18 April 2025

18 April 2025 - Good Friday

Transcript

Reading:  

John 19:28, 30

Write:  

Jesus said, “I thirst.”… When Jesus had taken the wine, he said, “It is finished.”

Reflect:   

These last two words, or sayings, of Jesus have so many levels of meaning. I want to take them individually, even though they are very much connected. Let’s begin with the first of the quotes of Jesus. Saint Teresa of Calcutta – Mother Teresa – spoke of this saying as indicating Jesus had a thirst for souls. Mother Teresa took that seriously with the work that she did for the poor. Her whole life was given over to helping to show Jesus to others. And it was, in part, because of these two words.

Jesus thirsts for our souls. It is not some small thing to think about. It is the work of God, and needs to be an important part of our work. Yet there is even more to these words if we look at this from a strictly physical point of view. Jesus probably had not had anything to drink from the start of his scourging. It should not become a surprise to us that he fell multiple times on his way to Calvary. Part of the totality of his suffering had to include dehydration. I know what dehydration is like, and what heat stress does to a body. And I did not face the kinds of tortures that he did. So… Jesus was thirsty.

So he was presented with some wine – probably very cheap wine, in fact some the Gospels say it was vinegar. Have you ever tried to drink vinegar? It burns all the way down the throat. But, maybe it was a little more palatable. One can only hope. So after Jesus has taken the wine, we hear his last words, “it is finished.” What is the “it”? As I said this last Sunday, “it” is the end of his work as a kinsman redeemer. He has paid the full price.

But there is another meaning here that I’m afraid gets overlooked too much. At the Last Supper, Jesus said he would not taste the fruit of the vine again until he tasted it anew in the kingdom of God. And he has tasted the wine while he was on the cross, before he died. This is where the two sayings connect. The only thing this can mean, to me, is that the kingdom of God is here and now. The kingdom of God is already and not yet. Already present and not yet fully realized. I think what Jesus was saying was that the power of Satan had been destroyed. For those of you who saw Mel Gibson’s “Passion,” do you remember the scene of Satan screaming as Jesus died on the cross? To me, that was a delicious moment of the triumph of the cross that he placed in that movie. The victory belongs to Christ. For me, that was the best moment of the movie!

But there is even one more point. Jesus had been at a Passover meal with his disciples before he died. He did not drink of the fruit of the vine – the 4th cup of wine that was supposed to be consumed at the Passover. Also, I have been told, the words “it is finished” were the last words of the ritual of the meal that the father of the household would say after drinking the 4th cup. I think this also means then that the Last Supper and Calvary and every Mass that we celebrate are tied together. You see, the Passover meal had to be shared by everyone. To eat the Passover was to be connected the covenant of God. You had to eat it. Well, how was Jesus going to make the Last Supper available for all of time for all of his followers to partake of this marvelous gift of himself: “this is my body… this is my blood”? How was he going to make Calvary real for all of time? The cross is the one and only sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins. Yet when we come to Mass, all of time is stripped away and we are brought back to the Last Supper and to Calvary. I think this also is the meaning of his words: “it is finished”.

What marvelous care Jesus has taken in preparing us for these holy days. We do not celebrate a Mass on Good Friday – nowhere in the world are we allowed to do that! In fact, just as Jesus moved from the Last Supper through to Calvary, so these days are seen by the church as one event. We are here tonight to celebrate the Last Supper and Calvary at the same time. Jesus knew exactly what he was doing and what the implications were.

But Jesus had one more act to complete from the cross. As Longinus stabbed Jesus in the heart, blood and water poured out. Again the sign of the Eucharist in the blood, and Baptism in the water. Tradition says he became SaintLonginus.

So the victory is Christ’s and the victory is ours. We are called to finish the work of Christ, and to slake his thirst for souls. St. Paul said to the Galatians “I have preached Christ and Him crucified…” And our reading from the Hebrews tonight reminds us: “So let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and to find grace for timely help.”

May this Easter renew his grace and his mercy in each of us. Amen.

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