Christian Art | Jesus As A Boy Disputes In The Temple
Office Of Readings | Week 20, Saturday, Ordinary Time | A Reading From The Discourses Of Saint Ambrose On The Psalms | Through His Blood, Jesus Christ Reconciled The World To God
‘Through his blood, Jesus Christ reconciled the world to God.’
Saint Ambrose of Milan continues his exposition of the psalms by dwelling on the theme of Jesus Christ as the universal reconciler. His reflection builds on two interconnected truths: the sinlessness of Christ and the all-sufficiency of his sacrifice.
The argument begins with the episode of the temple tax (Mt 17:24–27). Ambrose interprets this incident as an enacted parable of Christ’s freedom from sin. The temple tax, associated with offerings of atonement (cf. Ex 30:11–16), symbolised humanity’s indebtedness before God. Jesus, however, declares himself exempt, since he is the true Son, not a servant under bondage. Yet, for the sake of others, he consents to pay, not out of necessity but out of humility and to avoid scandal. The miracle of the coin in the fish’s mouth underscores the gratuitous character of this payment: Christ gives not what is required of him but what is given for the sake of others.
Ambrose then expands this principle into a theology of redemption. Since Christ has no sin, he owes no ransom for himself. His sacrifice, therefore, is offered wholly for others. Moreover, the price of his blood is not limited to one person or one offering, but is sufficient for the redemption of the entire world. Ambrose contrasts this universality with the limitations of human sacrifice: no individual’s blood, however precious, could redeem even themselves, still less others. Only Christ, sinless and divine, can make satisfaction for all.
Ambrose then draws a pastoral implication: since Christ has once and for all made propitiation, no other atoning sacrifice is necessary. There is no need for each individual to offer their own blood, because Christ has already accomplished redemption universally and definitively. This emphasises both the singularity and the finality of the cross.
Ambrose concludes by returning to the words of Christ: ‘Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest.’ (Mt 11:28) Reconciliation is not merely a transaction but a sharing of burdens. Christ not only cancels humanity’s debt but takes its weight upon himself. The commentary thus ties together theological reflection with a note of consolation: the universal redeemer is also the one who invites the weary into rest.
This passage exemplifies Ambrose’s theological clarity: Christ’s sinlessness grounds his capacity to redeem; his blood is sufficient for all; reconciliation is universal, final, and pastoral in its effect.
A Reading From The Discourses Of Saint Ambrose On The Psalms | Through His Blood, Jesus Christ Reconciled The World To God
When Christ reconciled the world to God he himself was certainly not in need of reconciliation. What sin could he do penance for, when he had no sin in him? Moreover, when the Jews were asking for the half-shekel, the offering given for sin according to the Law, he said to Peter: ’Simon, what is your opinion? From whom do the kings of the earth take toll or tribute? From their sons or from foreigners?’ And when Peter replied, ‘From foreigners’, Jesus said, ‘Well then, the sons are exempt. However, so as not to offend these people, go to the lake and cast a hook; take the first fish that bites, open its mouth and there you will find a shekel; take it and give it to them for me and for you.’
He showed that he does not owe an offering for any sin of his own, for he was not a slave of sin: the Son of God was free from all fault. For the son gives freedom; it is the slave who is guilty. So Jesus is completely free, and he does not make payment to redeem his soul. The price of his blood was more than enough to redeem all the sins of the entire world. It is right that he who owes nothing for himself should be able to give freedom to others.
Let me say more. Christ owes nothing for his own redemption and owes nothing as propitiation for sin. But more than that, if you consider any one of us then you will see that none of us owes anything as a propitiatory offering, because Christ himself is that offering, the offering for all and the redemption of all.
What man’s blood now has the power to redeem him, when Christ has shed his own blood for the redemption of all? Is there anyone whose blood could be compared to Christ’s? Or what man is so powerful that he could make an offering of propitiation greater than the offering that Christ made of himself when he alone reconciled the world to God by his blood? What greater sacrificial victim can there be, what superior sacrifice, what better advocate could there be than Christ, who became the atonement for the sins of all, who gave his life for our redemption?
Individual propitiation, individual redemption is not needed, because the blood of Christ is the price of all. By that blood the Lord Jesus redeemed us, and he alone has reconciled us to the Father. He laboured at this to the end, for he took our own burdens on himself when he said, Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest.
Christian Prayer With Jesus Christ
O Christ our Redeemer,
sinless Son of the Father,
whose blood reconciled the world to God,
you owed nothing, yet you paid the debt of all.
Take upon yourself our burdens,
give rest to the weary,
and grant that we may live in the freedom of your redemption,
until we are brought into the fullness of your peace,
who live and reign with the Father in the unity of the Spirit,
one God, forever and ever.
Amen.
Glossary Of Christian Terms
Reconciliation: The restoration of right relationship between God and humanity, achieved through Christ’s sacrifice.
Temple tax (half-shekel): A levy in the Law of Moses associated with offerings of atonement (Ex 30:11–16). Ambrose reads it as symbolic of sin’s debt.
Sinlessness of Christ: The belief that Jesus was without sin (Heb 4:15), enabling him to be a perfect sacrifice.
