Читать книгу Catholicism For Dummies - Rev. Kenneth Brighenti - Страница 78

The study of Christ evokes two key questions. The first is “Who is Jesus Christ?” So far in this chapter, we’ve been addressing this question like this: Jesus is the Son of God, and He is both God and man, divine and human. The second question is “Why did Jesus become man?” This question is answered by the Cross.

Catholics firmly believe that Jesus is the Savior of the world and the Redeemer of the human race. Jesus died for our sins and ransomed us from sin and death. As we explain in Chapter 3, the first (original) sin of Adam and Eve incurred guilt and punishment on all human beings. Their act of disobedience resulted in a serious wound to human nature. Because of original sin, humans lost God’s sanctifying grace; were expelled from paradise; and faced lives full of sickness and death, toil and labor. No one could enter heaven until a Savior was born.

Messiah is the Hebrew word for Savior, and in Greek the word is Christos. Both words also mean “Anointed One.” The Old Testament prophesied that a Savior would be sent to save the human race from sin and death, and Christians believe that God sent His Son, Jesus, to be that Savior.

As the Son of God, Jesus offered his life on the Cross as a supreme sacrifice to atone for sin. His blood redeemed us and freed us from the grip death had on us. Before Christ, no one could go to heaven after death. But because Jesus opened the gates by dying for our sins, everyone has the chance to enter Paradise forever. Appropriately, the word redeemer means someone who rescues others from danger.

The Catholic Church graphically reminds her members of the human nature of Jesus by conspicuously placing a crucifix in every church. A crucifix is a cross with the crucified figure of Jesus attached to it. It’s a reminder to Catholics that Jesus didn’t pretend to be human. The nails in His hands and feet, the crown of thorns on His head, and the wound in His side where a soldier thrust a lance into His heart all poignantly remind the faithful that Jesus’s suffering, which is known as his Passion, was real. He felt real pain, and He really died. He was really human. If He had been only a god pretending to be human, His pain and death would have been faked.

If you look closely at a crucifix, you may see the letters INRI on it. Those letters are an abbreviation for the Latin words Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum, which mean “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.” These words were written on the Cross above Jesus’s head by order of Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor who condemned Jesus to death.

In addition to reminding believers of Jesus’s human nature and His painful sacrifice, the crucifix reminds them that Jesus commanded us to take up our cross daily and follow Him. (For this reason, many Catholics have a crucifix at home.) The concept of dying to self is something spiritual writers speak of often. The process of dying to self involves enduring unavoidable suffering with dignity and faith. Seeing Jesus depicted on His cross is meant to encourage the devout to do likewise and offer up their sufferings as did Jesus.