Last Words (Tenebrae)

I can’t recall a time in my life that I didn’t know the story of the cross.

I’ve imagined it in my head thousands of times: the sights, the sounds, the weather, the crowds, the soldiers, the criminals on either side. Mary, John, the sky as it darkens, the final breath, the removal of Jesus’ body, the embalming, the burial…

All of it.

I can see it playing over and over in my head, but I don’t know that I always appreciated the gravity and humanity of the moments that Jesus spoke out loud while hanging nailed to a tree.

Nails in each hand. Nails through his feet. Desperately trying to breathe. The agony is overwhelming and that part is still hard for me to imagine as I replay the scene.

And yet…he spoke. He cried out. He offered mercy. He was concerned for his family. He prayed the psalms. He pleaded with the Father. He resigned himself to death. 

Seven times he spoke. The gospel accounts give us insight to each of these moments, and I want to invite you to ponder each instance with me. Together, let’s reflect on God incarnate who came to us fully God and yet fully man. 

These were the darkest moments of his earthly life. What was he feeling? What was on his mind and heart? What was it like to hear him speak these things out loud? What were the reactions of those nearby who heard him?

This Good Friday, let’s imagine the cross in a new light — through the words spoken by Jesus Christ of Nazareth as he was dying. Here is what he said:

FATHER FORGIVE THEM, FOR THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO. 

“Two others who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. And Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.’ And they cast lost to divide his garments.”

Luke 23:32-34

TODAY, YOU WILL BE WITH ME IN PARADISE

“One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, ‘Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!’ But the other rebuked him, saying, ‘Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.’ And he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’ And he said to him, ‘Truly I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

Luke 23:39-43

BEHOLD YOUR SON, BEHOLD YOUR MOTHER

“…Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clops, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, 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 to his own home.

John 19:25-27

MY GOD, MY GOD WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?

“And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour, Jesus cried with a loud voice, ‘Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?’ Which means, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Mark 15:33-34

I THIRST

“After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), ‘’I thirst.’ A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth.”

John 19:28-29

IT IS FINISHED

“When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, ‘It is finished!’ And he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. 

John 19:30

FATHER INTO YOUR HANDS, I COMMIT MY SPIRIT

“It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, while the sun’s light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” And having said this he breathed his last.