Christian Art | Jesus Christ | Crucifixion
Office Of Readings | Week 19, Monday, Ordinary Time | A Reading From The Treatise Of Theodoret Of Cyr On The Incarnation Of The Lord | I Shall Heal Their Wounds
‘I shall heal their wounds.’
Theodoret presents the suffering and death of Jesus as a deliberate act of obedience, not a tragic accident. Jesus is shown moving purposefully towards his passion, fully aware of what the Scriptures foretold. He warns his disciples in advance, rebukes Peter for resisting the idea of his suffering, and openly identifies himself to those who come to arrest him. Unlike earlier occasions when Jesus avoided capture, this time Jesus refuses to hide or defend himself.
The account dwells on the specific humiliations Jesus endured: being struck, spat upon, mocked, scourged, crowned with thorns, and crucified between criminals. Each detail is interpreted as carrying theological meaning. For example, the crown of thorns recalls the curse on Adam, where the ground would bear ‘thorns and thistles’ as a sign of toil and suffering. The vinegar and gall symbolise the bitterness and hardship of human life, which Jesus takes upon himself. Even the purple robe and reed used in mockery are read as signs — of his kingship and of the weakness of the devil’s rule.
Theodoret also links Jesus’ death to the ‘ancient curse’ of the law described by Paul in Galatians: ‘Cursed be everyone who hangs on a tree.’ Jesus, sinless yet treated as a sinner, bears the penalty that belonged to humanity, thus redeeming those enslaved to sin.
Finally, Theodoret draws a parallel between the piercing of Jesus’ side and the opening of Adam’s side in Genesis. From Adam’s side came Eve, who participated in humanity’s fall; from Christ’s side flow water and blood — understood as baptism and the Eucharist — which bring new life. The image connects the crucifixion to the sacraments, portraying the cross as the source of regeneration and nourishment for the Church.
A Reading From The Treatise Of Theodoret Of Cyr On The Incarnation Of The Lord | I Shall Heal Their Wounds
Of his own free will Jesus ran to meet those sufferings that were foretold in the Scriptures concerning him. He had forewarned his disciples about them several times; he had rebuked Peter for being reluctant to accept the announcement of his passion, and he had made it clear that it was by means of his suffering that the world’s salvation was to be accomplished. This was why he stepped forward and presented himself to those who came in search of him, saying: I am the one you are looking for. For the same reason he made no reply when he was accused, and refused to hide when he could have done so; although in the past he had slipped away on more than one occasion when they had tried to apprehend him.
Jesus also wept over Jerusalem because by her unwillingness to believe she was bent on her own ruin, and upon the temple, once so renowned, he passed sentence of utter destruction. Patiently he put up with being struck in the face by a man who was doubly a slave, in body and in spirit. He allowed himself to be slapped, spat upon, insulted, tortured, scourged and finally crucified. He accepted two robbers as his companions in punishment, on his right and on his left. He endured being reckoned with murderers and criminals. He drank the vinegar and the bitter gall yielded by the unfaithful vineyard of Israel. He submitted to crowning with thorns instead of with vine twigs and grapes; he was ridiculed with the purple cloak, holes were dug in his hands and his feet, and at last he was carried to the grave.
All this he endured in working out our salvation. For since those who were enslaved to sin were liable to the penalties of sin, he himself, exempt from sin though he was and walking in the path of perfect righteousness, underwent the punishment of sinners. By his cross he blotted out the decree of the ancient curse: for, as Paul says: Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us; for it is written: ‘Cursed be everyone who hangs on a tree.’ And by his crown of thorns he put an end to that punishment meted out to Adam, who after his sin had heard the sentence: Cursed is the ground because of you; thorns and thistles shall it bring forth for you.
In tasting the gall Jesus took on himself the bitterness and toil of man’s mortal, painful life. By drinking the vinegar he made his own the degradation men had suffered, and in the same act gave us the grace to better our condition. By the purple robe he signified his kingship, by the reed he hinted at the weakness and rottenness of the devil’s power. By taking the slap in the face, and thus suffering the violence, corrections and blows that were due to us, he proclaimed our freedom.
His side was pierced as Adam’s was; yet there came forth not a woman who, being beguiled, was to be the death-bearer, but a fountain of life that regenerates the world by its two streams: the one to renew us in the baptismal font and clothe us with the garment of immortality, the other to feed us, the reborn, at the table of God, just as babes are nourished with milk.
