We are in the midst of John 19 in my class, and I prepared the handout below for my group. I included a couple of observations about each one, gleaned from several sources (including my own mind). I welcome any observations and/or anecdotes. We will be talking about these this Sunday morning.
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THE SEVEN SAYINGS OF CHRIST ON THE CROSS
NOTE: The order is based upon a harmony of the four canonical gospels. The citation(s) for each of the sayings may be found in parentheses.
1. Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing. (Luke 23:34)
Many early manuscripts of the gospel of Luke delete this saying.
2. Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise. (Luke 23:43)
This is the only instance of the word paradeiso (from the Persian pairidaeza) in the gospels.
Protestants punctuate the saying as above. Roman Catholics place the comma after the word “today” (“Truly I tell you today, you will…”), supporting their doctrine of purgatory. Koine Greek contains no marks of punctuation.
3. Woman, here is your son….Here is your mother. (John 19:26-27)
Tradition makes John (“the disciple Jesus loved”) the recipient of the second part of this saying.
4. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? (Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34)
This is the only saying of Jesus quoted in the gospels of Matthew and Mark. Both of these gospel accounts include the quote in Aramaic, in slightly different form. Matthew has a version closer to ancient Hebrew:
Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?
Mark’s gospel uses a more common dialect:
Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?
In both gospels, onlookers misunderstand Jesus to be crying for help from Elijah (Eliyyâ).
This is the first verse of Psalm 22, which Jesus may have continued to recite silently. (See below for an interesting conjecture about this.)
5. I am thirsty. (John 19:28)
The evangelist attributes to this statement the fulfillment of Psalm 69:21.
6. It is finished. (John 19:30)
In Greek, this saying is a single word: Tetelestai. This word is found on ancient papyri receipts for payment of taxes, where it would be translated “Paid in full.”
7. Father, into your hands I commend my spirit. (Luke 23:46)
In Matthew and Mark, Jesus is recorded as crying out at the point of death, but no words are given. According to Matthew, “Jesus cried again with a loud voice and breathed his last.” (Matthew 27:50) In Mark, “Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last.” (Mark 15:36)
This statement is also a quote from a psalm, this time Psalm 31:5. It is possible that Jesus was reciting the Hebrew psalter to himself on the cross, with only Psalm 22:1 and Psalm 31:5 being audible.
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Hey Jan. I've enjoyed checking in and learning more about the things you've posted here. Good stuff.
ReplyDeleteI'm wondering about point 4, though. What I understand from the scriptures is that Christ's atonement began in the Garden of Gethsemane and ended with his crucifixion. He suffered in the Garden every sin, temptation, and pain of every human who ever has lived, who is living now, and who ever will live; so tremendous was the weight of sin, it caused even our Savior to bleed from every pore. Since spiritual severance from God is one of the consequences of sin, it stands to reason Christ experienced this separation as well, lest the atonement not be perfect. So, for the first time in His mortal probation, Christ would have been spiritually alone, without the presence of his Father in heaven to comfort and guide him.
Here is a link to a message I found helpful on this topic: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpFhS0dAduc
I agree totally that this saying confirmed the total separation of Christ from the First Person of the Trinity during this time, and I plan to mention this in my class. I just found it interesting that the fulfillment of Psalm 22 (especially as the rest of the psalm unfolds) could have caused Jesus (separated from the Father, feeling supremely human) to recall the psalm on the cross and -- perhaps -- continue praying through the psalms. And after Psalm 22 comes Psalm 23. Could this psalm have provided comfort for the suffering Jesus just as it does for so many of us?
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments!
Ah, that's very interesting. I like the image of Christ relying the scriptural support in his greatest time of mortal suffering, providing us with yet one more example of righteous living and humility before his death.
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