John 3:16 ESV “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
1 John 4:19 ESV We love because he first loved us.
Romans 5:8 ESV But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Zephaniah 3:17 ESV The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.
1 John 3:1 ESV See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
John 12:12-18 12 The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. 13 They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, “Hosanna! ” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”“Blessed is the king of Israel!” 14 Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written: 15 “Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.” 16 At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that these things had been done to him. 17 Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word. 18 Many people, because they had heard that he had performed this sign, went out to meet him.
12The next day, the news that Jesus was on the way to Jerusalem swept through the city. A large crowd of Passover visitors 13took palm branches and went down the road to meet him. They shouted,
“Praise God! Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hail to the King of Israel!”
14Jesus found a young donkey and rode on it, fulfilling the prophecy that said:
15“Don’t be afraid, people of Jerusalem. Look, your King is coming, riding on a donkey’s colt.”
16His disciples didn’t understand at the time that this was a fulfillment of prophecy. But after Jesus entered into his glory, they remembered what had happened and realized that these things had been written about him.
17Many in the crowd had seen Jesus call Lazarus from the tomb, raising him from the dead, and they were telling others about it. 18That was the reason so many went out to meet him—because they had heard about this miraculous sign. 19Then the Pharisees said to each other, “There’s nothing we can do. Look, everyone has gone after him!” (NLT)
For@thelonelybrilliance and my other Catholic friends here’s a really interesting Polish song for Easter period.
This song is titled “Ludu, mój ludu” (”People, my people”) and it’s a lament of Christ who’s asking the Chosen Nation why did they put Him - their God - through suffering,
Each paragrath starts with:
“People, my people, what have I done to you [to deserve it]?
How have I saddened you?
How have I wronged you?”
And proceeds with depiction of good things God gave His Chosen Nation and what was done to Him during crucificion.
This is one of my favorite religious songs and one that is sung during Lent.
I hope it will get you all into a mood.
Edit:
Here’s lyrics:
Ludu, mój ludu! Cóżem ci uczynił? [People, my people, what have I done to you?] W czymem zasmucił, albo w czym zawinił? [How have I saddened you, how have I wronged you?] Jam cię wyzwolił z mocy faraona, [I’ve freed you from Pharaoh’s power] A tyś przyrządził krzyż na Me ramiona. [And you’ve put/made cross on My arms.]
Ludu, mój ludu! Cóżem ci uczynił? [People, my people, what have I done to you?] W czymem zasmucił, albo w czym zawinił? [How have I saddened you, how have I wronged you?] Jam cię wprowadził w kraj miodem płynący, [I’ve led you into the land of milk and honey] Tyś Mi zgotował śmierci znak hańbiący. [You gave Me the disgraceful sign of death.]
Ludu, mój ludu! Cóżem ci uczynił? [People, my people, what have I done to you?] W czymem zasmucił, albo w czym zawinił? [How have I saddened you, how have I wronged you?] Jam ciebie szczepił, winnico wybrana, [I’ve interlocked you, chosen vineyard.] A tyś Mnie octem poił, swego Pana. [And you watered me, Your Lord, with vinegar.]
Ludu, mój ludu! Cóżem ci uczynił? [People, my people, what have I done to you?] W czymem zasmucił, albo w czym zawinił? [How have I saddened you, how have I wronged you?] Jam dla cię spuszczał na Egipt karanie, [I’ve sent punishment on Egypt.] A tyś Mnie wydał na ubiczowanie. [And you’ve spent Me on whipping.]”
Now, I’ve stumbled upon verisons with verse like these:
“Ludu, mój ludu! Cóżem ci uczynił? [People, my people, what have I done to you?] W czymem zasmucił, albo w czym zawinił? [How have I saddened you, how have I wronged you?] Jam ciebie karmił manny rozkoszami, [i’ve feed you with the pleasures of manna lichen,] Tyś Mi odpłacił policzkowaniami. [You’ve repaid me with slapping.]
Ludu, mój ludu! Cóżem ci uczynił? [People, my people, what have I done to you?] W czymem zasmucił, albo w czym zawinił? [How have I saddened you, how have I wronged you?] Jam ci dał berło Judzie powierzone, [I gave you the Judah’s septer,] A tyś Mi wtłoczył cierniową koronę. [And you crammed thorned crown on Me.]
