Day 96, John 19
Good Day Everyone!
Let us review the last three chapters as we prepare for Sunday!
Today is a good day to offer up suffering and unite with Jesus. St. Catherine of Siena says in her dialouges that suffering is useless unless it is united with JESUS!!! We should all read this chapter ever Friday!!! Chapter 19 is all about the painful torture treatment that Jesus went through and death for our sins!
I see three chilling points here:
1- Caught in the Middle
2- Behold Your King!
3- Blood and Water
- Caught in the Middle
Right from the beginning do you see Pilate stuck in the middle! He knows Jesus is not guilty but yet he is worried for his own life… doesn’t want to cause problems for himself and his people.
Isn’t this whole beginning of this chapter just like our walk sometimes… there we are with the crucified Jesus beside us -
- the crowd is condemning Him… those who should know better quite often — even in the Church — and we go back and forth — trying to get out of it reasoning with the crowd instead of just saying no!
Think about the times that people want to bend and twist the interpretation of the ten commandments — or rationalize why they should not be hung up at all in our country’s public places!
In our own church on a daily basis I’m asked if I believe we should follow this or that teaching –
My mother had this happen to her recently where my two women — away from their Catholic faith and angry with the church — not realizing that if you are angry with the Church you are angry with JESUS’ Body — so really at God — which they are…
anyway… my mother just decided she was not going to debate and she said
“I believe 100% what the Catholic Church teaches because I am 100% Catholic!”
They got so mad that they said — “Let’s not talk to her because she only has ONE WAY of thinking and there is no reasoning with her!”
PRAISE THE LORD! One way! Exactly THE WAY!
You see people will want to debate and shoot holes in what you believe — what purpose does that serve?
We are not called to be rude — because LOVE is NEVER RUDE — but we are called to stick to the truth — and what the Pharisees are doing is twisting the truth so that it works in their favor!
And this is what is still going on today — people want to twist the truth so that it suits their lifestyle and they want you to go along with it so that they get the outcome they want —
The Pharisees wanted Jesus dead and they would say anything to get Pilate to do the deed — they knew they could not physically kill Him but they would use all their power to persuade Pilate to do it –
Have you ever been angry with someone — or did anyone ever hurt you and you don’t want to gossip about them — so you hold on to it -
- you feel a little alone in it — but you know you can’t sin by telling others about the injustice this person did to you —
then you run into someone another day and they start to trash talk the other person you are upset with — and WOW — how great!!!
Someone else feels the same way! You can sit back and just listen and feel good about the fact that you are not the one doing the talking and trashing… they are!!!
You are not guilty right? WRONG!
The same way the Pharisees are not going to be guilty because Pilate is doing the crucifying right? WRONG!
And by the way not the Pharisees but you and me and every sin that we have committed and will ever commit!
Many people don’t want to look at that either!
So we see that because Pilate did not know truth, he was not strong enough to do the just thing — he thought he was doing the right thing — but right for who?
And that is the question we face all the time — who are we pleasing and who are we really serving?
There are only two choices… we either serve the good or evil!
God or the enemy of God!
And so when we have things like this happen — we have to look beyond people being happy with us — we can’t be people pleasers in the army of God –
We have to know we are at war and many of our brothers and sisters don’t realize that they are in sin and in the enemies camp — we don’t get them out by joining them there!!!
We have to testify to believing in TRUTH — IN JESUS and His ways! For He is the King of Eternal Life… the Kingdom of Heaven!
- Behold Your King!
So we see Pilate trying everything he could think of to avoid crucifying Jesus — we see some very prophetic words coming from Pilate’s mouth!
First after he has Jesus scourged and the soldiers have him in a crown of thorns and with the purple cloak, Pilate says,
“BEHOLD THE MAN”
Well “The Man” represents the NEW ADAM!!! We don’t see anywhere else in the Gospel where Jesus is referred to in this way!
Pilate then becomes afraid of the crowd and what the Pharisees are saying to him… that he must crucify Jesus –
Pilate wants some answers from JESUS and frustrated tells Him that he has power over Jesus!
Of course Jesus lets him know that not only does he only have power because it was granted him and that the ones who handed Jesus over to them has the greater sin —
So Jesus was meeting Him where he was!!! It is all so incredible to me that JESUS with all he was suffering didn’t have a melt down!
Jesus didn’t lose His focus — He knew every one’s part and how they were to play it!
It was like a well written script for a show that must go on!
