Topic
Jesus Christ
Jesus of Nazareth is the centre of Catholic faith: the eternal Son of God made man, who died for our sins and rose from the dead. Here is what the Church teaches about who he is and what he did.
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Is Jesus God?
Yes. Catholics believe Jesus Christ is true God and true man — the eternal Son of God who became human without ceasing to be God. He is one divine Person with two natures, divine and human.
Read the full answerQuestions about Jesus Christ
All Jesus Christ questions
Is Jesus God?
Yes. Catholics believe Jesus Christ is true God and true man — the eternal Son of God who became human without ceasing to be God. He is one divine Person with two natures, divine and human.
Why did Jesus have to die?
Jesus died to save us from sin and reconcile us to God. Freely and out of love, he offered his life as a perfect sacrifice in place of our disobedience. The cross reveals both how serious sin is and how far God's love is willing to go.
Did Jesus really rise from the dead?
Yes. The Resurrection is the central truth of Christian faith: Jesus truly died and rose bodily on the third day. The empty tomb, the many appearances to his disciples, and the transformation of frightened followers into martyrs are powerful historical evidence for it.
Did Jesus have a guardian angel?
Since Jesus was truly a man, there is no reason to doubt that he had a guardian angel; a pious opinion holds that it was Michael the archangel. Scripture clearly records angels ministering to him.
Why "The Passion of the Christ" and not "The Passion of Christ"?
Probably because "Christ" is a title, not a personal name: it means "the Anointed One." "The Passion of the Christ" keeps that sense; "The Passion of Christ" would read the title as if it were a name.
Did Jesus die for Christians only?
No. Jesus died to redeem all mankind, so even non-Christians are redeemed. But because each person is free to reject the gift, not everyone will necessarily be saved: Christ's death is sufficient for all, and effective for those who accept it.
Why all the fuss about The Da Vinci Code, since it's just fiction?
The Church as an institution has made no official statement on the book. The concern comes from faithful Catholics who saw it confuse people about the early Church, Jesus and Mary Magdalene, and Christian doctrine — and Dan Brown himself presented it as based on fact. Calling a work fiction does not license spreading historical falsehoods.
Did people understand John the Baptist when he said "repent and be baptized"?
Very likely. The Old Testament is full of ritual washing — such as Naaman washing in the Jordan to be cured of leprosy — and Jews had long used ritual baths (mikvahs) to cleanse impurity. John's hearers would have grasped what he meant by washing away sin in the Jordan.
Did John the Baptist and Jesus contradict each other?
No. Asked whether he was literally Elijah returned from heaven, John truthfully said no. When Jesus told the disciples that Elijah had come, he was speaking figuratively of John, whose heralding of the Messiah fulfilled the prophecy about Elijah.
Could Jesus have been romantically attracted to Mary Magdalene?
It was within the realm of possibility, since he was fully man. But it is unlikely: Jesus had neither sin nor concupiscence, and his mission did not include marriage — his bride is the Church. Scripture never mentions or implies any romance.
How do we know for sure that Jesus had only male apostles?
The New Testament was not written centuries later; even sceptical scholars place it within living memory of Christ, and many date its completion to the end of the first century. It lists the apostles several times, all men, chosen by Christ. Those who claim it is wrong must prove it.
Which side of Jesus' body was pierced?
John tells us Jesus' side was pierced but not which side. Crucifixes are artistic, not exact, so showing the wound on the right may be symbolic: in Scripture those on Jesus' right are the saved, and they are saved by his blood.
Did Christianity borrow from Mithraism?
It seems the reverse. Mithraism had some similarities to Christianity, but our knowledge of it is very imperfect, and in a number of details Mithraism was probably the borrower from Christianity.
Does the Apostles' Creed say that Jesus rose twice?
No. Jesus rose from the dead only once. The Creed says he descended into hell and on the third day rose "again," that is, came back up, from the dead; then he ascended into heaven.
Why would Jesus call Jews "hypocrites"?
Jesus, himself a Jew, was not calling all Jews hypocrites. Every group, Catholics included, has hypocrites. He used the word of the particular people he was dealing with, not of all Jews then or ever.
Was Jesus male before the Incarnation?
