The heuristic of retributive punishment on which theology has often relied to explain the Crucifixion, argues the author, does not help us understand how this event was responsive to the wounds of the violated. A heuristic of empathetic identification, however, enables us to develop a theology of redemption that appreciates how God’s loving embrace of the violated can effect what retributive punishment aspires to but cannot achieve: the miraculous liberation of both the victim and the violator from the cul-de-sac of historical evil.