When make a big deal about being a friend of Caesar — that basically pushed Pilate over the edge and he is afraid — fear takes over and we see him say…
“BEHOLD YOUR KING!”
so interesting what comes out of Pilate’s mouth! This kills the Jews — and they say something that every time I hear it I think of how God must feel…
“Take Him away take Him away…crucify Him”….
and here it is…
“We have no king but Caesar”
Can you imagine what God is thinking right now — I mean God the Father — talk about hurt!
OK so this is what I always think about — imagine after all that He brought them through…
God was always their invisible God — that is what made them different — the chosen people!
Then they started to ask for a Visible God a representative of God — and they wanted a KING —
God wanted to be their King and begged them not to ask for a KING — a human king because God knew that a human king would be abusive etc… if not a good one –
Anyway… God really wanted to be their King!
But he honored their request and He had human beings anointed to be king and then prophets assigned to them to hear God’s voice but the king was really leading God’s people!
AT this point king Herod was a disaster — not even mentioned here as in the other Gospel accounts… but to see the Jews say “We have no King but Caesar!”
That is just like… your son or daughter disowning you — saying that they have no mother or father — that would cut like a knife!
And Caesar wasn’t even Jewish right? SO this was worse than no king — it was adultery!!!!
Good ole Jerusalem — as Jesus said — “How I wish to gather you like a mother gathers her young”
BUT NO!!!!
This is the worst torture ever — to hear the chosen people who He delivered out of Egypt and provided for in the desert… and those He worked all the miracles and wondrous signs for —
disowning Him!
All part of the plan but still had to hurt!
Even more than that lance that pierced Our Lord’s side!
- Blood and Water
Before Jesus is pierced we see one more BEHOLD… well maybe two!
First we see one more reference to KING by Pilate — he has the sign say Jesus of Nazareth King of the Jews in Latin, Hebrew, and Greek.
Then when Jesus is on the cross… we read that He saw His mother standing there… and the disciple whom He loved … He said…
“Woman behold your son” and to the disciple…
“Behold your mother”
And you see this WOMAN — we only see Jesus call His mother Woman when refering to her being the NEW EVE — the mother of all the Living!
And we see this title at the Wedding feast at Cana — where our Lady’s YES started the whole thing and now she is still saying YES in the midst of all her anguish and pain!
Here she was given to us as Mother — to all we sinners who killed her son! How can this be — only by DIVINE MERCY!
This was the last thing and now we read that Jesus was aware that everything was not finished…
OK so NOW — NOW it is OK for JESUS TO DRINK THE WINE!!!!
IF you have been following our agony in the garden chapters — not one exists here in JOHN — funny –
but you should remember that Jesus said that He didn’t want to drink the cup of suffering until it was ready — not until I drink it with you in the kingdom —
Jesus is going to be in the kingdom that day — as he says to the thief — (not in this chapter) but that he was going to be there with that thief — the good thief!
NOW SINCE IT IS FINISHED HE IS READY TO DRINK THE CUP and Jesus says,
I THIRST!
They gave Him some common wine and put it in a vessel
“When Jesus had taken the wine, He said, “It is finished.” And bowing his head, he handed over the spirit”
This is the great hour of Mercy — when the lance then is shot into His side and immediately blood and water flowed out!
We see right away that an eye witness has to testify this and we see about this testimony as being truth!
Testimonies were so important — it was how everything was judged!
This truth was a testimony so that YOU WOULD BELIEVE — we read!
And this blood and water flowing and no bones broken was part of a prophecy!
Everything was finished — all that Jesus had wanted to accomplish!
The blood and water flows to all who are in need of His Mercy — and we continue to receive this Mercy in the Eucharist and in Confession –
This is to many the birthing of the Church — for out of the side of Jesus — the NEW ADAM comes the NEW LIFE — the CHURCH — the BRIDE –
The same way that WOMAN came out of the SIDE of ADAM –
and this whole thing takes place right after Mary is made OUR MOTHER! The Mother of all the living! This is not good or what!
I love the image in the Passion of the Christ Movie when the soldiers take the lance to Jesus and then the soldier falls to his knees when the blood flowed — and then even Mary and John got in on it!!!
I just went to a talk last night about St. Catherine of Siena and we heard that one of her miracles was a woman who was healed with a side wound — we talked about the side of Christ and that all men and women in the church were born out of His side wound! Pretty cool!
God bless you and please share!
