What Christ said on the cross. The last words of Jesus on earth. The seven words of the Savior on the cross. Hieromonk Dometian, Novosibirsk

First. Praying for those who crucified, He said this to His Father: “Father! Forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing ”(Luke 23, 34). Remembering this, God-loving person, you forgive your enemies' sins, praying that their sins will be forgiven. Likewise, with tenderness and tears, ask God for forgiveness, saying: I have sinned, forgive me!

Second. When those passing by blasphemed Him, shaking their heads, and said: “Eh! Destroying the temple and building in three days! If you are the Son of God, save yourself and come down from the Cross ”(Matt. 27, 40; Mark 15, 29), then the robbers, crucified with Him, reviled Him. Jesus, hearing how the ungrateful people and His enemies, even on the Cross, insulted Him with their ingratitude and reviled Him, cried out loudly, saying: “My God, My God! Why did you forsake Me! " (Matthew 27:46). Remembering these words of Christ, and you exclaim to Him in great tenderness of heart, exclaim to God, saying: “God the Son, the Word of God, Christ my Savior, suffering for me on the Cross with flesh, hear me crying to You: My God, why are You left me? Raise the fallen one! Revive the slain with a multitude of sins, lest I perish in sins! Accept my repentance and have mercy upon me! "

Third. One of the evildoers hanged with Him blasphemed Him, saying: "If you are the Christ, save yourself and us" (Luke 23, 39). Another stopped him, saying: “Or are you not afraid of God, when you yourself are condemned to the same? And we were justly condemned, because we received what was worthy according to our deeds, but He did nothing wrong ”. And he said to Jesus: “Remember me, Lord, when you come into your kingdom! And Jesus said to him: “Truly I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise” (Luke 23, 43).

Reflecting on this merciful word of Christ to the repentant robber, we will also approach Him with zealous repentance, confessing our sins just as the prudent robber did not hide his sins, but confessed that he suffers for his merits and for his sins. In addition, he confessed that the Son of God was innocent, and believed that He was not just a man, but the Lord. He directed his cry to Him, because he believed in Him as the King and Lord of the True God. Therefore, the execution, perpetrated over him, was imputed to him as a punishment for his sins, and he departed, according to the Lord, into His kingdom. So, we cry out to Him with repentance and we, like a robber: “Remember me, Lord, when I come into Your kingdom!” (Jac. 23, 42)

Fourth. Jesus, seeing His Mother and the disciple whom He loved standing at the Cross, “says to His Mother:“ Wife! This is Your son. " Then he says to the student: "This is your Mother!" (John 19:27). Here I will quote the word of St. John Chrysostom about the crucifixion of the Lord, to the lamentation of the Most Holy Theotokos. “Why did the Mother, who gave birth to the Most Pure One, suffer unbearably? For what reason?! Because She is the Mother! What sting did not sting her soul ?! What arrows did not pierce Her heart? What spears did not tear Her whole being to pieces! Therefore, She could not resist with her friends who were standing with Her near the Cross, condolences and weeping with Her about misfortune, She could not even stand nearby. Not having the strength to endure the trembling of the heart and wanting to hear the last words of her beloved Son, she fell to Him and, standing at the Cross and sobbing, cried out with a groan: “What does this horror, unbearable for My eyes, My Lord? What is this miracle that obscures the light of the sun, O My Son? What is this bewildered sacrament, sweet Jesus? I cannot see You naked, clothed with light, like robes! But now what do I see? The warriors cast lots about Your clothes, about the clothes that I have woven with My own hands. My soul is tormented, seeing You hanging in the middle of the whole universe on a high tree between two villains. You bring one into paradise, showing the image of a pagan conversion, and you are patient with another blasphemer, who is an image of Jewish bitterness. About envy! You have bypassed all the righteous who have lived from the ages and touched My Sweetest Child. O premium and ethereal Forces! Get together with Me and weep. O sun! Have compassion for My Child; transform into darkness, for soon the light of my eyes will descend under the earth. Oh moon! Hide your rays, for the dawn of my soul is already entering the grave. Where has Thy beauty disappeared, "the fairest of all the sons of men" (see Ps. 44: 3)? How has the lightness of your eyes darkened, the eye that drains the depths? " Having said this, the Mother of God was exhausted and, standing before the Cross, covering Her face with her hands, was perplexed in despair. Jesus, bowing His head to the right side and quietly turning his mouth away, said: “Woman! This is Thy son, ”pointing to His disciple John the Theologian. Thinking about all this, orthodox soul, pray to God with tears, saying: "Lord, have mercy."

