The Meaning of the Christian Sacraments

Cooke's discussion of Jesus as the presence of Abba relies on Jesus' humanity because, it is His humanity primarily that we are able to identify with and that we ourselves, ultimately, rely upon in order to connect to Jesus' divinity. By bringing into the discourse the element of "Abba" it helps us to differentiate between the two natures of Christ -- Christ as man and Christ as God. And while we need both, for such is the nature of our own sinful predicament that we can only be saved by the Son of God made Man offering His own life to save ours -- we have a tendency to resist or be mystified by the divine nature. The human nature on the other hand calls to us and we recognize it. We recognize the divine nature as well but tend to be frightened by it: we are like those who asked Christ to leave them after He sent the demons into the pigs which then rushed into the waters and drowned. When Christ presents himself as the presence of "Abba" it is in order to help us to see that the mystery of our salvation is bound up in the mystery of His Incarnation and in His nature. By introducing this alternate way of thinking of Him into the conversation, we are able to come nearer Him with less trepidation and to see in His sacraments the beautiful call to our soul that is inherent in them.

As Cooke (1994) says, "Another way of describing the role of Jesus in instituting Christian sacraments is to say that he is himself the fundamental sacrament of God's saving presence in human history" (p. 59). Essentially, this is exactly what Jesus does by linking himself to Abba: he defines his own humanity, which connects Him to us in a way that we would otherwise be reluctant to admit. He is like one of us and He unites Himself to us through this manner.

The church is a sacrament because Jesus is both human and divine -- and that is the point of the mystery of our Redemption and His Sacrifice: it could not have been achieved any other way. God could have simply forgiven mankind without sacrifice, but that would have negated the entire narrative, the entire construct of God's creation -- the meaning of love, of free will, of devotion, truth, justice and mercy. All of it is bound up in the mystery of creation and in the mystery of redemption. The very term sacrament -- holy mystery -- is what gives us our meaning, and Christ embodies this idea. He is this idea. He is the answer to all prayers, the beginning and end of all creation: the Word that was before all, and the Judge Who will come at the end to judge all. He is the sacrament and He is the Church: he is both because he is human and divine. No mere human could have such power -- and the divine entity alone, without becoming man, could have no substantial impact on the arc of humankind's existence. A redemption without a sacrifice on the part of God Himself -- on the part of God made Man -- would have less significance for mankind as a whole because it would only partially relate to what it means to be both a material and spiritual creature.

God in His wisdom saw that He must take on flesh, yet still be God, in order to atone for man's sins against God. This mystery, this sacrament, is what is celebrated still today in the Church -- sacrifice of Calvary, when God made Man died for our sins on the cross. God not only became Man but He also becomes the Bread and Wine consumed by the faithful: This is My Body and This is My Blood, Christ says to His disciples at the last supper. Thus, Christ can be seen to institute the sacrament in this manner: he is the Abba of the disciples and of the church, just as Abba is the father of Jesus, Whom Jesus follows and whose will Jesus adheres to -- showing us in His humanity how we must likewise adhere to the will of Our Father in Heaven.

Reference

Cooke, Bernard. Sacraments and Sacramentality. March 1994.