118. Christ's Passion: Reconciliation, Heaven's Gate, and Exaltation

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

Article 4: Reconciliation to God through the Passion #

The Problem: If God eternally loves all things he has made (Wisdom 11), and loves us regarding our nature, how can the passion reconcile us to God? Doesn’t reconciliation only occur between friends? How can the wicked act of killing Christ reconcile humanity to God?

Thomas’s Resolution: The passion reconciles us in two ways:

1. By removing sin - Sin constitutes men as enemies of God (Wisdom 14). The passion removes the cause of God’s hatred (sin itself), not his love. God loves the nature but hates the guilt.
2. By constituting an acceptable sacrifice - Through the passion as a sacrifice most acceptable to God, God is reconciled to humanity. Just as a man remits an offense through acceptable service shown to him, God’s wrath is placated (appeased) by Christ’s voluntary suffering motivated by charity.

Key Distinction: God’s love never ceases; rather, the obstacle (sin causing enmity) is removed. The prodigal son illustrates this: the father never stopped loving the son, but reconciliation still required the son’s return.

Divine Hatred: God hates sinners not as men (creatures) but as regards guilt. Scripture supports this: “The Most High has in hate sinners” (Ecclesiasticus 12); “He hates all who do bad things” (Psalm 5:7). Berquist notes this distinction is important for preaching.

Article 5: Opening of Heaven’s Gate #

The Problem: Did not the holy fathers merit entry to heaven through justice before the passion? Did not Elias ascend to heaven? Didn’t Christ open heaven at his baptism? Doesn’t his ascension, not his passion, open heaven for us?

Thomas’s Resolution: The “closing of the gate” is metaphorically an obstacle preventing entry. Two sins impede entry:

1. Original sin - the common sin of the whole human race, imposed after Adam and Eve’s sin (Genesis 3:24)
2. Personal sins - individual sins committed by each person

The passion removes both obstacles:

• Liberates from original sin regarding both guilt and punishment by paying the price
• Liberates from personal sins when individuals communicate to Christ’s passion through faith, charity, and sacraments

Regarding Elias: He was taken to the aerial heaven (atmospheric heaven), not the celestial heaven (place of the blessed). Similarly, Enoch was carried to the terrestrial paradise where he lives with Elias until the Antichrist’s coming.

Regarding Baptism: The opening of the heavens at Christ’s baptism signifies that heaven is open to the baptized by means of Christ’s baptism, which has efficacy from his passion.

Regarding Ascension: The passion merits entry and removes the obstacle; the ascension brings Christ (and through him, us) into actual possession of the heavenly kingdom. Ascension “prepares the way” by realizing what the passion merited.

Article 6: Christ Meriting Exaltation through the Passion #

The Problem: If Christ, as God, always had open access to the Father’s glory, and if he had knowledge of all truth from the Incarnation itself (not through merit), how can the passion merit exaltation? If Christ merited from the first instant of conception and his charity didn’t increase, why would the passion merit more than earlier acts?

Thomas’s Resolution: Merit implies equality to justice—a reward owed as debt. When someone from a just will takes away what ought to be taken away, something further is justly owed to him as recompense for his just will. Thus: “He who humbles himself shall be exalted” (Luke 14).

Christ humbled himself below his dignity in four ways during the passion:

1. As regards the very passion and death (suffering what he was not liable to)
2. As regards place (body in tomb, soul in hell)
3. As regards confusion and insults sustained
4. As regards being handed over to human power

Through the passion, Christ merited exaltation in four corresponding ways:

1. Glorious resurrection (Psalm 138: “My sitting down…and my resurrection”)
2. Ascent to heaven (Ephesians 4: descent and ascent)
3. Right hand of the Father and manifestation of divinity (Isaiah 52: exalted and elevated; Philippians 2: “God has exalted him and given him a name above every name”)
4. Judiciary power (Job 36: recovery of cause through just judgment; merited to judge as compensation for being falsely judged)

Regarding Prior Merit: Through prior merits from the first instant, Christ merited exaltation from the side of his divine will informed by charity. But in the passion, he merited exaltation by way of recompense also from the side of the body. It is just that a body subjected to passion from charity would receive compensation in glory.