Fifth. After that, Jesus, knowing that everything had already happened, said that the Scripture might be fulfilled: I thirst (John 19:28). A vessel full of vinegar stood close by. The soldiers, filling a sponge with vinegar, put it on a cane and pushed it to His mouth. Remembering this, with tenderness of heart we exclaim to Him: “Crucified for us, Christ our Savior, our sweetness, give us a drink of sweetness from the abundance of Thy house, and when you come to judge with glory, let us be satisfied, as Thy glory appears. Here, do not despise us who are hungry and thirsty, but grant us worthy partakers of the Most Pure Mysteries of the Body and Blood that You shed for us, make us worthy and not condemned forever and ever ”.

Sixth. When Jesus took vinegar, He said, "It is finished!" (John 19:30). Remembering this word, say this: “Christ, our Savior and Redeemer! Make us perfect before You, so that, walking in the way of Your commandments, we may be perfect in good deeds and hear this exalted call: “Come, blessed of My Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matthew 25, 34).

Seventh. Exclaiming loudly, Jesus said, “Father! Into Thy hands I commend my spirit ”(Luke 23:46). Having said this, He bowed His head and gave up the ghost. Here, holy thought of God, think so. Who betrayed the spirit? Son of God, our Creator and our Redeemer. Therefore, with a great desire of your heart, say to Him: “When the terrible hour of separation of my soul from my body comes, then, my Redeemer, take it into Your hands and keep it free from all calamities, may my soul not see the dark gaze of wicked demons, but yes saved will pass all these ordeals. Oh, our Savior! We firmly hope to receive this from Your love for mankind and mercy. "

Since then it was Friday, so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on Saturday, “for that Saturday was a great day” (John 19:31), the Jews prayed to Pilate to break the legs of the hanged ones and remove them. The soldiers, having come, broke the legs of the first, and then the other, crucified with Christ. But they did not break Jesus' legs, for they saw that He had already died, but one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately Blood and water flowed out: Blood for our sanctification, but water for ablution. Then the whole creature was struck with fear, seeing the life of all dead and hanging on the tree. Then Joseph of Arimathea came to ask for the Body of Jesus and, having taken it down from the tree, laid it in a new tomb. "Resurrect, O Lord our God, and deliver us to Thy name" (Psalm 48:27). Amen.

Calvary. Nailing to the cross

The crucifixion of Jesus Christ on the cross at Calvary is described by all four evangelists - their stories differ only in some details. But before characterizing the pictorial interpretations of these stories, it is necessary to reconstruct the sequence of events that took place on Calvary, in other words, to compare these testimonies, since in this case, as in the description of other episodes from the life of Christ, they complement each other.

Calvary

The ancient tradition claimed that the name Calvary(translated from Greek - "place of execution", "skull") comes from the fact that the head of Adam was buried in this place and now Christ, the New Adam, takes upon Himself a voluntary death to heal the Old Adam, "So that where the beginning of death was, there the abolition of it also took place." According to another legend, on the same mountain, Abraham once lifted a sacrificial knife against Isaac, and now the true Lamb of God here will be "slain" for the sins of the world.

