When He willingly died on the Cross, Jesus redeemed humanity by paying an infinite debt that man owed but could not pay. Only the love of Jesus could satisfy this debt and atone for sins by his perfect and infinite sacrifice.
Sin entered the world through Adam and Eve, severely damaging the relationship between God and man. Nothing that man can do could restore the relationship and save man from being separated from God forever.
When man cried out for help in this broken state, the Father showed that He valued the salvation of man even more than the life of his own Son by allowing Jesus to take on mortal flesh to experience the punishment that man deserved.
As both God and Man, Jesus’ Death on Calvary removes the curse of sin that separates man from God. The blood of Jesus on the Cross reconciles everything in Heaven and on Earth and opens up Heaven for all mankind.
Jesus could have died a less agonizing and less shameful death, or He could have saved man by divine command, but He chose Crucifixion to show the extent of his love and to provide an example of trust.
The Old Testament Passover had prepared God’s chosen people for Jesus’ death. The Israelites were saved from death by sacrificing an unblemished male lamb, marking their doors with its blood, and then eating its flesh.
As the Lamb of God, Jesus shed his blood on the Cross to redeem all of mankind, but each individual must freely love God in return and personally accept God’s gift of salvation by turning from sin, believing in Jesus, and being baptized.
The image of Jesus’ lifeless body depicted on a Crucifix reminds Catholics of the love that God has for them. No sin can separate man from the love of God and there is nothing that God will not do.
Catholics remember the death of Jesus every Friday of the year, especially on Good Friday, three days before celebrating his glorious Resurrection on Easter Sunday.
Although several atonement theories have been offered throughout Christianity, exactly how Jesus’ death pays for man’s sin and restores the relationship between God and man remains a mystery and continues to be studied.
An act of divine love:
The Son shows the Father’s love for us:
Jesus did not have to do it:
The ultimate and perfect sacrifice of love:
From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised. Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, “God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to You.” He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an obstacle to Me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”
Matthew 16: 21-23
Fully restored to communion and friendship with God:
Jesus died for every single person:
Christ’s Death is both the Paschal sacrifice that accomplishes the definitive redemption of men, through “the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world”, and the sacrifice of the New Covenant, which restores man to communion with God by reconciling him to God through the “Blood of the covenant, which was poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins”.
Catechism of the Catholic Church 613
A sacrifice to save God’s people:
Catholics are present at Jesus’ death during every Mass:
Before the Crucified One, the words He uttered during the Last Supper acquire dramatic importance. “This is my Blood of the Covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”. Jesus wanted to offer his life in sacrifice for the forgiveness of the sins of humanity, choosing for this end the cruelest and most humiliating death, Crucifixion. Just as with the Eucharist, so with the Passion and Death of Jesus on the Cross the mystery is unfathomable to human reasoning. The climb to Calvary was indescribable suffering, resulting in the terrible torment of Crucifixion. What a mystery! God, made man, suffers to save man, taking the tragedy of humanity upon Himself.
Pope John Paul II, General Audience, 26 March 199
How Jesus’ death atones for sins is a mystery:
The Truth, Goodness, and Beauty of the Catholic Church
A sign of contradiction against the chaos of the world:
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