Christ was troubled, that is, he was sad.
We can recall here that there have been
philosophers, the Stoics, who said that those who are wise are not troubled
this way or by such passions. For although they admit that one who is wise may
have fear, or joy or desire, such a one is never sad. It is clear that this is
false because Jesus, who is the highest wisdom, was troubled.
Note that one can be troubled in two ways.
Sometimes it comes from the flesh, which means that one is troubled because of
some apprehension by the senses, but independently of the judgment of reason.
Yet sometimes this can remain within the limits of reason and not cloud one's
reason; in this case, Jerome would call it a
propassion. This can happen in one who is wise. At other times, this can go
beyond the limits of reason and trouble reason. This is not found in the wise.
The second way of being troubled is to have it
come from one's reason, that is, when one is troubled in the sensory appetite
because of a judgment of reason and from deliberation. This was the way Christ
was troubled. And so the Evangelist is careful to say that he was troubled in
spirit, that is, the sensory appetite of Christ was troubled because of a
judgment of his reason. Thus he said above that Jesus "troubled
himself." For in Christ all things arose from the deliberation of reason,
even in his sensory appetite; and so there were in him no sudden disturbances
of his sensuality.
Jesus willed to be troubled at this time for two
reasons. First, in order to instruct us in the faith. For suffering and death,
which human nature naturally shuns, were drawing near to him; and when he
realized this, he became sad because they were harmful and evil for him. And so
he willed, by a judgment of reason, to be troubled even in his soul, to show us
that he had a real human nature. This excludes the error of Apollinaris who
said that Christ did not have a soul, but the Word took its place.
Secondly, he did this to aid our own progress.
According to Augustine, he saw that the traitor was about to leave and return
with the Jews who wanted to capture him. By this action, Judas was severed from
the society of the saints and drew down a sentence of death upon himself. And
because Jesus loved him, this made him sad. This gives an example to superiors
that if now and then they have to pass a harsh judgment on their subjects, they
should do it with a sad heart, according to "Let a good man strike or
rebuke me in kindness" (Ps 141:5). For when Jesus decided to reveal the
treachery of Judas to the others, he was troubled in spirit and testified, to
show he was not ignorant of his betrayal, and said, Truly, truly, I say to you,
one of you will betray me.
He is careful to say, one of you, i.e., one of
those chosen for this holy society, so that we might understand that there
would never be a society so holy that it would be without sinners and those who
are evil: "Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present
themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them" (Job 1:6).
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