the suffering christ 764 race has been manifested. He saw that we, bound and fettered by the tyrant of the netherworld, are held bound by the obligation of debt due to our sins. He was able to use six hundred other means of restoring liberty for us: He did not will it. Instead, having been made in the likeness of the guilty, He Himself desired to be bound in order to free us from our chains. First, He betook Himself from Heaven to earth, subsequently to Jerusalem as the hour of His death (in truth, the hour of our life) already loomed. Willingly, He permitted Himself to be captured and bound, preparing for us eternal liberty. O, what immense charity! O, what unprecedented goodness! What words can I use to describe you? What eloquence will I employ to express you? At least, I will show in these few words that these bonds were voluntary. I kiss them with tenderness, because through them, we were set free. 1. Our Savior had not yet finished the banquet of His supreme love, when still amid this heavenly bread and divine chalice of nectar, He was kindled with the greatest desire of suffering and dying for us. He was anxious to be bound as soon as possible in order that He may be offered to the eternal Father without delay. According to the testimony of John, He Himself thus goaded His traitor to carry out his intended crime without any delay: “What you are going to do, do quickly” (Jn 13:27). Already the hardened disciple was turning over and over in his mind the time and the manner of the betrayal of his Teacher. The hardened disciple even violated and defiled the sacred supper with these wicked thoughts. He was wholly intent upon this [crime], so that he might fill up his purse with the payment for the betrayal and so satisfy the madness of Christ’s enemies through his nefarious betrayal. The One who searches hearts saw it, He before whom nothing is hidden, considering that this delay of the betrayer would exceedingly hurt both Him and us. Some criminals hasten as much as possible slow executioners to cut their throats, because they are ashamed of life. But Jesus urged Judas to hasten the betrayal, since He was weary of life. For, indeed, He desired to be bound for us as quickly as possible; for us, He desired to produce liberty from His captivity, to produce life from death
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