MERIT OF JESUS CHRIST. - Since all the conditions of supernatural merit are verified in Jesus Christ (freedom, the state of a wayfarer, despite the beatific vision, fullness of grace, holy activity in the perfect observance of the law and of the divine will, especially in obedience to the precept to face the passion and death of the cross), the possibility in him of meriting in general is beyond all doubt. But the possibility is confirmed by the fact, which is of faith, because it is explicitly affirmed in Sacred Scripture and in the documents of the Church's magisterium. St. Paul (Phil. 2) affirms that the Father exalted the Son for his obedience unto death on a cross. The Council of Trent (sess. VI, chap. 7) teaches that Christ is the meritorious cause of human sanctification because «sua sanctissima passione in ligno crucis nobis iustificationem meruit» (Denz-U, 799).
As for the possibility, St. Thomas finds no difficulty even in the beatific vision, which the soul of Jesus habitually enjoyed, because if it could not merit according to the divine love proper to the blessed, it could do so with the love proper to those who still live on this earth:
«Nec tamen per caritatem meruit, inquantum erat caritas comprehensoris, sed inquantum erat viatoris, nam ipse fuit simul viator et comprehensor» (Sum. Theol., 3rd part, q. 19, a. 3, ad 1).
As for the subject of attribution and the object of merit, traditional theological thought, summarized by the Aquinate, comes down to the following main points: a) Christ merited for himself everything that does not conflict with, but rather befits, his dignity as the Incarnate Word. Therefore he merited neither the Godhead nor grace nor knowledge nor beatitude, because from the first instant of his conception by virtue of the hypostatic union, he always possessed these prerogatives, which are such that their absence is more unbecoming to his dignity than meriting them would be fitting. But Christ could indeed merit for himself, and in fact did merit, as Revelation teaches, the glorification of his body in the Resurrection and in the ascension into heaven, the exaltation and veneration of his name, insofar as he is man (Sum. Theol., ibid., a. 3).
b) Christ could merit and in fact did merit for man sanctification and eternal life, through his theandric activity, from the first instant of his conception and especially in the tragic hours of his passion and his death, freely accepted with loving obedience (v. LIBERTÀ DI GESÙ CRISTO). The reason why the infinite merits of the life, passion, death and Resurrection itself of Jesus flow over all humanity lies in the revealed doctrine of the Mystical Body (v.), by which Christ and the men adhering to him constitute a single organism of supernatural life, almost a single mystical person. It is the principle of solidarity arising from the very Incarnation of the Word: by it a vital communion is established between the Head and the members, amply illustrated by St. Paul (especially: 1 Corinthians, Colossians, Ephesians, Romans). The redemptive work of Christ, therefore, and its effects become man's and redound to his advantage (Sum. Theol., 3rd part, q. 18, a. 4; q. 48, a. 1). This principle also holds for the satisfaction offered by the Redeemer for man to divine justice (v. SODDISFAZIONE VICARIA).
c) After death and the Resurrection, Christ can no longer merit. The question arises regarding Christ glorious in heaven and Christ hidden in the sacrament of the Eucharist. Under the first aspect a theological discussion has arisen around a text of Heb. 7:25: «Unde et salvare in perpetuum potest accedentes per semetipsum ad Deum; semper vivens ad interpellandum pro nobis». For some theologians (e.g., Vásquez) the interpellatio is not at all a prayer, which no longer befits Christ, not even insofar as he is man, after his passage to the glorious state. Others instead (Franzelin) do not hesitate to recognize in the interpellatio a prayer, provided that any idea of neediness be excluded. St. Thomas resolves the question with these clear words (In Eph. lect. 4): «Interpellat autem pro nobis primo humanitatem suam, quam pro nobis assumpsit, repraesentando; item sanctissimae animae suae desiderium, quod de salute nostra habet, exprimendo, cum quo interpellat pro nobis». In other words, the interpellatio of Jesus in heaven is not a source of new merits, but is to be understood as a prayer in the sense that his glorious soul continues to manifest to God the will to save men, that same will which accompanied him throughout his mortal life and carried it to the immolation on the cross. The external sign of that loving will are the scars, which Jesus chose to preserve in his pierced hands, always ready to be raised in an act of prayer before the Father. Similarly the Eucharistic life of Jesus, including the Sacrifice of the Mass, does not produce new merits, but applies to individual souls and to the whole Mystical Body, which is the Church, the infinite merits of his life, passion, death and Resurrection. Every other opinion clashes with grave theological difficulties.
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