Gospel John 18:1-19:42
Jesus went out with his disciples across
the Kidron valley to where there was a garden, into which he and his disciples
entered. Judas his betrayer also knew the place, because Jesus had often met
there with his disciples. So Judas got a band of soldiers and guards from the chief priests and the Pharisees and
went there with lanterns, torches, and weapons. Jesus, knowing everything that
was going to happen to him, went out and said to them, “Whom are you looking
for?” They answered him, “Jesus the Nazorean.” He said to them, “I AM.” Judas
his betrayer was also with them. When he said to them, “I AM, they turned away and fell to the ground. So he
again asked them, “Whom are you looking for?” They said, “Jesus the Nazorean.” Jesus answered, “I told you that I AM. So
if you are looking for me, let these men go. This was to fulfill what he had
said, “I have not lost any of those you gave me.” Then Simon Peter, who had a
sword, drew it, struck the high priest’s slave, and cut off his right ear. The
slave’s name was Malchus. Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword into its
scabbard. Shall I not drink the cup that the Father gave me?”
So the band of soldiers, the tribune, and
the Jewish guards seized Jesus, bound him, and brought him to Annas first. He
was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year. It was Caiaphas who had counseled the Jews
that it was better that one man should die rather than the people.
Simon Peter and another disciple followed
Jesus. Now the other disciple was known to the high priest, and he entered the
courtyard of the high priest with Jesus. But Peter stood at the gate outside. So
the other disciple, the acquaintance of the high priest, went out and spoke to the gatekeeper and
brought Peter in. Then the maid who was the gatekeeper said to Peter, “You are
not one of this man’s disciples, are you?”He said, “I am not.” Now the slaves
and the guards were standing around a charcoal fire that they had made, because
it was cold, and were warming themselves. Peter was also standing there keeping
warm.
The high priest questioned Jesus about his
disciples and about his doctrine. Jesus answered him, “I have spoken publicly
to the world. I have always taught in a synagogue or in the temple area where
all the Jews gather, and in secret I have said nothing. Why ask me? Ask those
who heard me what I said to them. They know what I said. When he had said this,
one of the temple guards standing there struck Jesus and said, “Is this the way
you answer the high priest?” Jesus answered him, “If I have spoken wrongly,
testify to the wrong; but if I have spoken rightly, why do you strike me?” Then
Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.
Now Simon Peter was standing there keeping
warm. And they said to him, “You are not one of his disciples, are you?” He
denied it and said, “I am not.” One of the slaves of the high priest, a
relative of the one whose ear Peter had cut off, said, “Didn’t I see you in the
garden with him?” Again Peter denied it. And immediately the
cock crowed.
Then they brought Jesus from Caiaphas to
the praetorium. It was morning. And they themselves did not enter the
praetorium, in order not to be defiled so that they could eat the Passover. So
Pilate came out to them and said, “What charge do you bring against this man?” They
answered and said to him, “If he were not a criminal, we would not have handed
him over to you.” At this, Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves, and judge
him according to your law.” The Jews answered him, “We do not have the right to
execute anyone, “ in order that the word of Jesus might be fulfilled that he
said indicating the kind of death he would die. So Pilate went back into the
praetorium and summoned Jesus and said to him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus
answered, “Do you say this on your own or have others told you about me?”Pilate
answered, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests handed
you over to me. What have you done?” Jesus answered, “My
kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom did belong to this world,
my attendants would be fighting to keep
me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not here.” So
Pilate said to him, “Then you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say I am a
king. For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the
truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” Pilate said to
him, “What is truth?”
When he had said this, he again went out to
the Jews and said to them, “I find no guilt in him. But you have a custom that
I release one prisoner to you at Passover. Do you want me to release to you the
King of the Jews?” They cried out again, “Not this one but Barabbas!” Now
Barabbas was a revolutionary.
Then Pilate took Jesus and had him
scourged. And the soldiers wove a crown out of thorns and placed it on his
head, and clothed him in a purple cloak, and they came to him and said, “Hail,
King of the Jews!” And they struck him repeatedly. Once more Pilate went out
and said to them, “Look, I am bringing him out to you, so that you may know
that I find no guilt in him.” So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns
and the purple cloak. And he said to them, “Behold, the man!” When the chief
priests and the guards saw him they cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him!” Pilate
said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him. I find no guilt in him.” The
Jews answered, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die,
because he made himself the Son of God.” Now when Pilate heard this statement, he
became even more afraid, and went back into the praetorium and said to Jesus,
“Where are you from?” Jesus did not answer him. So Pilate said to him, “Do you
not speak to me? Do you not know that I have power to release you and I have
power to crucify you?” Jesus answered him, “You would have no power over me if
it had not been given to you from above. For this reason the one who handed me
over to you has the greater sin.” Consequently, Pilate tried to release him;
but the Jews cried out, “If you release him, you are not a Friend of Caesar. Everyone
who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.”
