Good Friday of the Lord's Passion
From: Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:7-9
Our Confidence is Based on Christ's Priesthood
[14] Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the
heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.
[15] For we have not a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our
weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are,
yet without sinning. [16] Let us then with confidence draw near to the
throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in
time of need.
Christ Has Been Made High Priest by God the Father
[7] In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and
supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save
him from death, and he was heard for his godly fear. [8] Although he
was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered; [9] and
being made perfect he became the source of eternal salvation to all who
obey him, [10] being designated by God a high priest after the order of
Melchizedek.
Commentary:
14-16. The text now reverts to its main theme (cf. 2:17), that is, the
priesthood of Christ. It highlights the dignity of the new high
priest, who has passed through the heavens; and His mercy, too, for He
sympathizes with our weaknesses. We have, therefore, every reason to
approach Him with confidence. "The believers were at that time in a
storm of temptation; that is why the Apostle is consoling them, saying
that our High Priest not only knows, as God, the weaknesses of our
nature: as man, He has also experienced the sufferings that affect us,
although He was free from sin. Since He knows our weaknesses so well,
He can give us the help we need, and when He comes to judge us, He will
take that weakness into account in His sentence" ("Interpretatio Ep.
Ad Haebreos, ad loc.").
We should respond to the Lord's goodness by staying true to our
profession of faith. The confession or profession of faith referred to
here is not simply an external declaration: external confession is
necessary but there must also be commitment and a spirit of fidelity.
A Christian needs to live up to all the demands of his calling; he
should be single-minded and free from doubts.
15. "If we should some time find ourselves sorely tempted by our
enemies, it will greatly help us to remember that we have on our side a
high priest who is most compassionate, for He chose to experience all
kinds of temptation" ("St. Pius V Catechism", IV, 15, 14). In order to
understand and help a sinner to get over his falls and cope with
temptation, one does not oneself need to have experience of being
tempted; in fact, only one who does not sin knows the full force of
temptation, because the sinner gives in prior to resisting to the end.
Christ never yielded to temptation. He therefore experienced much more
than we do (because we are often defeated by temptation) the full rigor
and violence of those temptations which He chose to undergo as man at
particular points in His life. Our Lord, then, allowed Himself to be
tempted, in order to set us an example and prevent us from ever losing
confidence in our ability to resist temptation with the help of grace
(cf. notes on Matthew 4:1-11 and paragraph).
"There is no man", St. Jerome comments, "who can resist all tests
except He who, made in our likeness, has experienced everything but
sin" ("Comm. In Ioannam", II, 46). Christ's sinlessness, often affirmed
in Sacred Scripture (Romans 8:3; 2 Corinthians 5:21; John 8:46; 1 Peter
1:19; 2:21-24), follows logically from His being God and from His human
integrity and holiness. At the same time Christ's weakness, which He
chose to experience out of love for us, is a kind of invitation from
God to pray for strength to resist sin. "Let us adore Christ who
emptied Himself to assume the condition of a slave. He was tempted in
every way that we are, but did not sin. Let us turn in prayer to Him,
saying, 'You took on our human weakness. Be the eyes of the blind, the
strength of the weak, the friend of the lonely'" ("Liturgy of the
Hours", Christmas Day, Evening Prayer I).
16. The "throne" is the symbol of Christ's authority; He is King of the
living and the dead. But here it speaks of a "throne of grace":
through the salvation worked by Christ, the compassionate Priest and
Intercessor, God's throne has become a judgment seat from which mercy
flows. Christ has initiated for mankind a time of forgiveness and
sanctification in which He does not yet manifest His position as
Sovereign Judge. Christ's priesthood did not cease to operate with His
death; it continues in Heaven, where He forever pleads on our behalf,
and therefore we should have confident recourse to Him.
"What security should be ours in considering the mercy of the Lord!
'He has but to cry for redress, and I, the Ever-Merciful, will listen
to him' (Exodus 22:27). It is an invitation, a promise that He will
not fail to fulfill. 'Let us then with confidence draw near to the
throne of grace, and we may receive mercy and find grace to help in
time of need'. The enemies of our sanctification will be rendered
powerless if the mercy of God goes before us. And if through our own
fault and human weakness we should fall, the Lord comes to our aid and
raises us up" ([St] J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 7).
7-9. This brief summary of Christ's life stresses his perfect obedience
to the Father's will, his intense prayer and his sufferings and
redemptive death. As in the hymn to Christ in Philippians 2:6-11, the
point is made that Christ set his power aside and, despite his being
the only-begotten Son of God, out of obedience chose to die on the
cross. His death was a true self-offering expressed in that "loud
voice" when he cried out to the Father just before he died, "into thy
hands I commit my spirit" (Lk 23:46). But although Jesus' obedience was
most obvious on Calvary, it was a constant feature of "the days of his
flesh": he obeyed Mary and Joseph, seeing in them the authority of the
heavenly Father; he was obedient to political and religious
authorities; and he always obeyed the Father, identifying himself with
him to such a degree that he could say, "I have glorified thee on
earth, having accomplished the work which thou gavest me to do [...].
All mine are thine and thine are mine" (Jn 17:4, 10).
The passage also points to Jesus prayer, the high point of which
occurred in Gethsemane on the eve of his passion. The reference to
"loud cries and supplications" recalls the Gospel account of his
suffering: "And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly; and his
sweat became like great drops of blood falling down upon the ground"
(Lk 22:44).
Hebrews 5:7-9 is probably referring not so much to his prayer in the
Garden, still less to any prayer of Christ asking to be delivered from
death, but to our Lord's constant prayer for the salvation of mankind.
"When the Apostle speaks of these supplications and cries of Jesus," St
John Chrysostom comments, "he does not mean prayers which he made on
his own behalf but prayers for those who would later believe in him.
And, due to the fact that the Jews did not yet have the elevated
concept of Christ that they ought to have had, St Paul says that 'he
was heard', just as the Lord himself told his disciples, to console
them, 'If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I go to the
Father; for the Father is greater than I' [...]. Such was the respect
and reverence shown by the Son, that God the Father could not but take
note and heed his Son and his prayers" ("Hom. on Heb", 11).
7. "In the days of his flesh", a reference to the Incarnation. "Flesh"
is synonymous with mortal life; this is a reference to Christ's human
nature--as in the prologue to St John's Gospel (elf. Jn 1:14) and many
other places (Heb 2:14; Gal 2:20; Phil 1:22-24; 1 Pet 4:1-2) including
where mention is made of Jesus being a servant and capable of suffering
(cf. Phil 2:8; Mt 20:27-28). Jesus' human nature "in the days of his
flesh" is quite different from his divine nature and also from his
human nature after its glorification (cf. 1 Cor 15:50). "It must be
said that the word 'flesh' is occasionally used to refer to the
weakness of the flesh, as it says in 1 Cor 15:50: 'flesh and blood
cannot inherit the kingdom of God'. Christ had a weak and mortal flesh.
Therefore it says in the text, 'In the days of his flesh', referring to
when he was living in a flesh which seemed to be like sinful flesh, but
which was sinless" (St Thomas Aquinas, "Commentary on Heb", 5, 1). So,
this text underlines our Lord's being both Victim and Priest.
"Prayers and supplications": very fitting in a priest. The two words
mean much the same; together they are a form of words which used to be
employed in petitions to the king or some important official. The
plural tells us that there were lots of these petitions. The writer
seems to have in mind the picture of the Redeemer who "going a little
farther fell on his face and prayed, 'My Father, if it be possible, let
this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt"
(Mt 26:39). St Thomas comments on this description of Christ's prayer
as follows: "His action was indeed one of offering prayers and
supplications, that is, a spiritual sacrifice: that was what Christ
offered. It speaks of prayers in the sense of petitions because 'The
prayer of a righteous man has great power' (Jas 5:16); and it speaks of
supplications to emphasize the humility of the one who is praying, who
falls on his knees, as we see happening in the case of him who 'fell on
his face and prayed' (Mt 26:39)" ("Commentary on Heb", 5, 1).
