Choosing Suffering

Ὁ δὲ Ἰἠσοῦς εἶπειν αὐτῷ· Ἑταὶρε, ἐφ' ᾧ πάρει; Τότε προσελθόντει, ἐπέβαλον τὰς χεῖρας ἐπὶ τὸν Ἰησοῦν, καὶ ἐκράτησαν αὐτόν. Εἰ γὰρ καὶ ὅτι μάλιστα τὸ συμβὰν οὐχὶ πάντη τε καὶ πάντως θελητὸν ἧν αὐτῷ, ἀλλ' οὖν τῆς πάντων ἕνεκα σωτηρίας καὶ ζωῆς, ἐκούσιον ἐποιήσατο τὸ ἐπὶ τοῦ σταυροῦ πάθος, Ἥδει τὰ ἐντεῦθεν ἐσόμενα κατορθώματα, καὶ ὅτι τὴν ἀνθρώπου φύσιν ἀνακαινεῖ, καὶ αἵματι τῷ οἰκείῳ κατακτήσεται τῷ Θεῷ καὶ Πατρί. Εἰ γὰρ μὴ ἐποιήσατο θελητὸν, καίτοι ἀβούλητον ὅν τὸ παθεῖν, τίς ἂν νοοῖτο λοιπὸν ἡ πρόφασις τοῦ προσεύχεσθαι καὶ λέγειν αὐτὸν, Πατερ, εὶ δυνατὸν, παρελθέτω ἀπ' ἐμοῦ τὸ ποτήριον τοῦτο; Καὶ μεθ' ἕτερα. Θέα δὲ πῶς ἀνεθέλητον μὲν τῷ Σωτῆρι τὸ πάθος· ἐπειδὴ δὲ πάντη τε καὶ πάντως ὑπομεῖναι ἐχρῆν διὰ τὰ ἐκ τοῦ παθεῖν ἀγαθὰ, θελητὸν ἐποιήσατο δι' ἡμᾶς. Οὐ γὰρ ἠπείλσε τῷ προδότῃ τὸ παντὸς ἐπέκεινα διελᾶσαι κακοῦ, καὶ ὅτι κρεῖττον ἧν αὐτῷ τὸ μὴ γενέσθαι τὴν ἀρχὴν, ἀλλ' οὐδ' ἂν ὅλωη κολάσεως ἄξιον ἡγήσατό ποτε τῶν ἰδίων θελημάτων τὸν ὑπουργὸν, εἴπερ ἧν αὐτῷ θελητὸν τὸ παθεῖν. Ἅγιος Κύριλλος Ἀλεξανδρείας, Ἐξὴγησις Εἰς Τὸ Κατὰ Ματθαιον Εὐάγγελιον Migne PG 72. 456

And Jesus said, 'Friend, why do you come?' And then they drew near and put their hands on Him and held Him. 1 For even if it was not at all according to His will that these things come to be, yet on account of the salvation and life of all, He made the choice for the suffering of the cross. For certainly He knew that from that would come victory and it would bring about the renewal of the nature of man, his own blood given to God the Father. And yet if He had made the passion His choice, although averse, why was it that He prayed, saying, 'Father if possible, take this cup from me,' 2 and the rest after that? Observe how the passion was not wished for by the Saviour, but because He should suffer all that by suffering good come to all, so He made His choice for us. For after this decision He does not cry out against the traitor on account of him commiting the gravest crime, nor does He now say 'Better if this man had not been born,' 3 for he is not now to be censured with the threat of punishment when he acts according to the determination of His will, since He had chosen to suffer. Saint Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on the Gospel of Saint Matthew, Fragment 1 Mt 26.50 2 Mt 26.42 3 Mt 26.24