When Pilate heard these words he brought
Jesus out and seated him on the judge’s bench in the place called Stone
Pavement, in Hebrew, Gabbatha. It was preparation day for Passover, and it was
about noon. And he said to the Jews, “Behold, your king!” They cried out, “Take
him away, take him away! Crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your
king?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.” Then he handed
him over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus, and, carrying the cross
himself, he went out to what is called the Place of the Skull, in Hebrew,
Golgotha. here they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side,
with Jesus in the middle. Pilate also had an inscription written and put on the
cross. It read, “Jesus the Nazorean, the King of the Jews.” Now many of the
Jews read this inscription, because the place where Jesus was crucified was
near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek. So the chief
priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write ‘The King of the Jews,’ but
that he said, ‘I am the King of the Jews’.” Pilate answered, “What I have
written, I have written.” When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his
clothes and divided them into four shares, a share for each soldier.They also
took his tunic, but the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from the top
down. So they said to one another, “Let’s not tear it, but cast lots for it to
see whose it will be, “ in order that the passage of Scripture
might be fulfilled that says: They divided my garments among them, and for my
vesture they cast lots. This is what the soldiers did. Standing by the cross of
Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and
Mary of Magdala. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved
he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son.” Then he said to the disciple,
“Behold, your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.
After this, aware that everything was now
finished, in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I
thirst.” There was a vessel filled with common wine. So they put a sponge
soaked in wine on a sprig of hyssop and put it up to his mouth. When Jesus had
taken the wine, he said, “It is finished.” And bowing his head, he handed over
the spirit.
Here all kneel and pause for a short time.
Now since it was preparation day, in order
that the bodies might not remain on the cross on the sabbath, for the sabbath
day of that week was a solemn one, the Jews asked Pilate that their legs be
broken and that they be taken down. So the soldiers came and broke the legs of
the first and then of the other one who was crucified
with Jesus. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they
did not break his legs, but one soldier thrust his lance into his side, and
immediately blood and water flowed out. An eyewitness has testified, and his
testimony is true; he knows that he is
speaking the truth, so that you also may come to believe. For this happened so that the Scripture
passage might be fulfilled: Not a bone of it will be broken. And again another
passage says: They will look upon him whom they have pierced.
After this, Joseph of Arimathea, secretly a
disciple of Jesus for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate if he could remove the
body of Jesus. And Pilate permitted it. So he came and took his body. Nicodemus,
the one who had first come to him at night, also came bringing a mixture of
myrrh and aloes weighing about one hundred pounds. They took the body of Jesus
and bound it with burial cloths along with the spices, according to the Jewish
burial custom. Now in the place where he had been crucified there was a garden,
and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had yet been buried. So they laid
Jesus there because of the Jewish preparation day; for the tomb was close by.
+ + + + + + +
Reflection:
A few years ago I tried not eating during
good Friday, I would only take water. I did this for me to feel how it is to be
deprived of food and I did this to somehow feel a little bit how Jesus felt
hunger during that faithful day. It was not easy doing it (being without food
for twenty four hours) yet I made it through. I made it because I focused not
on my self-serving human need, I instead centered my will to Jesus.
Why do many of us wear a cross with Jesus
on it on the cross for our necklace? Some of us wear this for protection against
any harm. But is this the only reason why we have this necklace? We also have
this cross to remind us of the supreme sacrifice of Jesus for us; His death on
the cross no less!
But many of us are afraid to fully embrace
this cross of Jesus, anyone of us who wants suffering in our lives? Nobody of
us would want suffering because as much as possible we want a life free of
suffering/s. But if we will not pass though suffering how would we have a deep
intimacy with Jesus? How would we feel His abiding presence in our lives? If
Jesus went through severe sufferings, who are we not to suffer?
When Peter was recognized as one of the men
in the company of Jesus, He denied Jesus three times. Why? Because during that
moment Peter was afraid to suffer for his Lord and Master. Let us not be afraid
to go through suffering for by passing through this we will know more Jesus
deeply.
On this Good Friday let us think about our
own suffering/s and think of how Jesus suffered for us on the cross. Let us thank
Jesus for our suffering/s for it has brought us closer to Him. And at the same
time let us ask Jesus to help us carry and eventually overcome our own
suffering/s. - Marino J. Dasmarinas
