Source: https://www.bertha-dudde.org/en/proclamation/2342

2342 Jesus' suffering and death on the cross.... atonement....

May 21, 1942: Book 32

Jesus' suffering and death on the cross was the greatest sacrifice of love ever offered by a human being on earth. It was not a sacrifice of atonement by a guilty person, it was not a deserved punishment, but a sacrifice that was made for the sins of other people out of the deepest love for this.... It was a voluntary sacrifice of atonement that was intended to redeem fellow human beings from their well-deserved punishment.... The death on the cross was unspeakably agonizing, and yet Jesus chose it because His body wanted to suffer out of an immense love for humanity. He wanted to do something that people were not capable of, He wanted to take agony upon Himself in order to spare His fellow human beings. He knew that people's fate after death was suffering and torment as a just punishment for their apostasy from God, i.e. for their will which was opposed to God, and in His love He wanted to reduce this suffering and torment by imposing it on Himself, thus He voluntarily bore suffering so that they would not have to bear it. And thus He chose the most agonizing death.... death on the cross and offered up these unspeakable torments to His father in heaven. He brought Him the atoning sacrifice by suffering and dying for sinful humanity.... And this sacrifice was pleasing to God. For Jesus was pure and blameless, He was without sin.... There was not the slightest guilt in Him, but He chose death, which atoned for the most serious crimes, which was unspeakably agonizing and dishonouring.... He had His pure body crucified by people who were followers of satan in their far-from-God state, and His soul also suffered unimaginable torment along with His body as a result. For His pure soul perceived every sinfulness as torment; the soul, which had become love, suffered from unkindness.... and yet it took this torment upon itself in order to make people's fate more bearable. The sacrifice was made to God in merciful love and God accepted it favourably.... The man Jesus had to completely renounce His love for the world before He could make this sacrifice, He had to free Himself from every desire, He had to be willing to give up everything of His own free will, only then was He able to make this sacrificial death.... His love was so great that it was only for His fellow human beings and not for His own body. And because this immense love motivated Him to make such a sacrifice, God accepted it.... And so Jesus redeemed humanity from eternal death through His suffering and death on the cross, which surpassed every other death in pain and agony, because His love was so great that He was prepared to endure everything for the sake of humanity, which without His work of redemption, without this sacrifice on the cross, would have to suffer for eternities if it wanted to atone for its incomprehensibly great guilt of sin itself....

Amen

Translated by Doris Boekers