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Part One
Jesus substitutes his obedience for our disobedience
615
“For as by oneman’s disobediencemanyweremade sinners,
so by one man’s obedience many will be made righteous.”
443
By his
obedience unto death, Jesus accomplished the substitution of the
suffering Servant, who “makes himself an
offering for sin,
” when “he
bore the sin of many,” and who “shall make many to be accounted
righteous,” for “he shall bear their iniquities.”
444
Jesus atoned for our
faults and made satisfaction for our sins to the Father.
445
Jesus consummates his sacrifice on the Cross
616
It is love “to the end”
446
that confers on Christ’s sacrifice
its value as redemption and reparation, as atonement and satisfac
tion. He knew and loved us all when he offered his life.
447
Now
“the love of Christ controls us, because we are convinced that one
has died for all; therefore all have died.”
448
No man, not even the
holiest, was ever able to take on himself the sins of all men and offer
himself as a sacrifice for all. The existence in Christ of the divine
person of the Son, who at once surpasses and embraces all human
persons and constitutes himself as the Head of all mankind,
makes possible his redemptive sacrifice
for all.
617
The Council of Trent emphasizes the unique character of
Christ’s sacrifice as “the source of eternal salvation”
449
and teaches
that “his most holy Passion on the wood of the cross merited
justification for us.”
450
And the Church venerates his cross as it
sings: “Hail, O Cross, our only hope.”
451
Our participation in Christ’s sacrifice
618
The cross is the unique sacrifice of Christ, the “one media
tor between God and men.”
452
But because in his incarnate divine
person he has in some way united himself to every man, “the
possibility of being made partners, in a way known to God, in the
443
Rom
5:19.
444
Isa
53:10-12.
445 Cf. Council of Trent (1547): DS 1529.
446
Jn
13:1.
447 Cf.
Gal
2:20;
Eph
5:2, 25.
448
2 Cor
5:14.
449
Heb
5:9.
450 Council of Trent: DS 1529.
451
LH,
Lent, Holy Week, Evening Prayer, Hymn
Vexilla regis.
452
1 Tim
2:5.
1850
433
411
478
468
519
1992
1235