Catechism of the Catholic Church
THE PROFESSION OF FAITH
SECTION TWO
512 Concerning Christ's life the Creed speaks only about the mysteries of
the Incarnation (conception and birth) and Paschal mystery (passion,
crucifixion, death, burial, descent into hell, resurrection and
ascension). It says nothing explicitly about the mysteries of Jesus'
hidden or public life, but the articles of faith concerning his
Incarnation and Passover do shed light on the whole of his earthly life.
"All that Jesus did and taught, from the beginning until the day when he
was taken up to heaven",[171] is to be seen in the light of the mysteries of
Christmas and Easter.
513 According to circumstances catechesis will make use of all the
richness of the mysteries of Jesus. Here it is enough merely to indicate
some elements common to all the mysteries of Christ's life (I), in order
then to sketch the principal mysteries of Jesus' hidden (II) and public
(III) life.
514 Many things about Jesus of interest to human curiosity do not figure
in the Gospels. Almost nothing is said about his hidden life at Nazareth,
and even a great part of his public life is not recounted.[172] What is
written in the Gospels was set down there "so that you may believe that
Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life
in his name."[173]
515 The Gospels were written by men who were among the first to have the
faith[174] and wanted to share it with others. Having known in faith who
Jesus is, they could see and make others see the traces of his mystery in
all his earthly life. From the swaddling clothes of his birth to the
vinegar of his Passion and the shroud of his Resurrection, everything in
Jesus' life was a sign of his mystery.[175] His deeds, miracles and words
all revealed that "in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily."[176]
His humanity appeared as "sacrament", that is, the sign and instrument, of
his divinity and of the salvation he brings: what was visible in his
earthly life leads to the invisible mystery of his divine sonship and
redemptive mission
Characteristics common to Jesus' mysteries
516 Christ's whole earthly life - his words and deeds, his silences and
sufferings, indeed his manner of being and speaking - is Revelation of the
Father. Jesus can say: "Whoever has seen me has seen the Father", and the
Father can say: "This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!"[177] Because our
Lord became man in order to do his Father's will, even the least
characteristics of his mysteries manifest "God's love. . . among us".[178]
517 Christ's whole life is a mystery of redemption. Redemption comes to us
above all through the blood of his cross,[179] but this mystery is at work
throughout Christ's entire life: -already in his Incarnation through which
by becoming poor he enriches us with his poverty;[180] - in his hidden life
which by his submission atones for our disobedience;[181] - in his word
which purifies its hearers;[182]- in his healings and exorcisms by which "he
took our infirmities and bore our diseases";[183] - and in his Resurrection
by which he justifies us.[184]
518 Christ's whole life is a mystery of recapitulation. All Jesus did,
said and suffered had for its aim restoring fallen man to his original
vocation:
When Christ became incarnate and was made man, he recapitulated in himself
the long history of mankind and procured for us a "short cut" to
salvation, so that what we had lost in Adam, that is, being in the image
and likeness of God, we might recover in Christ Jesus.[185] For this reason
Christ experienced all the stages of life, thereby giving communion with
God to all men.[186]
Our communion in the mysteries of Jesus
519 All Christ's riches "are for every individual and are everybody's
property."[187] Christ did not live his life for himself but for us, from
his Incarnation "for us men and for our salvation" to his death "for our
sins" and Resurrection "for our justification".[188] He is still "our
advocate with the Father", who "always lives to make intercession" for
us.[189] He remains ever "in the presence of God on our behalf, bringing
before him all that he lived and suffered for us."[190]
520 In all of his life Jesus presents himself as our model. He is "the
perfect man",[191] who invites us to become his disciples and follow him. In
humbling himself, he has given us an example to imitate, through his
prayer he draws us to pray, and by his poverty he calls us to accept
freely the privation and persecutions that may come our way.[192]
521 Christ enables us to live in him all that he himself lived, and he
lives it in us. "By his Incarnation, he, the Son of God, has in a certain
way united himself with each man."[193] We are called only to become one
with him, for he enables us as the members of his Body to share in what he
lived for us in his flesh as our model:
We must continue to accomplish in ourselves the stages of Jesus' life and
his mysteries and often to beg him to perfect and realize them in us and
in his whole Church. . . For it is the plan of the Son of God to make us
and the whole Church partake in his mysteries and to extend them to and
continue them in us and in his whole Church. This is his plan for
fulfilling his mysteries in us.[194]
The preparations
522 The coming of God's Son to earth is an event of such immensity that
God willed to prepare for it over centuries. He makes everything converge
on Christ: all the rituals and sacrifices, figures and symbols of the
"First Covenant".[195] He announces him through the mouths of the prophets
who succeeded one another in Israel. Moreover, he awakens in the hearts of
the pagans a dim expectation of this coming.