Regarding Soul’s Glory: By divine dispensation, the glory of Christ’s soul did not overflow to his body before the passion, so that his body might obtain glory in a more honorable way—through meriting it through action. The glory of the soul was not deferred because the soul is immediately united to the Word.

Key Arguments #

Against Reconciliation through the Passion #

• God always loves all things he has made; reconciliation has no place between God and man (Wisdom 11)
• Grace is the beginning of merit and cannot itself be merited; God’s love is the beginning of the passion (John 3)
• The passion is fulfilled through men killing Christ, who grievously offend God; thus the passion causes indignation rather than reconciliation

For Reconciliation through the Passion #

• “We are reconciled to God through the death of his son” (Romans 5:10)
• The passion removes sin, which constitutes men as enemies of God
• The passion constitutes a sacrifice most acceptable to God, pleasing Him as man remits an offense through acceptable service
• Christ’s voluntary suffering motivated by charity is greater than the iniquity of those who killed him

Against Heaven’s Gate Opening through the Passion #

• The holy fathers merited entry through justice without the passion (Proverbs 11:18)
• Elias was taken to heaven before the passion (4 Kings/2 Kings)
• The heavens opened at Christ’s baptism, not passion (Matthew 3)
• Christ’s ascension, not passion, “prepares the way” before us (Ephesians 4)

For Heaven’s Gate Opening through the Passion #

• “We have confidence in the entry of the holy places in the blood of Christ” (Hebrews 10)
• The gate’s closure is the obstacle of sin (original and personal)
• Only the passion removes both original sin (common to all) and enables removal of personal sins
• The ascension realizes possession of what the passion merited
• Numbers 35 (homicide and city of refuge): The homicide could return home only after the high priest dies—prefiguring how Christ’s death as high priest (Hebrews 9) opens heaven

Against Christ Meriting Exaltation through Passion #

• Knowledge of truth is proper to God; Christ had all knowledge from the Incarnation, not through merit (John 1)
• Christ merited from the first instant of conception; his charity didn’t increase
• The glory of the soul was already blessed from conception; body’s glory results from soul’s glory

For Christ Meriting Exaltation through Passion #

• “He was made obedient unto death, the death of the cross, on account of which God has exalted him” (Philippians 2:8-9)
• Christ’s prior merits applied to his will; the passion merited by way of recompense regarding his body
• The body, subjected to passion from love, justly receives compensation in glory
• The deferral of soul’s glory overflowing to the body was a divine dispensation enabling the body to merit exaltation through action

Important Definitions #

Reconciliation (διαλλαγή / reconciliatio) #

Removal of the obstacle (sin) causing enmity between God and man. Not a change in God’s love but restoration of the proper relationship. Effected through both the removal of sin and through an acceptable sacrifice that pleases God.

Sacrifice (θυσία / sacrificium) #

A gift offered to God. Its proper effect is that God is appeased, placated, and reconciled through it—just as man remits an offense committed toward him on account of acceptable service shown to him.

Merit (meritum) #

Implies equality to justice; a reward justly owed as a debt. When someone from a just will takes away what ought to be taken away, something further is justly owed to him as recompense for his just will.

The Gate of Heaven (porta caelorum) #

A metaphor for the obstacle preventing entry into the heavenly kingdom. The obstacle consists of sin—both original sin (common to all) and personal sin (individual guilt).

Aerial Heaven vs. Celestial Heaven #

Aerial heaven: The atmospheric realm; where Elias was taken. Celestial heaven (imperial heaven): The place of the blessed; where the glorified enter after the passion of Christ.

Examples & Illustrations #

The Prodigal Son (Luke 15) #

Though the father never stopped loving the son, the son still had to return to be reconciled. This illustrates that God’s love (which never ceases) and reconciliation (removal of the obstacle of sin) are distinct concepts. The father loved his son even in his estrangement but could not welcome him in his sinful state.

Acceptable Service and Remission of Offense #

Just as a man remits an offense committed toward him when acceptable service is shown to him, so God is reconciled to humanity through the acceptable sacrifice of Christ’s passion, motivated by charity. (1 Kings 26: “If the Lord be against me, the sacrifice…”)

Elias and Enoch #

Elias was taken to the aerial (atmospheric) heaven, not the celestial (place of the blessed). Enoch similarly was carried to the terrestrial paradise, where both are believed to live until the Antichrist’s coming. They are identified as the two witnesses in Revelation.

