Jan
21
2012
In his desertion
“Christ suffered in his own person whatsoever he calls us to suffer, that he might the better learn to relieve and pity us in our sufferings. In his desertion in the garden and upon the cross, he was content to lack that unspeakable solace in the presence of his Father, both to bear the wrath of the Lord for a time for us, and likewise to know the better how to comfort us in our greatest extremities. . . . He was broken, that we should not be broken; he was troubled, that we should not be desperately troubled; he became a curse, that we should not be accursed. Whatsoever may be wished for in an all-sufficient comforter is all to be found in Christ.”
Richard Sibbes, “The Bruised Reed,” in Works (Edinburgh, 1979), I:72-73. Style updated.