U.S.: Lenten meditation

1. I glorify Jesus Christ, the God who made you so wise, for I observed that you are estblished in an unshakeable faith, having been nailed, as it were, to the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ in both body and spirit, and firmly established in love by the blood of Christ, totally convinced with regard to our Lord that he is truly of the family of David with respect to human descent, Son of God with respect to the divine will and power, truly born of a virgin, baptized by John in order that all righteousness might be fulfilled by him, (2) truly nailed in the flesh for us under Pontius Pilate and Herod the tetrarch (from its fruit we derive our existence, that is, from his divinely blessed suffering), in order that he might raise a banner for the ages through his resurrection for his saints and faithful people, whether among Jews or among Gentiles, in the one body of his church.

2. For he suffered all these things for our sakes, in order that we might be saved; and he truly suffered just as he truly raised himself—not, as certain unbelievers say, that he suffered an appearance only (it is they who exist in appearance only!). Indeed, their fate will be determined by what they think: they will become disembodied and demonic. (The Letters of Ignatius: To the Symrnaeans

Pro nobis. For us. Christ came to die that we might be restored to right relationship with God the Father. There is no other reason for the Incarnation, Birth, Death, and Resurrection but us, sinful man. God does what it pleases Him to, for us. It pleased God that the Second Person of the Trinity would be born in His own body of flesh—for us. It pleased God the Son to give Himself for us, because no blood of bulls, goats, or rams could restore all creation to Him; only His blood could. Thus, for our sakes, the death of Christ Jesus is a necessary death; it is unavoidable, inescapable. When we look to the Cross, we see what we have done; for we are the ones whose sins put Him there. Yet, we must rejoice and be glad in that death, in its blood and its sheer brutality, because it set the seal on our redemption.

What shall we say, then? Let us hold fast to Christ Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.