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Objection 1: It would seem that Christ did endure all sufferings,
because Hilary (De Trin. x) says: "God's only-begotten Son
testifies that He endured every kind of human sufferings in order to
accomplish the sacrament of His death, when with bowed head He gave
up the ghost." It seems, therefore, that He did endure all human
sufferings.
Objection 2: Further, it is written (Is. 52:13):
"Behold My servant shall understand, He shall be exalted and
extolled, and shall be exceeding high; as many as have been astonished
at Him, so shall His visage be inglorious among men, and His form
among the sons of men." But Christ was exalted in that He had all
grace and all knowledge, at which many were astonished in admiration
thereof. Therefore it seems that He was "inglorious," by enduring
every human suffering.
Objection 3: Further, Christ's Passion was ordained for man's
deliverance from sin, as stated above (Article 3). But Christ
came to deliver men from every kind of sin. Therefore He ought to
have endured every kind of suffering.
On the contrary, It is written (Jn. 19:32): "The soldiers
therefore came: and they broke the legs of the first, and of the other
who was crucified with Him; but after they were come to Jesus, when
they saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs."
Consequently, He did not endure every human suffering.
I answer that, Human sufferings may be considered under two aspects.
First of all, specifically, and in this way it was not necessary for
Christ to endure them all, since many are mutually exclusive, as
burning and drowning; for we are dealing now with sufferings inflicted
from without, since it was not beseeming for Him to endure those
arising from within, such as bodily ailments, as already stated
(Question 14, Article 4). But, speaking generically, He did
endure every human suffering. This admits of a threefold acceptance.
First of all, on the part of men: for He endured something from
Gentiles and from Jews; from men and from women, as is clear from
the women servants who accused Peter. He suffered from the rulers,
from their servants and from the mob, according to Ps. 2:1,2:
"Why have the Gentiles raged, and the people devised vain things?
The kings of the earth stood up, and the princes met together,
against the Lord and against His Christ." He suffered from friends
and acquaintances, as is manifest from Judas betraying and Peter
denying Him.
Secondly, the same is evident on the part of the sufferings which a
man can endure. For Christ suffered from friends abandoning Him; in
His reputation, from the blasphemies hurled at Him; in His honor
and glory, from the mockeries and the insults heaped upon Him; in
things, for He was despoiled of His garments; in His soul, from
sadness, weariness, and fear; in His body, from wounds and
scourgings.
Thirdly, it may be considered with regard to His bodily members. In
His head He suffered from the crown of piercing thorns; in His hands
and feet, from the fastening of the nails; on His face from the blows
and spittle; and from the lashes over His entire body. Moreover,
He suffered in all His bodily senses: in touch, by being scourged
and nailed; in taste, by being given vinegar and gall to drink; in
smell, by being fastened to the gibbet in a place reeking with the
stench of corpses, "which is called Calvary"; in hearing, by being
tormented with the cries of blasphemers and scorners; in sight, by
beholding the tears of His Mother and of the disciple whom He loved.
Reply to Objection 1: Hilary's words are to be understood as to
all classes of sufferings, but not as to their kinds.
Reply to Objection 2: The likeness is sustained, not as to the
number of the sufferings and graces, but as to their greatness; for,
as He was uplifted above others in gifts of graces, so was He lowered
beneath others by the ignominy of His sufferings.
Reply to Objection 3: The very least one of Christ's sufferings
was sufficient of itself to redeem the human race from all sins; but as
to fittingness, it sufficed that He should endure all classes of
sufferings, as stated above.
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