The Redemption of Mankind
The Word became man to seek out men, who had strayed far from God. All we like sheep have gone astray, everyone hath turned aside into his own path. Adam, the first man, had not listened to the voice of God, telling him: Beware of all iniquity. Nor had Eve, the first woman. Instead, they listened to the voice of a fallen angel, and so they lost the happiness that came from living in peace with God, with each other, and with creation.
The descendants of Adam and Eve continued to sin, some more, some less. By the time of the incarnation, mankind was very far from God, and like a man covered all over with sores. From the sole of the foot unto the top of the head, there is no soundness therein.
The Word of God, Jesus Christ, came to help mankind, like a doctor coming to tend a dying patient, or like a shepherd coming to look for a sheep that has wandered away from the flock. So He said: I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his life for his sheep.
Not that God needed mankind. But it was fitting that He should not allow His creature to be altogether ruined, whom He had made in wisdom and goodness. It was fitting that the Word through whom all things were made should come in Person to remake mankind when it was on the point of perishing.
How did the Word-made-flesh save mankind? We needed two things: an example of how to live, and liberation from our past transgressions. He brought us both of these.
Jesus Christ gave us the example of how to live. He was innocent of all sin. The prophets who came before him, when they compared themselves to God, exclaimed: All our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. But Jesus, speaking of His eternal Father, said: I do always the things that please him.
He taught us, also, what the things are that please God. We are to love not only our friends and family, but all mankind. He says: Love your enemies: do good to them that hate you. This is how we imitate God Himself, who maketh his sun to rise upon the good and bad, and raineth upon the just and the unjust. Christ set the example of this, when He prayed for those who crucified Him: Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.
He told us not to set our hearts on the good things of this world, but on better ones. Lay not up to yourselves treasures on earth, where the rust and moth consume, and where thieves break through and steal. But lay up to yourselves treasures in heaven. We are not to waste our brief lives in worrying about what we need: Be not solicitous for your life, what you shall eat, nor for your body, what you shall put on. Is not the life more than the meat: and the body more than the raiment? Behold, the birds of the air, for they neither sow, nor do they reap, nor gather into barns: and your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are not you of more value than they?
He taught us that God desires not so much that we perform outward rituals, but above all that we turn to Him in our heart, and away from evil. You have heard that it was said to them of old: Thou shalt not kill. But I say to you, that whosoever is angry with his brother shall be in danger of judgement. And again: You have heard that it was said to them of old: Thou shalt not commit adultery. But I say to you, that whosoever shall look on a woman to lust after her, hath already committed adultery with her in his heart.
At the same time, He was gentle and merciful to those who had sinned against God and confessed it. When a sinful woman came and knelt at His feet, weeping, He said to her: Thy faith hath saved thee. Go in peace. When some people found fault with him for eating with sinners, He said: They that are well hath no need of a physician, but they that are sick.
Although He drove out demons with a word, and also refuted false teachers and so silenced them, He used no violence against human beings. The Word-made-man did not come to fight against men, but to draw them to Himself by His goodness. All whom the Father gives me will come to me, and him whom comes to me, I will not cast out. So, when His enemies finally surrounded Him – enemies envious of His miracles and of the crowds that followed Him, and ashamed of their own sins, which they dared not confess – He did not resist them. When one of His followers drew a sword to fight, He told him: Put your sword back in its scabbard. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword.
For this was the supreme moment of His life, for which, above all, He had come into the world. He willed to bring us not only an example, but also liberation from our sins. He would do this by His death.
Why did the Word-made-flesh choose to free us by dying for us? Although to ignorant men, this may seem like folly, the foolishness of God is wiser than men. “If someone reflects with a devout mind about the fittingness of Christ’s suffering and death, he will discover so great a depth of wisdom, that more and greater reasons will constantly occur to him as he thinks.”
First, He wished to give us a proof of His love. Greater love than this no man hath, that a man lay down his life for his friends. If we know that we are loved, it becomes easier for us to love in return. But to love the Word incarnate is to love God Himself, and no sin can remain on the soul of one who loves God.
Next, He wanted to free us from the fear of death. People hold onto their sins because they are afraid that this life is all they have. Jesus Christ wished to die so that He could rise again, on the third day, as the conqueror of death, and give us confidence that we also will live for ever, if we believe in Him. And so, the night before He died, He said to His friends: Where I am going, you cannot follow me now; but you shall follow hereafter.
Again, He wished to humiliate the devil, who had deceived Adam and Eve in the beginning. The devil hated Jesus Christ, because he saw that He never sinned, and because He was teaching people the way of holiness. So, the devil induced sinful men to put Christ to death, thinking to overcome Him in this way. But instead, the soul of Christ, after death, came to the world below and liberated the souls who were waiting for His coming, freeing them forever from the devil’s power. Christ had foretold this while still alive: When a strong man armed keepeth his court, those things are in peace which he possesseth. But if a stronger than he come upon him, and overcome him; he will take away all his armour wherein he trusted, and will distribute his spoils.
Again, the Lord wanted to teach us what an evil thing sin is. Although He is the fairest of the children of men, He seemed on the Cross to have lost all His beauty; His face and body were disfigured with blood and wounds. When we look at the Crucifix, we see what sin has done to the God-man, and we resolve to sin no more.
Finally, He wanted to make reparation to His Father for the sin of Adam and for all other sins. If my friend steals from someone, I can make reparation by giving to this person something more valuable than the thing that was stolen. Whoever sins, steals from God some of the honour that is due to Him. In reparation, the Word-made-flesh offered up His own life to God, the life of a divine Person and infinitely precious. Therefore doth the Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I may take it again. This offering more than made up for all the sins of men. It is called the redemption, since by this precious gift Christ bought us back, so to speak, when we were enslaved to sin and under the devil’s power. You were not redeemed with corruptible things as gold or silver from the futile ways inherited from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb unspotted and undefiled.
No doubt, God could simply have forgiven all sins without any reparation. But then it would have been easy to forget that He is just, as well as merciful, and we would have gone on sinning. God in His wisdom chose a better way, so that both His justice and His mercy would shine forth, and so that we might glorify Him all the more.
