Thomas Griffin 3/22/24
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Each Friday this Lent, we have investigated a few of the Stations of the Cross in order to gain access to the love and passion of Christ. These last moments of his life are powerful opportunities to come into contact with the nature of God and the nature of man. We have seen just what God is willing to do to convey the depths of His heart. We have also seen just how dark the human heart can be.
Today we will finish our journey by looking at the twelfth, thirteenth and fourteenth stations where Christ is killed, handed to his mother and laid in his tomb.
Twelfth Station of the Cross: Jesus Dies on the Cross
The blood poured out and the wounds Jesus received from his scourging and path to Golgotha would have made his entire body bloody. That blood has become attached to the wood of the cross. Jesus could feel pulsating pain in his hands and feet from the large nails driving them into the cross beams. The weight of his body would have been pulling down his hands sending shock waves of pain that we cannot comprehend.
Imagine you are there. Think of the blood dripping down from the cross beams. Look at the eyes that have become bloodied and covered with sweat. Hear Christ gasping for air and moans of his suffering.
Death on the cross comes by suffocation. In order to inhale air that can enter the lungs, the one hanging on the cross would have to pick up his body to allow for proper air flow. However the prisoner is exhausted and has tremendous blood loss. Once he becomes so tired that he can no longer pick up his body, he suffocates to death – like drowning but above water.
As Jesus struggles to breathe he is ten feet in the air. His preaching is not done. If it was a challenge to breathe it would have been even more difficult to speak, let alone speak loud enough for those below to hear you. Jesus would have shouted these words:
- “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Luke 23:34
- “Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.” Luke 23:43
- “Woman, behold your son. Son, behold your mother.” John 19:26–27
- “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” Matthew 27:46 & Mark 15:34
- “I thirst.” John 19:28
- “It is finished.” Matthew 27:46 & Mark 15:34
- “Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit.” Luke 23:46
These can be viewed as Christ’s last will and testimony. Forgiveness, the promise of the after-life, the gift of a mother, and surrender in the face of abandonment. These are the dying wishes of Jesus Christ. When you boil it all down, the death of Jesus should move us because when he took that last breath he had us in mind. God does not think in general terms but in individual terms. He thought of you and he wanted to set you free. He wanted to convey the extent of his love.
Thirteenth Station of the Cross: Jesus is Taken Down from the Cross
To verify that Christ was dead, a soldier thrusts a spear into his side. Blood and water pour out confirming that the Son of God is dead. Now the soldiers have to remove the nails from his hands and feet and as they take him down from the cross, he is given to his mother.
When Jesus was born in Bethlehem, Joseph would have handed the baby to his mother. In that stable she was captivated by this small child who would redeem the world. This was her son, but this was also the savior. As he grew up Jesus would have been held by his mother like any other child. When he was hurt or in need of being comforted, Christ would have sought out his mother. When Joseph died they would have cried with one another over this man they both loved. Their relationship was so close and so unique.
Now, Mary has watched her son and the one she knows is the Son of God be tortured, beaten and rejected. She watched him gasp for air in his last moments. Now she looks down at him, like she did in the manger in Bethlehem, and he is lifeless. His body would have been covered in blood. It would have been heavy and cold. As she looked at him, she wept bitterly but she never loved him more.
Fourteenth Station of the Cross: Jesus is Laid in the Tomb
The tomb for this itinerant preacher was donated by Joseph of Arimathea. IT was in a garden and had a huge boulder covering the entrance. Jesus’ body is brought there and wrapped in swaddling clothes (also evoking the way Mary wrapped up the infant Jesus). Instead of beaming with the new smile of a mother, she is crying because her child has been taken from her. More than anyone else, she knew what his death meant. She knew that she was promised a sword (Luke 2:35).
Before exiting the tomb, Mary would have looked at her dead son one more time. The rock was moved in front of the tomb and most viewers of the scene would have thought this was the end of the story. He is dead. The one who claimed to be God – we killed him – but it is not over.
Thomas Griffin is the chairperson of the religion department at a Catholic high school on Long Island where he lives with his wife and two sons. He has a masters degree in theology and is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Empty Tomb Project: The Magazine.
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