either side, and Jesus in the middle. Pilate had a notice written and fastened to the cross, which
read: Jesus the Nazarene, the King of the Jews.
Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister Mary, who was the wife of Cleophas,
and Mary of Magdala. When Jesus saw the mother, and the disciple whom he loved, he said to the
mother, “Woman, this is your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “This is your mother.” And from that
moment the disciple took her to his own home.
Jesus knew all was now finished and, in order to fulfill what was written in Scripture, he said, I am
thirsty. A jar full of bitter wine stood there; so, putting a sponge soaked in the wine on a twig of
hyssop, they raised it to his lips. Jesus took the wine and said, “It is accomplished.” Then he
bowed his head and gave up the spirit.
Reflect
Over the centuries, our understanding of the crucifixion has become sanitized and idealized.
We have forgotten what it meant during Jesus’ time. Crucifixion was designed to be a painful
and humiliating death. Only the worst criminals. mostly those who threatened Roman
dominance, were subject to this method of execution. The condemned were executed
in places where people could see them, increasing their humiliation and letting their pain and
suffering serve as a deterrent.
By willingly accepting this death, Jesus embraced the worst of human experience: pain,
loneliness, fear, humiliation, abandonment. By embracing the worst, Jesus redeemed it
and made it holy. Jesus allowed his own body to become a bridge, uniting the depths of
human experience with the divine. Because Jesus experienced the worst, nothing in our
lives is excluded from God’s all-enveloping love. The love that includes even crucifixion
can encompass whatever we experience, no matter how painful or dehumanizing it may
be. In Christ, all we have and are is assumed into God, purified, and made holy.
© Copyright Bible Diary 2023