Apologeticae sive Theologiae Fundamentalis, Tomus I: Demonstratio Christiana

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Christ's immunity from sin is proved by the authority of Jesus' deeds, by the authority of Jesus' contemporaries, and by the authority of Jesus' own testimony.

1. The authority of Jesus' deeds.

The life of Jesus as narrated in the Gospels shines with a marvelous splendor of moral purity. Nevertheless, certain hypercritics find shadows even in this sun. With eyes darkened by preconceived ideas, they discover three things in Jesus' deeds to be censured: sins committed, duties omitted, offenses perpetrated.

a) Sins committed. They conclude that Jesus suffered certain moral defects from His baptism and temptation.² For they maintain that Jesus wished to be baptized in order to obtain the forgiveness of sins, and that He underwent temptation inasmuch as He was inclined to sin.

On the contrary, however, Jesus approached John's baptism not as a sinner, but as the "Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world"³⁴ For by His baptism He publicly assumed the messianic mission of doing penance and making satisfaction for the sins of the human race. Likewise, the temptation of Jesus was not an internal struggle with sin, but an external combat with the devil enticing Him to sin.⁵ By His temptation, namely, Jesus entered upon His first messianic contest with the prince of sinners and carried off the first victory over the kingdom of sin.

b) Duties omitted. The pseudo-critics reproach Jesus with having neglected the duties of man and of citizen by withdrawing Himself from marriage and from public affairs.⁶ And yet Jesus' own, that is, essential office was the messianic office. Others are called to govern public affairs; He came as a spiritual king to found and govern the kingdom of heaven: "My kingdom is not of this world."⁷ Others are called to beget and educate carnal offspring; He came for the spiritual regeneration and redemption of all men, to which the care of wife, children, and household affairs was altogether hostile: "I came that they may have (eternal) life and may have it more abundantly."⁸

c) Offenses perpetrated. Finally, the pseudo-critics maintain that Jesus offended by harshness toward His parents and relatives, His disciples, and the Pharisees.⁹

Truly, in His public life Jesus devotes His energies to the sole messianic office enjoined upon Him by the Father, and in the perfect discharge of this office He suffers Himself to be hindered by no one. Hence, when His mother desires an untimely miracle from Him, He rightly answers: "Woman, what is that to me and to thee? My hour is not yet come,"¹⁰ when, while He is preaching, His mother and brethren (namely, relatives) are reported to be present, stretching out His hand over His disciples and preferring spiritual kindred to carnal, He justly says: "Who is my mother, and who are my brethren? For whosoever shall do the will of my Father, who is in heaven, he is my brother and sister and mother;"¹¹ when Peter tries to turn Him away from the messianic Passion, He most fittingly warns the apostle, saying: "Get thee behind me, Satan, because thou savorest not the things that are of God, but the things that are of men;"¹² finally, when the Pharisees seduce the people with hypocrisy, vices, and words and keep them back from the kingdom of God, He rebukes them sharply with just zeal: "Woe to you, hypocrites, blind guides, whited sepulchres! Serpents, generation of vipers, how will you flee from the judgment of hell?"¹³

Therefore, in the deeds of Jesus recorded by the evangelists, there is nothing to be censured.

2. The authority of Jesus' contemporaries.

The evangelists do not narrate all the things done by Jesus and known to His contemporaries. Hence we must inquire what Christ's contemporaries, both enemies and friends, thought, as experience testifies, of His moral conduct.

a) The enemies of Jesus, and above all the Pharisees and scribes, left nothing untried in order to catch Him in word or in deed. Hence they scrutinized His whole manner of life with lynx-like eyes.

And that they might be able to judge all things the more perfectly, Jesus lived and spoke openly.¹⁴ Yet His enemies find no sin in Him. Many things indeed they reproach Christ with: namely, that He received sinners and publicans, forgave sins, healed on the sabbaths, cast out devils by Beelzebub, ate with unwashed hands, threatened the destruction of the temple, disparaged Caesar by stirring up the people, by forbidding the payment of the tribute, by professing Himself king. But these accusations were either futile or certainly false. For: "The chief priests and the whole council sought false witness against Jesus ... and they found none, although many false witnesses had come forward."¹⁵ Pilate agrees, who, after instituting a juridical examination of Jesus' deeds, declares: "I find no cause in this man."¹⁶ And even Judas the traitor himself, intimately acquainted with the life of his Master, cries out: "I have sinned, betraying innocent blood."¹⁷ A fortiori:

b) The friends of Christ, namely the faithful apostles, testify to Jesus' immunity from sin. And this both implicitly, by acknowledging Him as the Savior of sinners and the true God, and in explicit words. James accuses the Jewish people: "You have condemned and put to death the just one."¹⁸ Peter insists: "You denied the Holy One and the Just ... who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth ... who himself bore our sins in his body upon the tree, that we, being dead to sins, might live to justice ... You were redeemed with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb unspotted and undefiled."¹⁹ John exhorts: "If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the just ... because he appeared to take away our sins: and in him there is no sin."²⁰ Paul teaches: "Him, who knew no sin, (God) hath made sin for us, that we might be made the justice of God in him... For we have not a high priest who cannot have compassion on our infirmities, but one tempted in all things by way of likeness, without sin... For it was fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, and made higher than the heavens."²¹

3. The authority of Jesus' own testimony.

Even if some evil deeds of Christ had escaped His contemporaries, certainly they would not have escaped Christ Himself, who knew not only His own acts but also the movements and thoughts of His soul most intimately. And in view of His supreme humility and truthfulness, the Lord would not have declared Himself immune from sins if He had been implicated in sins. In fact, however, He excludes from Himself the confession, the consciousness, and the possession of sin.

Jesus nowhere elicits the confession of His own sin. He does indeed accuse others of sin, obliging them to repentance²² and exhorting them to ask forgiveness of sins.²³ But He Himself never humbles Himself before God the Father on account of His own sins; He never prays to the Father in order to obtain pardon; He never shows even the slightest sign of penitence or contrition. Nay more:

He expressly repudiates the consciousness of His own sin. For He provokes His most hostile adversaries: "Which of you shall convince me of sin?"²⁴ He contends that He always perfectly does the will of the Father.²⁵ He affirms that in Him there is no injustice²⁶ and that Satan has nothing in Him.²⁷ Nay, even more:

He excludes from Himself the possession of His own sin. For His are the remission of sins, the redemption of sinners, and the judgment of sinners — these three things opposed to sin. Jesus remits sins by His own authority²⁸ and grants this power of remitting even to His disciples;²⁹ Jesus came that by His life, death, and blood He might blot out the sins of all sinners and redeem all men from sin;³⁰ finally, at the end of time Jesus will judge all sinners by His own right, and by His power He will award to all eternal life or punishment.³¹ All these things, as is evident, exclude the very possession of sin committed or to be committed by Jesus as necessarily as light excludes darkness; nay more, they require the supreme sanctity and virtue of Jesus.