I. Des articles de la foi — Le 8e dimanche
The Lordship of Christ
Christ is established by the Father as the sovereign head over all creation and the faithful.
Christ our Lord M: In what way is he our Lord? S: In that he has been appointed by the Father so that he would have us under his rule, to exercise the kingdom and the lordship in heaven and on earth, and to be head of the angels and of the faithful (Ephesians 5:23; Colossians 1:18).
The Necessity of the Passion
The Creed focuses on Christ's death under Pontius Pilate to highlight the judicial reality of our redemption.
55. Minister: Why do you jump straight from his birth to his death, skipping the entire history of his life? E: Because here only what properly belongs to the substance of our redemption is spoken of. 56. M: Why isn't it just said in a word that he died, instead of mentioning Pontius Pilate, under whom he suffered? C: That is not only to assure us of the certainty of the history, but also to signify that his death entails condemnation.1
Condemned to Acquit
Christ's condemnation by an earthly judge serves as a substitutionary act to secure our acquittal before the heavenly Judge.
Jesus Christ condemned to acquit us 57. How so? E: He died to suffer the punishment that was due us, and by that means to free us from it. Because we were guilty wrongdoers before God's judgment, he chose to stand in our place—appearing before an earthly judge's tribunal and being condemned by that judge's own mouth—so that he might acquit us at the throne of the heavenly Judge.23 Christ condemned for us. Christ our surety 58.4 M: Still, Pilate declares him innocent, and so doesn't condemn him as if he deserved it (Matthew 27:24; Luke 23:14). E: It is both.✦5 That is, he is justified by the judge's testimony to show that he does not suffer for his own demerits, but for ours; and yet he is solemnly condemned by that same judge's sentence to show that he is truly our surety, receiving the condemnation for us so as to free us from it.67 59. M: That's well said. For if he were a sinner, he would not be able to suffer death for others; and yet, so that his condemnation may be our deliverance, he must be numbered among the wicked (Isaiah 53:12).✦ E: I understand it that way.
Read the original Latin
Christ notre Seigneur 54. M : Comment est-ce qu'il est notre Seigneur? E : Comme il a été constitué du Père, afin qu'il nous ait en son gouvernement, pour exercer le royaume et la seigneurie au ciel et en la terre et pour être chef des Anges et des fidèles (Éphésiens 5:23; Colossiens 1:18).
55. M : Pourquoi de la nativité viens-tu incontinent à la mort, laissant toute l'histoire de sa vie? E : Parce qu'il n'est ici parlé que de ce qui est proprement de la substance de notre rédemption.
56. M : Pourquoi n'est-il dit simplement en un mot qu'il est mort, mais est parlé de Ponce Pilate, sous lequel il a souffert? E : Cela n'est pas seulement pour nous assurer de la certitude de l'histoire, mais aussi pour signifier que sa mort emporte condamnation.
Jésus-Christ condamné pour nous absoudre 57. M : Comment cela? E : Il est mort pour souffrir la peine qui nous était due et par ce moyen nous en délivrer. Or parce que nous étions coupables devant le jugement de Dieu comme malfaiteurs, pour représenter notre personne il a voulu comparaître devant le siège d'un juge terrien et être condamné par la bouche d'icelui pour nous absoudre au trône du Juge céleste.
Christ condamné pour nous. Christ notre pleige 58. M : Néanmoins, Pilate le prononce innocent, et ainsi il ne le condamne pas comme s'il en était digne (Matthieu 27:24 ; Luc 23:14), E : II y a l'un et l'autre. C'est qu'il est justifié par le témoignage du juge pour montrer qu'il ne souffre point pour ses démérites, mais pour les nôtres; et cependant est condamné solennellement par la sentence d'icelui même pour dénoter qu'il est vraiment notre pleige, recevant la condamnation pour nous afin de nous en acquitter.
59. M : C'est bien dit. Car s'il était pécheur, il ne serait pas capable de souffrir la mort pour les autres; et néanmoins, afin que sa condamnation nous soit délivrance, il faut qu'il soit réputé entre les iniques (Ésaïe 53:12). E : Je l'entends ainsi.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Luke.23.14 — I said to you, 'You brought this man before me as one who is turning the people aside, and look — I, having examined him before you, found no fault in this man regarding the charges you bring against him.'
- ↩Isa.53.12 — Therefore I will give him a share among the many, and he will divide spoil with the strong, because he poured out his life to death and was counted with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many and interceded for the transgressors.
Notes
- 1 ↩French emporte condamnation: 'carries/entails condemnation'—i.e., his death involves a judicial sentence, not merely dying. The next section develops this as Christ condemned so that we may be absolved.
- 2 ↩représenter notre personne is rendered as stand in our place (legal substitution); the French also carries the sense of representing our person before the court.
- 3 ↩icelui (archaic demonstrative) is rendered that judge's, referring back to the earthly judge (juge terrien).
- 4 ↩French pleige is older legal language for a guarantor/bail who stands for another's debt; rendered surety, the usual English for that office in this catechetical setting.
- 5 ↩Source has «II y a l'un et l'autre»; read as «Il y a l'un et l'autre» (Roman numeral II for Il), i.e. both the innocence and the condemnation are present.
- 6 ↩justifié here is forensic: cleared/declared righteous by the earthly judge's testimony, not the soteriological justification of the believer.
- 7 ↩pleige again as surety (guarantor); démérites kept as demerits for the legal-catechetical force of deserts that deserve punishment.
Catechism of the Church of Geneva (Le catéchisme de l'Église de Genève) companion
Rule yourself daily, not just on retreat
Chosen Portion turns the mirror into a daily practice — a short reading and examining question each morning before you lead anyone.
Chosen Portion makes the mirror daily: the ruler-formation questions this collection preserves become a two-minute morning examination in the app.
- A daily formation reading drawn from centuries of counsel to those in authority
- One pointed examination question a day — two minutes, before the meetings start
- Track your practice over weeks and watch the examined life become a habit