Deuteronomy — Chapter 21

And the priests the sons of Levi shall come near, upon whom the Lord thy God hath chosen that they should minister to him, and should bless in his name. The priestly office of blessing the people is a perpetual institution. In the Old Testament it was the Levitical priesthood; in the New, the Catholic priesthood ordained by Christ.

When a man hath committed a crime for which he is to be punished with death, and being condemned to die is hanged on a gibbet. The law commands that the body of one executed by hanging be buried the same day; for 'he is accursed of God who hangeth on a tree' (v. 23).

His body shall not remain upon the tree, but shall be buried the same day: for he is accursed of God that hangeth on a tree. Lapide: Hence Christ hanging on the Cross is called a curse by the Apostle (Gal. 3:13), because God transferred the maledictions of the human race onto Christ, who for our sake endured the infamous and execrable death of the cross. As St. Augustine writes (lib. contra Adimantum c. 21): Christ took on Himself the curse of the Law, so that Christian liberty need fear no form of death. And Tertullian (de Patientia c. 8): 'The Lord Himself was accursed in the Law, yet He is all-blessed; let us therefore follow our Lord and be patiently accursed, that we may be blessed.' Note that the law properly speaks of the guilty; Christ was innocent.