Posted on 04/10/2017 7:59:27 AM PDT by Salvation
We do well to ponder the whys and wherefores of the Passion of Our Lord. We engaged in a similar exercise in December relative to Christ’s birth. St. Thomas Aquinas presents the premise that God does nothing in an arbitrary way, but rather as Lord of History sets forth everything in fitting ways and at appropriate places and times. Every detail has something to teach us.
Let’s consider why Christ suffered in Jerusalem (but outside its walls) in a place called “the skull.” St. Thomas covered these matters in his Summa Theologiae, Part III, Question 46, Article 10. His words are in bold, black italics; my inferior comments are shown in plain red text.
Christ died most appropriately in Jerusalem. First of all, because Jerusalem was God’s chosen place for the offering of sacrifices to Himself: and these figurative sacrifices foreshadowed Christ’s Passion
For the Jewish people of that time, there was only one place to offer sacrifices to the Lord: Jerusalem. Although towns had synagogues, only Jerusalem had the Temple, and one had to go there to offer sacrifices to the Lord.
This rule had become quite firm. Indeed, even when Temple sacrifices were interrupted during the Babylonian captivity (the Temple was destroyed in in 587 B.C. and not rebuilt until about 70 years later), rather than relocate the place for sacrifice, the people lamented, We have in our day no prince, prophet, or leader, no burnt offering, sacrifice, oblation, or incense, no place to offer first fruits, to find favor with you (Daniel 3:38).
Therefore, because salvation is from the Jews (Jn 4:22), it was fitting that Christ, our Paschal Lamb and perfect, once-for-all sacrifice, was sacrificed in the only acceptable place.
Secondly, because the virtue of His Passion was to be spread over the whole world, He wished to suffer in the center of the habitable world–that is, in Jerusalem. Accordingly, it is written, “But God is our King before ages: He hath wrought salvation in the midst of the earth” (Psalm 73:12)—that is, in Jerusalem, which is called “the navel of the earth.”
A glimpse at a map shows that Jerusalem is arguably at the very intersection of three continents: Europe, Asia, and Africa. Psalm 48:2 reads, Mount Zion, true pole of the earth, the Great King’s city!
Thirdly, because it was specially in keeping with His humility: that, as He chose the most shameful manner of death, so likewise it was part of His humility that He did not refuse to suffer in so celebrated a place.
Not only was Christ’s humiliation very public, it occurred when Jerusalem was packed for the Passover feast!
Fourthly, He willed to suffer in Jerusalem, where the chief priests dwelt, to show that the wickedness of His slayers arose from the chiefs of the Jewish people.
Jerusalem had the reputation of being the place where prophets suffered the most and where most of them went to die. This is likely because it was there that faith and power intersected. Human beings seldom negotiate that intersection well and the scale is tipped more to power than to faith.
These teachings, fitting though they are, give rise to these questions: If Jerusalem was the appropriate place, why was Jesus not sacrificed on the Temple mount, inside the city? Why was He instead sacrificed outside the city gates? St. Thomas answers this as follows:
For three reasons Christ suffered outside the gate, and not in the Temple nor in the city. First of all, that the truth might correspond with the figure. For the calf and the goat which were offered in most solemn sacrifice for expiation on behalf of the entire multitude were burnt outside the camp, as commanded in Leviticus 16:27.
Note the distinction between the sacrifice of an individual family (which was offered at the temple and burnt on the altar there) and the sacrifice offered on behalf of all the people on the Day of Atonement. Leviticus 16:27 says, The bull and the goat for the sin offerings, whose blood was brought into the Most Holy Place to make atonement, must be taken outside the camp; their hides, flesh and intestines are to be burned up. Therefore, it is fitting that Christ, who died for all, should be sacrificed outside the gate (“outside the camp,” as it were).
Secondly, to set us the example of shunning worldly conversation. Accordingly, the passage continues: “Let us go forth therefore to Him without the camp, bearing His reproach.”
