The same St. Bernard goes on to consider the iniquitous sentence of Pilate, who condemned Jesus to the Cross, after several times having declared Him innocent; and then, turning himself to Jesus, he thus bewails himself before Him: "What hast Thou done, O most innocent Saviour, that Thou receivest such a judgment?" Ah, my Lord, I hear this wicked judge condemning Thee to die upon the Cross; and what evil hast Thou done? what crime hast Thou ever perpetrated to deserve such a death of torture and shame?---a death awarded to none but to the most guilty wretches? But he then resumes by replying: Ah, I now comprehend, O my Jesus! what crime it is of which Thou art guilty? It is of having loved mankind too dearly: "Thy love is Thy crime." Yes, it is this love, more than Pilate, that condemns Thee to death; because it is to payoff the penalties due from mankind that Thou hast willed to suffer death.
As the time of the Passion of our Blessed Redeemer drew near, He besought His Father that He would hasten to glorify Him, by permitting Him to offer to Him the sacrifice of His life: Father, glorify Thy Son. [John 17:5] At this, St. John Chrysostom asks, in astonishment, "What sayest Thou? Dost thou call these things glory?" A Passion and a death accompanied with such sufferings and shame, dost Thou call this Thy glory? And the Saint then replies to his own question for Jesus Christ: "Yes, since it is for My beloved ones, I esteem it a glory." Yes, so immense is the love I entertain for mankind that it makes Me regard it My glory to suffer and to die for their sake.
