Bonaventure, Tree of Life – Sixth Fruit – Jesus’ Patience in Maltreatment – CHSS 31

In the Sixth Fruit, Bonaventure looks at the final hours of Jesus’ life, specifically the events surrounding Jesus’ trials before Herod and Pilate. He sets in stark contrast the impiety of Jesus’ persecutors with his humility, mercy and grace. Bonaventure seeks to portray again for his audience, as promised in his prologue, the nature of the crucified life. During each of these ordeals from the denial by his chief disciple Peter, to the mockery at the hands of those who spat in his face to the gruesome punishment dished out at the scorching at the pillar, Bonaventure portrays Jesus Christ as one who faithfully endured punishment because he was first and foremost committed to the mission given to him by his father and secondly firmly committed to offering the sacrifice of himself for the sins of humanity. In this detailed description, which mirrors a well-done movie, Bonaventure paints in the minds of his Franciscan novitiate readers a vivid account of what exactly transpired during the trials of Jesus. Bonaventure takes pains at presenting a precise and accurate account of those events precisely to lead the hearer/reader into a deeper love for Jesus Christ. Through a more acute understanding of who Christ was and what he did during his life, passion and death, Bonaventure believed, the Christian could more accurately perceive in their minds the grandeur, grace, mercy and love of Jesus Christ. A deep awareness of the Paschal mystery, Bonaventure believed, was essential for having the mindset taken on by Paul who claimed that he was crucified with Christ (Gal [2:19]). Join us this week as we go into detail about the trials of Jesus as understood and presented by Bonaventure, the Seraphic Doctor.

The Scourging of Jesus Christ at the Pillar .

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