Out worldly categories and notions cannot contain Christ. In His time there were at least three political and religious groups: the Sadducees, the Pharisees, and the Zealots. Jesus walked with none of them; neither did He simply parrot their views. There was only one thing the groups could agree on—Jesus had to go. Thus, fitting nowhere, Christ was crucified outside the camp.
Thirdly, as Chrysostom says in a sermon on the Passion (Hom. i De Cruce et Latrone): “The Lord was not willing to suffer under a roof, nor in the Jewish Temple…lest you might think He was offered for that people only. Consequently, it was beyond the city and outside the walls, that you may learn it was a universal sacrifice, an oblation for the whole world, a cleansing for all.”
He suffered once and for all. As Jesus said to the Samaritan woman at the well, A time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth (Jn 4:21-24).
St. Thomas presents two additional reasons that Jesus was crucified where He was, noting especially the name of the place: Golgotha. Although Aquinas described both reasons, he concluded that only one is correct.
According to Jerome, in his commentary on Matthew 27:33, someone explained “the place of Calvary” as being the place where Adam was buried; and that it was so called because the skull of the first man was buried there. A pleasing interpretation indeed, and one suited to catch the ear of the people, but, still, not the true one. … [For] Adam was buried close by Hebron and Arbe, as we read in the book of Jesus Ben Nave.
To this day, in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher there is a small opening or cave at the base of Golgotha that is venerated by some as the tomb of Adam. One can stop in there prior to climbing the stairs to Calvary. Legend has it that the Blood of Christ dripped though the opening and touched the bones of Adam, causing him to get up and dance a jig.
St. Thomas was not impressed with such legends or even with the teaching of St. Jerome; instead, he offered another interpretation.
For the spots where the condemned are beheaded are outside the city and beyond the gates, deriving thence the name of Calvary—that is, of the beheaded. Jesus, accordingly, was crucified there, that the standards of martyrdom might be uplifted over what was formerly the place of the condemned. … [So] Jesus was to be crucified in the common spot of the condemned rather than beside Adam’s sepulcher, to make it manifest that Christ’s cross was the remedy, not only for Adam’s personal sin, but also for the sin of the entire world.
Martyrs die for Christ, not as mere condemned criminals. And though Christ did die for all, not just for Adam, the primordial sin was Adam’s.
It is curious to me that St. Thomas, writing in a style somewhat out of keeping with his usually reserved way, so forcefully set aside St. Jerome’s interpretation. Perhaps we can learn something from both views! This is especially the case because the location of Adam’s burial remains a matter of dispute to this day, with many continuing to venerate the site beneath Calvary.
Monsignor Pope Ping!
I have actually always believed that Jerusalem was the actual location of Eden, prior to the Flood and the separation of the continents. Just my opinion.
I also have studied the theory that the Blood dripped down through the rocks to the secret location of the Ark of the Covenant, i.e. Mercy Seat. Dripping the blood on the actual place it needed to go. Just another opinion, does not affect my theology one bit or another.
Perhaps because he was Jewish and it was Passover? Just a wild guess...
That is an amazing theory.
If not Eden, then it was surely Mount Moriah upon which Abraham offer to sacrifice his only son, Issac, thus demonstrating his faith in YHWH’s promise to him.
Then Solomon began to build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to David his father, at the place that David had appointed on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. - 2 Chronicles 3:1
Answer the question “Why did Jesus die?” and you will have all your answers.
Yup! It seems to be a pretty important place!
Watched a facinating show last night on the last days of Jesus. First of all, he didn’t ride into town on a donkey two days before his crucifition. The people were waving palm fronds. The harvest of fronds was a ritual that the Jews took part in in the fall.
Second, Jesus’s movement was financed by Herod. His chief of staff was a close follower. Herod wanted Jesus to get rid of the high priests and “establish a new church” so he could be king of the Jews. This was not going to happen because Herod had married his brother’s wife.