To emphasize the force of Christ's prayer, the writer adds, "with loud
cries and tears". According to rabbinical teaching, there were three
degrees of prayer, each stronger than the last--supplications, cries
and tears. Christian tradition has always been touched by the humanity
of the Redeemer as revealed in the way he prays. "Everything that is
being said here may be summed up in one word--humility: that stops the
mouths of those who blaspheme against Christ's divinity saying that it
is completely inappropriate for a God to act like this. For, on the
contrary, the Godhead laid it down that [Christ's] human nature should
suffer all this, in order to show us the extreme to which he truly
became incarnate and assumed a human nature, and to show us that the
mystery of salvation was accomplished in a real and not an apparent or
fictitious manner" (Theodoret of Cyrus, "Interpretatio Ep. ad Haebreos,
ad loc."). Christ's prayer, moreover, teaches us that prayer must 1) be
fervent and 2) involve interior pain. "Christ had both [fervor and
pain], for the Apostle by mentioning 'tears' intends to show the
interior groaning of him who weeps in this way [...]. But he did not
weep on his own account: he wept for us, who receive the fruit of his
passion" (St Thomas, "Commentary on Heb., ad loc.").
"He was heard for his godly fear." St John Chrysostom's commentary is
very apposite: "'He gave himself up for our sins', he says in Gal 1:4;
and elsewhere (cf. 1 Tim 2:6) he adds, 'He gave himself as a ransom for
all'. What does he mean by this? Do you not see that he is speaking
with humility of himself, because of his mortal flesh? And,
nevertheless, because he is the Son, it says that he was heard for his
godly fear" ("Hom. on Heb.", 8). It is like a loving contention between
Father and Son. The Son wins the Father's admiration, so generous is
his self-surrender.
And yet Christ's prayer did not seem to be heeded, for his Father God
did not save him from ignominious death--the cup he had to drink--nor
were all the Jews, for whom he prayed, converted. But it was only
apparently so: in fact Christ's prayer was heard. It is true that, like
every one, the idea of dying was repugnant to him, because he had a
natural instinct to live; but, on the other hand, he wished to die
through a deliberate and rational act of his will, hence in the course
of the prayer, he said, "not my will, but thine, be done" (Lk 22:42).
Similarly Christ wanted to save all mankind--but he wanted them to
accept salvation freely (cf. "Commentary on Heb., ad loc.").
8. In Christ there are two perfect and complete natures and therefore
two different levels of knowledge--divine knowledge and human
knowledge. Christ's human knowledge includes 1 ) the knowledge that the
blessed in heaven have, that is, the knowledge that comes form direct
vision of the divine essence; 2) the knowledge with which God endowed
man before original sin (infused knowledge); and 3) the knowledge which
man acquires through experience. This last-mentioned knowledge could
and in fact did increase (cf. Lk 2:52) in Christ's case. Christ's
painful experience of the passion, for example, increased this last
type of knowledge, which is why the verse says that Christ learned
obedience through suffering. There was a Greek proverb which said,
"Sufferings are lessons." Christ's teaching and example raise this
positive view of suffering onto the supernatural level. "In 'suffering
there is concealed' a particular 'power that draws a person interiorly
close to Christ', a special grace [...]. A result of such a conversion
is not only that the individual discovers the salvific meaning of
suffering but above all that he becomes a completely new person. He
discovers a new dimension, as it were, 'of his entire life and
vocation'" (John Paul II, "Salvifici Doloris", 26).
In our Lord's case, his experience of suffering was connected with his
generosity in obedience. He freely chose to obey even unto death (cf.
Heb 10:5-9; Rom 5:19; Phil 2:8), consciously atoning for the first sin,
a sin of disobedience. "In his suffering, sins are canceled out
precisely because he alone as the only-begotten Son could take them
upon himself, accept them 'with that love for the Father which
overcomes' the evil of every sin; in a certain sense he annihilates
this evil in the spiritual space of the relationship between God and
humanity, and fills this space with good" ("Salvifici Doloris", 17).
Christ "learned obedience" not in the sense that this virtue developed
in him, for his human nature was perfect in its holiness, but in the
sense that he put into operation the infused virtue his human soul
already possessed. "Christ knew what obedience was from all eternity,
but he learned obedience in practice through the severities he
underwent particularly in his passion and death" (St Thomas Aquinas,
"Commentary on Heb., ad loc.").
Christ's example of obedience is something we should copy. A Christian
writer of the fifth century, Diadochus of Photike, wrote: "The Lord
loved (obedience) because it was the way to bring about man's salvation
and he obeyed his Father unto the cross and unto death; however, his
obedience did not in any sense diminish his majesty. And so, having--by
his obedience--dissolved man's disobedience, he chose to lead to
blessed and immortal life those who followed the way of obedience"
("Chapters on Spiritual Perfection", 41).
9. Obviously Christ as God could not increase in perfection. Nor could
his sacred humanity become any holier, for from the moment of his
Incarnation he received the fullness of grace, that is, he had the
maximum degree of holiness a man could have. In this connection Thomas
Aquinas points out that Christ had union (that is, the personal union
to the Son of God gratuitously bestowed on human nature): clearly this
grace is infinite as the person of the Word is infinite. The other
grace is habitual grace which, although it is received in a limited
human nature, is yet infinite in its perfection because grace was
conferred on Christ as the universal source of the justification of
human nature (cf. "Summa Theologiae", III, q. 7, a. 11). In what sense,
then, could Christ be "made perfect"? St Thomas provides the answer:
Christ, through his passion, achieved a special glory--the
impassibility and glorification of his body. Moreover, he attained the
same perfections as we shall participate in when we are raised from the
dead in glory, those of us who believe in him (cf. "Commentary on Heb.,
ad loc."). For this reason our Redeemer could exclaim before his death,
"It is finished" (Jn 19:30)--referring not only to his own sacrifice but
also to the fact that he had completely accomplished the redeeming
atonement. Christ triumphed on the cross and attained perfection for himself
and for others. In Hebrews the same verb is used for what is translated into
English as "to be made perfect" and "to finish". Christ, moreover, by
obeying and becoming a perfect victim, truly pleasing to the Father, is more
perfectly positioned to perfect others. "Obedience" is essentially docility
to what God asks of us and readiness to listen to him (cf. Rom 1:5; 16:26; 2
Cor 10:5; Heb 4:3). Christ's obedience is a source of salvation for us; if
we imitate him we will truly form one body with him and he will be able to
pass on to us the fullness of his grace.
"Now, when you find it hard to obey, remember your Lord: 'factus
obediens usque ad mortem, mortem autem crucis": obedient even to
accepting death, death on a cross!'" ([St] J. Escriva, "The Way", 628).
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text
taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries
made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of
Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, Ireland.
Good Friday of the Lord's Passion
From: John 18:1-19:42
The Arrest of Jesus
[1] When Jesus had spoken these words, he went forth with his disciples
across the Kidron valley, where there was a garden, which he and his
disciples entered. [2] Now Judas who betrayed him, also knew the place; for
Jesus often met there with his disciples. [3] So Judas, procuring a band of
soldiers and some officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, went
there with lanterns and torches and weapons. [4] Then Jesus, knowing all
that was to befall him, came forward and said to them, "Whom do you seek?"
[5] They answered him, "Jesus of Nazareth." Jesus said to them, "I am he."
Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them. [6] When he said to them,
"I am he," they drew back and fell to the ground. [7] Again he asked them,
"Whom do you seek?" And they said, "Jesus of Nazareth." [8] Jesus answered,
"I told you that I am he; so, if you seek me, let these men go." [9] This
was to fulfill the word which he had spoken, "Of those whom thou gayest me I
lost not one.' [10] Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the
high priest's slave and cut off his right ear. The slave's name was Malchus.
[11] Jesus said to Peter, "Put your sword into its sheath; shall I not drink
the cup which the Father has given me?"
Jesus Before Annas and Caiaphas. Peter's Denials
[12] So the band of soldiers and their captain and the officers of the Jews
seized Jesus and bound him. [13] First they led him to Annas; for he was the
father-in-law of Caiaphas who was high priest that year. [14] It was
Caiaphas who had given counsel to the Jews that it was expedient that one
man should die for the people.
[15] Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple. As this
disciple was known to the high priest, he entered the court of the high
priest along with Jesus, [16] while Peter stood outside at the door. So the
other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the
maid who kept the door, and brought Peter in. [17] The maid who kept the
door said to Peter, "Are not you also one of this man's disciples?" He said,
"I am not." [18] Now the servants and officers had made a charcoal fire,
because it was cold, and they were standing and warming themselves; Peter
also was with them, standing and warming himself.
