As It Is Written . . .
Destiny & the Cross
How should we understand the necessity (the "must," the dei—Mark 8:31) of Christ's suffering and death? We should begin, I believe, simply by inquiring how we actually know of this necessity. We commence with the fact that this "must" is known to us only through Jesus. Theology has no access to it except through the mind of Christ himself. It was the Savior who discerned the "must" at the heart and center of his vocation in this world. We must start with the mind of Christ.
Sense from Scripture
Let us, then, start. According to the explicit words of our Lord, his sense of the necessity of his Passion and death (and, of course, Resurrection) had to do with his understanding of the Scriptures. He discovered this necessity in the Bible.
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Patrick Henry Reardon is pastor emeritus of All Saints Antiochian Orthodox Church in Chicago, Illinois, and the author of numerous books, including, most recently, Out of Step with God: Orthodox Christian Reflections on the Book of Numbers (Ancient Faith Publishing, 2019).
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