April 14: The Piercing of Jesus
♫ Music:
Day 45 - Friday, April 14
Good Friday
The Piercing of Jesus
Scripture: John 19:31-36
Since it was the day of Preparation, and so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away. So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. He who saw it has borne witness—his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth—that you also may believe. For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken.” And again another Scripture says, “They will look on him whom they have pierced.”
Poetry:
"Hymn for Good Friday"
Today He who hung the earth upon the waters is hung on the tree,
The King of the angels is decked with a crown of thorns.
He who wraps the heavens in clouds is wrapped in the purple of mockery.
He who freed Adam in the Jordan is slapped on the face.
The Bridegroom of the Church is affixed to the Cross with nails.
The Son of the virgin is pierced by a spear.
We worship Thy passion, O Christ.
Show us also Thy glorious resurrection.
HE RESTED FOR US
The last chorus of Rossini’s Stabat Mater summons the powers of heaven in a grand double fugue that signals once and for all the completion of Christ’s salvific work on the cross. “Amen! Amen! Through time everlasting,” rings out with finality as we look on him whom we have pierced.
Yes, we do look on him whom we have pierced.
And in looking at him, all else fades. For what else is there to see? We go to meet our maker, but we have pierced him, and hung him on a cross – him in whom all things hold together (Col. 1:17). And as his life fades, as death draws near, the light fades around us, and withdraws. We are left with darkness, with the sense that there is nothing left to look at but our Lord, in his death.
And as the light fades—nothing of the surrounding scene but a faint blue remains, before it too is snuffed out—as is the powerful sound of Rossini’s music. The chaos, the noise of the crowds and the soldiers, the cries of those crucified at his left and his right… it all fades, and we are left with a pictorial representation of silence, a deep and impermeable silence and stillness, as the senses reel and fall numb. This is the silence of grief, the silence of death.
For this is Good Friday, and for the Jews Sabbath is about to begin. But it is a Sabbath like none other, for here the maker bears the sins of the world, and one of those great sins of creation and its creatures is our refusal to rest with our Maker, the desecration of God’s Sabbaths (Ez. 20:21) that we commit with our “untamed rebel hearts.”
Why did God become clay, become creature, become man? So that in him, all creation could have its lawful rest. So that in him the Sabbath could be fulfilled. So that in him, all activity could cease.
And so we look on him whom we have pierced, and in looking, we cease from all other activity. We rest in him, who rested for us, who bore in himself the fate of those who did not keep the Sabbath of the Lord. And in that silence we wait—for the power and joy of the resurrection, and the life-giving activity welling up from the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead.
But not yet.
Now we look.
Now we wait.
Now we rest.
PRAYER
Father, help us rest in your Son by the Power of your Spirit. In our rest, allow us to know and see Jesus. And in and through that rest, fill us with the joy of service, the joy of spreading the Good News of the rest and peace available to all in your Son.
Amen
Adam Johnson
Associate Professor of Theology
Torrey Honors Institute
About the Artwork:
Jesus on the Cross
Simon Bisley
Oil on canvas
About the Artist:
Simon Bisley is a British comic book artist. His style, reliant on traditional paints, acrylics, inks and multiple-mediums, is strongly influenced by Frank Frazetta, Gustav Klimt, Salvador Dalí, and Richard Corben. He also gets inspiration from rock album covers and graffiti as well as traditional comics art. In turn he and his work has inspired various forms in media, including the Beast in a 2006 Doctor Who television episode. His simple rendition of Jesus on the Cross movingly captures the immediate moments following Christ’s death.
About the Music:
“Stabat Mater - Amen”
Lyrics:
Amen. Through time everlasting.
About the Composer:
Gioachino Antonio Rossini (1792-1868) was an Italian composer who wrote operas, as well as sacred music, art songs, chamber music and piano pieces. His best-known operas include the Italian comedies The Barber of Seville,The Italian Girl in Algiers and Cinderella. His last opera, the epic William Tell, replete with its iconic overture, helped usher in French grand opera. Rossini was one of the most renowned public figures of his time--nicknamed "The Italian Mozart” and "Signor Crescendo.” During a lengthy season in which he was affected by both physical and mental illnesses, he composed the Stabat Mater. In 1842 the poet Heine wrote after hearing Rossini’s Stabat Mater that the theater seemed "a vestibule of heaven.” The audiences were deeply moved by the somber beauty of the long opening and taken by the beautiful melodies of the following movements. As evidence of Rossini's serious purpose the work ends with a great double fugue.
About the Performers:
St. Cecilia Academy Orchestra & Chorus is one of the oldest musical institutions in the world, founded by Sixtus V in 1585, which invoked two saints prominent in Western musical history: Gregory the Great, for whom the Gregorian chant is named, and Saint Cecilia, the patron saint of music. Today it is an academy active in music scholarship, music education and performance.
Norbert Balatsch, Conductor (b.1928) is an Austrian conductor and chorus master. He began his career as a baritone in the opera chorus of the Vienna State Opera. He has prepared choruses for numerous recordings, two of which have won Grammy Awards. He is currently the chorus master of the Coro dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia.
About the Poetry:
"Hymn for Good Friday" is ancient music that is still being sung in the Eastern Orthodox Church today. This poem is chanted on Thursday evening of Holy Week during readings of the twelve accounts of Christ's passion in the Gospels. The hymn is powerful because it contrasts Christ, the "Great Creator" who was present at the foundation of the world, with Christ, the "Man of Sorrows."
About the Devotion Writer:
Adam Johnson is a theologian who focuses on the doctrine of the atonement, exploring the many ways in which the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ effect the reconciliation of all things to God. His most recent book is: The Reconciling Wisdom of God: Reframing the Doctrine of the Atonement.