[19] The high priest then questioned Jesus about his disciples and his
teaching. [20] Jesus answered him, "I have spoken openly to the world; I
have always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all Jews come
together; I have said nothing secretly. [21] Why do you ask me? Ask those
who have heard me, what I said to them; they know what I said." [22] When he
had said this, one of the officers standing by struck Jesus with his hand,
saying, "Is that how you answer the high priest?" [23] Jesus answered him,
"If I have spoken wrongly, bear witness to the wrong but if I have spoken
rightly, why do you strike me? [24] Annas then sent him bound to Caiaphas
the high priest.
[25] Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. They said to him,
"Are not you also one of his disciples? He denied it and said, "I am not."
[26] 0ne of the servants the high priest, a kinsman of the man whose ear
Peter had cut off, asked, "Did I not see you in the garden with him?
[27] Peter again denied it; and at once the cock crowed.
The Trial before Pilate: Jesus is King
[28] Then they led Jesus from the house of Caiaphas to the praetorium. It
was early. They themselves did not enter the praetorium, so that they might
not be defiled, but might eat the passover. [29] So Pilate went out to them
and said, "What accusation do you bring against this man?" [30] They
answered him, "If this man were not an evildoer, we would not have handed
him over." [31] Pilate said to them, "Take him yourselves and judge him by
your own law." The Jews said to him, "It is not lawful for us to put any man
to death." [32] This was to fulfill the word which Jesus had spoken to show
by what death he was to die.
[33] Pilate entered the praetorium again and called Jesus, and said to him,
"Are you the King of the Jews?" [34] Jesus answered, "Do you say this of
your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?" [35] Pilate
answered, "Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you
over to me; what have you done?" [36] Jesus answered, "My kingship is not of
this world; if my kingship were of this world, my servants would fight, that
I might not be handed over to the Jews; but my kingship is not from the
world." [37] Pilate said to him, "So you are a king?" Jesus answered, "You
say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I have come into the
world, to bear witness the truth. Every one who is of the truth hears my
voice." [38] Pilate said to him, "'What is truth?"
After he had said this, he went out to the Jews again, and told them, "I
find no crime in him. [39] But you have a custom that I should release one
man for you at the Passover; will you have me release for you the King of
the Jews?" [40] They cried out again, "Not this man, but Barabbas!" Now
Barabbas was a robber.
The Scourging at the Pillar and the Crowning with Thorns
[1] Then Pilate took Jesus and scourged him. [2] And the soldiers plaited a
crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and array him in a purple robe; [3]
they came up to him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!" and struck him with
their hands. [4] Pilate went out again, and said to them, "Behold, I am
bringing him out to you, that you may know that I find no crime him." [5] So
Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said
to them, "Here is the man! [6] When the chief priests and the officers saw
him, they cried out, "Crucify him, crucify him!" Pilate said to them, "Take
him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no crime in him." [7] The Jews
answered him, "We have a law, and by that law he ought to die, because he
has made himself the Son of God." [8] When Pilate heard these words, he was
the more afraid; [9] he entered the praetorium again and said to Jesus,
"Where are you from?" But Jesus gave no answer. [10] Pilate therefore said
to him, "You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have power to
release you, and power to crucify you?" [11] Jesus answered him, "You would
have no power over me unless it had been given you from above; therefore he
who delivered me to you has the greater sin."
Pilate Hands Jesus Over
[12] Upon this Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried out, "If you
release this man, you are not Caesar's friend; every one who makes himself a
king sets himself against Caesar." [13] When Pilate heard these words, he
brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat at place called The
Pavement, and in Hebrew, Gabbatha. [14] Now it was the day of Preparation
for the Passover; it was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, "Here is
your King!" [15] They cried out, "Away with him, away with him, crucify
him!" Pilate said to them, "Shall I crucify your King?" The chief priests
answered, "We have no king but Caesar." [16] Then he handed him over to them
to be crucified.
The Crucifixion and Death of Jesus
[17] So they took Jesus, and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the
place called the place of a skull, which is called in Hebrew Golgotha. [18]
There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and
Jesus between them. [19] Pilate also wrote a title and put it on the cross;
it read, "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews." [20] Many of the Jews
read this title, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city;
and it was written in Hebrew, in Latin, and in Greek. [21] The chief priests
of the Jews then said to Pilate, "Do not write, 'The King of the Jews,' but,
'This man said, I am King of the Jews."' [22] Pilate answered, "What I have
written I have written."
[23] When the soldiers had crucified Jesus they took his garments and made
four parts, one for each soldier; also his tunic. But the tunic was without
seam, woven from top to bottom; [24] so they said to one another, "Let us
not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be." This was to
fulfill the scripture, "They parted my garments among them, and for my
clothing they cast lots.
[25] So the soldiers did this. But standing by the cross of Jesus were his
mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary
Magdalene. [26] When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved
standing near, he said to his mother, "Woman, behold, your son!" [27] Then
he said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother!" And from that hour the
disciple took her to his own home.
[28] After this Jesus, knowing that all was now finished said (to fulfill
the Scripture), "I thirst." [29] A bowl full of vinegar stood there; so they
put a sponge full of the vinegar on hyssop and held it to his mouth. [30]
When Jesus had received the vinegar, he said "It is finished"; and he bowed
his head and gave up his spirit.
Jesus' Side is Pierced. His Burial
[31] Since it was the day of Preparation, in order to prevent the bodies
from remaining on the cross of the sabbath (for that sabbath was a high
day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they
might be taken away. [32] So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the
first, and of the other who had been crucified with him; [33] but when they
came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs.
[34] But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once
there came out blood and water. [35] He who saw it has borne witness--his
testimony is true, and he knows that he tells the truth--that you also may
believe. [36] For these things took place that the scripture might be
fulfilled, "Not a bone of him shall be broken." [37] And again another
scripture says, "They shall look on him whom they have pierced."
[38] After this Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but
secretly, for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the
body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him leave. So he came and took away his body.
[39] Nicodemus also, who had at first come to him by night, came bringing
a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds' weight. [40] They took
the body of Jesus, and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the
burial custom of the Jews. [41] Now in the place where he was crucified
there was garden, and in the garden a new tomb where no one has ever been
laid. [42] So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, as the tomb was
close at hand, they laid Jesus there.
Commentary:
1. The previous chapter, dealing as it did with the glory of the Son of God
(cf. Jn 17:1, 4, 10,22,24), is a magnificent prologue to our Lord's passion
and death, which St John presents as part of Christ's glorification: he
emphasizes that Jesus freely accepted his death (14:31) and freely allowed
himself to be arrested (18:4, 11). The Gospel shows our Lord's superiority
over his judges (18:20-2 1) and accusers (19:8, 12); and his majestic
serenity in the face of physical pain, which makes one more aware of the
Redemption, the triumph of the Cross, than of Jesus' actual sufferings.
Chapters 18 and 19 cover the passion and death of our Lord--events so
important and decisive that all the books of the New Testament deal with
them, in some way or other. Thus, the Synoptic Gospels give us extensive
accounts of what happened; in the Acts of the Apostles these events,
together with the resurrection, form the core of the Apostles' preaching. St
Paul explains the redemptive value of Jesus Christ's sacrifice, and the
catholic epistles speak of his salvific death, as does the Apocalypse, where
the Victor, enthroned in heaven, is the sacrificed Lamb, Jesus Christ. It
should also be noted that whenever these sacred writings mention our Lord's
death they go on to refer to his glorious resurrection.
St John's Gospel locates these events in five places. The first (18:1-12) is
Gethsemane, where Jesus is arrested; after this (18:13-27) he is taken to
the house of Annas, where the religious trial begins and Peter denies Jesus
before the high priest's servants. The third scene is the praetorium
(18:28-19:16), where Jesus is tried by the Roman procurator: St John gives
an extensive account of this trial, highlighting the true character of
Christ's kingship and his rejection by the Jews, who call for his
crucifixion. He then goes on (19:17-37) to describe the events which occur
after the procurator's unjust sentence; this scene centers on Calvary. St
John then reports the burial of our Lord in the unused tomb near Calvary
belonging to Joseph of Arimathea.
The climax of all these events is the glorification of Jesus, of which he
himself had spoken (cf. Jn 17:1-5)----his resurrection and exaltation to his
Father's side.
