April 3
He destroyed our death
ince all human
beings were subject to death, after taking from us a body like ours he
delivered it up to death in the place of us all, offering it to the Father.
He did this because of his love for us, so that we might all die in him,
for then the law imposing death on us would be abrogated. Death's power,
having been fully spent in the Lord's body, would no longer prevail against
other human beings resembling him. He did it to free us from the corruptible
condition into which we had fallen and to restore us to life. By making
our body his own and by the grace of the resurrection he destroyed our
death as completely as straw is destroyed by fire.
The Word knew that there was absolutely no way of delivering us from
our state of corruptibility except by dying. Since he himself, being immortal
and the Son of the Father, was incapable of dying, he took to himself a
body which could die. Its participation in the Word who is above all would
make it worthy to die for all. Because of the Word dwelling in it, it would
remain incorruptible and all others would be freed from corruptibility
by the grace of resurrection.
From John E. Rotelle, O.S.A., Tradition Day by Day: Readings from
Church Writers. Augustinian Press. Villanova, PA, 1994.
HTML text prepared by David P. Steelman
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