Day 36
John 19: 24b-30
So the soldiers did these things, 25but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, "Woman, behold, your son!" 27Then he said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother!" And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.
The Death of Jesus
28After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), "I thirst." 29A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. 30When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, "It is finished," and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
'It is Finished' (John 19: 24b-30)
The usual crowd had gathered to watch the execution, including a handful of women who knew Jesus. It is not certain if there were three or four women in this group. It hinges on the phrase 'his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas' (verse 25). If this was describing the same person, the group consisted of three women. However it is unlikely that Jesus' mother (unnamed in this gospel) would have had a sister, also called Mary. So it is probably right to suggest that the group consisted of four women. In spite of the agony of the cross Jesus managed to talk to his mother and at least one of the other women.
Jesus died with a cry of victory on his lips. All that he had come to do had been accomplished. John doesn't say anything about the way Jesus said, 'It is finished' (verse 30), but the other writers tell us that it was with a loud cry (Matthew 27:50; Mark 15:27; Luke 23:46). The cry could mean several things. It could simply be saying, 'My life is over', but it is much more likely that, with a shout of triumph, he was saying, 'I've done what the Father sent me to do.'
Think: What is remarkable about the way the sufferings of Jesus are described here? Is it healthy for us to try to imagine the agony of Jesus?
