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 did Jesus die on the cross? It was in
loving obedience to the will of the Father. It was also out of His immense love
for us, Jesus died on the cross so that we may live and have life.
We ask ourselves this question: What have we
done in return to give back and to gratefully acknowledge this self-emptying of
Jesus on the cross? Have we lived and shared His teachings? Have we also
willfully carried or helped carry the cross of others to lighten their burdens?
Have we become another Christ to our fellowmen?
The cross is a sign of contradiction because
it is a sign of sacrifice but at the same time it is also a sign of salvation
and enlightenment. Let us not be afraid to carry our own cross even if it seems
that we would be burdened by it. Let us not be afraid to lighten the cross of
our fellowmen also because there will come a time that we will harvest
something worthy from that cross.
As Jesus loved the cross for our sake, let us
also learn to embrace and love our cross/crosses no matter how hard and
difficult it may seem. Because on that cross lies our redemption, enlightenment
and many hidden blessings that will unfold before us someday. - Marino J. Dasmarinas
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