Meanwhile, the jealousy of the
Pharisees and priests brings him an infamous sentence. His disciples forsake
him; one of them betrays him; the first and most zealous of them all denies him
thrice. Accused before the council, he honors the priest's office to the last
and answers, in precise terms, the high priest, who was interrogating him
judicially. But the moment for the synagogue's censure had come. The high
priest and the whole council condemn Jesus Christ because he called himself the
Christ, the Son of God. He is delivered up to Pontius Pilate, the Roman
governor; his innocence is acknowledged by his judge, whom policy and interest
induce to act contrary to his conscience: the Just One is condemned to death;
the most heinous of all crimes is the occasion for the most perfect obedience
that the world ever saw. Jesus, master of his life and of all things,
voluntarily surrenders to the fury of wicked men and offers the sacrifice which
was to be the expiation of mankind. On the Cross, he sees in the prophecies
what still remains for him to do: he fulfills it and says, at last, It is
finished. When this word is spoken, everything changes in the world. The
Law ceases, its symbols pass away, its sacrifices are abolished by a more
perfect oblation. This done, Jesus Christ, with a loud cry, gives up the ghost.
All nature is moved. The centurion who watched him, astonished at such a death,
cries out, Truly, this was the Son of God, and the spectators return
home, beating their breasts. On the third day he rises again; he appears to his
followers, who had forsaken him and who obstinately persisted in disbelieving
his Resurrection. They see him, talk with him, touch him, and are convinced. To
confirm the faith in his Resurrection, he shows himself to them at various
times and in divers manners. His disciples see him in private, and they see him
also when they are all together; once he appears to more than 500 brethren
assembled. An apostle, who has recorded it, asserts that the greatest part of
them were still alive when he recorded it. Jesus Christ, risen again, gives his
apostles as much time as they please to observe him carefully; and after
putting himself into their hands in all the ways they desire, so that the least
doubt can no longer remain, he commands them to bear witness to what they have
seen, to what they have heard, and to what they have touched. And so that none
may doubt their sincerity any more than their convictions, he obliges them to seal
their testimony with their blood. Thus, their preaching is unshakable, its
foundation a positive fact, unanimously attested to by those who saw it. Their
sincerity is vindicated by the strongest proof imaginable, that of torments and
of death itself. Such are the instructions the apostles received. Upon this
foundation, twelve fishermen undertake the conversion of the whole world, so
set against the laws they had to prescribe and the truths they had to proclaim.
They are commanded to begin at Jerusalem and from there to go into all the
world and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and
of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Jesus Christ promises to be with them
always, even unto the end of the world. By saying this, he assures the
perpetual continuance of the ecclesiastical ministry. Having thus spoken, he
ascends into Heaven in their presence.
The promises are about to be
accomplished; the prophecies are going to receive their final clarification.
The Gentiles are called to the knowledge of God by the orders of the risen
Jesus Christ. A new ceremony is instituted for the regeneration of the new
people; and the faithful learn that the true God, the God of Israel, that one
and indivisible God to whom they are consecrated in baptism, is at once Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit.
There, then, are set forth to us
the incomprehensible depth of the Divine Being, the ineffable greatness of his
unity, and the infinite riches of that nature, even more fruitful within than
without, capable of being three equal persons while not divided. (Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet, Discourse on
Universal History, ed. Orest Ranum [trans. Elborg Forster; Chicago:
The University of Chicago Press, 1976], 188-89)