Propitiation: An offering that turns aside wrath or satisfies the demands of justice; Christ is the final propitiatory sacrifice (Rom 3:25).
Redemption: The act of buying back or liberating from slavery; in Christian theology, the liberation of humanity from sin and death by Christ’s sacrifice.
Sacrificial victim: In biblical religion, the offering presented to God in atonement; Christ is seen as the perfect and final sacrificial victim.
Advocate: One who intercedes on behalf of another; Christ is the supreme advocate before the Father (1 Jn 2:1).
This passage from Ephrem the Syrian offers a contemplative and poetic account of the nature of divine revelation, centred on the inexhaustibility of the Word of God. Unlike the more argumentative tone of Latin writers such as Augustine of Hippo or Leo the Great, Ephrem proceeds through imagery and analogy, inviting reflection rather than analysis [ … ]
In this moment, Jesus’ prayer is a beautiful example of submission to God’s will. Despite his agony, Jesus chose to surrender his own desires and accept God’s plan for his life. Jesus knew that this was the only way to bring salvation to the world. This act of selflessness is a testament to Jesus’ deep love for humanity [ … ]
We process. Glass exhibition cases, old reliquaries. A forearm here; here a nun’s fingertip. In chapel, at a glance, there are the usual faces. But they all stand to attention. Jonathan breaks from the procession to – fire the organ with oomph and dignity: Ride on! ride on in majesty! The angel-squadrons of the sky look down with sad and wondering eyes to see the approaching sacrifice. When we’ve done the readings, the Arch holds that tree in his hands to deliver the homily. He rocks quietly on his feet, some few seconds, as if balance defeated it. A way you might affect as the Spirit moves… Copying. Then he says: ‘Our palm fronds may seem to us today rather dry. I mean this not in a literal sense, but by the standards of those who originally lined the roadways in order to welcome Jesus into Jerusalem, as they proclaimed Jesus to be the Messiah, who would be clambering up and ripping their palm branches fresh from off the trees. I think perhaps also our faith is somewhat distant from that of the people there on that highroad into Jerusalem, and something of our sense of the meaning has shifted in vividness from what it was then. And of course the expectation of all those many people is markedly different, but in many important respects the same. There are the same essential qualities to all our faith in God, which springs complete from our humanity, and that is one and the same in value for all of us, and time is consistent on this point. So then, let us renew the fullness of Catholic faith, and let us ask the Lord’s blessing as we embark upon our Holy Week. ‘Our Lord enters into Jerusalem in order to refresh us. He is to die in order that we may have life. There is a living reality here, both spiritual and as entangled in the joy of our daily living. We have Ladies’ Day where I grew up. They still have it, and they close the roads off, and little children parade, dressed-up like spring brides. When I was a boy, there was a May Day festival, and there was a May pole on the field, with the people dancing, like Morris dancers might be one way of visualizing this if you’ve never seen it, with their ribbons tied onto the top of the May pole, and they would weave around each other, dressing the pole, which is what we called it. It was like a dance with red and white and blue ribbons all hung off of the top of the May pole, which stood there all year, only like a telegraph pole, but it was concreted in, and then there was a slide, and swings – one baby-swing and two you could have a go at – terrible health and safety but that’s what it was in those days. ‘There was a round-a-bout – we used to run it round and round to try to get it off its central axis. It were rusty as anything and creaked like mad – on concrete. And climb up where it was all greased up at the top. Ruth, who was big as the next four of us, used to sit there sucking on the lollipops we nicked for her from Raddies, and she’d direct matters. We were trying to destroy it, and get it to dislodge from its central axis, and fly away – roll off into that farmer’s field, which he only ever kept for silage, but we never succeeded. There was a car someone had left there so we spent forever smashing that up, until someone who lived in one of the houses there took exception to our doing that, so he put thick grease under the door handles and gave us a right talking to. ‘It would only be a few stands, hot-dogs and things like that. The man selling the hot dogs would have his records on full blast. There’d be a couple of set-up stalls. Air-rifles – that sort of thing. But we all had them, and we all went shooting, of course, if not with twelve bores then with smaller gauge. Or pay a pound – I have no idea how much it was in actual fact then – it might have only been a few pennies – and we’d get all that time smashing up the crockery the man would put up for us to smash on the dressers. That was my particular favourite thing to do at these festivals, by the way, in case you were wondering. You got a little bucket of so many cricket balls. ‘I dread to think what went into those hot dogs. Probably EE rules would forbid it now. But it was a fair mix in those days. A lot of young people then were C of E. We’ve done a lot to hang onto our young people, which is a tremendous encouragement when you consider how things are, while in recent decades the Church of England hasn’t been so successful. People still want it on feast days and what are essentially now civic celebrations. It’s strange to see, though, how all the little stands there people have are run by the police and people like that along those lines. There’s no May pole. That was a sort of faith that ran and ran beneath all the theoreticals of it in the 1960s and the 1970s and into the 1980s. The May pole isn’t there now in the particular place I’m thinking of. Considering May poles were officially suppressed hundreds of years ago – as a part of the protestant reformation. One or two of you are probably thinking I’m remembering things from that time! ‘I should have liked to say that those processionals were so hardwired into us, that even after the last thirty years, when I became a bishop, they are still with us. They were […]
