SEVEN LAST WORDS OF JESUS
FIRST WORD “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.”
LUKE 23: 26– 37…. As they led him away, they seized a man, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming from the country, and they laid the cross on him, and made him carry it behind Jesus. A great number of the people followed him, and among them were women who were beating their breasts and wailing for him.
But Jesus turned to them and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children”. Two others also, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified Jesus there with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing….
WE ADORE YOU O CHRIST, AND WE BLESS YOU
BECAUSE BY YOUR HOLY CROSS YOU HAVE REDEEMED THE WORLD!
MEDITATION
Jesus always sees beyond what other people see.Jesus always sees. He sees people for who they really are. When he first meets Peter, he doesn’t see just a poor fisherman from a small town beside the Sea of Galilee; he sees someone with the potential to lead a church. When he sees Matthew at his tax table, he doesn’t just see a tax collector but a potential follower. When he meets Zacchaeus, the chief tax collector in Jericho, he doesn’t see just the most sinful person in the region— he sees someone seeking redemption. When he sees the woman caught in adultery, he doesn’t see just her sin; he sees a person in need of forgiveness and healing.
From the cross, Jesus doesn’t see just executioners, but people making dreadful decisions. Forgiveness is a gift you give the other person and yourself. You may want to forgive but feel incapable of doing so. If you have the desire to forgive, God can work with that. You may not be able to let go of the resentment but God can! True forgiveness is a grace from God.
SECOND WORD “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”
LUKE 23: 39– 43 One of the criminals, hanging with Jesus kept deriding him and saying, “Are you not the Messiah? 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 have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”
WE ADORE YOU O CHRIST, AND WE BLESS YOU
BECAUSE BY YOUR HOLY CROSS YOU HAVE REDEEMED THE WORLD!
MEDITATION
In this second word, Jesus promises the hope of the afterlife, of “paradise,” At the Last Supper in John’s Gospel Jesus tells his apostles, “In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. . . . I go to prepare a place for you.” What does your place look like? I am sure it will be a perfect fit because Jesus has selected it.…Eyes have not seen, ears have not heard what God has prepared for those who love him….
From the moment of our conception, God has been inviting us into relationship. As we look back over our life and ponder these moments, we can see the presence of God…His intervention on our journey home. St. Paul puts it this way in Romans 8:38, “not even death can separate us from the love of God.” This relationship will be perfected and complete in “paradise.”
THIRD WORD “Woman, here is your son. . . . Here is your mother.”
JOHN 19: 26– 27 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, 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 own home.
WE ADORE YOU O CHRIST, AND WE BLESS YOU
BECAUSE BY YOUR HOLY CROSS YOU HAVE REDEEMED THE WORLD!
MEDITATION
Jesus looks upon his Mother and beloved apostle. He gives them to one another. Mary had many relatives so she does not need John to take care of her. John already has a Mother, Salome married to Zebedee. When Jesus gives Mary to John, He is giving Mary to us. Mary is our advocate and intercessor with Jesus. Mary’s faith and obedience was challenged at the Annunciation but once she understood that God would take care of everything, Mary believed and obeyed.
We who take Mary in are the beloved disciple too. Every Christian family should take Mary into their heart as John did., We should especially pray to the Mother of Sorrows at the hour of our death.. She assisted so lovingly at the death of her Divine Son, she will also assist us at our hour of death and obtain for us the grace of a happy death.
FOURTH WORD “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
MARK 15: 33– 39 When it was noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. At three o’clock Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, “Listen, he is calling for Elijah; let us see whether Elijah will come to take him”.”
WE ADORE YOU O CHRIST, AND WE BLESS YOU
BECAUSE BY YOUR HOLY CROSS YOU HAVE REDEEMED THE WORLD!
