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.
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Reflection:
Why do many of us wear a cross with Jesus on it on the cross for our
necklace? Why do we put the cross of Jesus in a conspicuous place in our home? Perhaps, some of us wear this for protection
against any harm. But is this the only reason? 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 would not pass though suffering how would we feel
Jesus’ presence in our life? 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. Are we also afraid to suffer for the Lord? Let us
not be afraid to go through suffering for the Lord because by passing through
it 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
