Xix. Of Our Blessed Lord'S Life On Earth: Of His Temptation; Of His Preaching; Of His Miracles; And Of His Transfigurati
XIX. OF OUR BLESSED LORD'S LIFE ON EARTH: OF HIS TEMPTATION; OF HIS PREACHING; OF HIS MIRACLES; AND OF HIS TRANSFIGURATION
What kind of life did our Lord lead among men?
He led a life of the utmost simplicity and poverty; further, He fulfilled all the commands of the Old Law in order to prepare the way for the New Law which was His own (XL. 1-4).
Why did our Lord suffer to be tempted?
In order that He might instruct us and show us how to resist our temptations; and also by His victory over Satan to make good the defeat of our first parents who succumbed to Satan's temptation in the Garden of Eden (XLI. 1).
Why did our Lord preach to others?
During the three years of His public life He endeavoured by His preaching to make men listen to His voice that they might hear the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven (XLII. 1-4.).
Why did our Lord perform miracles?
In order that He might show to men that He was almighty and had power over spiritual creatures, over the heavenly bodies, over the miseries of men, and over inanimate things. By miracles He proved to men Who He was, and gave them an infallible testimony of His divinity (XLIII., XLIV.).
Is there not a miracle of our Lord which is of special importance by reason of its character and of the circumstances in which it was performed?
Yes; it is that of the Transfiguration (XLV.).
What was remarkable in this miracle?
This; that after having made known to His disciples the mysteries of His Passion and Death on the Cross, and telling them that all had to follow Him in the way of sorrow, our Blessed Lord wished to show to the three privileged ones, in His own Person, the glorious end to which the way of sorrow would lead all who followed it courageously. Since this is the culminating point of our Lord's teaching His authority among men was proclaimed in a solemn way; on the one hand, the Law personified in Moses, and the prophets personified in Elias, gave homage to Him; and on the other hand, the voice of the Father Himself declared our Lord to be His well-beloved Son and to be the one to whose voice men should listen (XLV. 1-4).
Why was the voice of the Father proclaiming the divine sonship of Jesus Christ heard at the baptism and at the Transfiguration of Jesus?
Because the divine sonship of Jesus Christ is the reason and the end of our sonship by adoption which begins with the grace of baptism and ends with the glory of heaven (XLV. 4, Obj. 2).
Of what did Moses and Elias speak with our Lord during the glory of the Transfiguration?
Of His Passion and Death, for St. Luke says (chap. ix., ver. 31): "And they spoke of His decease which He should accomplish in Jerusalem " (XLV. 3).