I took a long break from reading Confessions. It's not the kind of book that needs to be read consistently, and I admit that I became distracted with other titles that were easier to read. Augustine was quite the scholar, and his writing is rather profound. Today, I was struck by this excerpt (direct Scripture quotations are italicized):
"How great was your love for us, good Father, for you did not even spare your own son, but gave him up to save us sinners! How great was your love for us, when it was for us that Christ, who did not see, in the rank of Godhead, a prize to be coveted, accepted an obedience which brought him to death, death on a cross! He who alone was free among the dead, for he was free to lay down his life and free to take it up again, was for us both Victor and Victim in your sight, and it was because he was the Victim that he was also the Victor. In your sight he was for us both Priest and Sacrifice, and it was because he was the Sacrifice that he was also the Priest. By being your Son, yet serving you he freed us from servitude and made us your sons"
Still sitting in Hebrews, it is amazing to read Augustine's succinct description of what that author works so hard to show: namely that Jesus is the One who enters into the veil on our behalf to give Himself.
And the Son made us His sons by being made perfect through suffering.
Jesus is it. He paid it all, and won victory and freedom for us. He gives Himself.
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