Tractatus Prior, Pars Altera, Cap. 15. De iniusta condemnatione lesu ad mortem.

Tractatus Prior, Pars Altera, Cap. 15. De iniusta condemnatione lesu ad mortem.

I bless you and give thanks to you, Lord Jesus Christ, author of life and standard of justice, for your unjust condemnation to death without any merit of wrongdoing, reserved for a murderous and seditious man. O, what a profoundly unjust and wretched judgment this is! For when a great multitude was stirred up among the people, and the judge could not quell the Jewish ferocity in any way, he sat on the tribunal and pronounced this wicked sentence against you, so that Barabbas, the robber, might be released alive, although he was guilty of a capital crime deserving of death, while you, pure from all offense, were handed over to a most shameful death on the cross. Alas, what a judgment this world has, and how far justice is cast aside when the wicked begin to take control. Look how the righteous perish, and no one is there to rescue them. For sorrow, the truthful one is given to the deceitful, and the righteous is punished by the wicked. The innocent is handed over for the guilty, the thief is chosen instead of Christ, and Barabbas, the bound one, is released in place of Jesus of Nazareth. The Lamb is changed for the wolf, the holy for the criminal, the best for the worst, and the lost man escapes in place of the true God. Night is preferred over light, vice over virtue, death over life, mud over gold, a shell over a pearl, and the infamous over the noble. Who, hearing this, does not groan? Who among the Jews does not feel anger? Who wouldn’t accuse the judge? Even if he washes his hands, though he tries to excuse himself before people, even if he acts out of fear of Caesar, and even if he is forced by the insistence of the Jews, the world is not completely innocent of the crime committed; for he knew that they had handed him over out of envy. It would have been better to lose a temporary position of honor than to unjustly condemn someone whom he knew was innocent. It would have been better to lose the whole world than to sin against God and kill Christ. Oh, how terrible will be the judgment for the wicked and unbelievers at the end, when God, the judge, appears in the glory of His majesty, now unjustly condemned! Then all the faithful and pious will rejoice, who now grieve deeply over the unjust condemnation of their Lord Jesus Christ. Then those who patiently endure the pressures of this world, the injustices and losses, will be joyful and secure. They will be tested by their own trials. O sweet and gracious Lord, who was unjustly judged by Pilate and condemned to the disgrace of the cross, grant that I may humbly endure the sentence given against me in the chapter of my faults, and not foolishly judge my superior or attack anyone accusing me with hurtful words, but rather strive for the virtue of patience, following your example of silent endurance, and not weigh heavily my own humiliation by a more powerful one, but commit all judgment to you for examination. For a servant is not greater than his master; if you were judged unjustly, you who are the judge of all, and you did not resist the violence of your accusers, though you were blameless in everything, how much more must I endure and submit to the judgment of my superiors, who have often found me at fault in many things. Help me, gentle Jesus, to bear the yoke of submission and the rod of correction, and to remember your sufferings in every trial.