Youcat commented through CCC. Question n. 39 – Part II.

YOUCAT Question n. 39 - Part II. Is Jesus God? Does he belong to the Trinity?

(Youcat answer - repeated) Jesus of Nazareth is the Son, the second divine person mentioned when we pray, “In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Mt 28:19).     

A deepening through CCC

(CCC 443) Peter could recognize the transcendent character of the Messiah's divine sonship because Jesus had clearly allowed it to be so understood. To his accusers' question before the Sanhedrin, "Are you the Son of God, then?" Jesus answered, "You say that I am"(Lk 22:70; cf. Mt 26:64; Mk 14:61-62). Well before this, Jesus referred to himself as "the Son" who knows the Father, as distinct from the "servants" God had earlier sent to his people; he is superior even to the angels (Cf.  Mt 11:27; 21:34-38; 24:36). He distinguished his sonship from that of his disciples by never saying "our Father", except to command them: "You, then, pray like this: 'Our Father'", and he emphasized this distinction, saying "my Father and your Father" (Mt 5:48; 6:8-9; 7:21; Lk 11:13; Jn 20:17).   

Reflecting and meditating 

(Youcat comment) Jesus was either an imposter who made himself Lord of the Sabbath and allowed himself to be addressed with the divine title “Lord” — or else he was really God. The scandal came when he forgave sins. In the eyes of his contemporaries, that was a crime deserving death. Through signs and miracles, but especially through the Resurrection, his disciples recognized who Jesus is and worshipped him as Lord. That is the faith of the Church.

(CCC Comment)

(CCC 444) The Gospels report that at two solemn moments, the Baptism and the Transfiguration of Christ, the voice of the Father designates Jesus his "beloved Son" (Cf. Mt 3:17; cf. 17:5). Jesus calls himself the "only Son of God", and by this title affirms his eternal pre-existence (Jn 3:16; cf. 10:36). He asks for faith in "the name of the only Son of God" (Jn 3:18). In the centurion's exclamation before the crucified Christ, "Truly this man was the Son of God" (Mk 15:39), that Christian confession is already heard. Only in the Paschal mystery can the believer give the title "Son of God" its full meaning. (CCC 445) After his Resurrection, Jesus' divine sonship becomes manifest in the power of his glorified humanity. He was "designated Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his Resurrection from the dead"(Rom 1:3; cf. Acts 13:33). The apostles can confess: "We have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth" (Jn 1:14).     

(This question: Is Jesus God? Does he belong to the Trinity? is continued)