By St. Melito of Sardis (Scott Cairns, Love’s Immensity)
The earth trembled; its foundations
shook like silt; the sun, chagrined,
fled the scene, and every mundane
element scattered in retreat. The day
became the night: for light could not endure
the image of the Master hanging on a tree.
All creation was astonished, perplexed
and stammering, What new mystery is this?
The Judge is judged, and yet He holds his peace;
the Invisible One is utterly exposed, and yet
is not ashamed; the Incomprehensible is grasped,
and will not turn indignant; the Immensity
is circumscribed, and acquiesces; the absolutely
Unattainable suffers, and yet does not avenge;
the Immortal dies, and utters not a word;
the Celestial is pressed into the earthen grave,
and He endures! What new mystery is this?
The whole creation, I say, was astonished;
but, when our Lord stood up in Hades—
trampling death underfoot, subduing
the strong one, setting every captive free—
then all creation saw clearly that for its sake
the Judge was condemned, et cetera.
For our Lord, even when He deigned
to be born, was condemned in order
that He might show mercy, was bound
that He might loose, was seized
that He might release, suffered
that He might show compassion, died
that He might give life, was laid in the grave
that He might rise, might raise.
2. The Redemptive Mission of Christ
2.1. Incarnation (¶456-83)3. The Atonement
2.2. Life (¶516-21, 606-07)
2.3. Passion and Death (¶608-30)
2.4. Descent into Hell (¶631-37)
2.5. Resurrection (¶638-58)
2.6. Ascension (¶659-67)
2.7. Return/Second Advent (¶668-82)
3.1. Metaphors for the Atonement- recapitulation
- ransom
- satisfaction
- victory (of Christ)/defeat (of Death)
- sacrifice (Paschal Lamb)
- Suffering Servant
3.2. Conceptual Models4. The Cross as an Event of Love- Legal: the Lawgiver who fulfilled the Law
- Forensic: the Judge who was judged
- Cultic/Priestly: the High Priest who was sacrificed
- Royal: the King who became the servant and was victorious in death
“It was as a humanly dead man that the Son descended to the dead, and not as a victorious living one with an Easter banner, such as is depicted in Eastern icons through an anticipatory projection of the Resurrection onto Holy Saturday. The Church has forbidden the singing of hallelujahs on this day. And yet this new dead man is different from all the rest. He has died purely from love, from divine-human love; indeed, his death was the supreme act of that love, and love is the most living thing that there is. Thus his really being dead . . . is also an act of his most living love. Here, in the utmost loneliness, [his love] is preached to the dead, indeed, even more: communicated (1 Pet. 3:19). The redemptive act of the Cross was by no means intended solely for the living, but also includes in itself all those who have died before or after it. Since this love-death of our Lord, death has taken on a quite different meaning; it can become for us an expression of our purest and most living love, assuming that we take it as a conferred opportunity to give ourselves unreservedly into the hands of God. It is then not merely an atonement for everything that we failed to do, but, beyond that, an earning of grace for others to abandon their egoism and choose love as their innermost disposition.” (Hans Urs von Balthasar, Credo, 53-54)5. Closing Prayer
Gracious God, give to us a renewed understanding of the salvation accomplished through the death and resurrection of your Son and our Savior, Jesus Christ. Grant to us joy as we live our lives in faithful obedience to your calling. And give us peace through your Holy Spirit as we recognize our own mortality. Help us to live in love as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, in whose name we pray. Amen.
