How did Jesus institute the 7 Sacraments?

[dizzy_dave]

Exactly what did Jesus do to institute each of the 7 Sacraments? I mean he didn’t do something special then say “ok boys this is now a sacrament”. For example, what specifically did Jesus do that made Matrimony a scarament? What exactly did Jesus do that made Anointing of the sick a Sacrament? and so on.

 

[Verbum]

Hi Dizzy,

Sacraments bring us God’s grace, ex opere operato, which means that they automatically give us God’s grace, without us having to do anything to deserve it.

The Church did not, from day one say, “There are 7 sacraments and here they are.” What happened is that it received from the apostles certain practices that it discerned as automatically giving grace and that therefore were of divine origin.

The Council of Trent, in its decree on the sacraments, thus summarized the doctrine :

Canon 1.If anyone says that the sacraments of the New Law were not all instituted by our Lord Jesus Christ, or that there are more or less than seven, namely, baptism, confirmation, Eucharist, penance, extreme unction, order and matrimony,[1] or that any one of these seven is not truly and intrinsically a sacrament, let him be anathema.

This does not mean that Jesus sat down one day and said, “Now we are going to talk about the sacraments. Here is the first sacrament : baptism. Tomorrow we’ll talk about confirmation.”

In apostolic days, there was no theology. The apostles did, in some cases, what they had seen Jesus do. In other cases, they did what Jesus told them to do. In other cases they instituted new practices that were based on Jesus’ teachings as they interpreted them with the help of the Holy Spirit.

Verbum

 

[thistle]

At first there was no organised theology of such signs, but one was gradually developed under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. By the thirteenth century the Church recognised seven signs, or sacraments, that had been given to us by Christ. The Council of Trent declared as dogma that these are baptism, confirmation, Eucharist, penance, matrimony, holy orders, and anointing of the sick.

 

[Catholic2003]

dizzy_dave:

For example, what specifically did Jesus do that made Matrimony a scarament?

Jesus changed the marriage law of Moses, thereby elevating matrimony to the level of a sacrament, in Matthew 19:3-12.

 

[mercygate]

Scott Hahn is in a middle of an EWTN series dealing with just this subject. Go to their home page and enter “Swear to God” in the radio archives browser. The first episode talks about this.

 

[Brendan]

The Eucharist is a Given, the Last Supper

He Instituted Baptism in the ‘Great Commission’ in Matthew 28

and Reconcilliation in John 20

Christ sent the Holy Spirit for Holy Orders (Acts 1, Acts 6)

and Confirmation at Pentecost

His healings instituted for the Sacrament Annointing, which James clearly articulated in James 5

 

[dizzy_dave]

Ok, that help a little. But why are these Sacraments and not the other things Jesus said and did? For example why is exorcism not a Sacrament Jesus did that plenty of times, and in our day and age, there could be a lot of need for this. Why is prayer not a Sacrament? or sacramentals?

 

[Catholic2003]

I think tonsure is highest on the list of all the other things that didn’t make the cut to be considered a sacrament.

 

[Brain]

was the tonsure not making the “cut” a pun?

 

[dizzy_dave]

I still have question on these, I’m still unsure of WHAT makes a Sacrament a Sacrament. If we look into the Gospels we see Jesus curing the people of demonic possession, so why would that NOT be a Sacrament (I know it is a sacramental - exorcism). I have read the Bible passages that say where we get the Sacraments from, but I still don’t see what makes a Sacrament what it is.

 

[Brendan]

dizzy_dave:

I still have question on these, I’m still unsure of WHAT makes a Sacrament a Sacrament. If we look into the Gospels we see Jesus curing the people of demonic possession, so why would that NOT be a Sacrament (I know it is a sacramental - exorcism). I have read the Bible passages that say where we get the Sacraments from, but I still don’t see what makes a Sacrament what it is.

A Sacrament is a Visble sign of God’s Grace, Instituted by Christ to affect our Salvation.

Namely, it’s got to be a visable sign, it has to have been instituted by Christ, and it has to provide a Grace effective in our Salvation.

An Excorcism, would be visable, and it’s certainly instituted by Christ, but it doesn’t really provide a Grace that effects our Salvation.

Anything that the evil spirit does using that person’s body is not sinful. It isn’t the person doing it, it’s the evil spirit.

And tonsure denoted a clerical state and imparted a Blessing, but not any particular Grace.

 

[Gerry_Hunter]

There’s a hook in the question that began this thread. And the hook is, “When did Jesus institute the 7 Sacraments?”

The Baltimore Catechism noted that a Sacrament is an outward sign, instituted by God to give grace. The question explicitly excluded the actions of the other two Persons of the Holy Trinity.

Take Matrimony. Jesus certainly affirmed it by performing His first miracle at a wedding. But what of His Father telling the first couple to “be fruitful and multiply,” and the Holy Spirit inspiring the writer of Genesis to state that for this reason a man will leave his mother and father, cleave to his new wife, and the two will become one flesh?

Blessings,

Gerry

 

[kierandufrain]

You misquoted the Baltimore Catechism. The quote is actually: “A sacrament is an outward sign instituted by CHRIST to give grace.”

Also even if the quote actually did say “instituted by God,” that doesn’t eliminate Christ. God is not a reference to only the Father. It includes all three of the Divine Persons. Christ is God just as much as the Father.

 

[Cathryn]

There’s a hook in the question that began this thread. And the hook is, “When did Jesus institute the 7 Sacraments?”

The Baltimore Catechism noted that a Sacrament is an outward sign, instituted by God to give grace. The question explicitly excluded the actions of the other two Persons of the Holy Trinity.

Take Matrimony. Jesus certainly affirmed it by performing His first miracle at a wedding. But what of His Father telling the first couple to “be fruitful and multiply,” and the Holy Spirit inspiring the writer of Genesis to state that for this reason a man will leave his mother and father, cleave to his new wife, and the two will become one flesh?

Blessings,

Gerry

God in the Garden of Eden instituted marriage and told Adam and Eve to be fruitflul and multiply. The Jews had marriage. Christ didn’t only affirm what God did in the Garden of Eden. Jesus Christ went over and above this and instiuted the Sacrament of Matrimony in the New Testament and elevated marriage within the church to a sacrament. All the Sacraments are instituted by Christ. At the same time, no one can exlude the actions of the other two persons of the Holy Trinity. Jesus Christ instituted the Sacrament of Baptism. However, all the persons of the trinity are involved. The same with all the sacraments.

 

[adrift]

I find No Sacraments In the Bible he said

This is a link to the member Church Militant’s blog. It is an excellant source of where to find all the sacraments in the bible.

Although, like many, I love the Baltimore it isn’t what the Church looks to. The Catholic Catechism states my emphasis

1210 Christ instituted the sacraments of the new law. There are seven: Baptism, Confirmation (or Chrismation), the Eucharist, Penance, the Anointing of the Sick, Holy Orders and Matrimony. the seven sacraments touch all the stages and all the important moments of Christian life:1 they give birth and increase, healing and mission to the Christian’s life of faith. There is thus a certain resemblance between the stages of natural life and the stages of the spiritual life.