Here is Fray Luis de Granada's advice on how to meditate on the passion of
our Lord: "There are five things we can reflect on when we think about the
sacred passion. [...] First, we can incline our heart to sorrow and
repentance for our sins; the passion of our Lord helps us do this because it
is evident that everything he suffered he suffered on account of sins, so
that if there were no sins in the world, there would have been no need for
such painful reparation. Therefore, sins--yours and mine, like everyone
else's--were the executioners who bound him and lashed him and crowned him
with thorns and put him on the cross. So you can see how right it is for you
to feel the enormity and malice of your sins, for it was these which really
caused so much suffering, not because these sins required the Son of God to
suffer but because divine justice chose to ask for such great atonement.
"We have here excellent motives, not only to abhor sin but also to love
virtues: we have the example of this Lord's virtues, which so clearly shine
out during his sacred passion: we can follow these virtues and learn to
imitate then especially his great humility, gentleness and silence, as well
as the other virtues for this is one of the best and most effective ways of
meditating on the sacred passion--the way of imitation.
"At other times we should fix our attention on the great good the Lord does
us here, reflecting on how much he loved us and how much he gave us and how
much it cost him to do so. [...] At other times it is good to focus our
attention on knowledge of God, that is, to consider his great goodness, his
mercy, his justice, his kindness, and particularly his ardent charity, which
shines forth in the sacred passion as nowhere else. For, just as it is a
greater proof of love to suffer evils on behalf of one's friend than to do
good things for him, and God could do both [...], it pleased his divine
goodness to assume a nature which could suffer evils, very great evils, so
that man could be quite convinced of God's love and thereby be moved to love
him who so loved man.
"Finally, at other times one can reflect [...] on the wisdom of God in
choosing this manner of atoning for mankind: that is, making satisfaction
for our sins, inflaming our charity, curing our pride, our greed and our
love of comfort, and inclining our souls to the virtue of humility [...],
abhorrence of sin and love for the Cross" ("Life of Jesus Christ", 15).
1-2. "When Jesus had spoken these words": this is a formula often used in
the fourth Gospel to indicate a new episode linked with what has just been
recounted (cf. Jn 2:12; 3:22; 5:1; 6:1; 13:21; etc.).
The Kidron (etymologically "turbid") was a brook which carried water only
during rainy weather, it divided Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, on
slopes of which lay the garden of Gethsemane (cf. Mt 26:32; Lk 21:37;
22:39). The distance from the Cenacle, where the Last Supper took place, to
the garden of Gethsemane was little more than a kilometer.
3. Because Judea was occupied by Romans, there was a garrison stationed at
Jerusalem--a cohort (600 men) quartered in the Antonia tower, under the
authority of a tribune. In the Greek what is translated here as "a band of
soldiers" is "the cohort", the name for the whole unit being used though
only part is meant: it does not mean that 600 soldiers came out to arrest
Jesus. Presumably the Jewish authorities, who had their own temple
guard--referred to here as "officers from the chief priests and the
Pharisees"--must have sought some assistance from the military. Judas' part
consisted in leading the way to where Jesus was and identifying the man to
be arrested.
4-9. Only the fourth Gospel reports this episode prior to Jesus' arrest,
recalling the words of the Psalm: "Then my enemies will be turned back in
the day when I call" (Ps 56:9). Our Lord's majesty is apparent: he
surrenders himself freely and voluntarily. This does not, however, mean that
the Jews involved are free from blame. St Augustine comments on this
passage: "The persecutors, who came with the traitor to lay hold of Jesus,
found him whom they sought and heard him say, 'I am he'. Why did they not
lay hold of him but fell back to the ground? Because that was what he
wished, who could do whatever he wished. Had he not allowed himself to be
taken by them, they would have been unable to effect their plan, but neither
would he have done what he came to do. They in their rage sought him to put
him to death; but he also sought us by dying for us. Therefore, after he
displayed his power to those who had no power to hold him, they did lay
hands on him and by means of them, all unwitting, he did what he wanted to
do" ("In Ioann. Evang.", 112, 3).
It is also moving to see how Jesus takes care of his disciples, even though
he himself is in danger. He had promised that none of his own should perish
except Judas Iscariot (cf. Jn 6:39; 17:12); although his promise referred to
protecting them from eternal punishment, our Lord is also concerned about
their immediate safety, for as yet they are not ready to face martyrdom.
10-11. Once again we see Peter's impetuosity and loyalty; he comes to our
Lord's defense, risking his own life, but he still does not understand God'
plans of salvation: he still cannot come to terms with the idea of Christ
dying--just as he could not when Christ first foretold his passion (Mt
16:21-22). Our Lord does not accept Peter's violent defense: he refers back
to what he said in his prayer in Gethsemane (cf. Mt 26:39), where he freely
accepted his Father' will, giving himself up to his captors in order to
accomplish the Redemption.
We should show reverence to God's will with the same docility and meekness
as Jesus accepting his passion. "Stages: to be resigned to the will of God;
to conform to the will of God; to want the will of God; to love the will of
God" ([St] J. Escriva, "The Way", 774).
13-18. Jesus is brought to the house of Annas, who, although he was no
longer high priest, still exercised great religious and political influence
(cf. note on Lk 3:2). These two disciples, St Peter and the other disciple,
probably John himself, are disconcerted; they do not know what to do, so
they follow Jesus at a distance. Their attachment to him was not yet
sufficiently supernatural; discouragement has displaced bravery and
loyalty--and will soon lead to Peter's triple denial. However noble his
feelings, a Christian will be unable to live up to the demands of his faith
unless his life has a basis of deep piety.
19-21. During this first interrogation--preliminary to his later examination
by the Sanhedrin (Lk 22:66-71)--Jesus lays stress on the fact that he has
always acted openly: everyone has had an opportunity listen to him and to
witness his miracles--so much so that at times he has been acclaimed as the
Messiah (cf. Jn 12:12-19 and par.). The chief priests themselves have seen
him in the temple and in the synagogues; but not wishing to see (cf. Jn
9:39-41), or believe (cf. Jn 10:37-38), they make out that his objectives
are hidden and sinister.
22-23. Again, we see Jesus' serenity; he is master of the situation, as he
is throughout his passion. To the unjust accusation made by this servant,
our Lord replies meekly, but he does defend his conduct and points to the
injustice with which he is being treated. This is how we should behave if
people mistreat us in any way. Well-argued defense of one's rights is
compatible with meekness and humility (cf. Acts 22:25).
25-27. Peter's denials are treated in less detail here than in the Synoptic
Gospels, but here, as there, we can see the Apostles' humility and sincerity
which lead them to tell about their own weaknesses. Peter's repentance is
not referred to here, but it is implied by the mention of the cock crowing:
the very brevity of St John's account points to the fact that this episode
was well known to the early Christians. After the resurrection the full
scope of Jesus' forgiveness will be evidenced when he confirms Peter in his
mission as leader of the Apostles (cf. Jn 21:15-17).
"In this adventure of love we should not be depressed by our falls, not even
by serious falls, if we go to God in the sacrament of Penance contrite an
resolved to improve. A Christian is not a neurotic collector of good
behavior reports. Jesus Christ our Lord was moved as much by Peter's
repentance after his fall as by John's innocence and faithfulness. Jesus
understands our weakness and draws us to himself on an inclined plane. He
wants us to make an effort to climb a little each day" ([St] J. Escriva, "Christ
is Passing By", '75).
28. The Synoptics also report the trial before Pilate, but St John gives a
longer and more detailed account: in 18:28-19:16 is the center of the five
parts of his account of the Passion (cf. note on 18:1). He describes the
events that take place in the praetorium, highlighting the majesty of Christ
as the messianic King, and also his rejection by the Jews.
There are seven stages here, marked by Pilate's entrances and exits. First
(vv. 29-32) the Jews indict Jesus in a general way as an "evildoer". Then
follows the dialogue between Pilate and Jesus (vv. 36-37) which culminates
in Christ stating that he is a King, after which Pilate tries to save our
Lord (vv. 38-40) by asking the people if they want him to release "the King
of the Jews".
The centerpoint of the account (19:1-3) is the crowning with thorns, with
the soldiers mockingly doing obeisance to Christ as "King of the Jews".