Sponge warrior

According to an ancient custom, the convicts were given a narcotic drink made of wine and myrrh, somewhat dulling suffering. The contradiction in the indication of what exactly they gave Jesus to drink when they brought Him to Golgotha ​​- vinegar with bile (Matthew) or wine with myrrh (Mark) - is apparently only apparent: if we compare the stories of all four Gospel writers, it turns out that Jesus was asked to drink twice, and the first time it was an intoxicating (narcotic) remedy (wine with myrrh), intended to relieve physical torment (Christ rejected him), and the second time after His exclamation: "Thirsty"- vinegar (John) or even mixed with bile (Matthew), in order to mock His end with new torments. This second drink is nothing more than the drink prophesied about in the psalms: "My tongue clings to my throat"(Ps. 21:16) and "And they gave me gall for food, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink."(Psalm 68:22). It should only be borne in mind that sour wine was then called vinegar. The Lord, having tasted (i.e., having learned what was being given to Him), refused, wishing to endure torment voluntarily.

Nailing to the cross

The soldiers tore off Jesus' clothes, stretched Him on the cross, and began hammering nails into His body. Instead of the usual screams and curses in such cases, the crucifixes heard the prayer of Christ: “Father, forgive them! For they do not know what they are doing "(Luke 23:34). The Lord taught mankind love by His example.

In the era of Ancient Rome, a person condemned to be executed by crucifixion, when he was led to the place of execution, a plate was hung on his chest with the inscription, for which he was condemned. By order of Pilate, an inscription in three languages ​​was nailed over the head of Jesus, signifying His guilt: "Jesus of Nazareth is the King of the Jews" (John 19:19). The high priests specifically went to Pilate to ask for a change in the inscription: "Write that He said He was King." But Pilate, irritated by the behavior of the Jewish clergy, refused them, wishing to humiliate them, first, and pay a posthumous tribute to the extraordinary Condemned, and secondly.

Warriors Playing and Dividing the Clothes of Christ

Having completed the crucifixion, the soldiers began to divide His clothes among themselves, and the whole-woven tunic, woven according to legend by the hands of the Virgin Mary, decided not to tear, but to throw lots among themselves for it. The warriors played out the clothes of Christ by casting lots (dice) - such a division of the clothes of the executed was legalized in ancient Rome during the time of Christ. Here the ancient prophecy of David was fulfilled: "They have divided My garments for themselves and cast lots for My clothes"(Ps.22: 18).

Two robbers

Together with Christ, two robbers were crucified, one on His right hand, and the other on His left. Thus the words of the Prophet were fulfilled: "And numbered among the villains"(Is.53: 12).

All four evangelists speak in greater or lesser detail about the two robbers crucified together with Christ. Their names Gestas and Dismas are reported in the apocryphal Gospel of Nicodemus. One of the robbers - Dismas - according to Luke's testimony, repented.

There is a legend, which Saint Demetrius of Rostov retells, that it was this very robber who saved the life of the Virgin Mary and the Infant Jesus, when the Holy Family fled to Egypt and on the way met the robbers. And now, probably not remembering that incident, the robber turns to Christ with hope: "Remember me, Lord, when you come to your kingdom!"(Luke 23:42). And the Lord did not despise the hopes of the robber. "Now you will be with me in paradise" He answered, and for two thousand years the Church has been celebrating the memory of the prudent thief who has become a saint and an example of the Lord's repentance and mercy for all sincerely repentant sinners.

Mother of God and Apostle John at Calvary

Meanwhile, darkness began to gather over Calvary. The crowd around the place of execution decreased somewhat and this made it possible for the Mother of God and the Apostle John to approach the cross. It is impossible to describe in words the torment that they had to endure, seeing the suffering of their infinitely beloved Jesus. And the Lord, despite the most severe torment, finds words of consolation for those whom he loved more than any torment. “Wife! Behold, Thy son ", he says to His Mother, pointing to John. “Then he says to the disciple: behold, thy Mother! And from that time on, this disciple took Her to him "(John 19:27).

