Performance

Task
In
Christian
Living
Kyle del Rosario
Grade 10 St. Louise de Marillac

The First Word:

Father, forgive them, for they dont know what theyre doing.
(Luke 23:34)
Reflection
It makes sense that the first word of Jesus from the cross is a word of
forgiveness. Thats the point of the cross, after all. Jesus is dying so that we
might be forgiven for our sins, so that we might be reconciled to God for
eternity.
But the forgiveness of God through Christ doesnt come only to those who
dont know what they are doing when they sin. In the mercy of God, we
receive his forgiveness even when we do what we know to be wrong. God
chooses to wipe away our sins, not because we have some convenient
excuse, and not because we have tried hard to make up for them, but
because he is a God of amazing grace, with mercies that are new every
morning.
As we read the words, Father, forgive them, may we understand that we
too are forgiven through Christ. As John writes in his first letter, But if we
confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to
cleanse us from all wickedness (1 John 1:9). Because Christ died on the
cross for us, we are cleansed from all wickedness, from every last sin. We are
united with God the Father as his beloved children. We are free to approach
his throne of grace with our needs and concerns. God has removed our sins
as far from us as the east is from the west (Ps 103:13). What great news!
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The Second Word:

I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.
(Luke 23:43)
Reflection
As Jesus hung on the cross, he was mocked by the leaders and the soldiers.
One of the criminals being crucified with him added his own measure of
scorn. But the other crucified criminal sensed that Jesus was being treated
unjustly. After speaking up for Jesus, he cried out, Jesus, remember me
when you come into your kingdom (v. 42).
Jesus responded to this criminal, I assure you, today you will be with me in
paradise (v. 43). The word paradise, from the Greek word paradeisos, which
meant garden, was used in the Greek Old Testament as a word for the
Garden of Eden. In Judaism of the time of Jesus it was associated with
heaven, and also with the future when God would restore all things to the
perfection of the Garden. Paradise was sometimes thought to be the place
where righteous people went after death. This seems to be the way Jesus
uses paradise in this passage.
Thus we have encountered one of the most astounding and encouraging
verses in all of Scripture. Jesus promised that the criminal would be with him
in paradise. Yet the text of Luke gives us no reason to believe this man had
been a follower of Jesus, or even a believer in him in any well-developed
sense. He might have felt sorry for his sins, but he did not obviously repent.
Rather, the criminals cry to be remembered seems more like a desperate,
last-gasp effort.
Though we should make every effort to have right theology, and though we
should live our lives each day as disciples of Jesus, in the end, our
relationship with him comes down to simple trust. Jesus, remember me, we
cry. And Jesus, embodying the mercy of God, says to us, You will be with me

in paradise. We are welcome there not because we have right theology, and
not because we are living rightly, but because God is merciful and we have
put our trust in Jesus.
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The Third Word:

Dear woman, here is your son.
(John 19:26)
Reflection
As Jesus was dying, his mother was among those who had remained with
him. Most of the male disciples had fled, with the exception of one whom the
Fourth Gospel calls the disciple he loved. We cant be exactly sure of the
identity of this beloved disciple, though many interpreters believe he is John,
who is also the one behind the writing of this Gospel.
No matter who the beloved disciple was, its clear that Jesus was forging a
relationship between this disciple and his mother, one in which the disciple
would take care of Mary financially and in other ways. Jesus wanted to make
sure she would be in good hands after his death.
The presence of Mary at the cross adds both humanity and horror to the
scene. We are reminded that Jesus was a real human being, a man who had
once been a boy who had once been carried in the womb of his mother. Even
as he was dying on the cross as the Savior of the world, Jesus was also a son,
a role he didnt neglect in his last moments.
When we think of the crucifixion of Jesus from the perspective of his mother,
our horror increases dramatically. The death of a child is one of the most
painful of all parental experiences. To watch ones beloved child experience
the extreme torture of crucifixion must have been unimaginably terrible.

