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Reply. Christ did not endure all sufferings specifically, because
many of them are mutually exclusive, such as burning and drowning. It
did not become Him to suffer interior bodily sicknesses, for, as
St. John Chrysostom says: "It did not befit Him who healed the
infirmities of others to have His own body afflicted with the
same."[1780]
But Christ endured every human suffering, because: (1) He
suffered something from Jews and Gentiles, from the chief priests and
their servants, from the mob, even from friends and acquaintances;
(2) He suffered from His friends who abandoned Him, in His
reputation, His honor, in His soul from sadness and weariness, in
His body from wounds and scourgings; (3) He suffered in all His
bodily members, from head to foot, and in all His senses.
Reply to second objection. "As Christ was uplifted above others in
gifts of graces, so He was lowered beneath others by the ignominy of
His sufferings."
Reply to third objection. "The very least one of Christ's
sufferings was sufficient of itself to redeem the human race from all
sins." However, because of His great love for us, He willed to
offer Himself as a most perfect holocaust for us, and generically
endure all sufferings.
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