose again, was the first of the
week, which is our Sunday; it was daybreak or about dawn. In other
words, the night following the Sabbath, "when it began to dawn
toward the first day of the week."[2294]
Third Article:
Christ was the first to rise again, His resurrection being perfect,
in that He never died again. Some rose again before Him,
resurrection was imperfect, for they were rescued from actual death,
but not from the necessity and possibility of dying. Thus, like
Lazarus, they returned to life, merely to die again.
St. Thomas says: "There are two opinions regarding those who rose
with Christ. Some hold that they rose to life so as to die no
more.... But Augustine seems to think that they rose to die
again... and his reasons seem to be more cogent,"[2295] The
common opinion of the faithful is that nobody ascended bodily into
heaven before Christ and the Blessed Virgin.
But some saints rose again with Christ though the Scripture does not
give their names. It is very probable, according to the more common
opinion, that these referred in a special manner to Christ, and were
His more illustrious types, such as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob,
Moses, David, Melchisedech, and such as these, as also some of
those who died later on, such as Zacharias, John the Baptist,
Simeon, and others of this kind.
Fourth Article:
Christ according to His divine nature was the principal efficient
cause of His resurrection, but His soul and body were instruments of
His divine nature, and "they mutually took back each
other."[2296] Moreover, Christ by His passion was the
meritorious cause of His resurrection.[2297]
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