Please read this passage before reading this homily.
I encourage you to read both chapters. I will make some comments on four points.
- No one killed Jesus. Jesus lay down his life of his own free ill. See John 10:18.
- Jesus went to his death like a king going to his coronation. No one upstaged Jesus; he had the upper hand with Pilate, with the Jewish Council and with the disciples.
- Like a good and gracious Jewish man, he takes care of his mother and the Church that sprung from his pierced side. The scene with Jesus, Mary and John is his last will and testament,
- The soldier pierced the side of Jesus blood and water flowed out.
- From the side of the sleeping Adam (Genesis 2:21-2) God formed woman. From the side of the sleeping Christ, God formed Jesus’ bride, the Church.
- Blood and water recall the water of baptism by which we become members of Christ’s body, and the blood of Christ we share in the Eucharist.
What happens tomorrow, the Saturday before Easter? Ancient reflections on the death and resurrection has Jesus descending into the places of the dead and calling Adam and Eve and our other ancestors out of death into the resurrection. In the Eastern Church, the scenes of the resurrection incorporate Adam, Eve, the patriarchs, and other deceased figures into the picture. Western Christians usually depicts Jesus alone in his resurrection.