Part IV (Tertia Pars) Part 87 (2/2)
Again, if He had been buried in the earth, they might have said: They dug up the soil and stole Him away,” as Augustine observes [*Cf.
Catena Aurea]. Hilary (Comment. in Matth. cap. x.x.xiii) gives the mystical interpretation, saying that ”by the teaching of the apostles, Christ is borne into the stony heart of the gentile; for it is hewn out by the process of teaching, unpolished and new, untenanted and open to the entrance of the fear of G.o.d. And since naught besides Him must enter into our hearts, a great stone is rolled against the door.” Furthermore, as Origen says (Tract. x.x.xv in Matth.): ”It was not written by hazard: 'Joseph wrapped Christ's body in a clean winding-sheet, and placed it in a new monument,'” and that ”'he rolled a great stone,' because all things around the body of Jesus are clean, and new, and exceeding great.”
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THIRD ARTICLE [III, Q. 51, Art. 3]
Whether Christ's Body Was Reduced to Dust in the Tomb?
Objection 1: It would seem that Christ's body was reduced to dust in the tomb. For just as man dies in punishment of his first parent's sin, so also does he return to dust, since it was said to the first man after his sin: ”Dust thou art, and into dust thou shalt return”
(Gen. 3:19). But Christ endured death in order to deliver us from death. Therefore His body ought to be made to return to dust, so as to free us from the same penalty.
Obj. 2: Further, Christ's body was of the same nature as ours. But directly after death our bodies begin to dissolve into dust, and are disposed towards putrefaction, because when the natural heat departs, there supervenes heat from without which causes corruption. Therefore it seems that the same thing happened to Christ's body.
Obj. 3: Further, as stated above (A. 1), Christ willed to be buried in order to furnish men with the hope of rising likewise from the grave. Consequently, He sought likewise to return to dust so as to give to them who have returned to dust the hope of rising from the dust.
_On the contrary,_ It is written (Ps. 15:10): ”Nor wilt Thou suffer Thy holy one to see corruption”: and Damascene (De Fide Orth. iii) expounds this of the corruption which comes of dissolving into elements.
_I answer that,_ It was not fitting for Christ's body to putrefy, or in any way be reduced to dust, since the putrefaction of any body comes of that body's infirmity of nature, which can no longer hold the body together. But as was said above (Q. 50, A. 1, ad 2), Christ's death ought not to come from weakness of nature, lest it might not be believed to be voluntary: and therefore He willed to die, not from sickness, but from suffering inflicted on Him, to which He gave Himself up willingly. And therefore, lest His death might be ascribed to infirmity of nature, Christ did not wish His body to putrefy in any way or dissolve no matter how; but for the manifestation of His Divine power He willed that His body should continue incorrupt. Hence Chrysostom says (Cont. Jud. et Gent. quod 'Christus sit Deus') that ”with other men, especially with such as have wrought strenuously, their deeds s.h.i.+ne forth in their lifetime; but as soon as they die, their deeds go with them. But it is quite the contrary with Christ: because previous to the cross all is sadness and weakness, but as soon as He is crucified, everything comes to light, in order that you may learn it was not an ordinary man that was crucified.”
Reply Obj. 1: Since Christ was not subject to sin, neither was He p.r.o.ne to die or to return to dust. Yet of His own will He endured death for our salvation, for the reasons alleged above (Q. 51, A. 1).
But had His body putrefied or dissolved, this fact would have been detrimental to man's salvation, for it would not have seemed credible that the Divine power was in Him. Hence it is on His behalf that it is written (Ps. 19:10): ”What profit is there in my blood, whilst I go down to corruption?” as if He were to say: ”If My body corrupt, the profit of the blood shed will be lost.”
Reply Obj. 2: Christ's body was a subject of corruption according to the condition of its pa.s.sible nature, but not as to the deserving cause of putrefaction, which is sin: but the Divine power preserved Christ's body from putrefying, just as it raised it up from death.
Reply Obj. 3: Christ rose from the tomb by Divine power, which is not narrowed within bounds. Consequently, His rising from the grave was a sufficient argument to prove that men are to be raised up by Divine power, not only from their graves, but also from any dust whatever.
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FOURTH ARTICLE [III, Q. 51, Art. 4]
Whether Christ Was in the Tomb Only One Day and Two Nights?
Objection 1: It would seem that Christ was not in the tomb during only one day and two nights; because He said (Matt. 12:40): ”As Jonas was in the whale's belly three days and three nights: so shall the Son of man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights.”
But He was in the heart of the earth while He was in the grave.
Therefore He was not in the tomb for only one day and two nights.
Obj. 2: Gregory says in a Paschal Homily (Hom. xxi): ”As Samson carried off the gates of Gaza during the night, even so Christ rose in the night, taking away the gates of h.e.l.l.” But after rising He was not in the tomb. Therefore He was not two whole nights in the grave.
Obj. 3: Further, light prevailed over darkness by Christ's death. But night belongs to darkness, and day to light. Therefore it was more fitting for Christ's body to be in the tomb for two days and a night, rather than conversely.
_On the contrary,_ Augustine says (De Trin. iv): ”There were thirty-six hours from the evening of His burial to the dawn of the resurrection, that is, a whole night with a whole day, and a whole night.”
_I answer that,_ The very time during which Christ remained in the tomb shows forth the effect of His death. For it was said above (Q.
50, A. 6) that by Christ's death we were delivered from a twofold death, namely, from the death of the soul and of the body: and this is signified by the two nights during which He remained in the tomb.
But since His death did not come of sin, but was endured from charity, it has not the semblance of night, but of day: consequently it is denoted by the whole day during which Christ was in the sepulchre. And so it was fitting for Christ to be in the sepulchre during one day and two nights.
Reply Obj. 1: Augustine says (De Consens. Evang. iii): ”Some men, ignorant of Scriptural language, wished to compute as night those three hours, from the sixth to the ninth hour, during which the sun was darkened, and as day those other three hours during which it was restored to the earth, that is, from the ninth hour until its setting: for the coming night of the Sabbath follows, and if this be reckoned with its day, there will be already two nights and two days.
Now after the Sabbath there follows the night of the first day of the Sabbath, that is, of the dawning Sunday, on which the Lord rose. Even so, the reckoning of the three days and three nights will not stand.
It remains then to find the solution in the customary usage of speech of the Scriptures, whereby the whole is understood from the part”: so that we are able to take a day and a night as one natural day. And so the first day is computed from its ending, during which Christ died and was buried on the Friday; while the second day is an entire day with twenty-four hours of night and day; while the night following belongs to the third day. ”For as the primitive days were computed from light to night on account of man's future fall, so these days are computed from the darkness to the daylight on account of man's restoration” (De Trin. iv).
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