Lumen Fidei - page 19

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God has for us” (1 Jn 4:16). In the love of God
revealed in Jesus, faith perceives the foundation
on which all reality and its final destiny rest.
16. The clearest proof of the reliability of
Christ’s love is to be found in his dying for our
sake. If laying down one’s life for one’s friends
is the greatest proof of love (cf. Jn 15:13), Jesus
offered his own life for all, even for his enemies,
to transform their hearts. This explains why the
evangelists could see the hour of Christ’s cruci-
fixion as the culmination of the gaze of faith; in
that hour the depth and breadth of God’s love
shone forth. It was then that Saint John offered
his solemn testimony, as together with the Moth-
er of Jesus he gazed upon the pierced one (cf.
Jn 19:37): “He who saw this has borne witness, so
that you also may believe. His testimony is true,
and he knows that he tells the truth” (Jn 19:35).
In Dostoevsky’s The Idiot, Prince Myskin sees a
painting by Hans Holbein the Younger depicting
Christ dead in the tomb and says: “Looking at
that painting might cause one to lose his faith”.14
The painting is a gruesome portrayal of the de-
structive effects of death on Christ’s body. Yet
it is precisely in contemplating Jesus’ death that
faith grows stronger and receives a dazzling light;
then it is revealed as faith in Christ’s steadfast
love for us, a love capable of embracing death
to bring us salvation. This love, which did not
14 Part II, IV.