After this our Lord is led out wearing the crown of thorns and draped in the
purple robe (vv. 4- 7)--the shameful scene of the Ecce Homo. The Jews'
accusation now turns on Jesus' making himself the Son of God. Once again,
Pilate, in the praetorium again, speaks with Jesus (vv.8-12) and tries to
probe further into his divine origin. The Jews then concentrate their hatred
in a directly political accusation: "Everyone who makes himself a king sets
himself against Caesar" (Jn 19:12). Finally (vv. 13-16), in a very formal
way, stating time and place, St John narrates how Pilate points to Jesus and
says: "Here is your King!" And the leaders of the Jews openly reject him who
was and is the genuine King spoken of by the prophets.
"Praetorium": this was the Roman name for the official residence of the
praetor or of other senior officials in the provinces of the Empire, such as
the procurator or prefect in Palestine. Pilate's usual residence was on the
coast, in Caesarea, but he normally moved to Jerusalem for the major
festival periods, bringing additional troops to be used in the event of
civil disorder. In Jerusalem, at this time and later, the procurator resided
in Herod's palace (in the western part of the upper city) or else in the
Antonia tower, a fortress backing onto the northeastern corner of the temple
esplanade. It is not known for certain which of these two buildings was the
praetorium mentioned in the Gospel; it was more likely the latter.
"So that they might not be defiled": Jewish tradition at the time
("Mishnah"; "Ohalot" treatise 7, 7) laid down that anyone who entered a
Gentile or pagan house incurred seven days' legal defilement (cf. Acts
10:28); such defilement would have prevented them from celebrating the
Passover. It is surprising that the chief priests had a scruple of this sort
given their criminal inclinations against Jesus. Once more our Lord's
accusation of them is seen to be well founded: "You blind guides, straining
out a gnat and swallowing a camel" (Mt 23:24).
29-32. St John has omitted part of the interrogation which took place in the
house of Caiaphas and which is reported in the Synoptics (Mt 26:57-66 and
par.), which tell us that the meeting at Caiaphas' terminated with Jesus hem
declared deserving of death for the blasphemy of proclaiming himself the Son
of God (cf. Mt 26:65-66). Under the Law of Moses blasphemy was punishable by
stoning (cf. Lev 24:16); but they do not proceed to stone him--which the
certainly could have done, even though the Romans were in control: they were
ready to stone the adulterous woman (cf.Jn 8:1-11) and a short time later
they did stone St Stephen (cf. Acts 7:54-60)--because they wanted to bring
the people along with them, and they knew that many of them regarded Jesus a
Prophet and Messiah (cf. Mt 24:45-46; Mk 12:12; Lk 20:19). Not daring to
stone him, they will shrewdly manage to turn a religious charge into a
politics question and have the authority of the Empire brought to bear on
their side they preferred to denounce Jesus to the procurator as a
revolutionary who plotted against Caesar by declaring himself to be the
Messiah and King of the Jews; by acting in this way they avoided risking the
people's wrath and ensured that Jesus would be condemned by the Roman
authorities to death by crucifixion.
Our Lord had foretold a number of times that he would die in this way (cf.
Jn 3:14; 8:28; 12:32-33); as St Paul later put it, "Christ redeemed us from
the curse of the law, having become a curse for us--for it is written,
'Cursed be every one who hangs on a tree"' (Gal 3:13; cf. Deut 21:23).
33-34. There is no onus on Pilate to interfere in religious questions, but
because the accusation levelled against Jesus had to do with politics and
public order, he begins his interrogation naturally by examining him on the
main charge: "Are you the King of the Jews?"
By replying with another question, Jesus is not refusing to answer: he
wishes to make quite clear, as he has always done, that his mission is a
spiritual one. And really Pilate's was not an easy question to answer,
because, to a Gentile, a king of the Jews meant simply a subverter of the
Empire; whereas, to a Jewish nationalist, the King-Messiah was a
politico-religious liberator who would obtain their freedom from Rome. The
true character of Christ's messiahship completely transcends both these
concepts--as Jesus explains to the procurator, although he realizes how
enormously difficult it is for Pilate to understand what Christ's Kingship
really involves.
35-36. After the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and the fish,
Jesus refused to be proclaimed king because the people were thinking in
terms of an earthly kingdom (cf. Jn 6:15). However, Jesus did enter
Jerusalem in triumph, and he did accept acclamation as King-Messiah. Now, in
the passion, he acknowledges before Pilate that he is truly a King, making
it clear that his kingship is not an earthly one. Thus, "those who expected
the Messiah to have visible temporal power were mistaken. 'The kingdom of
God does not mean food and drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the
Holy Spirit' (Rom 14:17). Truth and justice, peace and joy in the Holy
Spirit. That is the kingdom of Christ: the divine activity which saves men
and which will reach its culmination when history ends and the Lord comes
from the heights of paradise finally to judge men" ([St] J. Escriva, "Christ is
Passing By", 180).
37. This is what his kingship really is: his kingdom is "the kingdom of
Truth and Life, the kingdom of Holiness and Grace, the kingdom of Justice,
Love and Peace" (Preface of the Mass of Christ the King). Christ reigns over
those who accept and practise the truth revealed by him--his Father's love
for the world (Jn 3:16; 1 Jn 4:9). He became man to make this truth known
and to enable men to accept it. And so, those who recognize Christ's
kingship and sovereignty accept his authority, and he thus reigns over them
in an eternal and universal kingdom.
For its part, "the Church, looking to Christ who bears witness to the truth,
must always and everywhere ask herself, and in a certain sense also
contemporary 'world', how to make good emerge from man, how to liberate the
dynamism of the good that is in man, in order that it may be stronger than
evil, than any moral, social or other evil" (John Paul II, "General
Audience", February 1979).
"If we [Christians] are trying to have Christ as our king we must
consistent. We must start by giving him our heart. Not to do that and still
talk about the kingdom of Christ would be completely hollow. There would be
no real Christian substance in our behavior. We would be making an outward
show of a faith which simply did not exist We would be misusing God's name
to human advantage. [...] If we let Christ reign in our soul, we will not
become authoritarian. Rather we will serve everyone. How l like that word:
service! To serve my king and, through him, all those who have been redeemed
by his blood. I really wish we Christians knew how to serve, for only by
serving can we know and love Christ and make him known and loved" ([St] J.
Escriva, "Christ is Passing By", 181-182).
By his death and resurrection, Jesus shows that the accusations laid against
him were based on lies: it was he who was telling the truth, not his judges
and accusers, and God confirms the truth of Jesus--the truth of his words,
of deeds, of his revelation--by the singular miracle of his resurrection. To
men Christ's kingship may seem paradoxical: he dies, yet he lives for ever;
he is defeated and is crucified, yet he is victorious. "When Jesus Christ
him appeared as a prisoner before Pilate's tribunal and was interrogated by
him...did he not answer: 'For this I was born, and for this I have come into
the world, to bear witness to the truth'? It was as if with these words
[...] he was once more confirming what he had said earlier: 'You will know
the truth, and truth will make you free'. In the course of so many
centuries, of so many generations, from the time of the Apostles on, is it
not often Jesus Christ himself that has made an appearance at the side of
people judged for the sake of truth? And has he not gone to death with
people condemned for the sake of truth? Does he ever cease to be the
continuous spokesman and advocate for person who lives 'in spirit and
truth'? (cf. Jn 4:23). Just as he does not cease to be it before the Father,
he is it also with regard to the history of man" (J Paul II, "Redemptor
Hominis", 12).
38-40. The outcome of the interrogation is that Pilate becomes convinced of
Jesus' innocence (cf. Jn 19:4, 12). He probably realizes that the
accusations made against Jesus were really an internal matter in which the
Jews were trying to involve him; but the Jewish authorities are very irate.
It is not easy for him to find away out. He tries to do so by making
concessions: first, he has recourse to a passover privilege, offering them
the choice between a criminal and Jesus, but this does not work; so he looks
for other ways to save him, and here also he fails. His cowardice and
indecision cause him to yield to pressure and commit the injustice of
condemning to death a man he knows to be innocent.
"The mystery of innocent suffering is one of the most obscure points on the
entire horizon of human wisdom; and here it is affirmed in the most flagrant
way. But before we uncover something of this problem, there already grows up
in us an unrestrained affection for the innocent one who suffers, for
Jesus, [...] and for all innocent people--whether they be young or old--who are
also suffering, and whose pain we cannot explain. The way of the cross leads
us to meet the first person in a sorrowful procession of innocent people who
suffer. And this first blameless and suffering person uncovers for us in the
end the secret of his passion. It is a sacrifice" (Paul VI, "Address on Good
Friday", 12 April 1974).
