Of the unspeakable love and suffering of Jesus, on Good Friday.
The Ninety-first Letter.
Of the unspeakable love and suffering of Jesus, on Good Friday.
In Christ, the Crucified —
Beloved friend and sister!
Because I believe that your desire — that I write you a little letter — comes from a simple heart, and is therefore also according to the good pleasure of the Lord, I have found myself not disinclined to it.
Today is the great day of atonement, the great and healing day of love and of suffering. What, then, can I write you that is more beautiful and more lovely than of the crucified Love? From the beginning of the world to its end, no love — and no suffering either — has ever risen so high, or been so seen, as on this very day. Is it not love, that the eternal Son of God, instead of enjoying the glory and blessedness in the bosom of His Father, willingly lets Himself be nailed to the accursed wood of the cross, and ventures Himself, as it were, into the abyss of hell, to redeem us, His enemies, out of it? Ah, let us then love Him, for He has first loved us! Is it not suffering — hanging in unspeakable pains, to see the bitterest death before one's eyes? Forsaken by God; forsaken by friends; mocked by enemies; plagued by all the devils; to hover in hellish anguish and distress, so that the whole of nature must tremble and be astonished at it? Should we then not also be willing — yea, rejoice in our suffering, that we may fill up what is left of the sufferings of Christ? (Colossians 1:24.)
Suffering and loving have, on this day, become One. Loving, He suffers; and suffering, He loves. So also in us: love bears and sweetens the suffering, and the suffering proves and purifies the love. Jesus was never without love, and never without suffering, here on earth in His life, and remained also loving and suffering unto His death. Neither of the two will/must be lacking to us either. If we would love, then we must suffer; our love cannot and will not, beloved sister, be without suffering, except only in heaven: there, when the fire of suffering has melted away all the dross of sin and self-hood, this fire will cease, and nothing but love will remain in us, in all eternities. Yea, Amen! May Jesus help you, there too, to suffer and to love, and then all the rest will follow of itself.
Because the time is gone, I must close. Consider that, even though it is written in haste, you will be able to read it. Brother H. and I greet you heartily, and your brother-in-law and sister as well. May God grant them too the grace to choose rather to suffer with Christ and His people than to enjoy all the delights of this world, which vanish so soon, like a dream. And just as the suffering of the godly turns itself into love and joy, so, on the contrary, the love of the world bears nothing but suffering. Jesus bless them. We also greet, as occasion serves, all the other friends there. Otherwise I have not wanted to tell anyone that I am writing to you. Finally, I commend myself to your remembrance, and remain
Your weak fellow-brother in loving and suffering.
Mülheim, on Good Friday, 1729.
German
Der einundneunzigste Brief.
Von der unaussprechlichen Liebe und Leiden JEsu am Charfreitag.
In Christo, dem Gekreuzigten, Geliebte Freundin und Schwester! Weil ich glaube, daß euer Begehren, ein Brieflein an euch zu schreiben, aus einfältigem Herzen kommt, und daher auch nach dem Wohlgefallen des HErrn ist; so habe mich auch nicht ungeneigt darzu gefunden.
— Opening lines of the original German. The complete transcription of all 605 letters appears in the forthcoming Encounter Press critical edition; Brief 1 is shown in full as a sample.
German text: public domain (1773–75 first edition / 1845 Gesammelte Schriften).
Translator’s notes
What this letter is. A Good Friday letter — written on Good Friday itself, 15 April 1729, to Helene Wuesthoff, one of the friends in Tersteegen's care. Its whole subject is what he calls "the crucified Love." From the beginning of the world to its end, he says, no love and no suffering ever rose so high as on this day: that the eternal Son of God, instead of enjoying His Father's glory, willingly let Himself be nailed to "the accursed wood," and ventured into the abyss of hell to redeem His own enemies. Then comes the letter's beating heart: on this day, suffering and loving have become one thing — "Loving, He suffers; and suffering, He loves" — and so it must be in us, for love sweetens suffering and suffering purifies love. Jesus was never without either, right to His death; neither, then, will be missing from us. If we would love, we must suffer — until heaven, where the fire of suffering, having burned away all the dross of sin, will cease, and nothing but love will remain. It ends with greetings to her family, a blessing, and a quiet request that she tell no one he has written.
A few words and echoes.
- The crucified Love. The letter's own name for Good Friday — Christ's love shown at its very highest in His suffering.
- He has first loved us. John's word — "we love him, because he first loved us" (First John) — the ground of all our loving.
- The accursed wood. The cross as the "curse" Paul names — "cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree" (Galatians).
- Forsaken by God. The cry from the cross — "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" (Matthew; Psalm 22).
- Fill up the sufferings of Christ. Paul's astonishing phrase — to "fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ" (Colossians) — which Tersteegen makes the ground for even rejoicing in our own suffering.
- Loving, He suffers; suffering, He loves. An old devotional motto (in Latin, patitur amans amatque patiens) — love and suffering made one in Christ, and so in us.
- To suffer with Christ's people rather than enjoy the world. Moses' choice, in Hebrews — "choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season."
trans. Jarred Fenlason · gerhardtersteegen.com/letters/bdi-thi-091 · all rights reservedEnglish translation © Jarred Fenlason · All rights reserved · gerhardtersteegen.com.