SOME CHRISTIANS ARE uptight about any kind of nakedness...let alone speaking of it! One Christian college prohibits expressions of nudity even in art classes. That would include paintings of Adam and Eve, the Infant of Bethlehem, Jesus in the River Jordan, Michelangelo's David, or this Tenth Station - Jesus has his clothes taken away at Calvary. I hope we don't need to put up the TV disclaimer: For Mature Audiences Only.
We remember the gospel parable (Matthew 25:1-13) where the bridegroom is eagerly awaited in the night-time by the ten bridesmaids who have been designated to escort him to the wedding. Jesus is the bridegroom. And on his wedding night, a bridegroom is naked while loving his bride.
And who is Christ's bride? We can say the bride is the Church - God's people being loved husband-like by Christ. But it is even more personal, as the soul, the inner man - inner woman - is spoken of in feminine terms. Saint Thomas Aquinas writes that the soul is "The inner place where Someone always speaks." That Someone of course is Christ-God, speaking to me interiorly, uniquely, in intimacy, loving me despite - or even because of - my own naked weakness and vulnerability.
Jesus has his clothes removed because on the cross he is the bridegroom loving all of humanity.
Jesus has his clothes removed because on the cross he is the bridegroom loving all of humanity.
Some moments of silence
Our Father Who art in Heaven...
Hail Mary full of grace...
Glory be to the Father...