Were reminded of the prophecy of Simeon shortly after Jesus birth, when he
said to Mary: And a sword will pierce your very soul (Luke 2:35).
This scene helps us not to glorify or spiritualize the crucifixion of Jesus. He
was a real man, true flesh and blood, a son of a mother, dying with
unbearable agony. His suffering was altogether real, and he took it on for you
and for me.
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The Fourth Word:

My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
(Mark 15:34)

Reflection
As Jesus was dying on the cross, he echoed the beginning of Psalm 22, which
reads:
My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
Why are you so far away when I groan for help?
Every day I call to you, my God, but you do not answer.
Every night you hear my voice, but I find no relief. (vv. 1-2)
In the words of the psalmist Jesus found a way to express the cry of his
heart: Why had God abandoned him? Why did his Father turn his back on
Jesus in his moment of greatest agony?
This side of heaven, we will never fully know what Jesus was experiencing in
this moment. Was he asking this question because, in the mystery of his
incarnational suffering, he didnt know why God had abandoned him? Or was

his cry not so much a question as an expression of profound agony? Or was it

both?
What we do know is that Jesus entered into the Hell of separation from God.
The Father abandoned him because Jesus took upon himself the penalty for
our sins. In that excruciating moment, he experienced something far more
horrible than physical pain. The beloved Son of God knew what it was like to
be rejected by the Father. As we read in 2 Corinthians 5:21, God made him
who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the
righteousness of God (NIV).
I can write these words. I can say, truly, that the Father abandoned the Son
for our sake, for the salvation of the world. But can I really grasp the mystery
and the majesty of this truth? Hardly. As Martin Luther once said, God
forsaking God. Who can understand it? Yet even my miniscule grasp of this
reality calls me to confession, to humility, to worship, to adoration.
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The Fifth Word:

I am thirsty.
(John 19:28)
Reflection
No doubt Jesus experienced extreme thirst while being crucified. He would
have lost a substantial quantity of bodily fluid, both blood and sweat, through
what he had endured even prior to crucifixion. Thus his statement, I am
thirsty was, on the most obvious level, a request for something to drink. In
response the soldiers gave Jesus sour wine (v. 29), a cheap beverage
common among lower class people in the time of Jesus.
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The Sixth Word:

It is finished!
(John 19:30)
Reflection
I never saw a more difficult film to watch than Mel Gibsons The Passion of
the Christ. For most of that movie I wanted to avert my eyes. It was horrible
to watch even a cinematic version of a crucifixion. And it was beyond
comprehension to think that this actually happened to somebody, and not
just anybody, but my Lord and Savior. I had studied the crucifixion before,
and knew in my head what Jesus experienced. But seeing a visual
presentation of his suffering was almost more than I could bear. When The
Passion of the Christ was over, I felt palpable relief. Thank goodness it was
finished.
When Jesus said It is finished, surely he was expressing relief that his
suffering was over. It is finished meant, in part, This is finally done! But
the Greek verb translated as It is finished (tetelestai) means more than just
this. Eugene Peterson captures the full sense of the verb in The Message:
Its done . . . complete. Jesus had accomplished his mission. He had
announced and inaugurated the kingdom of God. He had revealed the love
and grace of God. And he had embodied that love and grace by dying for the
sin of the world, thus opening up the way for all to live under the reign of
God.
Because Jesus finished his work of salvation, you and I dont need to add to
it. In fact, we cant. He accomplished what we never could, taking our sin
upon himself and giving us his life in return. Jesus finished that for which he
had been sent, and we are the beneficiaries of his unique effort. Because of
what he finished, you and I are never finished. We have hope for this life
and for the next. We know that nothing can separate us from Gods love. One
day what God has begun in us will also be finished, by his grace. Until that
day, we live in the confidence of Jesus cry of victory: It is finished!
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The Seventh Word:

Father, I entrust my spirit into your hands!
(Luke 23:46)
Reflection
Two of the last seven words of Jesus were quotations from the Psalms.
Earlier Jesus had Psalm 22, My God, my God, why have you abandoned
me? to express his anguish. Later he borrowed from Psalm 31, which comes
to us from Luke as Father, I entrust my spirit into your hands.
On an obvious level, Jesus was putting his post mortem future in the hands of
his Heavenly Father. It was as if he was saying, Whatever happens to me
after I die is your responsibility, Father.
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