In Chapter 23 Julian continues with her ninth showing, the delight of the Trinity in Christ's passion. To illustrate this joy, Julian describes the Trinity as a "glad giver":
And in this He browte to mend the property of a glad gevere. A glad gever takyth but litil hede of the thyng that he gevith, but al his desire and al his intent is to plesyn hym and solacyn hym to whome he gevyth it. And if the receiver take the geft heyly and thankfully, than the curtes gever settith at nowte all his coste and al his travel for joy and delite that he hath, for he hath plesid and solacid hym that he lovyth. Plenteously and fully was this shewid.
Translation:
And in this He brought to mind the property of a glad giver. A glad giver takes but little heed of the thing that he gives, but all his desire and all his intent is to please him and solace him to whom he gives it. And if the receiver takes the gift highly and thankfully, then the courteous giver sets at naught all his cost and all his labor, for joy and delight that he has, for he has pleased and solaced him whom he loves. Plenteously and fully was this shown.
The thing I want to highlight here in Chapter 23 is the robust Trinitarianism through which Julian views the Passion. As she writes:
Al the Trinite wroute in the passion of Criste, minystryng abundance of vertues and plenty of grace to us be Hym; but only the Mayden Son suffrid, whereof all the blissid Trinite endlesly enjoyeth.Translation:
All the Trinity acted in the Passion of Christ, ministering abundance of virtues and plenty of grace to us by Him; but only the Maiden's Son suffered, whereof all the blessed Trinity endlessly rejoices.
Julian's vision of the cross is profoundly Trinitarian. As she puts it, “Al the Trinite wroute in the passion of Criste,” while “only the Mayden Son suffrid.” The Father was not standing at a distance from the cross and punishing the Son. The whole Trinity is at work in the Passion. Mary's Son suffers but the Father and Spirit are active in what the Trinity is accomplishing together. And in their shared sacrifice the whole Trinity “endlesly enjoyeth” in the Passion.
Julian's fully orthodox view of the cross pushes back against versions of penal substitutionary atonement that imagine the cross as a conflict within the life of God, with the loving Son appeasing the Father's wrath. For Julian, there is no opposition within God. The cross is not the Son rescuing us from the Father. What we witness on the cross is the Triune God acting together in Christ. The Father does not love us less than the Son, nor does the Son love us more than the Father. On the cross, the Trinity gives, loves, and rejoices together.
