Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae

Objection 1: It seems that Christ did not merit to be exalted on account of His Passion. For eminence of rank belongs to God alone, just as knowledge of truth, according to Ps. 112:4: "The Lord is high above all nations, and His glory above the heavens." But Christ as man had the knowledge of all truth, not on account of any preceding merit, but from the very union of God and man, according to Jn. 1:14: "We saw His glory . . . as it were of the only-Begotten of the Father, full of grace and of truth." Therefore neither had He exaltation from the merit of the Passion but from the union alone.

Objection 2: Further, Christ merited for Himself from the first instant of His conception, as stated above (Question 34, Article 3). But His love was no greater during the Passion than before. Therefore, since charity is the principle of merit, it seems that He did not merit exaltation from the Passion more than before.

Objection 3: Further, the glory of the body comes from the glory of the soul, as Augustine says (Ep. ad Dioscor.). But by His Passion Christ did not merit exaltation as to the glory of His soul, because His soul was beatified from the first instant of His conception. Therefore neither did He merit exaltation, as to the glory of His body, from the Passion.

On the contrary, It is written (Phil. 2:8): "He became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross; for which cause God also exalted Him."

I answer that, Merit implies a certain equality of justice: hence the Apostle says (Rm. 4:4): "Now to him that worketh, the reward is reckoned according to debt." But when anyone by reason of his unjust will ascribes to himself something beyond his due, it is only just that he be deprived of something else which is his due; thus, "when a man steals a sheep he shall pay back four" (Ex. 22:1). And he is said to deserve it, inasmuch as his unjust will is chastised thereby. So likewise when any man through his just will has stripped himself of what he ought to have, he deserves that something further be granted to him as the reward of his just will. And hence it is written (Lk. 14:11): "He that humbleth himself shall be exalted."

Now in His Passion Christ humbled Himself beneath His dignity in four respects. In the first place as to His Passion and death, to which He was not bound; secondly, as to the place, since His body was laid in a sepulchre and His soul in hell; thirdly, as to the shame and mockeries He endured; fourthly, as to His being delivered up to man's power, as He Himself said to Pilate (Jn. 19:11): "Thou shouldst not have any power against Me, unless it were given thee from above." And, consequently, He merited a four-fold exaltation from His Passion. First of all, as to His glorious Resurrection: hence it is written (Ps. 138:1): "Thou hast known my sitting down"---that is, the lowliness of My Passion---"and My rising up." Secondly, as to His ascension into heaven: hence it is written (Eph. 4:9): "Now that He ascended, what is it, but because He also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended above all the heavens." Thirdly, as to the sitting on the right hand of the Father and the showing forth of His Godhead, according to Is. 52:13: "He shall be exalted and extolled, and shall be exceeding high: as many have been astonished at him, so shall His visage be inglorious among men." Moreover (Phil. 2:8) it is written: "He humbled Himself, becoming obedient unto death, even to the death of the cross: for which cause also God hath exalted Him, and hath given Him a name which is above all names"---that is to say, so that He shall be hailed as God by all; and all shall pay Him homage as God. And this is expressed in what follows: "That in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those that are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth." Fourthly, as to His judiciary power: for it is written (Job 36:17): "Thy cause hath been judged as that of the wicked cause and judgment Thou shalt recover."

Reply to Objection 1: The source of meriting comes of the soul, while the body is the instrument of the meritorious work. And consequently the perfection of Christ's soul, which was the source of meriting, ought not to be acquired in Him by merit, like the perfection of the body, which was the subject of suffering, and was thereby the instrument of His merit.

Reply to Objection 2: Christ by His previous merits did merit exaltation on behalf of His soul, whose will was animated with charity and the other virtues; but in the Passion He merited His exaltation by way of recompense even on behalf of His body: since it is only just that the body, which from charity was subjected to the Passion, should receive recompense in glory.

Reply to Objection 3: It was owing to a special dispensation in Christ that before the Passion the glory of His soul did not shine out in His body, in order that He might procure His bodily glory with greater honor, when He had merited it by His Passion. But it was not beseeming for the glory of His soul to be postponed, since the soul was united immediately with the Word; hence it was beseeming that its glory should be filled by the Word Himself. But the body was united with the Word through the soul.

Articulus 6

Argumentum 1

Ad sextum sic proceditur. Videtur quod christus per suam passionem non meruit exaltari. Sicut enim cognitio veritatis est proprium deo, ita et sublimitas, secundum illud Psalmi, excelsus super omnes gentes dominus, et super caelos gloria eius.

Sed christus, secundum quod homo, habuit cognitionem omnis veritatis non ex aliquo merito praecedenti, sed ex ipsa unione dei et hominis, secundum illud Ioan. I, vidimus gloriam eius quasi unigeniti a patre, plenum gratiae et veritatis.

