Posted on 03/22/2021 7:53:09 AM PDT by Cronos
Why did Christ die in his early thirties rather than as an older man? This would have permitted Him more time to teach and to set forth His Church. St. Thomas Aquinas answered the question in the following way:
Christ willed to suffer while yet young, for three reasons. First of all, to commend the more His love by giving up His life for us when He was in His most perfect state of life. Secondly, because it was not becoming for Him to show any decay of nature nor to be subject to disease …. Thirdly, that by dying and rising at an early age Christ might exhibit beforehand in His own person the future condition of those who rise again. Hence it is written (Ephesians 4:13), “Until we all meet into the unity of faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the age of the fullness of Christ” (Summa Theologica III, 46, 9 ad 4).
Speculations such as these strike some as purely arbitrary. Others consider the reasoning to be a post hoc justification: Christ died at the age of 33, so let’s make something up to try to explain it.
St. Thomas’ reasoning, however, is not based on wild speculation. There are premises to his reasoning.
First, there is the premise that God does nothing arbitrarily and we do well to allow even seemingly minor details in Scripture (e.g., the time of day) to teach us.
Another premise is based on the nature of perfection. Perfection can be harmed by either excess or defect. Consider the case of age: A young person may lack physical and intellectual maturity (youth being a “defect” in age), but there comes a time when age becomes problematic in the other direction as time takes its toll on the body and the mind becomes less sharp (old age being an “excess” in age). Thus, there is a period of time when one’s age is in the “perfect” range: harmed neither by excess nor defect.
In St. Thomas’ time one’s thirties was considered to be that time of perfection. This is arguably still so, though we do seem to take a lot longer to reach intellectual and emotional maturity these days.
St. Thomas notes that because Jesus died while in the prime of His life, the sacrifice was greater. His apparent lack of any disease or physical imperfections also increased His sacrifice. This is a model for us. We are to give the best of what we have to God in sacrifice; not merely our cast-offs, or things of which we might say, “This will do.” The Lord once lamented, through Malachi,
If I am a Father, then where is my honor? When you offer blind animals in sacrifice, is that not evil? And when you offer those that are lame or sick, is that not evil? Present that to your governor; will he accept you or show you favor? says the Lord of hosts (Mal 1:8).
And thus what might seem to some to be an unremarkable detail (Jesus’ age) actually provides important teachings to the sensitive soul. Christ gave His all, His best—and He did so when He was in the prime of His life. We too are summoned to increasing perfection
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Very good
Jesus would not have died being sinless, so I question the notion that old age would have beset him as it does us...or even Methuselah.
If we use the logic of some people who think they can read things into the Bible, everyone should die at 33 too.
Jesus was without sin (the second Adam), so he could never “die” - he could only be killed. Had he not been crucified he would have been “trapped” on earth for eternity.
This clearly was not the plan - Jesus was assured a return to Paradise by the evil nature of man.
He partied too hard.
Or covad 1 got him. (we are up to 19 now)
The romans just did not like his attitude.
He gave his Mojo away to every one and had to leave?
I have pondered this several times. One suggestion is this: By the time one reaches the age of 33 he will have committed every transgression imaginable, whether in mind or body.
A second (I have not read this article yet) is that the evil one is so intent on murder that the earliest opportunity was put to use against Christ.
In any case, the timing, manner, and degree of Christ’s atoning work is absolutely perfect, including the fact that writing and word of mouth are the means for the message, in an age before the deceitfulness of broadcast media.
Jesus did all that was required of him to fulfil his mission. The length of his ministry and the exact age he was and time he was on earth aren’t things that need to be questioned. He was the only person in history that had a choice of the circumstances of his birth. It reminds me of the lyrics of Judas in Jesus Christ Superstar.
Every time I look at you I don’t understand
Why you let the things you did get so out of hand.
You’d have managed better if you’d had it planned.
Why’d you choose such a backward time in such a strange land?
If you’d come today you could have reached a whole nation.
Israel in 4 BC had no mass communication.
Don’t you get me wrong.
I only want to know.
This may sound...odd but imho, that is the age when we do truly start the decline.
What a ridiculous question. Just a bunch of navel gazing.
Nobody knows how old Jesus was when he died.
“Jesus was without sin (the second Adam), so he could never “die” - he could only be killed. Had he not been crucified he would have been “trapped” on earth for eternity.”
I disagree. Christ could not have been “killed” against His will. He “gave up” His spirit, it was not taken from Him. He had a mission to accomplish, and that required Him to be “wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities” and by His stripes believers are healed. By His death and resurrection, believers are saved.
“This clearly was not the plan - Jesus was assured a return to Paradise by the evil nature of man.”
I have no idea what you mean by this. Paradise, being the place where all believers ended up after death, is empty now. When Christ paid the price and went there after physical death, He preached the Gospel to those in Paradise(the captivity captive) and took all of those Old Covenant believers with Him when He left.
Another thought... The Torah specifically requires a 1 year old lamb to be sacrificed. Why? It is not so young as to be useless and not so old as to be expendable. It is in its prime. For men, the Talmud declares, “At age 30, one receives strength.” At age 30, the Levites can practice as a priest in the Temple. It begins the prime age.
Jesus, as the high priest, began his ministry in accordance with the law at age 30. He offered His sacrifice as the Lamb of God when He was still in His prime years.
Christ dies at that age, because that is when man killed Him - free will is real and not just a cliche or idiom.
Not so. The Israelites were given very specific instruction for choosing the lamb of sacrifice for a reason. See #16.
What people don’t realize is that Jesus Christ was and is God in a human body. So All of this speculation about what would happen if He lived longer or not is out the window.
First, there is the premise that God does nothing arbitrarily and we do well to allow even seemingly minor details in Scripture (e.g., the time of day) to teach us.
so that would preclude free will then yes?
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