523 St. John the Baptist is the Lord's immediate precursor or forerunner,
sent to prepare his way.[196] "Prophet of the Most High", John surpasses all
the prophets, of whom he is the last.[197] He inaugurates the Gospel,
already from his mother's womb welcomes the coming of Christ, and rejoices
in being "the friend of the bridegroom", whom he points out as "the Lamb
of God, who takes away the sin of the world".[198] Going before Jesus "in
the spirit and power of Elijah", John bears witness to Christ in his
preaching, by his Baptism of conversion, and through his martyrdom.[199]
524 When the Church celebrates the liturgy of Advent each year, she makes
present this ancient expectancy of the Messiah, for by sharing in the long
preparation for the Saviour's first coming, the faithful renew their
ardent desire for his second coming.[200] By celebrating the precursor's
birth and martyrdom, the Church unites herself to his desire: "He must
increase, but I must decrease."[201]
The Christmas mystery
525 Jesus was born in a humble stable, into a poor family.[202] Simple
shepherds were the first witnesses to this event. In this poverty heaven's
glory was made manifest.[203] The Church never tires of singing the glory of
this night:
The Virgin today brings into the world the Eternal And the earth offers a
cave to the Inaccessible. The angels and shepherds praise him And the magi
advance with the star, For you are born for us, Little Child, God
eternal![204]
526 To become a child in relation to God is the condition for entering the
kingdom.[205] For this, we must humble ourselves and become little. Even
more: to become "children of God" we must be "born from above" or "born of
God".[206] Only when Christ is formed in us will the mystery of Christmas be
fulfilled in us.[207] Christmas is the mystery of this "marvellous
exchange":
O marvellous exchange! Man's Creator has become man, born of the Virgin.
We have been made sharers in the divinity of Christ who humbled himself to
share our humanity.[208]
The mysteries of Jesus' infancy
527 Jesus' circumcision, on the eighth day after his birth,[209] is the sign
of his incorporation into Abraham's descendants, into the people of the
covenant. It is the sign of his submission to the Law[210] and his
deputation to Israel's worship, in which he will participate throughout
his life. This sign prefigures that "circumcision of Christ" which is
Baptism.[211]
528 The Epiphany is the manifestation of Jesus as Messiah of Israel, Son
of God and Saviour of the world. The great feast of Epiphany celebrates
the adoration of Jesus by the wise men (magi) from the East, together with
his baptism in the Jordan and the wedding feast at Cana in Galilee.[212] In
the magi, representatives of the neighbouring pagan religions, the Gospel
sees the first-fruits of the nations, who welcome the good news of
salvation through the Incarnation. The magi's coming to Jerusalem in order
to pay homage to the king of the Jews shows that they seek in Israel, in
the messianic light of the star of David, the one who will be king of the
nations.[213] Their coming means that pagans can discover Jesus and worship
him as Son of God and Saviour of the world only by turning towards the
Jews and receiving from them the messianic promise as contained in the Old
Testament.[214] The Epiphany shows that "the full number of the nations" now
takes its "place in the family of the patriarchs", and acquires
Israelitica dignitas[215] (is made "worthy of the heritage of Israel").
529 The presentation of Jesus in the temple shows him to be the firstborn
Son who belongs to the Lord.[216] With Simeon and Anna, all Israel awaits
its encounter with the Saviour-the name given to this event in the
Byzantine tradition. Jesus is recognized as the long-expected Messiah, the
"light to the nations" and the "glory of Israel", but also "a sign that is
spoken against". The sword of sorrow predicted for Mary announces Christ's
perfect and unique oblation on the cross that will impart the salvation
God had "prepared in the presence of all peoples".