No. Before the Incarnation the Son was pure spirit, like the Father and the Holy Spirit, and had no gender. He became male only when he became the man Christ Jesus. God reveals himself mainly in masculine terms as the one who initiates salvation; the Church, which receives it, is revealed in feminine terms.
Why didn't the apostles recognize Jesus after the Resurrection?
Jesus was not merely resuscitated like Lazarus; he rose with a glorified body, which was probably different in some respects but close enough that the disciples eventually knew him. At times their eyes were also miraculously kept from recognizing him.
Why do we celebrate Jesus' birth on December 25?
We do not know the exact date, so December 25 may have been chosen somewhat arbitrarily. It may have suited because it falls near the winter solstice, when days begin to lengthen: the start of a season of light coming into the world.
What is the historical evidence for Jesus?
The two-thousand-year existence of Christianity itself testifies to Jesus. The main written accounts are in the New Testament, especially the Gospels, whose historicity the Church firmly affirms, and ancient non-Christian writers such as Josephus and Pliny the Younger also attest to him.
If God is perfect and needs nothing, why would he demand a human sacrifice for our sins?
Jesus' sacrifice was not merely a human one: he redeemed us as God. Adam's sin offended an infinitely good God, yet Jesus could have simply willed our redemption. He freely chose to suffer and die to show us something of his infinite love, which no payment of ours could ever match.
Why wasn't Jesus named "Emmanuel," as the angel told Joseph?
"Emmanuel" means "God is with us." Here "name" means what people would call him, a title describing him, not his given name, which was Jesus. Emmanuel signals that the Messiah would be God with us.
What color is Jesus' skin?
As a Palestinian Jew, Jesus probably looked like modern-day Israelis. Because his mission was to the whole world, peoples are free to depict him as one of their own, and such images show the universality of the Incarnation.
How do I explain to a Lutheran the Catholic focus on the Passion and the crucifix?
Jesus redeemed us on the cross on Good Friday, not on Easter Sunday, and he said his disciples must take up their cross and follow him. To look at the crucifix is to recognize the greatest event in history and the infinite love we are blessed to know by faith.
Was Jesus "forsaken" by the Father on the cross?
No. Jesus was praying Psalm 22, which describes his own Passion. And it was his human nature, not his divine nature, that suffered and died.
Could Judas have sought forgiveness instead of despairing?
Yes. As Fulton Sheen wrote, Judas could have been "St. Judas Iscariot" had he repented instead of despairing. God forgives any repented sin; the unforgivable sin is final impenitence. Only God knows whether Judas was impenitent to the end, but he did not show Peter's heroic repentance.
How can Christ's human nature be part of the Trinity if it is not co-eternal with God?
Jesus is the eternal Word, eternally begotten of the Father and equal to him. At the Incarnation he took on a human nature, which had a beginning. That does not diminish the Trinity: one divine Person now has a human nature as well as a divine one, without the human ever replacing the divine.
How do we know Jesus descends from David, as prophesied?
Matthew and Luke record Joseph's genealogy, and as Mary's husband Joseph was Jesus' legal father, with the rights of a real father. People usually married within their clan, so Mary was likely of David's house, as early Fathers testify. Paul also says Jesus was descended from David according to the flesh.
Read in depth
What the Early Church Believed: The Divinity of Christ
The New Testament shows Christ's divinity again and again: he made himself equal with God, applied God's name "I AM" to himself, was called "my Lord and my God," and bears God's titles "the First and the Last" and "the Alpha and the Omega." The early Church Fathers also recognized and firmly defended that Jesus Christ is God.
What the Early Church Believed: Christ's Eternal Sonship
Some Evangelicals claim the second person of the Trinity became the Son only at the Incarnation. Scripture and the Church Fathers teach that he is the Son of God from all eternity, eternally begotten of the Father.
The Sacred Heart of Jesus
The Sacred Heart of Jesus is a symbol of Christ's immense love and mercy. Devotion to it focuses on his Heart, which exemplifies his redemptive suffering for the whole world. It grew from medieval roots and spread through Christ's revelations to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque.