The Homicide and Cities of Refuge (Numbers 35) #

The homicide who slew without hatred or malice could return to his home only after the death of the high priest. This type prefigures how Christ as high priest (Hebrews 9) opens heaven for all through his death: “Christ, the high priest of the future goods, through his own blood entered once into the holy of holies, having found eternal redemption” (Hebrews 9:11-12).

Charity Greater than Iniquity #

Christ’s charity in voluntarily suffering exceeds the iniquity of those who killed him. Thus his passion is “more valuable” and reconciling to the whole human race than the killing of Christ is provoking to God’s anger. An analogy from Shakespeare: In “Measure for Measure,” Isabella’s charity (deceiving for Angelo) is greater than Angelo’s iniquity (deceiving her), showing how charity can make amends for grave wrongs.

Notable Quotes #

“God loves all men as regards the nature which he himself has made, but he hates them as regards the guilt which men commit against him.” — Thomas Aquinas, cited by Berquist

“Just as those who killed Christ were men, so also that Christ killed was a man. But greater was the charity of Christ’s suffering than the iniquity of those who killed him. Therefore the passion of Christ is more valuable to reconciling God to the whole human race than provoking to anger.” — Thomas Aquinas

“He who humbles himself shall be exalted.” — Christ (Luke 14), cited by Thomas as the principle underlying Christ’s merit of exaltation

Questions Addressed #

Question 49, Article 4: Whether Through the Passion of Christ We Are Reconciled to God #

Resolution: Yes. The passion reconciles us in two ways: (1) by removing sin, which constitutes men as enemies of God; (2) by constituting an acceptable sacrifice most pleasing to God. God’s love never ceases, but sin creates enmity. The passion removes the cause of this enmity.

Question 49, Article 5: Whether by His Passion Christ Opened for Us the Gate of Heaven #

Resolution: Yes. The “gate” represents the obstacle of sin preventing entry. The passion removes both original sin (imposed after Adam’s transgression) and enables the removal of personal sins through faith, charity, and sacraments. Prior merits of the holy fathers sufficed for individual souls but could not remove the common obstacle of original sin. The ascension brings us into actual possession of what the passion merited.

Question 49, Article 6: Whether Through His Passion Christ Merited Exaltation #

Resolution: Yes. Christ merited exaltation through passion in four ways: (1) glorious resurrection; (2) ascent to heaven; (3) right hand of the Father and manifestation of divinity; (4) judiciary power. Though Christ’s soul was blessed from conception, his body’s glorification was deferred so that it might merit glory through the action of his passion. Merit requires equality to justice; Christ’s humbling of himself below his dignity justly demands exaltation.

Philosophical and Theological Themes #

Divine Love and Divine Hatred #

Berquist emphasizes the need for theological precision: God loves all creatures as regards their nature (which he made) but hates them as regards guilt (sin, which he did not make). This distinction is crucial for understanding reconciliation: it is not God’s love that changes but the obstacle (guilt) that is removed.

Causality and the Passion #

The passion functions as a cause in multiple modes: (1) efficient causality (removing sin); (2) sacrificial causality (pleasing God); (3) exemplary causality (meriting by way of recompense). These distinctions prevent confusion about how a historical act effects universal salvation.

Merit and Recompense #

Christ’s prior merits (from the first instant) applied to his divine will; the passion merits by way of recompense for his bodily humiliation. This allows Thomas to reconcile Christ’s eternal perfection with the notion that his passion “added” something through merit—specifically, the glorification of his body.

Pedagogical Notes #

Berquist emphasizes that theological distinctions (particularly God’s love vs. God’s hatred of sin) are suitable for preaching and spiritual instruction. He references St. Bernard of Clairvaux’s meditations on fear of the Lord and notes that the four last things (death, judgment, heaven, hell) were standard in parish missions—an important spiritual practice often neglected in modern times.

The lecture demonstrates Thomas’s systematic method: posing difficult objections drawn from Scripture and reason, then showing how proper distinctions and metaphysical precision resolve apparent contradictions. This is exemplified in the careful analysis of when and how heaven is opened, how the wicked act of killing Christ becomes reconciling, and how Christ’s eternal perfection is compatible with meriting exaltation through suffering.