530 The flight into Egypt and the massacre of the innocents[217] make
manifest the opposition of darkness to the light: "He came to his own
home, and his own people received him not."[218] Christ's whole life was
lived under the sign of persecution. His own share it with him.[219] Jesus'
departure from Egypt recalls the exodus and presents him as the definitive
liberator of God's people.[220]
The mysteries of Jesus' hidden life
531 During the greater part of his life Jesus shared the condition of the
vast majority of human beings: a daily life spent without evident
greatness, a life of manual labour. His religious life was that of a Jew
obedient to the law of God,[221] a life in the community. From this whole
period it is revealed to us that Jesus was "obedient" to his parents and
that he "increased in wisdom and in stature, and in favour with God and
man."[222]
532 Jesus' obedience to his mother and legal father fulfils the fourth
commandment perfectly and was the temporal image of his filial obedience
to his Father in heaven. The everyday obedience of Jesus to Joseph and
Mary both announced and anticipated the obedience of Holy Thursday: "Not
my will. . ."[223] The obedience of Christ in the daily routine of his
hidden life was already inaugurating his work of restoring what the
disobedience of Adam had destroyed.[224]
533 The hidden life at Nazareth allows everyone to enter into fellowship
with Jesus by the most ordinary events of daily life:
The home of Nazareth is the school where we begin to understand the life
of Jesus - the school of the Gospel. First, then, a lesson of silence. May
esteem for silence, that admirable and indispensable condition of mind,
revive in us. . . A lesson on family life. May Nazareth teach us what
family life is, its communion of love, its austere and simple beauty, and
its sacred and inviolable character... A lesson of work. Nazareth, home of
the "Carpenter's Son", in you I would choose to understand and proclaim
the severe and redeeming law of human work. . . To conclude, I want to
greet all the workers of the world, holding up to them their great pattern
their brother who is God.[225]
534 The finding of Jesus in the temple is the only event that breaks the
silence of the Gospels about the hidden years of Jesus.[226] Here Jesus lets
us catch a glimpse of the mystery of his total consecration to a mission
that flows from his divine sonship: "Did you not know that I must be about
my Father's work?"[227] Mary and Joseph did not understand these words, but
they accepted them in faith. Mary "kept all these things in her heart"
during the years Jesus remained hidden in the silence of an ordinary life.
The baptism of Jesus
535 Jesus' public life begins with his baptism by John in the Jordan.[228]
John preaches "a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins".[229] A
crowd of sinners[230] - tax collectors and soldiers, Pharisees and
Sadducees, and prostitutes- come to be baptized by him. "Then Jesus
appears." The Baptist hesitates, but Jesus insists and receives baptism.
Then the Holy Spirit, in the form of a dove, comes upon Jesus and a voice
from heaven proclaims, "This is my beloved Son."[231] This is the
manifestation ("Epiphany") of Jesus as Messiah of Israel and Son of God.
536 The baptism of Jesus is on his part the acceptance and inauguration of
his mission as God's suffering Servant. He allows himself to be numbered
among sinners; he is already "the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of
the world".[232] Already he is anticipating the "baptism" of his bloody
death.[233] Already he is coming to "fulfil all righteousness", that is,
he is submitting himself entirely to his Father's will: out of love he
consents to this baptism of death for the remission of our sins.[234] The
Father's voice responds to the Son's acceptance, proclaiming his entire
delight in his Son.[235] The Spirit whom Jesus possessed in fullness from
his conception comes to "rest on him".[236] Jesus will be the source of
the Spirit for all mankind. At his baptism "the heavens were opened"[237]
- the heavens that Adam's sin had closed - and the waters were sanctified
by the descent of Jesus and the Spirit, a prelude to the new creation.
537 Through Baptism the Christian is sacramentally assimilated to Jesus,
who in his own baptism anticipates his death and resurrection. The
Christian must enter into this mystery of humble self-abasement and
repentance, go down into the water with Jesus in order to rise with him,
be reborn of water and the Spirit so as to become the Father's beloved son
in the Son and "walk in newness of life":[238]
Let us be buried with Christ by Baptism to rise with him; let us go down
with him to be raised with him; and let us rise with him to be glorified
with him.[239]
Everything that happened to Christ lets us know that, after the bath of
water, the Holy Spirit swoops down upon us from high heaven and that,
adopted by the Father's voice, we become sons of God.[240]
Jesus' temptations
538 The Gospels speak of a time of solitude for Jesus in the desert
immediately after his baptism by John. Driven by the Spirit into the
desert, Jesus remains there for forty days without eating; he lives among
wild beasts, and angels minister to him.[241] At the end of this time Satan
tempts him three times, seeking to compromise his filial attitude toward
God. Jesus rebuffs these attacks, which recapitulate the temptations of
Adam in Paradise and of Israel in the desert, and the devil leaves him
"until an opportune time".[242]
539 The evangelists indicate the salvific meaning of this mysterious
event: Jesus is the new Adam who remained faithful just where the first
Adam had given in to temptation. Jesus fulfils Israel's vocation
perfectly: in contrast to those who had once provoked God during forty
years in the desert, Christ reveals himself as God's Servant, totally
obedient to the divine will. In this, Jesus is the devil's conqueror: he
"binds the strong man" to take back his plunder.[243] Jesus' victory over
the tempter in the desert anticipates victory at the Passion, the supreme
act of obedience of his filial love for the Father.
