“It is finished.”.
Good Friday. Jesus, the innocent who “went about doing good”… is imprisoned, judged, mocked, slapped, tortured, stripped of everything… Jesus condemned to death was utterly innocent, yet he bears the cross…. Jesus dies on the cross. In John’s Gospel he spoked his last words: “It is finished.”. He fulflled in all things the will of the Father. That is fidelity to Love until the end.
How do you live the crosses that life places upon you, out of fidelity to love? Let us ask Jesus to walk with Him on the way of self-giving.
The Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John
1 When Jesus had said this, he went out with his disciples to the other side of the brook Kidron, where there was a garden; there he and his disciples went in. 2 Judas, the traitor, knew the place, because Jesus had often met there with his disciples. 3 Judas therefore took a detachment and some of the servants of the chief priests and Pharisees, and went there with torches and lanterns and weapons. 4 Jesus, knowing all that was about to happen to him, went forward and said to them,
-Who are you looking for? 5 They answered him,
-Jesus the Nazarene.
He says to them:
-I am.
Judas also, the traitor, was with them. 6 When he said to them, “I am he,” they fell back and fell to the ground. 7 He asked them again,
-Who are you looking for?
They answered him:
-To Jesus, the Nazarene. 8 Jesus answered,
. “I have already told you that I am he; but if you are looking for me, let these go. 9 Thus was fulfilled what he had said, “I have lost none of those you have entrusted to me. 10 Simon Peter, who was armed with a sword, drew it, slashed the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear – the servant’s name was Malchus. 11 Jesus said to Peter:
-Sheathe the sword: the cup which my Father has offered me, shall I not drink it? 12 The detachment, the commander and the servants of the Jews arrested Jesus, bound him13 and took him first to Annas, who was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest of that year14 -Caiaphas was the same who had told the Jews that it was expedient that only one man should die for the people.
15 Simon Peter and another disciple followed Jesus. Since this disciple was known to the high priest, he went with Jesus into the palace of the high priest,16 while Peter remained outside at the gate.
The other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the gatekeeper, and she let Peter in.17 The gatekeeper said to Peter, “Are you not also a disciple of this man?
The gatekeeper’s maid said to Peter, “Aren’t you also a disciple of this man?”
He answered, “No, I am not. “18 Since it was cold, the servants and the guards had kindled a fire and were warming themselves. Peter was with them warming himself.19 The high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and their teaching.20 Jesus answered him:
“I have always taught in the synagogues or in the temple, where all the Jews meet together, and I have never said anything in secret.21 Why do you question me? Ask those who heard me speak, for they know what I told them.22 As soon as Jesus had said this, one of the guards present slapped him and said to him,
-Is this the way you answer the high priest?23 Jesus answered,
-If I have spoken evil, show me the evil; but if I have spoken good, why do you strike me?24 Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.25 Simon Peter was still getting hot.
They asked him, “Aren’t you also his disciple?”
He denied it:
“I am not. “26 One of the high priest’s servants, a relative of the one whose ear Peter had cut off, insisted:
“Didn’t I see you with him in the garden? “27 Again Peter denied it, and at once the cock crowed.
28 From the house of Caiaphas they led Jesus to the praetorium. It was early in the morning. They did not enter the praetorium to avoid defilement so that they could eat the Passover.
29 Pilate went out to where they were, and asked them:
-What do you accuse this man of? 30 They answered him:
-If this man were not a criminal, we would not have handed him over to you.31 Pilate replied:
-Then take him and judge him according to your law.
The Jews said to him:
-We are not allowed to put anyone to death32 -thus what Jesus had said about the way he would have to die was fulfilled.
33 Pilate went into the praetorium again, called Jesus, and asked him:
Are you the king of the Jews?34 Jesus answered:
Are you saying this on your own, or did others tell you this about me?35 Pilate replied:
Not that I am a Jew! Your nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?36 Jesus answered:
-My kingdom is not of this world; if my kingdom were of this world, my soldiers would have fought to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. Now my kingdom is not from here.37 Pilate said to him,
“So you are a king?”
Jesus answered,
“You say so. I am a king; that is why I was born, that is why I came into the world, to bear witness to the truth. Whoever is on the side of the truth listens to my voice.