MEDITATION
Even nature darkened in empathy with its Creator. As dark of time it was, did Jesus despair and give up hope when he was crucified? No, of course not. As Jesus took on the sins of all, he in his humanity was the furthest he could be from God. This last word begins Psalm 22, “my God, my God why have you forsaken me?,” a prayer that all faithful Jews prayed often when in need. At the end of Psalm 22 the Suffering Servant does not despair but continues to trust. Psalm 22 concludes, ” He did not hide his face from me, but heard when I cried to Him. “…
There is a big difference between believing God is absent and feeling God is absent. Jesus has been subjected to an exhausting series of late-night inquests, brutalized by Roman guards, and marched through the streets of Jerusalem under the crushing weight of the cross; now nailed to the wood and suffering excruciating pain. Even so, Jesus is still in relationship with God His Father— calling on him from the cross. When you pray in suffering, doubt and darkness ask Jesus in His resurrected glory at the right hand of the Father to give you His kind of Trust that in the end all will be well!
FIFTH WORD “I am thirsty.”
JOHN 19: 28– 29 …when Jesus knew that all was now finished, he said (in order to fulfill the scripture), “I am thirsty.” A jar full of sour wine was standing there. So they put a sponge full of the wine on a branch of hyssop and held it to his mouth.
WE ADORE YOU O CHRIST, AND WE BLESS YOU
BECAUSE BY YOUR HOLY CROSS YOU HAVE REDEEMED THE WORLD!
MEDITATION
The child, Jesus, entered the world as helpless as any newborn. He needed to be nursed, held, fed, burped, and changed. Jesus would have skinned his knees on the rocky ground, bumped his head on doorways, and pricked his fingers on thorns. Like all of us, Jesus sweated and sneezed and scratched…Everything proper to the human being, except sin. These bodily experiences include hunger and thirst. It is not only a physical thirst Jesus expresses on the cross.
Jesus thirsts for conversion, repentance, and salvation of all. Jesus asks us to thirst for Him the same way He thirsts for us….Do I thirst for Jesus? Am I confident that Jesus will satisfy my thirst? “The heart is restless until it rests in thee.” St. Augustine. Think about it!
SIXTH WORD “It is finished.”
JOHN 19: 30 When Jesus had received the wine, he said, “It is finished.” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
WE ADORE YOU O CHRIST, AND WE BLESS YOU
BECAUSE BY YOUR HOLY CROSS YOU HAVE REDEEMED THE WORLD!
MEDITATION
These words clearly say Jesus has done the work assigned Him by the Father. On the cross Jesus has shown the depth of His Father’s love for us. For some, Jesus’ death on the cross is a stumbling block and others folly. But Scripture says, ”he humbled himself becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross.*Because of this, God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth…and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,* to the glory of God the Father” Phillipians 2:8-11
Sometimes our mission from God may seem a mistake or folly because we don’t see the results we would like here on earth. But in the hands of God, God can take any of our efforts and multiply and shower abundance on the whole world because of something a faithful servant has begun…we are sowers of seeds…the Holy Spirit cultivates the seeds and brings them to fruition….Have faith, faithful servant and keep your eyes on the prize!
SEVENTH WORD “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.”
LUKE 23: 44– 49 It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, while the sun’s light failed; and the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Then Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” Having said this, he breathed his last. When the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God and said, “Truly this man was the Son of God” Mark 15:39
WE ADORE YOU O CHRIST, AND WE BLESS YOU
BECAUSE BY YOUR HOLY CROSS YOU HAVE REDEEMED THE WORLD!
MEDITATION
In the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus asked His Father if this cup could past but not my will, your will be done…do we imitate Jesus in submitting to the Father’s will… obeying God’s commandments… not holding anything back from God… like a part I don’t want God messing with…a pattern of selfishness, a desire for power and wealth…Do we trust God….Jesus trusted the Father and on third day rose from the day with glorified body and sits at the right hand of Father….certainly we do not know the changes that will occur in us if we hand ourselves over to God…but we do know the more we give to the Father the more he gives back… no Easter without Good Friday,,,, God will never be outdone in generosity. Alleluia! Father into your hands I commend my Spirit, Amen!
Excellent blog, Tom. Thank you for your meditations. These are powerful.