Why was it fitting for Christ to Institute the 7 Sacraments He Instituted?

      There are three main explanations given for the fittingness of the seven sacraments. One explanation draws an analogy between what is needed for natural life and supernatural life. Another explanation ties the seven sacraments to the seven virtues. A third explanation views the fittingness of the seven sacraments as a remedy for different aspects of sin.
      In the natural life there are certain things required for man to survive. Analogously it follows that there are certain things required for supernatural life. In the natural world there is a necessity of birth, nourishment, growth, healing when one gets sick, a preparation for death, and a need in the human world for marriage and government. Analogously there is a necessity in the spiritual life for spiritual rebirth in baptism, spiritual nourishment in the Eucharist, spiritual growth through the sacrament of Confirmation, spiritual healing through the sacrament of Reconciliation, a spiritual preparation for death through the sacrament of Anointing of the Sick, the raising up of marriage through the sacrament of matrimony and a spiritual governance through the sacrament of Holy Orders.  
      A different view on the fittingness of the seven sacraments highlights the relationship between the seven sacraments and the seven virtues of faith, hope, charity, prudence, justice, temperance, and fortitude. Baptism corresponds to faith, Anointing of the Sick to hope, the Eucharist to charity. Further Prudence is ordered Holy Orders, justice to the Sacrament of Reconciliation, Marriage to temperance and fortitude to Confirmation.
      A third view sees fittingness for seven sacraments by understanding them as healing for different sin of man. Baptism is understood as a cure for the lack of a spiritual life, Confirmation for the weaknesses that still exist in the soul after Baptism, the Eucharist against a tendency to sin, Confession against sins committed, Anointing of the Sick to the effects of sins already forgiven in Confession, Marriage as a cure for concupiscence and Holy Orders against divisions in the community.

The Sacrament as an "Instrument" of Christ

            Christ has ascended to the right hand of the Father yet he still imparts grace through the sacraments.This sacramental reality is most perfectly understood through the philosophical principle of instrumental causality. Instrumental causation occurs when an instrument is used to produce a cause that is higher than itself through the direction of a superior cause. Take for example the work of a sculpture. To sculpt a statue the artists must make use of a chisel to carve the marble. The chisel by itself is unable to sculpt a statue; rather the chisel carves the statue under the direction of the principle cause, the artists, resulting in something greater than the chisel could ever produce by itself. Likewise it is only God who imparts grace through the sacraments. It can thus be said that the sacraments are like the chisel in the artist’s hands. The sacraments are the instrumental cause of God’s imparting of grace.
            Understanding the sacraments as instruments used by God makes it clear that the sacraments are efficacious not by the worthiness of the minister but by the desire of God. The efficacy of the sacraments comes in virtue of the fact that Christ is the principle minister who uses the sacramental sign as an instrumental cause to impart grace.
           The sacraments are said to work ex opera operato or by the work signified. The minister works as an instrumental cause used by God, the principle cause, to impart grace in a similar manner to the sculptor who uses the chisel to create a statue. Similarly a sculpture using a chisel, no matter how sharpness of the chisel, is able to sculpt through the work of the chisel likewise as long as the minister does what the Church and thus Christ intends Christ, is able to impart grace through the instrumental cause, the minister, no matter his worthiness. 

Baptism like all 7 Sacraments is Rich in Symbolism but Why?

           A sacrament is an efficacious sign of grace, instituted by Christ which infuses grace. Sacraments are conferred through the use of signs that are perceptible to the senses. All sacraments have a catabatic and anabatic component, they express man’s worship of God and they impart grace. While it is true that the grace imparted through the reception of the sacraments is spiritual and invisible it is fitting that Christ instituted a sacramental economy that uses sensible signs. Using sensible signs, the sacraments, reflect man’s nature,the two natures of Christ Incarnate, the Church, and a remedy for the fall of man.

           Man is a unique creature; he is a rational animal who possesses a spiritual soul, placing him within both the spiritual and material realms. As a rational animal it is proper that man should worship God and receive His grace in a physical way which involves his senses through the use of signs.As a rational creature man comes to know things through abstraction from the senses following the manner of Aristotle who said “There is nothing in the mind that is not first in the senses.”He is unable to grasp spiritual realities in a purely spiritual way. Thus the use of sensible signs respects man for who he is and is necessary for man to have some understanding the spiritual reality of the sacrament.

           The sacraments, using sensible signs, further reflects the two natures of the Incarnate Christ. Christ, in virtue of His incarnation, is visible to humanity, yet at the same time His divine power remains invisible. In the same manner insofar as the sacraments are signs they are visible to humanity yet the sanctifying power of the sacrament remains invisible.

           Sacraments, possessing both visible and invisible dimensions further reflects the Church. As visible signs the sacraments reflect the visibility of the Church. As with any group there must be identifying signs which identify the members of that organization. The reception of a visible sacrament thus outwardly marks members of the Church for who they are. They signify to the world an invisible reality that occurs while marking the person receiving the sacrament as a member of the Church.

           The sacraments as visible signs also reflect the medicinal purpose of the sacraments. Fallen man frequently finds himself tempted to act against his reason by his sensible appetites. In other words for fallen man the cause of his sins are frequently his senses. It is thus fitting that God cures man from his disorders through something tangible and visible.

           Christ ordained that the sacraments should make use of sensible signs. A true understanding of sacramental theology and human anthropology makes the fittingness of the sacraments use of sensible signs clear. As sensible signs, the sacraments help to shed light on man’s nature, the two natures of Christ Incarnate, the Church, and the remedy for the fall of man.