1-3. Christ's prophecy is fulfilled to the letter: the Son of Man "will be
delivered to the Gentiles, and will be mocked and shamefully treated and
spit upon; they will scourge him and kill him, and on the third day he will
rise" (Lk 18:32f; cf. Mt 20:18f).
Scourging was one of the most severe punishments permitted under Roman law.
The criminal was draped over a pillar or other form of support, his naked
back exposed to the lash or "flagellum". Scourging was generally used as a
preliminary to crucifixion to weaken the criminal and thereby hasten his
death.
Crowning with thorns was not an official part of the punishment; it was an
initiative of the soldiers themselves, a product of their cruelty and desire
to mock Jesus. On the stone pavement in the Antonia tower some drawings have
been found which must have been used in what was called the "king game";
dice were thrown to pick out a mock king among those condemned, who was
subjected to taunting before being led off for crucifixion.
St John locates this episode at the center of his narrative of the events in
praetorium. He thereby highlights the crowning with thorns as the point
which Christ's kingship is at its most patent: the soldiers proclaim him as
King of the Jews only in a sarcastic way (of. Mk 15:15, 16-19), but the
evangelist gives us to understand that he is indeed the King.
5. Wearing the insignia of royalty, Christ, despite this tragic parody,
projects the majesty of the King of Kings. In Rev 5:12 St John will say:
"Worth is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and
might and honor and glory and blessing!"
"Imagine that divine face: swollen by blows, covered in spittle, torn by
thorns, furrowed with blood, here fresh blood, there ugly dried blood. And,
since the sacred Lamb had his hands tied, he could not use them to wipe away
the blood running into his eyes, and so those two luminaries of heaven were
eclipsed and almost blinded and made mere pieces of flesh. Finally, so
figured was he that one could not make out who he was; he scarcely seemed
human; he had become an altarpiece depicting suffering, painted by those
cruel artists and their evil president, producing this pitiful figure to
plead his before his enemies" (Fray Luis de Granada, "Life of Jesus Christ",
24).
6-7. When Pilate hears the Jews accuse Jesus of claiming to be the Son of
God, he grows still more alarmed: his wife has already unnerved him by
sending him a message, after a dream, not to have anything to do with this
"righteous man". But the shouting (v. 12) orchestrated by the Jewish
authorities pressurizes him into agreeing to condemn Jesus.
Although technically Jesus is crucified for supposedly committing a
political crime (cf. note on Jn 18:29-32), in fact it is on clearly
religious grounds that he is sent to death.
8-11. Pilate is impressed by Jesus' silence, by his not defending himself,
and when the procurator says that he has power to release him or to condemn
him, our Lord then says something quite unexpected--that all power on earth
comes from God. This means that in the last analysis even if people talk
about the sovereignty of the king or of the people, such authority is never
absolute; it is only relative, being subject to the absolute sovereignty of
God: hence no human law can be just, and therefore binding in conscience, if
it does not accord with divine law.
"He who delivered me"--a reference to all those who have contrived our
Lord's death, that is, Judas, Caiaphas, the Jewish leaders, etc. (cf.
18:30-35). They are the ones that really sent Christ to the cross; but this
does not exonerate Pontius Pilate from blame.
13. "The Pavement", in Greek "Iithostrotos", literally a "pavement",
"flagged expanse", therefore a yard or plaza paved with flags. The Hebrew
word "Gabbatha" is not the equivalent of the Greek "lithostrotos"; it means
"height" or "eminence". But both words refer to the same place; however, its
precise location is uncertain due to doubts about where the praetorium was
located: cf. note on Jn 18:28.
Grammatically, the Greek could be translated as follows: "Pilate... brought
Jesus out and sat him down on the judgment seat": in which case the
evangelist implies that Pilate was ridiculing the Jewish leaders by a mock
enthronement of the "King of the Jews". This would fit in with Pilate's
attitude towards the Jewish leaders from this point onwards (vv. 14-22) and
with the purpose of the inspired writer, who would see in this the
enthronement of Christ as King.
14. "The day of Preparation", the Parasceve. The sixth hour began at midday.
Around this time all leavened bread was removed from the houses and replaced
by unleavened bread for the paschal meal (cf. Ex 12:15ff), and the lamb was
officially sacrificed in the temple. St John notes that this was the time at
which Jesus was condemned, thereby underlying the coincidence between the
time of the death sentence and the time the lamb was sacrificed: Christ is
the new Paschal Lamb; as St Paul says (cf. 1 Cor 5:7), "Christ, our paschal
lamb, has been sacrificed".
There is some difficulty in reconciling what St John says about the sixth
hour, with the information given in Mark 15:25 about Jesus being crucified
at the third hour. Various explanations are offered, the best being that
Mark is referring to the end of the third hour and John to the beginning of
the sixth hour both would then be talking of around midday.
15. The history of the Jewish people helps us understand the tragic paradox
of the attitude of the Jewish authorities at this point. The Jews were very
conscious all along of being the people of God. For example, they proudly
asserted that they had no Father but God (cf. Jn 8:4). In the Old Testament
Yahweh is the true King of Israel (cf. Deut 33:5; Num 23:21; 1 Kings 22:19;
Is 6:5); when they wanted to copy the neighboring peoples and asked Samuel
for a king (cf. I Sam 8:5. 20), Samuel resisted, because Israel had only one
absolute sovereign, Yahweh (1 Sam 8:6-9). But eventually God gave in to
their request and himself designated who should be king over his people. His
first choice, Saul, was given sacred anointing, as were David and his
successors. This rite of anointing showed that the Israelite king was God's
vicar. When the kings failed to meet the people's expectations, they
increasingly yearned for the messianic king, the descendant or "Son" of
David, the Anointed "par excellence" or Messiah, who would rule his people,
liberate them from their enemies and lead them to rule the world (cf. 2 Sam
7:16; Ps 24:7; 43:5; etc.). For centuries they strove heroically for this
ideal, rejecting foreign domination.
During Christ's time also they opposed Rome and Herod, whom, not being a
Jew, they regarded as an illegitimate king. However, at this point in the
Passion, they hypocritically accept the Roman emperor as their true and only
king. They also reject the "easy yoke" of Christ (cf. Mt 11:30) and bring
the full weight of Rome down upon him.
"They themselves submitted to the punishment; therefore, the Lord handed
them over. Thus, because they unanimously rejected God's government, the
Lord let them be brought down through their own condemnation: for, rejecting
the dominion of Christ, they brought upon themselves that of Caesar" (St
John Chrysostom, "Hom. on St John", 83).
A similar kind of tragedy occurs when people who have been baptized and
therefore have become part of the new people of God, throw off the "easy
yoke" of Christ's sovereignty by their obstinacy in sin and submit to the
terrible tyranny of the devil (cf. 2 Pet 2:21).
17. "The place of a skull" or Calvary seems to have got its name from the
fact that it was shaped like a skull or head.
St Paul points to the parallelism that exists between Adam's disobedience
and Christ's obedience (cf. Rom 5:12). On the feast of the Triumph of the
Cross the Church sings "where life was lost, there life has been restored",
to show how,just as the devil won victory by the tree of paradise, so he was
overpowered by Christ on the tree of the Cross.
St John is the only evangelist who clearly states that Jesus carried his own
cross; the other three mention that Simon of Cyrene helped to carry it. See
note on Mt 27:31 and Lk 23:26.
Christ's decisiveness in accepting the cross is an example which we should
follow in our daily life: "You yourself must decide of your own free will to
take up the cross; otherwise, your tongue may say that you are imitating
Christ, but your actions will belie your words. That way, you will never get
to know the Master intimately, or love him truly. It is really important
that we Christians convince ourselves of this. We are not walking with our
Lord unless we are spontaneously depriving ourselves of many things that our
whims, vanity, pleasure or self-interest clamor for" ([St] J. Escriva, "Friends
of God", 129).