Third the Roman general Sejanus was Tiberius’s right hand man who wanted to keep the peace in Judea.
Bottom line is all three were working together. This is why Jesus could go into the temple and attack the money changers and not get arrested.
Tiberius threw a monkey wrench into the gears when he had Sejanus executed.
Like I said, fascinating
Theory.
As for why the Sejanus isn’t listed in the gospels, Tiberius had made it against the law to mention his name. He wanted to erase him from history.
I saw the same special and I thought it was well-done and pointed out some interesting things, e.g. palm fronds not being available in spring, how did public opinion turn in such a short period of time (less than a week), the whole interplay between Tiberius Caiaphas (sp?) Herod Antipas, Pilate, etc.
However, I think it was too easy for them to tie together some of the geopolitics of the time and make out that Jesus was a prophet who wanted to institute change rather than He was the Son of God, an angle they never pursued.
My problem is that I don’t think there’s any more proof of that theory than there is of any of the other theories, other than them occasionally saying, “One could only conclude...” It could have happened that way but I’m still clinging to “died for our sins and He was the Son of God” angle.
There are branches on palm trees year round.
Their point was that they were only harvested once per year in the fall or else it’s a tremendous pain to get them. If I’m wrong I stand corrected.
Me, too. But I have always wondered how Jesus did the things he did Without getting arrested sooner.
It makes sense that Herod needed new leaders in charge of the temple so he would financialy support Jesus’ movement. And it also makes sense that Harod and Pilate had issued a “hands off Jesus” order. Then Sejanus was taken out of the equation and all three were in a pickle. And the deciples thought the Kingdom of God was at hand. Wbey they saw that wasn’t going to happen they scattered. And Judas was so disappointed he turned on Jesus, believing him to have a fraud. The problem with that theory is Judas was the group’s treasurer so he would have known of Herod’s and Jesus’ collusion from the beginning.
Like I said, fascinating stuff.
It’s always safer to read the Bible for yourself. Then you won’t be in any danger of being deceived by the agenda of another. This show you describe is fraught with unsupported conjecture. The festival in the fall is the Feast of Tabernacles, and it was customary to wave palm leaves — and other branches of other trees— as a sign of victory. What’s cool about this age is how fast one can find specific scriptures in the Old and New Testaments via just a few keywords. When I was searching, I found out that Solomon was instructed to put artist’s renderings of Palm Trees in the Great Temple.
Herod and the priests didn’t arrest him because Jesus was not ready to be arrested. I suppose you are seeking any explanation other than the supernatural?
I’m not seeking an explanation. This program was about the historical Jesus. It had nothing to do with His mission to die for our sins.
But, I do know that no one knows who actually wrote the Gospels. The authors were certainly not Jesus’, or the disciples’, contemporaries. We also know there was jealousy among the disciples so some of the stories are not found in every Gospel.
That’s why I’ll always believe Judas volunteered to fulfil the prophecy. He was condemned by the others because be they disliked him from the beginning. As treasurer of the group he got a lot of jesus’ attention. So Jesus left it up to Judas to tell the others what his mission way so the story was told that satan entered into him.
Peter denied Jesus three times all the others scattered in fear, too afraid to even be be at the crucifiction. So, why was Judas any worse than the others. Personally, when I get to Heaven I want to thank him for “doing what had he to do, as Jesus told him .
Just review all scripture references to Judas Iscariot, and you will have your answer. In two places, at least, it says that Satan entered into Judas, and “woe to him that betrays the Son of Man”. There was no connivance between Judas and Jesus—Judas was a thief who put his hand in the till. If you read the Gospels often and carefully, you will find that the writers have individual voices and styles. Luke wrote Luke and Acts, the other three wrote their own Gospels. Again, I suggest avoiding what is written about the Bible, and open it up yourself.
I’m wondering about who produced this show. Do you have a link? A live one?
**But I have always wondered how Jesus did the things he did Without getting arrested sooner.**
God’s timing, not ours.
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