Many of you may see crucifixion pieces that look like this. Beautiful as they may be, I believe they fail to truly convey reality.
Before Jesus was crucified, he was scourged. The flagrum that would have been used included pieces of bone and metal woven into a leather whip. It would have torn chunks of Jesus’ flesh from his body, and left deep and bloody gashes.
After this, Jesus was taken and the scarlet robe and crown of thorns were placed on him. He was subsequently spat on and struck on the head with a reed, which would have pressed the crown further into him. The pain at this point would already have been excruciating. Many people died by the scourge.
He was then forced to carry his own cross to the place where he would be crucified. Of course this was nearly impossible, and that is why Jesus fell multiple times and why Simon the Cyrene was conscripted to help carry it.
When Jesus finally made it to Golgotha, he would first have been laid down on the cross, his hands and feet nailed to it, and then the cross would be raised. This painting illustrates the scars and blood which would be on Jesus’ body by this point.
When Jesus was on the cross, each breath would have been excruciating. The nails would be ripping at his hands, gravity taking its toll. One thing you need to keep in mind is that crucifixion was considered one of the lowest forms of death. It was shameful and dishonorable, so much so that the idea of the Son of God being crucified was itself a mockery, an insult. Romans who heard that the Christian Messiah was crucified would likely have seen this as impossible, how could God’s Son be put through such a despicable thing?
In a more spiritual sense, tradition holds that while Jesus was on the cross, he witnessed and felt every single sin that would be committed in all of time, and that because he took all of them upon himself, he was entirely cut off from God the Father. The weight of not just the world’s sin, but the entirety of humanity in all times past, present, and future, would have accompanied Jesus alongside his physical pain. This cannot be understated. Jesus did not merely experience a horrific physical death, but also the pain and suffering of all sin and of the experience of being cut off from God. Being cut off from God is one of the aspects of being in hell, so on the cross he would have experienced a sort of literal hell.
Jesus died after three hours of suffering on the cross. “My God my God, why have you forsaken me?”
Now, I want you to imagine things from the perspective of Mary. We know God does not experience emotions as we do, but I think Mary gives us a glimpse, a sort of shadow, of what God would have “felt” seeing His exalted Son cut off from him and put to death.
Mary watched her only Son, conceived by the Holy Spirit, be put through all this. Today we know how awful it is for mothers to lose their children, whether it be in a miscarriage or an accident in adult life. So, then, we know that Mary would have experienced something truly awful. I cannot fathom what it must have been like to see your son, the messiah, bloodied and crucified.
Today, let us remember what Christ did for us, and what he earned for us. He did not have to go through all this. We do not deserve salvation. But he won it for us. It is a gift freely given. So we must accept it and live our lives as he did. We must take up our own cross.
i need feminism because when jesus does a magic trick it’s a g**damn miracle but when a woman does a magic trick she gets burned at the stake
fabulous
i mean they did also kill jesus. that was a pretty significant thing that happened. like i understand where you’re coming from here but they very much did kill jesus.
“East Coker” by T. S. Eliot (excerpt) (read by Jeremy Irons)
IV.
The wounded surgeon plies the steel That questions the distempered part; Beneath the bleeding hands we feel The sharp compassion of the healer’s art Resolving the enigma of the fever chart.
Our only health is the disease If we obey the dying nurse Whose constant care is not to please But to remind of our, and Adam’s curse, And that, to be restored, our sickness must grow worse.
The whole earth is our hospital Endowed by the ruined millionaire, Wherein, if we do well, we shall Die of the absolute paternal care That will not leave us, but prevents us everywhere.
The chill ascends from feet to knees, The fever sings in mental wires. If to be warmed, then I must freeze And quake in frigid purgatorial fires Of which the flame is roses, and the smoke is briars.
The dripping blood our only drink, The bloody flesh our only food: In spite of which we like to think That we are sound, substantial flesh and blood— Again, in spite of that, we call this Friday good.
East Coker is the second poem of T. S. Eliot’s Four Quartets. It was started as a way for Eliot to get back into writing poetry and was modelled after Burnt Norton. It was finished during early 1940 and printed for the Easter edition of the 1940 New English Weekly.
“When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his house. (John 19:26-27)