540 Jesus' temptation reveals the way in which the Son of God is Messiah,
contrary to the way Satan proposes to him and the way men wish to
attribute to him.[244] This is why Christ vanquished the Tempter for us:
"For we have not a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our
weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet
without sinning."[245] By the solemn forty days of Lent the Church unites
herself each year to the mystery of Jesus in the desert.
"The kingdom of God is at hand"
541 "Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the
gospel of God, and saying: 'The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God
is at hand: repent, and believe in the gospel.'"[246] "To carry out the will
of the Father Christ inaugurated the kingdom of heaven on earth."[247] Now
the Father's will is "to raise up men to share in his own divine life".[248]
He does this by gathering men around his Son Jesus Christ. This gathering
is the Church, "on earth the seed and beginning of that kingdoms".[249]
542 Christ stands at the heart of this gathering of men into the "family
of God". By his word, through signs that manifest the reign of God, and by
sending out his disciples, Jesus calls all people to come together around
him. But above all in the great Paschal mystery - his death on the cross
and his Resurrection - he would accomplish the coming of his kingdom. "And
I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself." Into
this union with Christ all men are called.[250]
The proclamation of the kingdom of God
543 Everyone is called to enter the kingdom. First announced to the
children of Israel, this messianic kingdom is intended to accept men of
all nations.[251] To enter it, one must first accept Jesus' word:
The word of the Lord is compared to a seed which is sown in a field; those
who hear it with faith and are numbered among the little flock of Christ
have truly received the kingdom. Then, by its own power, the seed sprouts
and grows until the harvest.[252]
544 The kingdom belongs to the poor and lowly, which means those who have
accepted it with humble hearts. Jesus is sent to "preach good news to the
poor";[253] he declares them blessed, for "theirs is the kingdom of
heaven."[254] To them - the "little ones" the Father is pleased to reveal
what remains hidden from the wise and the learned.[255] Jesus shares the
life of the poor, from the cradle to the cross; he experiences hunger,
thirst and privation.[256] Jesus identifies himself with the poor of every
kind and makes active love toward them the condition for entering his
kingdom.[257]
545 Jesus invites sinners to the table of the kingdom: "I came not to call
the righteous, but sinners."[258] He invites them to that conversion without
which one cannot enter the kingdom, but shows them in word and deed his
Father's boundless mercy for them and the vast "joy in heaven over one
sinner who repents".[259] The supreme proof of his love will be the
sacrifice of his own life "for the forgiveness of sins".[260]
546 Jesus' invitation to enter his kingdom comes in the form of parables,
a characteristic feature of his teaching.[261] Through his parables he
invites people to the feast of the kingdom, but he also asks for a radical
choice: to gain the kingdom, one must give everything.[262] Words are not
enough, deeds are required.[263] The parables are like mirrors for man: will
he be hard soil or good earth for the word?[264] What use has he made of the
talents he has received?[265] Jesus and the presence of the kingdom in this
world are secretly at the heart of the parables. One must enter the
kingdom, that is, become a disciple of Christ, in order to "know the
secrets of the kingdom of heaven".[266] For those who stay "outside",
everything remains enigmatic.[267]
The signs of the kingdom of God
547 Jesus accompanies his words with many "mighty works and wonders and
signs", which manifest that the kingdom is present in him and attest that
he was the promised Messiah.[268]
548 The signs worked by Jesus attest that the Father has sent him. They
invite belief in him.[269] To those who turn to him in faith, he grants what
they ask.[270] So miracles strengthen faith in the One who does his Father's
works; they bear witness that he is the Son of God.[271] But his miracles
can also be occasions for "offence";[272] they are not intended to satisfy
people's curiosity or desire for magic Despite his evident miracles some
people reject Jesus; he is even accused of acting by the power of
demons.[273]
549 By freeing some individuals from the earthly evils of hunger,
injustice, illness and death,[274] Jesus performed messianic signs.
