Daily Word Of God
John 18:1, 19:1, 4-6, 16-17a, 18-19, 25, 28-30
Jesus left with his disciples and crossed the Kidron valley. There was a garden there, and he went into it with his disciples. Pilate then had Jesus taken away and scourged. Pilate came outside again and said to them, ‘Look, I am going to bring him out to you to let you see that I find no case.’ Jesus then came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said, ‘Here is the man.’ When they saw him, the chief priests and the guards shouted, ‘Crucify him! Crucify him!’ Pilate said, ‘Take him yourselves and crucify him: I find no case against him.’
So in the end Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified. They then took charge of Jesus, and carrying his own cross he went out to the place of the skull where they crucified him with two others, one on either side, Jesus being in the middle. Pilate wrote out a notice and had it fixed to the cross; it ran: ‘Jesus the Nazarene, King of the Jews’.
Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. After this, Jesus knew that everything had now been completed and to fulfil the scripture perfectly, he said: I am thirsty. A jar full of vinegar stood there; so, putting a sponge soaked in vinegar on a hyssop stick, they held it up to his mouth. After Jesus had taken the vinegar he said, ‘It is accomplished’; and bowing his head he gave up his spirit.
Today's Pointers on God's Word
As you read the passage what words, phases or meanings caught your attention?
- Set aside some time to ponder on the Passion of Christ today. Ask for the grace to “feel” what Jesus felt. To experience this is God’s gift; it is “spiritual consolation” to experience the Lord in a personal way.
- Ask yourself, “How have my sins caused and intensified Jesus’ sufferings?”
- Pray with deep gratitude for the unconditional love that Jesus has and continues to show you. We are called to show compassion to those who have hurt us.