Good Friday, March 29, 2024

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, etc.

The Roman soldier thrust his lance into the side of Jesus.  It went deep and sharp into his Body so that Blood and water flowed out immediately.  The soldier did this to ensure that Jesus was dead.  This act of brutality signifies how the world would continue to hate the Lord even after his Death.  His Mother Mary, the Apostle John, and Mary Magdalene, out of whom the Lord had cast seven demons, remained to witness this final act of contempt for the Savior of the world.  We can well imagine how Mary felt the lance thrust violently into her own breast as she saw it pierce through her Son’s.  

The bodies of the thieves were taken down after they had finished strangling.  The sun was beginning to set and the Law stated of a hanged criminal that “his body shall not remain upon the tree, but shall be buried the same day: for he is accursed of God who hangs on a tree: and you shall not defile your land which the Lord your God shall give you in possession” (Deuteronomy 21, 23).  The families of criminals did not attend their executions, as a rule, so who took down their bodies?  Those staunch advocates of the Law the Sanhedrin would have seen to this, employing their slaves so that they themselves would not incur ritual impurity on the day of the Passover.  But such was their hatred of Jesus Christ that they would not extend this courtesy towards his Body.  The Virgin Mary, John, and Mary Magdalene were not in a position to take down his Body.  They must have watched the two bodies of the thieves come down and wonder sadly if no indignity would be spared the love of their lives.  

Just then, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, members of the Sanhedrin, came with ladders and tools and cloths and showed no interest in the purity laws by using their own hands to take down the dead, bloody, shredded Body of the Lord Jesus.  It was a heartbreaking scene.  Tradition holds that the Blessed Mother held his Body in her arms one last time.  Then John led her away to a safe place in the city with Mary Magdalene.  And Joseph and Nicodemus carried his Body down the road to a fresh tomb, rolling the stone to seal its entrance just as the last flickering of sunlight faded away.

We will never fully be able to comprehend how much our Savior suffered for us.