Nevertheless he did not come to abolish all evils here below,[275] but to
free men from the gravest slavery, sin, which thwarts them in their
vocation as God's sons and causes all forms of human bondage.[276]
550 The coming of God's kingdom means the defeat of Satan's: "If it is by
the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come
upon you."[277] Jesus' exorcisms free some individuals from the domination
of demons. They anticipate Jesus' great victory over "the ruler of this
world".[278] The kingdom of God will be definitively established through
Christ's cross: "God reigned from the wood."[279]
"The keys of the kingdom"
551 From the beginning of his public life Jesus chose certain men, twelve
in number, to be with him and to participate in his mission.[280] He gives
the Twelve a share in his authority and 'sent them out to preach the
kingdom of God and to heal."[281] They remain associated for ever with
Christ's kingdom, for through them he directs the Church:
As my Father appointed a kingdom for me, so do I appoint for you that you
may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging
the twelve tribes of Israel.[282]
552 Simon Peter holds the first place in the college of the Twelve;[283]
Jesus entrusted a unique mission to him. Through a revelation from the
Father, Peter had confessed: "You are the Christ, the Son of the living
God." Our Lord then declared to him: "You are Peter, and on this rock I
will build my Church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against
it."[284] Christ, the "living Stone",[285] thus assures his Church, built on
Peter, of victory over the powers of death. Because of the faith he
confessed Peter will remain the unshakeable rock of the Church. His
mission will be to keep this faith from every lapse and to strengthen his
brothers in it.[286]
553 Jesus entrusted a specific authority to Peter: "I will give you the
keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be
bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in
heaven."[287] The "power of the keys" designates authority to govern the
house of God, which is the Church. Jesus, the Good Shepherd, confirmed
this mandate after his Resurrection: "Feed my sheep."[288] The power to
"bind and loose" connotes the authority to absolve sins, to pronounce
doctrinal judgements, and to make disciplinary decisions in the Church.
Jesus entrusted this authority to the Church through the ministry of the
apostles[289] and in particular through the ministry of Peter, the only one
to whom he specifically entrusted the keys of the kingdom.
A foretaste of the kingdom: the Transfiguration
554 From the day Peter confessed that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the
living God, the Master "began to show his disciples that he must go to
Jerusalem and suffer many things. . . and be killed, and on the third day
be raised."[290] Peter scorns this prediction, nor do the others understand
it any better than he.[291] In this context the mysterious episode of Jesus'
Transfiguration takes place on a high mountain,[292] before three witnesses
chosen by himself: Peter, James and John. Jesus' face and clothes become
dazzling with light, and Moses and Elijah appear, speaking "of his
departure, which he was to accomplish at Jerusalem".[293] A cloud covers him
and a voice from heaven says: "This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to
him!"[294]
555 For a moment Jesus discloses his divine glory, confirming Peter's
confession. He also reveals that he will have to go by the way of the
cross at Jerusalem in order to "enter into his glory".[295]
Moses and Elijah had seen God's glory on the Mountain; the Law and the
Prophets had announced the Messiah's sufferings.[296] Christ's Passion is
the will of the Father: the Son acts as God's servant;[297] the cloud
indicates the presence of the Holy Spirit. "The whole Trinity appeared:
the Father in the voice; the Son in the man; the Spirit in the shining
cloud."[298]
You were transfigured on the mountain, and your disciples, as much as they
were capable of it, beheld your glory, O Christ our God, so that when they
should see you crucified they would understand that your Passion was
voluntary, and proclaim to the world that you truly are the splendour of
the Father.[299]
556 On the threshold of the public life: the baptism; on the threshold of
the Passover: the Transfiguration. Jesus' baptism proclaimed "the mystery
of the first regeneration", namely, our Baptism; the Transfiguration "is
the sacrament of the second regeneration": our own Resurrection.[300] From
now on we share in the Lord's Resurrection through the Spirit who acts in
the sacraments of the Body of Christ. The Transfiguration gives us a
foretaste of Christ's glorious coming, when he "will change our lowly body
to be like his glorious body."[301] But it also recalls that "it is through
many persecutions that we must enter the kingdom of God":[302]
Peter did not yet understand this when he wanted to remain with Christ on
the mountain. It has been reserved for you, Peter, but for after death.
