Jesus watched the people responsible for his death from the cross and prayed: Father, forgive them, they do not know what they are doing
This is another in a series for Before the ending of the day where I am considering each of the last words of Jesus as he died on the cross. I wonder what meaning they may have for our own contemplation of death and dying.
Forgiveness is not easy path to follow. How can it be explored? Continue reading
Jesus said to the criminal dying beside him: Truly I tell you today you will be with me in paradise.
This is another in a series for Before the ending of the day where I am considering each of the last words of Jesus as he died on the cross. I wonder what meaning they may have for our own contemplation of death and dying.
Jesus died, crucified between two criminals. They argued over Jesus and his forgiveness of his executioners. One thought Jesus could get them out of there, the other saw an innocent man who shouldn’t have been on the cross in the first place. (Luke 23:32-43)
Jesus promised this man that they would be both be in Paradise that very day.
I wonder whether Jesus was being ironic; after all we are told in John’s gospel that there was a garden nearby and the meaning of Paradise is a beautiful garden. “You see that peaceful place over there? We’ll soon be there.
The last words of Jesus were My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
This is the first in a series for Before the ending of the day when I will consider each of the last words of Jesus on the cross and their meaning for our own contemplation of death and dying.
In Mark’s gospel 14:33-39 Jesus’s final words are full of fear and puzzled anger. He is dying terror-stricken and alone.
He might have saved others but he cannot save himself from the inevitable.What can a God-forsaken Christ say to us about dying?
It surprises me how often I find Christians uncomfortable with the thought of dying. You’d think they did not know Jesus said: take up your cross daily and follow me.
The cross was a weapon of mass destruction in the hands of the Roman Empire at the time of Jesus. It was used to end its victims’ lives in humiliation, exposure and vulnerability. A person’s life ended in a pain-filled death.
Faith in Christ invites us to prepare to die. Continue reading
windingquest 