As Simeon had prophesied, Jesus would be a "sign that is spoken against" (Lk
2:34)--a standard raised on high which leaves no room for indifference,
demanding that every man decide for or against him and his cross: "he was
going therefore to the place where he was to be crucified, bearing his own
Cross. An extraordinary spectacle: to impiety, something to jeer at; to
piety a great mystery. [...] Impiety looks on and laughs at a king bearing,
instead of a scepter, the wood of his punishment; piety looks on and sees
the King bearing that cross for himself to be fixed on, a cross which would
thereafter shine on the brow of kings; an object of contempt in the eyes of
the impious, but something in which hereafter the hearts of the saints
should glorify, as St Paul would later say, But God forbid that I should
glory; save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ" (St Augustine, "In Ioann.
Evang.", 117, 3).
18. Knowing what crucifixion in ancient times entailed will help us
understand much better the extent of the humiliation and suffering Jesus
bore for love of us. Crucifixion was a penalty reserved for slaves, and
applied to the most serious crimes; it was the most horrific and painful
form of death possible; it was also an exemplary public punishment and
therefore was carried out in a public place, with the body of the criminal
being left exposed for days afterwards. These words of Cicero show how
infamous a punishment it was: "That a Roman citizen should be bound is an
abuse; that he be lashed is a crime; that he be put to death is virtually
parricide; what, then, shall I say, if he be hung on a cross? There is no
word fit to describe a deed so horrible" ("In Verrem", II, 5,66).
A person undergoing crucifixion died after a painful agony involving loss of
blood, fever caused by his wounds, thirst, and asphyxiation, etc. Sometimes
the executioners hastened death by breaking the person's legs or piercing
him with a lance, as in our Lord's case. This helps us understand better
what St Paul says to the Philippians about Christ's humiliation on the
Cross: "he emptied himself, taking the form of a servant [or slave], being
born in the likeness of men... ; he humbled himself and became obedient unto
death, even death on a cross (Phil 2:7-8).
St John says little about the other two people being crucified, perhaps
because the Synoptic Gospels had already spoken about them (see notes on Lk
23:39-43).
19-22. The "title" was the technical term then used in Roman law to indicate
the grounds on which the person was being punished. It was usually written
on a board prominently displayed, summarizing the official document which
was forwarded to the legal archives in Rome. This explains why, when the
chief priests ask Pilate to change the wording of the inscription, the
procurator firmly refuses to do so: the sentence, once dictated, was
irrevocable: that is what he means when he says, "What I have written I have
written." In the case of Christ, this title written in different languages
proclaims his universal kingship, for it could be read by people from all
over the world who had come to celebrate the Passover--thus confirming our
Lord's words: "I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I have come
into the world" (Jn 18:37).
In establishing the feast of Christ the King, Pope Pius XI explained: "He is
said to reign 'in the minds of men', both by reason of the keenness of his
intellect and the extent of his knowledge, and also because he is Truth
itself and it is from him that truth must be obediently received by all
mankind. He reigns, too, in the wills of men, for in him the human will was
perfectly and entirely obedient to the holy will of God, and further by his
grace and inspiration he so subjects our free will as to incite us to the
most noble endeavors. He is King of our hearts, too, by reason of his
'charity which surpasseth all knowledge', and his mercy and kindness which
draw all men to him; for there never was, nor ever will be a man loved so
much and so universally as Jesus Christ" (Pius XI, "Quas Primas").
23-24. And so the prophecy of Psalm 22 is fulfilled which describes
accurately the sufferings of the Messiah: "They divide my garments among
them, and for my raiment they cast lots" (Ps 22:19). The Fathers have seen
this seamless tunic a symbol of the unity of the Church (cf. St Augustine,
"In Ioann. Evang.", 118,4).
25. Whereas the Apostles, with the exception of St John, abandon Jesus in
the hour of his humiliation, these pious women, who had followed him during
his public life (cf. Lk 8:2-3) now stay with their Master as he dies on the
cross (cf. note on Mt 27:55-56).
Pope John Paul II explains that our Lady's faithfulness was shown in four
ways: first, in her generous desire to do all that God wanted of her (cf. Lk
1:34); second, in her total acceptance of God's Will (cf. Lk 1:38); third,
in the consistency between her life and the commitment of faith which she
made; an finally, in her withstanding this test. "And only a consistency
that lasts throughout the whole of life can be called faithfulness. Mary's
'fiat' in the Annunciation finds its fullness in the silent 'fiat' that she
repeats at the foot of the Cross" ("Homily in Mexico Cathedral", 26 January
1979).
The Church has always recognized the dignity of women and their important
role in salvation history. It is enough to recall the veneration which from
the earliest times the Christian people have had for the Mother of Christ,
the Woman "par excellence" and the most sublime and most privileged creature
ever to come from the hands of God. Addressing a special message to women,
the Second Vatican Council said, among other things: "Women in trial, who
stand upright at the foot of the cross like Mary, you who so often in
history have given to men the strength to battle unto the very end and to
give witness to the point of martyrdom, aid them now still once more to
retain courage in their great undertakings, while at the same time
maintaining patience and an esteem for humble beginnings" (Vatican II,
"Message to Women", 8 December 1965).
26-27. "The spotless purity of John's whole life makes him strong before the
Cross. The other apostles fly from Golgotha: he, with the Mother of Christ,
remains. Don't forget that purity strengthens and invigorates the character"
([St] J. Escriva, "The Way", 144).
Our Lord's gesture in entrusting his Blessed Mother to the disciple's care,
has a dual meaning (see p. 19 above and pp. 35ff). For one thing it
expresses his filial love for the Virgin Mary. St Augustine sees it as a
lesson Jesus gives us on how to keep the fourth commandment: "Here is a
lesson in morals. He is doing what he tells us to do and, like a good
Teacher, he instructs his own by example, that it is the duty of good
children to take care of their parents; as though the wood on which his
dying members were fixed were also the chair of the teaching Master" (St
Augustine, "In Ioann. Evang.", 119, 2).
Our Lord's words also declare that Mary is our Mother: "The Blessed Virgin
also advanced in her pilgrimage of faith, and faithfully persevered in her
union with her Son unto the cross, where she stood, in keeping with the
divine plan, enduring with her only begotten Son the intensity of his
suffering, associating herself with his sacrifice in her mother's heart, and
lovingly consenting to the immolation of this victim who was born of her.
Finally, she was given by the same Christ Jesus dying on the cross as a
mother to his disciple" (Vatican 11, "Lumen Gentium", 58).
All Christians, who are represented in the person of John, are children of
Mary. By giving us his Mother to be our Mother, Christ demonstrates his love
for his own to the end (cf. Jn 13:1). Our Lady's acceptance of John as her
son shows her motherly care for us: "the Son of God, and your Son, from the
Cross indicated a man to you, Mary, and said: 'Behold, your son' (Jn 19:26).
And in that man he entrusted to you every person, he entrusted everyone to
you. And you, who at the moment of the Annunciation, concentrated the whole
program of your life in those simple words: 'Behold I am the handmaid of the
Lord; let it be to me according to your word' (Lk 1:38): embrace everyone,
draw close to everyone, seek everyone out with motherly care. Thus is
accomplished what the last Council said about your presence in the mystery
of Christ and the Church. In a wonderful way you are always found in the
mystery of Christ, your only Son, because you are present wherever men and
women, his brothers and sisters, are present, wherever the Church is
present" (John Paul II, "Homily in the Basilica of Guadalupe", 27 January
1979).
"John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, brought Mary into his home, into his
life. Spiritual writers have seen these words of the Gospel as an invitation
to all Christians to bring Mary into their lives. Mary certainly wants us to
invoke her, to approach her confidently, to appeal to her as our mother,
asking her to 'show that you are our mother"' ([St] J. Escriva, "Christ is
Passing By", 140).
John Paul II constantly treats our Lady as his Mother. In bidding farewell
to the Virgin of Czestochowa he prayed in this way: "Our Lady of the Bright
Mountain, Mother of the Church! Once more I consecrate myself to you 'in
your maternal slavery of love'. "Totus tuus"! I am all yours! I consecrate
to you the whole Church--everywhere and to the ends of the earth! I
consecrate to you humanity; I consecrate to you all men and women, my
brothers and sisters. All peoples and all nations. I consecrate to you
Europe and all the continents. I consecrate to you Rome and Poland, united,
through your servant, by a fresh bond of love. Mother, accept us! Mother, do
not abandon us! Mother, be our guide!" ("Farewell Address" at Jasna Gora
Shrine, 6 June 1979).
