15. Jesus Dies (from The Passion of Christ: A Gay Vision) by Douglas Blanchard
“He said, ‘It is finished’; and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.” -- John 19:30 (RSV)
As Jesus hung dying on the cross, the crowd mocked him. A few of his supporters watched from the distance. Among them were his mother and the man he loved. One of Jesus’ last wishes was to make them into a new kind of family. When he saw his mother and his beloved standing together at the cross, he used some of his last breath to call to his mother, Woman, behold your son! And to his beloved, he said, Behold your mother! They were helpless to stop the tragedy, but they chose to be present and keep on loving. All the suffering of a broken world seemed to come together at the crossroads of those terrible hours. After about three hours on the cross, Jesus shouted, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Nothing left, he emptied himself completely. With another loud cry, he died. His loving heart stopped beating. The death of Jesus was unique, and yet it was also terribly common. Whenever anyone commits violence against another, Christ is crucified.
God, help me find meaning in the brutal death of Jesus.
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Bible background
John 19:26-27: “When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing near…”
More resources
“The Crucifixion of Christ” painting and narrative by Becki Jayne Harrelson
Jesus dies on the cross (excerpt from “At the Cross” by Kittredge Cherry)
Next: 16. Jesus Is Buried
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This is part of a series based on “The Passion of Christ: A Gay Vision,” a set of 24 paintings by Douglas Blanchard, with text by Kittredge Cherry.
Click here for the whole Gay Passion series or click the titles below to view individual posts in the series.
Introduction
1. The Human One (Son of Man) with Job and Isaiah
2. Jesus Enters the City
3. Jesus Drives Out the Money Changers
4. Jesus Preaches in the Temple
5. The Last Supper
6. Jesus Prays Alone
7. Jesus Is Arrested
8. Jesus Before the Priests
9. Jesus Before the Magistrate
10. Jesus Before the People
11. Jesus Before the Soldiers
12. Jesus Is Beaten
13. Jesus Goes to His Execution
14. Jesus Is Nailed to the Cross
15. Jesus Dies
16. Jesus Is Buried
17. Jesus Among the Dead
18. Jesus Rises
19. Jesus Appears to Mary
20. Jesus Appears at Emmaus
21. Jesus Appears to His Friends
22. Jesus Returns to God
23. The Holy Spirit Arrives
24. The Trinity
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Scripture quotation is from Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
2 comments:
By the incredible synchronicity of the Holy Spirit, today's post is appropriate not only for Good Friday (of course) but also for Earth Day. The background of factories and technology and pollution also speaks to the way in modern times we are crucifying our environment, far beyond what could have been imagined 2000 years ago. Let's pray that when Jesus said when he was lifted up, he would draw ALL THINGS to himself, we may indeed see a resurrection of our tortured planet as well!
The convergence of Good Friday and Earth Day does indeed shed fresh light on both events. Extra prayers for the earth today as it suffers its own kind of crucifixion at the hands of human greed! Thank you, Trudie, for calling our attention to this. I ran out of time and energy to do an Earth Day post this year. But there are TWO Gay Passion posts today, so that the timing will work for posting Blanchard’s “Jesus Rises” on Easter.
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