Ergo neque exaltationem habuit ex merito passionis, sed ex sola unione.

Argumentum 2

Praeterea, christus meruit sibi a primo instanti suae conceptionis, ut supra habitum est.

Non autem maior caritas fuit in eo tempore passionis quam ante.

Cum ergo caritas sit merendi principium, videtur quod non magis meruit per passionem suam exaltationem quam ante.

Argumentum 3

Praeterea, gloria corporis resultat ex gloria animae, ut Augustinus dicit, in epistola ad dioscorum.

Sed christus per passionem suam non meruit exaltationem quantum ad gloriam animae, quia anima eius fuit beata a primo instanti suae conceptionis. Ergo neque etiam per passionem meruit exaltationem quantum ad gloriam corporis.

Sed Contra

Sed contra est quod dicitur philipp. II, factus est obediens usque ad mortem, mortem autem crucis, propter quod et deus exaltavit illum.

Corpus

Respondeo dicendum quod meritum importat quandam aequalitatem iustitiae, unde apostolus dicit, ei qui operatur, merces imputatur secundum debitum.

Cum autem aliquis ex sua iniusta voluntate sibi attribuit plus quam debeatur, iustum est ut diminuatur etiam quantum ad id quod sibi debebatur, sicut, cum furatur quis unam ovem, reddet quatuor, ut dicitur Exod. XXII.

Et hoc dicitur mereri, inquantum per hoc punitur cuius est iniqua voluntas. Ita etiam, cum aliquis sibi ex iusta voluntate subtrahit quod debebat habere, meretur ut sibi amplius aliquid superaddatur, quasi merces iustae voluntatis.

Et inde est quod, sicut dicitur Luc. XIV, qui se humiliat, exaltabitur.

Christus autem in sua passione seipsum humiliavit infra suam dignitatem, quantum ad quatuor. Primo quidem, quantum ad passionem et mortem, cuius debitor non erat. Secundo, quantum ad locum, quia corpus eius positum est in sepulcro, anima in inferno. Tertio, quantum ad confusionem et opprobria quae sustinuit. Quarto, quantum ad hoc quod est traditus humanae potestati, secundum quod ipse dicit Pilato, Ioan. XIX, non haberes in me potestatem, nisi datum tibi fuisset desuper.

Et ideo per suam passionem meruit exaltationem quantum ad quatuor. Primo quidem, quantum ad resurrectionem gloriosam.

Unde dicitur in Psalmo, tu cognovisti sessionem meam, idest humilitatem meae passionis, et resurrectionem meam.

Secundo, quantum ad ascensionem in caelum.

Unde dicitur Ephes. IV, descendit primo in inferiores partes terrae, qui autem descendit, ipse est et qui ascendit super omnes caelos.

Tertio, quantum ad consessum paternae dexterae, et manifestationem divinitatis ipsius, secundum illud Isaiae LII, exaltabitur et elevabitur, et sublimis erit valde, sicut obstupuerunt super eum multi, sic inglorius erit inter viros aspectus eius.

Et philipp. II dicitur, factus est obediens usque ad mortem, mortem autem crucis, propter quod et deus exaltavit illum, et dedit illi nomen quod est super omne nomen, ut scilicet ab omnibus nominetur deus, et omnes sibi reverentiam exhibeant sicut deo.

Et hoc est quod subditur, ut in nomine iesu omne genu flectatur, caelestium, terrestrium et infernorum.

Quarto, quantum ad iudiciariam potestatem.

Dicitur enim iob XXXVI, causa tua quasi impii iudicata est, iudicium causamque recipies.

Ad 1

Ad primum ergo dicendum quod principium merendi est ex parte animae, corpus autem est instrumentum meritorii actus. Et ideo perfectio animae christi, quae fuit merendi principium, non debuit in eo acquiri per meritum, sicut perfectio corporis, quod fuit passioni subiectum, et per hoc fuit ipsius meriti instrumentum.

Ad 2

Ad secundum dicendum quod per priora merita christus meruit exaltationem ex parte ipsius animae, cuius voluntas caritate et aliis virtutibus informabatur. Sed in passione meruit suam exaltationem, per modum cuiusdam recompensationis, etiam ex parte corporis, iustum enim est ut corpus, quod fuerat ex caritate passioni subiectum, acciperet recompensationem in gloria.

Ad 3

Ad tertium dicendum quod dispensatione quadam factum est in christo ut gloria animae, ante passionem, non redundaret ad corpus, ad hoc quod gloriam corporis honorabilius obtineret, quando eam per passionem meruisset. Gloriam autem animae differri non conveniebat, quia anima immediate uniebatur verbo, unde decens erat ut gloria repleretur ab ipso verbo. Sed corpus uniebatur verbo mediante anima.