The Ascension of the Lord
Forty days after Easter, the risen Christ ascended bodily into heaven in the sight of his apostles (Acts 1:9-11). The Ascension completes his earthly mission and begins his exaltation at the Father's right hand, where he intercedes for us as our eternal High Priest and from where he will return.
Christmas: The Solemnity of the Nativity of Our Lord
Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world, and the Incarnation, when God became man to redeem us. It is a holy day of obligation. Its date and traditions rest on Christian foundations, not paganism.
The Epiphany of the Lord
The Epiphany, also called Three Kings Day, celebrates the Magi's coming to worship the child Jesus and Christ's manifestation to the Gentiles as Savior of the world. Tradition also links it with the Lord's baptism and the wedding at Cana.
Holy Week
Holy Week is the most sacred week of the Church's year. It runs from Palm Sunday through the Easter Triduum of Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday to the Easter Vigil, commemorating Christ's passion, death and resurrection.
Easter Sunday
Easter, the "solemnity of solemnities," commemorates Christ's victory over sin, death and the devil. It celebrates the paschal sacrifice of Calvary culminating in glory, and at the Easter Vigil converts are baptized and welcomed into full communion. It is a holy day of obligation.
In Scripture
- John 1:1, 14
- John 8:58
- John 20:28
- Colossians 2:9
- Philippians 2:6-7
- John 3:16
- John 10:17-18
- Romans 5:8
- Isaiah 53:4-6
- 1 Peter 2:24
- 1 Corinthians 15:3-8, 14-17
- Luke 24:36-43
- John 20:24-29
- Luke 22:43
- Matthew 4:11
- Mark 1:13
- 1 Timothy 4:10
- 1 Timothy 2:3-4
- 2 Kings 5
- John 1:6-8
- John 2:14-17
- John 11:5
- John 11:32-35
- Luke 10:21
- Matthew 21:18
- John 4:7
- John 19:28
- John 4:6
- Ephesians 5:25-33
- Matthew 10:2-3
- Luke 6:13-16
- Acts 1:13
- Acts 1:26
- John 19:32-35
- Matthew 25:32-33
- Matthew 26:28
- John 21:4-7
- Luke 24:16
- John 1:5
- John 3:30
- John 10:18
- Isaiah 7:14
- Matthew 1:23
- Matthew 1:21
- Luke 1:31
- Matthew 28:20
- Matthew 16:24-27
- Matthew 1:2-16
- Luke 3:23-38
- Romans 1:3
- John 5:18
- Exodus 3:14
- John 8:59
- Philippians 2:6
- Isaiah 44:6
- Isaiah 41:4
- Isaiah 48:12
- Revelation 1:17
- Revelation 2:8
- Revelation 22:12-13
- Revelation 1:8
- John 17:3
- 1 John 4:9
- John 1:1
- John 1:14
- Psalm 45:1-2
- Acts 1:9-11
- Acts 1:1-11
- Luke 24:50-52
- Hebrews 1:3-4
- 1 Peter 3:21-22
- Matthew 16:21
- Acts 1:2-3
- Acts 1:8
- Matthew 28:18-20
- Acts 2:1-4
- John 14:16
- John 14:26
- John 15:26
- John 14:1-3
- Matthew 25:31-34
- Matthew 25:46
- John 19:30
- John 20:17
- Hebrews 9:11-14
- Hebrews 7:23-25
- Hebrews 7:1-3
- Luke 22:19-20
- 1 Corinthians 10:14-22
- Genesis 14:18-20
- Luke 24:44-52
- Acts 1:4-9
- John 20:1
- Isaiah 11:10
- Isaiah 60:6
- Matthew 2:11
- Matthew 2:9-10
- Luke 19:28-40
- Zechariah 9:9
- Luke 18:31-34
- Luke 22:37
- Isaiah 52:13
- Isaiah 53:12
- Matthew 21:9
- Mark 11:1-11
- John 12:12-19
- Luke 22:6
- John 13:5
- Matthew 20:25-28
- Matthew 18:1-4
- John 13:12-15
- Matthew 20:28
- Matthew 26:26-28
- John 6:51-58
- Matthew 21:5
- John 3:16-17
Key terms
- Incarnation
- The mystery by which the eternal Son of God took on a full human nature and became man in Jesus Christ, without ceasing to be God.