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Fr. Tadros Yacoub Malaty · Catechism · 357

Faith Q&A › Catechism › 10. Our Lord Jesus Christ, Savior of the World

Why did St. Jacob of Sarug call the cross of the Lord Christ “The Divine Chariot”?

The answer

After His death on the cross, the body of Christ was buried in the tomb. The cross became a kind of divine chariot bearing the soul of Christ down into Hades, that He may destroy its gates and liberate all those who were held captive and take them to paradise, rejoicing in their victory over the devil and over death. As for the Lord’s divinity, it parted neither from His body nor from His soul. St. Peter says, “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison” (1 Pet. 3:18–19).

Fr. Tadros Yacoub Malaty

Fr. Tadros Yacoub Malaty, Catechism of the Coptic Orthodox Church, Volume 1, Books 1–3. First English Edition, 2023. Published by St. George Coptic Orthodox Church, Sporting, Alexandria, and Queen St. Mary & Prince Tadros Coptic Orthodox Church, South Brunswick, NJ. Copyright © 2023. Translation and Editing: Youth of the Coptic Orthodox Church in the USA, Canada, Europe, Australia, Arabian Gulf, and Egypt.