For now, Jesus says: "Go down to toil on earth, to serve on earth, to be
scorned and crucified on earth. Life goes down to be killed; Bread goes
down to suffer hunger; the Way goes down to be exhausted on his journey;
the Spring goes down to suffer thirst; and you refuse to suffer?"[303]
Jesus' ascent to Jerusalem
557 "When the days drew near for him to be taken up [Jesus] set his face
to go to Jerusalem."[304] By this decision he indicated that he was going up
to Jerusalem prepared to die there. Three times he had announced his
Passion and Resurrection; now, heading toward Jerusalem, Jesus says: "It
cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem."[305]
558 Jesus recalls the martyrdom of the prophets who had been put to death
in Jerusalem. Nevertheless he persists in calling Jerusalem to gather
around him: "How often would I have gathered your children together as a
hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not!"[306] When
Jerusalem comes into view he weeps over her and expresses once again his
heart's desire: "Would that even today you knew the things that make for
peace! But now they are hid from your eyes."[307]
Jesus' messianic entrance into Jerusalem
559 How will Jerusalem welcome her Messiah? Although Jesus had always
refused popular attempts to make him king, he chooses the time and
prepares the details for his messianic entry into the city of "his father
David".[308] Acclaimed as son of David, as the one who brings salvation
(Hosanna means "Save!" or "Give salvation!"), the "King of glory" enters
his City "riding on an ass".[309] Jesus conquers the Daughter of Zion, a
figure of his Church, neither by ruse nor by violence, but by the humility
that bears witness to the truth.[310] And so the subjects of his kingdom on
that day are children and God's poor, who acclaim him as had the angels
when they announced him to the shepherds.[311] Their acclamation, "Blessed
be he who comes in the name of the Lord",[312] is taken up by the Church in
the Sanctus of the Eucharistic liturgy that introduces the memorial of the
Lord's Passover.
560 Jesus' entry into Jerusalem manifested the coming of the kingdom that
the King-Messiah was going to accomplish by the Passover of his Death and
Resurrection. It is with the celebration of that entry on Palm Sunday that
the Church's liturgy solemnly opens Holy Week.
IN BRIEF
561 "The whole of Christ's life was a continual teaching: his silences,
his miracles, his gestures, his prayer, his love for people, his special
affection for the little and the poor, his acceptance of the total
sacrifice on the Cross for the redemption of the world, and his
Resurrection are the actualization of his word and the fulfilment of
Revelation" John Paul II, CT 9).
562 Christ's disciples are to conform themselves to him until he is formed
in them (cf. Gal 4:19). "For this reason we, who have been made like to
him, who have died with him and risen with him, are taken up into the
mysteries of his life, until we reign together with him" (LG 7 # 4).
563 No one, whether shepherd or wise man, can approach God here below
except by kneeling before the manger at Bethlehem and adoring him hidden
in the weakness of a new-born child.
564 By his obedience to Mary and Joseph, as well as by his humble work
during the long years in Nazareth, Jesus gives us the example of holiness
in the daily life of family and work.
565 From the beginning of his public life, at his baptism, Jesus is the
"Servant", wholly consecrated to the redemptive work that he will
accomplish by the "baptism" of his Passion.
566 The temptation in the desert shows Jesus, the humble Messiah, who
triumphs over Satan by his total adherence to the plan of salvation willed
by the Father.
567 The kingdom of heaven was inaugurated on earth by Christ. "This
kingdom shone out before men in the word, in the works and in the presence
of Christ" (LG 5). The Church is the seed and beginning of this kingdom.
Its keys are entrusted to Peter.
568 Christ's Transfiguration aims at strengthening the apostles' faith in
anticipation of his Passion: the ascent on to the "high mountain" prepares
for the ascent to Calvary. Christ, Head of the Church, manifests what his
Body contains and radiates in the sacraments: "the hope of glory" (Col
1:27; cf.: St. Leo the Great, Sermo 51, 3: PL 54, 310C).
569 Jesus went up to Jerusalem voluntarily, knowing well that there he
would die a violent death because of the opposition of sinners (cf. Heb
12:3).
570 Jesus' entry into Jerusalem manifests the coming of the kingdom that
the Messiah-King, welcomed into his city by children and the humble of
heart, is going to accomplish by the Passover of his Death and
Resurrection.
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