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Chapter 11GenevaCat.1.11

I. Des articles de la foi — Le 10e dimanche

The Anguish of the Soul

The descent into hell signifies the profound spiritual anguish Christ suffered in his soul beyond physical death.

Christ's Descent into Hell 65. M: What does the part that is added about his descent into hell mean? E: It means that he didn't just suffer a natural death—the separation of body and soul—but that his soul was also gripped by extraordinary anguish, what Saint Peter calls the pains of death (Acts 2:24).1

The Burden of Divine Satisfaction

Christ endured the feeling of divine abandonment to satisfy the requirements of justice for our sins.

66. Minister: Why did this happen, and how? Elder: Because he was presenting himself to God to make satisfaction for sinners, he had to feel that horrible distress in his conscience, as if he were abandoned by God and as if God were angry with him.2 While in that abyss, he cried out: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”3 (Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34).✦ 67. Minister: Was God, then, angry with him? Elder: No; but he still had to afflict him in this way to fulfill what Isaiah foretold: that he was struck by the Father's hand for our sins, and that he bore our iniquities (Isaiah 53:5; 1 Peter 2:24).4

The Mystery of the Hidden Divinity

Christ's divinity remained hidden during his passion, allowing him to experience human terror while ultimately overcoming the power of hell.

68. Master: But how could he be in such terror, as if he were abandoned by God—he who is God himself? E: You have to understand that according to his human nature he was in this extremity, and that this could happen because his divinity held itself, for a little while, as if hidden—that is, it did not display its power.5 69. M: But how can it be that Jesus Christ, who is the salvation of the world, was under such damnation? (18) E: He wasn't there to stay; he felt that horror we’ve spoken of so fully that he wasn't crushed by it, but fought against the power of hell to break and destroy it.6

Victory Over Despair

Unlike the eternal despair of the damned, Christ's suffering was temporary and sustained by unwavering hope in God.

How Christ's torment differs from that of sinners 70. M: From this we see the difference between the torment he suffered and the one sinners feel when God punishes them in his wrath. For what was temporary for him is perpetual for them, and what was only a sting to prick him is for them a sword that wounds them to death.7 E: That's true. For Jesus Christ never stopped hoping in God in the midst of such distress; but the sinners God damns fall into despair and rage against him, even to the point of blasphemy.8

Read the original Latin

Descente de Christ aux enfers 65. M : Que signifie ce qui est ajouté de sa descente aux enfers? E : C'est que non seulement il a souffert la mort naturelle, qui est séparation du corps et de l'âme, mais aussi que son âme a été enserrée en angoisse merveilleuse, que saint Pierre appelle les douleurs de la mort (Actes 2:24).

66. M : Pour quelle raison cela s'est-il fait, et comment? E : Parce qu'il se présentait à Dieu pour satisfaire au nom des pécheurs, il fallait qu'il sentit cette horrible détresse en sa conscience, comme s'il était délaissé de Dieu ; et même comme si Dieu était courroucé contre lui. Étant en cet abîme il a crié : « Mon Dieu, mon Dieu, pourquoi m'as-tu laissé? » (Matthieu 27:46 ; Marc 15:34).

67. M : Dieu était-il donc courroucé contre lui? E : Non ; mais il fallait toutefois qu'il l'affligeât ainsi, pour vérifier ce quia été prédit par Ésaïe : qu'il a été frappé de la main du Père pour nos péchés et qu'il a porté nos iniquités (Ésaïe 53:5 ; 1 Pierre 2:24).

68. M : Mais comment pouvait-il être en telle frayeur, comme s'il était abandonné de Dieu, lui qui est Dieu même? E : Il faut entendre que selon sa nature humaine il a été en cette extrémité, et pour ce faire que sa divinité se tenait pour un peu de temps comme cachée, c'est-à-dire qu'elle ne démontrait point sa vertu.

69. M : Mais comment se peut-il faire que Jésus-Christ, qui est le salut du monde, ait été en telle damnation? (18) E : II n'y a pas été pour y demeurer; car il a tellement senti cette horreur, que nous avons dit, qu'il n'en a point été oppressé, mais a bataillé contre la puissance des enfers pour la rompre et détruire.

Tourment de Christ et des pécheurs, en quoi diffère 70. M : Par cela nous voyons la différence entre le tourment qu'il a souffert, et celui que sentent les pécheurs que Dieu punit en son ire. Car ce qui a été temporel en lui est perpétuel aux autres, et que ce qui a été seulement un aiguillon pour le poindre leur est un glaive pour les navrer à mort. E : C'est cela. Car Jésus-Christ n'a pas laissé d'espérer toujours en Dieu au milieu de telles détresses ; mais les pécheurs que Dieu damne se désespèrent et dépitent contre lui, jusqu'à le blasphémer.

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩Mark.15.34 — And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?" which is translated, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

Notes

  1. 1 ↩In 16th-century French, merveilleuse marks astonishing intensity, not pleasant wonder; rendered as extraordinary anguish.
  2. 2 ↩satisfaire au nom des pécheurs: rendered as make satisfaction on behalf of sinners (satisfaction language, not mere contentment).
  3. 3 ↩laissé rendered forsaken to match the biblical cry and the earlier délaissé; plain left would understate the force.
  4. 4 ↩Normalized French reads «ce quia été prédit»; translated as intended «ce qui a été prédit» (“what had been foretold”).
  5. 5 ↩French 'vertu' here is classical theological virtus: not moral virtue, but the power/efficacy of the divine nature, which was not openly exercised so that the human nature could suffer this extreme distress.
  6. 6 ↩Source prints 'II n'y a pas été'; treated as the obvious typo for 'Il n'y a pas été' ('He was not there').
  7. 7 ↩French aiguillon (goad/sting) and glaive (sword) mark a graded contrast: in Christ the torment only pricks for a time; for the damned it is a mortal, lasting wound.
  8. 8 ↩dépitent contre lui: older French for spiteful resentment or rage directed at God; rendered as 'rage against him' to keep the hostile force without archaic diction.

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