And immediately blood and water flowed out

29 MARCH (Jn 18,1-19,42)

Jesus is the true Messiah of the Lord. Pilate writes it at the top of the cross: “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.” The apostle John, illuminated by the Holy Spirit knows how to capture in every smallest event that occurs, the truth on his Master. The Jews wished Pilate changed the written word and transformed it from an objective reality into a subjective truth. Pilate is firmly opposed. The truth of Jesus must remain in history as a true objective fact: “He is the King of the Jews.” This truth is attested by history. It cannot be an auto-proclamation of the Crucified. John sees this and teaches it with great insight of Holy Spirit wisdom and intelligence.

So they took Jesus, and carrying the cross himself he went out to what is called the Place of the Skull, in Hebrew, Golgotha. There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, with Jesus in the middle. Pilate also had an inscription written and put on the cross. It read, “Jesus the Nazorean, the King of the Jews.” Now many of the Jews read this inscription, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek. So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that he said, ‘I am the King of the Jews.'” Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.” When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four shares, a share for each soldier. They also took his tunic, but the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from the top down. So they said to one another, “Let’s not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it will be,” in order that the passage of scripture might be fulfilled (that says): “They divided my garments among them, and for my vesture they cast lots.” This is what the soldiers did.

Jesus is a gift of love for humanity. All of himself and what somehow he “owns”, what is his, must be given as a gift. He has already given his clothes. The Mother remains to him. He makes a gift to John of her. He also makes of John a gift to his Mother. Now Jesus is really poor, the poorest. He has given everything to man. Nothing remains to him to donate while he is still alive. He really annihilated himself.

Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his home. After this, aware that everything was now finished, in order that the scripture might be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I thirst.” There was a vessel filled with common wine. So they put a sponge soaked in wine on a sprig of hyssop and put it up to his mouth. When Jesus had taken the wine, he said, “It is finished.” And bowing his head, he handed over the spirit.

Jesus possesses a divine gift, the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was not yet given, because only with his death he could have donated it. The soldier stabs him in the chest and water and blood, the Holy Spirit and the grace that must flood the earth, flow from the wound. This blood and this water must always flow from the body of Christ, which is also the body of the Church. It is the mystery of salvation that is accomplished.

Now since it was preparation day, in order that the bodies might not remain on the cross on the Sabbath, for the Sabbath day of that week was a solemn one, the Jews asked Pilate that their legs be broken and they be taken down. So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and then of the other one who was crucified with Jesus. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs, but one soldier thrust his lance into his side, and immediately blood and water flowed out. An eyewitness has testified, and his testimony is true; he knows that he is speaking the truth, so that you also may (come to) believe. For this happened so that the scripture passage might be fulfilled: “Not a bone of it will be broken.” And again another passage says: “They will look upon him whom they have pierced.”

From the cross Jesus reveals himself as the true Lamb of the Passover. He is the Lamb who takes away the sins of the world, but he is also the Lamb whose flesh is given as food to the pilgrims of new hope. Jesus is the Lamb Shepherd. He is the Lamb who gives himself as food to his sheep. It is the Shepherd who leads his sheep to the eternal pastures of Heaven. He is the Shepherd who quenches with his blood and feeds with his flesh.

Virgin Mary, Mother of the Redemption, Angels and Saints give us the truth of Jesus.