38 Pilate said to him, “What is the truth?
When he had said this, he went out again to the Jews and said to them, “I find no fault in him.39 But it is your custom to pardon one of you at Passover. Do you want me to pardon the king of the Jews?40 They shouted again, “Not that one, Barabbas. Barabbas was a robber.
1 Then Pilate took charge of Jesus and had him scourged.2 The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head; they clothed him with a purple robe,3 and they came up to him and said to him,
-Hail, King of the Jews!
And they slapped him.
4 Pilate went out again and said to them,
. “Look, I am bringing him out to you, that you may know that I find no fault in him. 5 Jesus therefore went out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe.
Pilate says to them:
-Here is the man. 6 When the chief priests and the guards saw him, they shouted,
-Crucify him, crucify him!
Pilate said to them,
Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no fault in him. 7 The Jews answered him,
, “We have a law, and according to that law he must die because he has become the Son of God. 8 When Pilate heard these words, he was greatly afraid.
9 He went into the praetorium and said to Jesus again,
“Where are you from?”
Jesus did not answer him.10 Pilate said to him,
“You are not speaking to me? Don’t you know that I have the power to release you and the power to crucify you? “11 Jesus answered him,
“You would not have power over me unless heaven had given it to you. Therefore he who betrays me is the more guilty.12 Thereupon Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried out:
-If you release him, you are not Caesar’s friend. He who makes himself a king goes against Caesar.
13 When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and seated him on the judgment seat in the place called Enlosado, in Hebrew Gabbatha.14 It was the day before the Passover, at noon. He said to the Jews:
-Here is your king.15 They cried out:
-Out, out, crucify him!
Pilate said to them:
-Am I going to crucify your king?
The chief priests answered:
-We have no king but Caesar.
16 Then he handed him over to them to be crucified. They led him away;17 and Jesus went out, carrying the cross himself, to a place called The Skull, in Hebrew Golgotha.18 There they crucified him with two others: one on each side and Jesus in the middle.
19 Pilate had a sign written and nailed it to the cross. The writing said, “Jesus the Nazarene, King of the Jews. “20 Many Jews read the sign, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city.
Moreover, the sign was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek.21 The chief priests said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘King of the Jews,’ but, ‘This man said, ‘I am King of the Jews.’22 Pilate answered, “What is written is written.
23 When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four parts, one for each soldier, apart from the tunic.
It was a seamless robe, woven from the top down, in one piece.24 So they said to one another, “Let us not tear it; let us draw lots to see whose turn it is.”
So it was done as it was written:
They divided up my garments
and drew lots for my tunic.
This is what the soldiers did.
25 Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.26 When Jesus saw his mother and the beloved disciple standing beside her, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold your son!”
.27 Then he said to the disciple, “Behold your mother!”
.
From that moment the disciple took her to his own home.
28 Afterward, knowing that all things were finished, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said,
-I am thirsty.29 A jar full of vinegar was there. They soaked a sponge in vinegar, fastened it to a hyssop, and put it to his mouth.30 Jesus took the vinegar and said,
-All has been fulfilled. He bent his head and gave up the spirit.
31 It was the eve of the Sabbath, the most solemn of Sabbaths; so that the Jews might not leave the bodies on the cross on the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to break their legs and take them down.32 The soldiers went and broke the legs of the two who were crucified with him.33 When they came to Jesus, when they saw that he was dead, they did not break his legs;34 but a soldier pierced his side with a spear. At once blood and water flowed out.35 He who saw it testifies to it, and his testimony is reliable; he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you may believe.36 This happened so that the scripture might be fulfilled, “They will not break a bone in his body“37 and another scripture says, “They will look at him whom they pierced.
Burial of Jesus
38 After this, Joseph of Arimathea, who was secretly a disciple of Jesus for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate for permission to take away the body of Jesus. Pilate granted it. He went and took the body away.39 Nicodemus, who had once visited him by night, also went, carrying a hundred pounds of a mixture of myrrh and aloes.40 They took the body of Jesus and wrapped it in linen cloths with the perfumes, according to the burial custom of the Jews.41 In the place where he had been crucified there was a garden, and in it a new tomb, in which no one had been buried.42 Since it was the eve of the Jewish feast, and since the tomb was near, they laid Jesus there.
(Jn 18,1- 19,42)
