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:
Would we have the strength and courage to
carry our own cross?
After all
the hardship, betrayal, and persecution, Jesus has fulfilled His salvific
mission. In His final moments, He appeared powerless—yet we know that He is
all-powerful. He chose not to save Himself, even though He had at His disposal
all the power in the world. In that silence, in that surrender, we witness not
weakness, but the fullness of divine love.
Jesus did
not die for Himself; He died for us. He embraced everything—even the
humiliating death on the cross—so that we might be saved. Such is the depth of
His love for us. The very cross on which He suffered and died has become the
instrument of our salvation.
As we
reflect on this great mystery of love, we are gently invited to look within our
hearts: what are we willing to offer Jesus in return? Are we ready to walk the
same path of self-giving love? Are we willing to carry our own cross for His
sake?
At times,
we may hesitate. We live in a world filled with comfort, convenience, and
distractions. We are used to ease, to quick solutions, and to avoiding pain
whenever possible. And so, the thought of carrying a cross can feel
overwhelming, even frightening.
Yet, the
comforts of this world can never compare to the eternal joy that awaits us in
our heavenly home. Jesus reminds us that the path to that eternal dwelling is
not found in comfort, but in love—a love that is willing to sacrifice, to
endure, and to trust.
Our cross
may come in many forms. It may be a person who tests our patience and
challenges our capacity to love. It may be a burden, a struggle, or a sickness
that we are called to endure day by day. It may be hidden sacrifices that no
one else sees. Whatever form it takes, our cross is an invitation—a sacred
opportunity to unite our lives with the love of Christ.
We are not
alone in carrying it. Jesus walks with us. He strengthens us. He invites us to
lean on Him, to trust in Him, and to allow His grace to sustain us in every
trial.
And so, as
we stand before the mystery of the Cross, let us ask ourselves with sincerity
and courage:
Are we
willing to embrace our cross each day, to follow Jesus faithfully, and to trust
that through our suffering, He is leading us to the fullness of life with Him?
– Marino J. Dasmarinas
