Matricola: 7159

Exam 4
Soteriology Exam

1) This scene is the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, riding on a donkey. The
scene is a reference to Psalm 24, which “apparently accompanied a ceremony of the entry
of God (invisibly enthroned upon the ark), followed by the people, into the Temple… a
choir identifies the approaching God and invites the very Temple gates to bow down in
obeisance” (NABRE note ad loc.). The psalm refers to the “king of glory” (Ps 24:7), who is
“the LORD, strong and mighty” (Ps. 24:8). This verse reaffirms the divinity of our Lord,
and ironically points the strength and might of the Lord as he is about to give himself to
death. His strength is in that love and self-surrender, and that’s where the second biblical
reference comes in: “your king is coming to you, a just savior is he, humble, and riding on a
donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” (Zech 9:9). As the notes point out, royal figures of
the Near East have a certain connection with riding donkeys (Gn 49:11; Jgs 5:10; 10:4).
The verse from Zechariah also points to the fleeting glimpse of earthly glory that our Lord
would enjoy: “Exult greatly, O daughter Zion! Shout for joy, O daughter Jerusalem!” As
our Lord said, “I tell you, if they keep silent, the stones will cry out!” (Luke 19:40).
2) When Jesus spoke about the Kingdom, it was a matter of “now and not yet”. The kingdom
is “at the gates” (Matt 12:28) and “in your midst” (Luke 17:21). Jesus said, “If it is by the
Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.”
(Matt 2:28, cf. Luke 11:20). And Jesus drove out demons by the Spirit of God, and
therefore the Kingdom of God had come upon Israel. At the same time, it was not
definitively inaugurated. Jesus warns his disciples that they would have to watch for its
definitive arrival like vigilant servants (Luke 12:35-40), and to prepare for it like the
prudent virgins (Matt 25:1-13). So, (I) in one way the Kingdom came with Jesus’ arrival into
the world, because “Jesus not only proclaims and implements the kingdom of God, but
incarnates it, because the Kingdom is present where the divine will is fulfilled, where the
Father is truly the Lord of creatures.” (Ducay Riportare p. 88). As Pope Benedict notes in
Jesus of Nazareth Part 1, (1) Basileia in Greek signifies “reigning” just as much as
“kingdom”, and (2) the Church Fathers as early as Origen identified Jesus as the very
Basileia. With Jesus comes the Kingdom. (II) At the same time, it was with Jesus’ sacred
Passion and Resurrection that we were able to be made full participants in the Kingdom,
because before the Triduum, anyone who died was excluded from the heavenly Kingdom
of God. And (III) at the end of the world, Jesus’ Kingdom will be fully present, with no
more “not yet”: “The Kingdom of God lies ahead of us. It is brought near in the Word
incarnate, it is proclaimed throughout the whole Gospel, and it has come in Christ's death
and Resurrection… The kingdom will come in glory when Christ hands it over to his
Father.” (CCC 2816)
3) Jesus was King already before his sacred Passion and death. Jesus affirmed to Pilate that he
was a King (John 18:37). The Magi affirmed that they were seeking the “newborn king of
the Jews” (Matt 2:2). Furthermore, “the Kingdom of God means Christ himself” (St.
Cyprian, De Dom. orat. 13:PL 4,528A.), and that means that the kingship was present
during the whole course of the incarnation. At the same time, the Kingdom is progressively
revealed in special moments of Jesus’ life: “The Kingdom of God has been coming since
the Last Supper and, in the Eucharist, it is in our midst” (CCC 2816). The Kingdom was
especially proclaimed in the crucifixion, when our Lord was proclaimed, “Jesus of
 Nazareth King of the Jews” (John 19:19). As well, the sacred humanity of Jesus was
especially exalted after the resurrection, making his kingship especially apt: ““All power in
heaven and on earth has been given to me.” (Matt 28:18). When he ascended into heaven,
his kingship became especially manifest as he co-reigned from the right hand of the father;
and when he returns and definitively ends sin and evil his kingship will be fully established.
4) The Old Testament saw that the promised king would be an anointed one (Dan 9:26, Ps.
2:2). They are inseparable concepts. This messiah would have the fullness of royal
authority and his kingdom would last forever (Gen. 49:10, 2 Sam 7:11ff.). “His kingdom
shall be eternal (2 Samuel 7:13), His sway boundless (Psalm 71:8); all nations shall serve
Him (Psalm 72:11)” (Catholic Encyclopedia, s.v.). At the same time, the messiah would be
a “suffering servant” (Is. 53). This suffering would be the basis for his priesthood, which
was also prophesied in the Psalms (109). Psalm 110 prophesied that the Messiah would sit
at the right hand of God; and so when Jesus told the high priest, “‘you will see the Son of
Man seated at the right hand of the Power and coming with the clouds of heaven”, he was
claiming to be both that messiah and the Son of Man prophesied by Daniel (7:13).
5) Messiah means “anointed one”. The Fathers of the Church identified the anointing as the
hypostatic union, the divinity “anointing” the humanity. But in his earthly life, Jesus was
“anointed” by the Spirit at his baptism, was anointed by Mary of Bethany and the sinful
woman at the house of Simon the Leper. Jesus was filled by the Holy Spirit as he was
driven into the desert (Luke 4:1), and John the Baptist propmised that the Messiah would
baptize in the Holy Spirit Matt 3:11). Jesus was also filled with the Holy Spirit as he sang
his song of praise, “I thank you, Father…”, and it was by the Holy Spirit that he was
conceived. He was surrounded by the glory of the Holy Spirit at the Transfiguration.
6) The Holy Spirit does not work autonomously from the other divine persons, because it is a
work ad extra of the most Holy Trinity. Jesus sends the Spirit by virtue of his death,
resurrection, and ascension, but this does not make the Holy Spirit secondary to Jesus or
servile. No, the Holy Spirit continues Jesus’ salvific work until the end of time. “The two
missions, that of Jesus and that of the Spirit, are coesthetic and intimately related: they are
always carried out together, tend towards the same salvific goal and embrace the same
universal reality. “When the Father sends His Word, He always sends His Breath: a joint
mission in which the Son and the Holy Spirit are distinct but inseparable " (Ducay p. 258).