28-29. This was foretold in the Old Testament: "They gave me poison for
food, and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink" (Ps 69:21). This does
not mean that they gave Jesus vinegar to increase his suffering; it was
customary to offer victims of crucifixion water mixed with vinegar to
relieve their thirst. In addition to the natural dehydration Jesus was
suffering, we can see in his thirst an expression of his burning desire to
do his Father's will and to save a souls: "On the Cross he cried out
"Sitio"!, 'I thirst'. He thirsts for us, for our love, for our souls and for
all the souls we ought to be bringing to him along the way of the Cross,
which is the way to immortality and heavenly glory" ([St] J. Escriva, "Friends of
God", 202).
30. Jesus, nailed on the cross, dies to atone for all the sins and vileness
of man. Despite his sufferings he dies serenely, majestically, bowing his
head now that he has accomplished the mission entrusted to him. "Who can
sleep when he wishes to, as Jesus died when he wished to? Who can lay aside
his clothing when he wishes to, as he put off the flesh when he chose to?...
What must be hope or fear to find his power when he comes in judgment, if it
can be seen to be so great at the moment of his death!" (St Augustine, "ln
loann. Evang.", 119, 6).
"Let us meditate on our Lord, wounded from head to foot out of love for us.
Using a phrase which approaches the truth, although it does not express its
full reality, we can repeat the words of an ancient writer: 'The body of
Christ is a portrait in pain'. At the first sight of Christ bruised and
broken--just a lifeless body taken down from the cross and given to his
Mother--at the sight of Jesus destroyed in this way, we might have thought
he had failed utterly. Where are the crowds that once followed him, where is
the kingdom he foretold? But this is victory, not defeat. We are nearer the
resurrection than ever before; we are going to see the glory which he has
won with his obedience" ([St] J. Escriva, "Christ is Passing By", 95).
31-33. Jesus dies on the Preparation day of the Passover--the
Parasceve--that is, the eve, when the paschal lambs were officially
sacrificed in the Temple. By stressing this, the evangelist implies that
Christ's sacrifice took the place of the sacrifices of the Old Law and
inaugurated the New Alliance in his blood (cf. Heb 9:12).
The Law of Moses required that the bodies should be taken down before
nightfall (Deut 21:22-23); this is why Pilate is asked to have their legs
broken, to bring on death and allow them to be buried before it gets dark,
particularly since the next day is the feast of the Passover.
On the date of Jesus' death see "The Dates of the Life of our Lord Jesus
Christ" in "The Navarre Bible: St Mark" pp. 48ff.
34. The outflow of blood and water has a natural explanation. Probably the
water was an accumulation of liquid in the lungs due to Jesus' intense
sufferings.
As on other occasions, the historical events narrated in the fourth Gospel
are laden with meaning. St Augustine and Christian tradition see the
sacrament and the Church itself flowing from Jesus' open side: "Here was
opened wide the door of life, from which the sacraments of the Church have
flowed out, without which there is no entering in unto life which is true
life. [...] Here the second Adam with bowed head slept upon the cross, that
thence a wife might be formed of him, flowing from his side while he slept.
0 death, by which the dead come back to life! is there anything purer than
this blood, any wound more healing!" (St Augustine, "In Ioann. Evang.", 120,
2).
The Second Vatican Council, for its part, teaches: "The Church--that is, the
kingdom of Christ--already present in mystery, grows visibly through the
power of God in the world. The origin and growth of the Church are
symbolized by the blood and water which flowed from the open side of the
crucified Jesus (Vatican II, "Lumen Gentium", 3).
"Jesus on the cross, with his heart overflowing with love for men, is such
an eloquent commentary on the value of people and things that words only get
in the way. People, their happiness and their life, are so important that
the very Son of God gave himself to redeem and cleanse and raise them up"
([St] J. Escriva, "Christ is Passing By", 165).
35. St John's Gospel presents itself as a truthful witness of the events of
our Lord's life and of their spiritual and doctrinal significance. From the
words of John the Baptist at the outset of Jesus' public ministry (1:19) to
the final paragraph of the Gospel (21:24-25), everything forms part of a
testimony to the sublime phenomenon of the Word of Life made Man. Here the
evangelist explicitly states that he was an eyewitness (cf. also Jn
20:30-31; 1 Jn 1:1-3).
36. This quotation refers to the precept of the Law that no bone of the
paschal lamb should be broken (cf. Ex 12:46): again St John's Gospel is
telling, us that Jesus is the true paschal Lamb who takes away the sins of
the world (cf. Jn 1:29).
37. The account of the Passion concludes with a quotation from Zechariah
(12:10) foretelling the salvation resulting from the mysterious suffering
and death of a redeemer. The evangelist thereby evokes the salvation wrought
by Jesus Christ who, nailed to the cross, has fulfilled God's promise of
redemption (cf. Jn 12:32). Everyone who looks upon him with faith receives
the effects of his Passion. Thus, the good thief, looking at Christ on the
cross, recognized his kingship, placed his trust in him and received the
promise of heaven (Cf. Lk 23:42-43).
In the liturgy of Good Friday the Church invites us to contemplate and adore
the cross: "Behold the wood of the Cross, on which was nailed the salvation
of the world", and from the earliest times of the Church the Crucifix has
been the sign reminding Christians of the supreme point of Christ's love,
when he died on the Cross and freed us from eternal death.
"Your Crucifix.--As a Christian, you should always carry your Crucifix with
you. And place it on your desk. And kiss it before going to bed and when you
wake up: and when your poor body rebels against your soul, kiss it again"
([St] J. Escriva, "The Way", 302).
38-39. Our Lord's sacrifice produces its firstfruits: people who were
previously afraid now boldly confess themselves disciples of Christ and
attend to his dead Body with exquisite refinement and generosity. The
evangelist mentions that Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus used a mixture of
myrrh and aloes in lavish amount. Myrrh is a very expensive aromatic resin,
and aloes a juice extracted from the leaves of certain plants. They were
used as an expression of veneration for the dead.
40. The Fourth Gospel adds to the information on the burial given by the
Synoptics. Sacred Scripture did not specify what form burial should take,
with the result that the Jews followed the custom of the time. After piously
taking our Lord's body down from the cross, they probably washed it
carefully (cf. Acts 9:37), perfumed it and wrapped it in a linen cloth,
covering the head with a sudarium or napkin (cf. Jn 20:5-6). But because of
the imminence of the sabbath rest, they were unable to anoint the body with
balsam, which the women planned to do once the sabbath was past (cf. Mk
16:1; Lk 24:1). Jesus himself, when he praised Mary for anointing him at
Bethany, had foretold in a veiled way that his body would not be embalmed
(cf. note on Jn 12:7).
41. Many of the Fathers have probed the mystic meaning of the
garden--usually to point out that Christ, who was arrested in the Garden of
Olives and buried in another garden, has redeemed us superabundantly from
that first sin which was committed also in a garden, the Garden of Paradise
They comment that Jesus' being the only one to be buried in this new tomb
meant that there would be no doubt that it was he and not another that rose
from the dead. St Augustine also observes that "just as in the womb of the
Virgin Mary none was conceived before him, none after him, so in this tomb
none before him, none after was buried" ("In Ioann. Evang.". 120, 5).
Among the truths of Christian doctrine to do with Christ's death and burial
are these: "one, that the body of Christ was in no degree corrupted in the
sepulchre, according to the prediction of the Prophet, 'Thou wilt not give
thy holy one to see corruption' (Ps 16:10; Acts 2:31); the other... that
burial, passion and death apply to Christ Jesus not as God but as man, yet
they are also attributed to God, since, as is clear, they are predicated
with propriety of that Person who is at once perfect God and perfect man"
("St Pius V Catechism", I 5, 9).
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text
taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries
made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of
Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, Ireland.
Following the ancient tradition of the Church, there are no sacraments celebrated on Good Friday nor Holy Saturday. "Celebration of the Lord's Passion," traditionally known as the "Mass of the Presanctified," (although it is not a mass) is usually celebrated around three o'clock in the afternoon, or later, depending on the needs of the parish.
This is a day of mourning. We should try to take time off from work and school to participate in the devotions and liturgy of the day as much as possible. In addition, we should refrain from extraneous conversation. Some families leave the curtains drawn, and maintain silence during the 3 hours (noon — 3p.m.), and keep from loud conversation or activities throughout the remainder of the day. We should also restrict ourselves from any TV, music or computer—these are all types of technology that can distract us from the spirit of the day. 