Biography | Theodoret Of Cyr (c. AD 393 – c. 458)
Theodoret was a Christian theologian, bishop, and biblical commentator in the 5th century. Born in Antioch, in modern-day Syria, he received a classical education and was trained in the theological tradition of the Antiochene school, known for its emphasis on the literal and historical interpretation of Scripture.
Around 423, he became bishop of Cyr (also Cyrrhus), a small but strategically important diocese in northern Syria. As bishop, he was known for pastoral care, charitable works, and prolific theological writing, which included biblical commentaries, apologetic works, and treatises on Christology.
Theodoret played a prominent role in the theological debates of his time, especially during the Christological controversies following the Council of Ephesus (431). He defended the teaching of the Antiochene tradition against what he saw as extremes in Alexandrian theology, often in opposition to Cyril of Alexandria. This involvement led to accusations of supporting Nestorianism, although Theodoret himself denied the charge and affirmed the unity of Christ’s person.
He was briefly deposed during the Second Council of Ephesus in 449 (often called the ‘Robber Council’), but restored to his see after the Council of Chalcedon in 451, where he supported the definition of Christ as one person in two natures.
Theodoret’s writings remain significant for their careful exegesis, historical insight, and role in shaping the orthodox position established at Chalcedon. He died around AD 458.
Christian Prayer With Jesus Christ
Lord Jesus Christ,
you bore the weight of our sin without guilt of your own,
and met suffering not with avoidance but with steadfast love.
Through your cross you have broken the curse of death
and opened for us the way of life.
From your wounded side flow the waters of baptism
and the blood of the new covenant;
wash us, feed us, and keep us in your grace,
that we may live as those you have set free.
Amen.
Glossary Of Christian Terms
Passion – The suffering and death of Jesus, particularly the events from his arrest to his crucifixion.
Curse of the Law – A biblical phrase (Galatians 3:13) referring to the penalties under the Law of Moses for disobedience, understood by Christians as ultimately overcome by Christ.
Gall – A bitter substance; here symbolising the hardships and bitterness of human life that Jesus took upon himself.
Vinegar – Sour wine given to Jesus on the cross; interpreted as a sign of the degradation he bore.
Crown of Thorns – A mock crown placed on Jesus’ head during his trial; linked to the curse on the ground in Genesis.
Purple Robe – A garment used to mock Jesus as ‘King of the Jews,’ also associated with kingship in Roman culture.
Reed – Given to Jesus in mockery as a sceptre; here seen as symbolising the weakness of the devil’s rule.
Ancient Curse – The punishment and consequences of humanity’s fall in Genesis, understood as reversed through Christ’s death.
Piercing of the Side – The wound made by a soldier’s spear after Jesus’ death, from which blood and water flowed; seen as the source of the sacraments of baptism and the Eucharist.
Baptismal Font – The vessel or place where baptism is administered; symbol of new life in Christ.
Sometimes, when I read my Bible, I pause in the reading and say to myself: ‘This bit’s real.’ It would be fair to say, I have issues with Mary, because, contrary to what we are taught to say, Mary isn’t my mother. Rather: Mum is. One bit of the Bible-text says this: And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for people were saying, “He is beside himself.” … And his mother and his brothers came; and standing outside they sent to him and called him. And a crowd was sitting about him; and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers are outside, asking for you.” And he replied, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” And looking around on those who sat about him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God is my brother, and sister, and mother.” (Mark 3: 21; 31-35.) Here she comes. She is in considerable distress. I can imagine that. I can relate to that. To save her boy from whatever he’s got himself into this time. And you’re not telling me there isn’t something inside that. Her boy is beside himself. Radical. Radicalized. Radicalizing. A misunderstood word. /ˈradɪk(ə)l/ adjective & noun. 1 Forming the root, basis, or foundation; original, primary. 2a Inherent in the nature of a thing or person; fundamental. b Of action, change, an idea: going to the root or origin; far-reaching, thorough. c Advocating thorough or far-reaching change. d Characterized by departure from tradition; progressive; unorthodox. ‘He has a demon! And he is mad!’ – thus ‘the Jews’. (e.g. John 10: 20.) Come home! It’s all she wants. His family want him back now. But it is an exclusive cult: there is an inside and there is an outside; and on the outside, they are not meant to understand, lest they be converted. He has defined himself as different from anything she was. Only at the end does Jesus say to his Mum – and with savage, bitter irony: ‘Woman, behold your son.’ And then he dies. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. We ask that we might find Mary in our hearts as a Yes! place for Jesus. It is also recommended that we pray to Jesus that we may be further in oneness with Mary. It is self-emptying, such that we only exist insofar as we are responsive to God’s Word. * Last term, and put-out to pasture, the old Archbishop Emeritus came over to stay for a few days and did the odd class with us. He spoke of Yes! as the meaning of Mary’s virginity. And we were not very nice about him. One or two took umbrage. One or two got the hump. In a sense, his Grace, the Arch, basically wanted to move anyone he’d ever known from a high-place – a mountain – received theological ‘truth’ – to an imminent, human plane. Earthing the spiritual. Recalibrating metrics of life’s believability toward a spiritual sense of things. He might have asked the impermissible question: what happened? His Grace described it. God’s love as a cloud. This descended upon Mary – and subsumed her. Within the cloud, Mary capitulated utterly. She became only and purely a response to God’s love. As he spoke, the Arch cradled her. He carried her in his lap – in his hands. His Grace was a consecrated bishop. He was faith. He sat squat, a rounded man, hands cupped and ankles crossed, fingers interlocked, with parted thighs. Rumpled, washed, speckled. A lifetime’s skin… There could be no doubt His Grace spoke through long-term personal relationship with Mary. It was Julian went for him: ‘So are you saying Mary was a Virgin? Or are you not saying Mary was a Virgin?’ Nasty. No, it wasn’t pretty. Julian twisting his silver ring. For a moment, what Julian had said to the Arch simply failed to communicate. No, for a moment, that dumped on the air meant nothing. Then His Grace said: ‘There is a range of possible meanings we may understand in the question of Mary’s virginity. For example, there are understandings of the word virginity entailed in the action of giving birth.’ Julian said: ‘Duh! So had she had sex or hadn’t she?’ Trigger words. No, it wasn’t pretty. On that went for a little while. At length, Julian’s point seemed reluctantly conceded. Then the Arch told us a new story, an additionally human event, the more to baffle us. Controversially, he told us that Mary could not have been Joseph’s first wife, for this would not have been the way of things in the society of that time. His belief was that Joseph must have taken Mary into his household through pity. That would be normal, he said, for Joseph to bring a young, vulnerable girl, who is about to have a baby, within his protection, not meaning to enjoy with her marital relations, but through kindness. ‘And this story of the inn and stable,’ the Archbishop said, ‘it can’t have been like that really. Joseph has travelled with Mary to stay with his family, at home in Bethlehem, and they don’t want Mary in their house, for reasons which I am sure we can understand. It must have been there was considerable resistance to Mary. But Mary gives birth, and who can resist a baby? That’s what happened. It must have been. ‘I’m convinced that must have been how it happened really.’ Later that term, toward the beginning of Advent, we met boys who had been here before, in Valladolid, and now were in regular seminary. They had heard and recited verbatim all the Archbishop had said to them. Their spot-on impressions of each of the fathers were scathing. […]
In this reading, taken from De Oratione, Tertullian reflects on the nature and power of Christian prayer. He emphasizes that prayer is the true spiritual sacrifice that has replaced the physical sacrifices of the Old Covenant. This reflects a fundamental theological shift in Christianity: whereas the Old Testament sacrificial system required offerings of animals and grain, the New Covenant calls for an interior offering—prayer made in spirit and truth. Tertullian draws from the Gospel of John (4:23–24), where Christ teaches that true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth because God himself is spirit. In doing so, Tertullian situates prayer at the heart of Christian worship, making it an act of devotion that supersedes the old rites [ … ]
The poem reflects an inner struggle between rebellion and submission to divine authority, expressing the poet’s desire to resist God but also recognition of the futility of doing so. The first stanza presents the poet’s rebellious spirit, where he admits to wanting to die, fight, or deny God’s influence over him. This opposition to God’s control is portrayed as a natural inclination of the poet’s heart, which he acknowledges as a stronghold that resists divine authority. However, the poet also requests that God tame his heart, recognizing that the ultimate skill or ‘highest art’ of God is to bring even the strongest opposition into submission. This sets the poem’s central theme of rebellion versus surrender [ … ]