Death

About three hours had passed since the crucifixion, it was already nine o'clock in the afternoon. The suffering of the Lord intensified and the darkness over Golgotha ​​intensified - nature itself, trembling, felt compassion for its Creator. Christ, who took upon himself all the burden of human sins, experienced with His human nature all the horror and all the depth of God-forsakenness. "Or or! Lama sawahfani? "(Matt 27:46), Jesus cried out with a loud voice. This meant: “My God, My God! Why did you forsake Me? " According to the holy fathers, in this exclamation, the Lord once again reveals the truth of His incarnation, shows that he really endured all suffering, and that He was inherent in our inherent love of life. Also, as Blessed Theophylact writes, some understand that the Savior speaks here on behalf of the Jewish people, once again expressing His sorrow that God's chosen people became a people forsaken by God.

The soldiers ignorant of the Hebrew language heard in Jesus' cry that He was calling Elijah, and this served for them another reason for malicious ridicule.

"Thirsty"(John 19:28), said the Lord, tormented by dying thirst - a consequence of the great loss of blood. One of the soldiers, continuing to mock, filled a sponge with vinegar and brought it to the parched lips of the Savior. As Blessed Theophylact writes: "They watered Him with vinegar so that He would rather die before Elijah came to help Him."... The Lord, having tasted, said: "It is finished!" And saying: "Father! Into Thy hands I commit My Spirit "(Luke 23:46) bowed his head and gave up his ghost.

The onset of darkness, earthquake and the breaking of the veil in the Temple

Of the miracles mentioned by the evangelists that marked the martyrdom of Christ - the onset of three hours of darkness, an earthquake, the breaking of the curtain in the Jerusalem temple in two from top to bottom, the resurrection of the dead. In addition, all forecasters add that darkness was “over all the earth” (Matt. 27:45; Mark 15:33; Luke 23:44) and this makes it clear that this is a miracle.

The tearing of the veil of the Temple, according to the interpretations of the Holy Fathers, as Blessed Theophylact recounts them, may mean, first, the abolition of the letter of the Old Law and the coming of the New Testament, when what was previously covered by the letter of the Law now becomes clear. Secondly, just as the Jews, expressing an extreme degree of grief, tore their clothes on themselves, so the Temple of God, as if mourning over the death of Christ, tore off its clothes. And, in addition, in this exposure of the Holy of Holies, some Fathers saw a prophecy about the future desecration of the Temple by the Romans.

Centurion

The centurion, who saw all this, involuntarily exclaimed: "Truly this Man was the Son of God"... Tradition has preserved the name of this centurion - Longinus. He later became a Christian, preached in Cappadocia, where he suffered martyrdom for Christ. The Orthodox Church celebrates the memory of the Holy Martyr Longinus the Centurion on October 29 in a new style.

The Lamb of God drank the cup that had been prepared to the end, offering Himself as a sacrifice for our sins. By his death on the cross, Jesus atoned for the original sin inherited by the human race from Adam. The Savior, by His death on the cross, trampled death, by His sacrificial love defeated the power of hell and the power of the devil. By His own will, He ascended to the cross to give all those who believe in Him eternal life.

Prepared by Sergey SHULYAK

for the Church of the Life-Giving Trinity on Vorobyovy Hills

Great Monday of Holy Week of Great Lent will be marked for the audience with a special concert Arkhangelsk Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra conducted by Vladimir Onufriev. April 2 at 18-30 The orchestra will perform a brilliant and unique work by an Austrian composer Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) "The Seven Last Words of the Savior on the Cross"- this is one of the most heartfelt, tragic and incredibly beautiful works of the composer.

For the first time the Orchestra performed this music in 2001, and then it sounded to the public in different cities of Russia and Finland. Joseph Haydn's music was written in 1785, and for its time the composition was completely innovative - it combined Music and Word.

A canon from the Cathedral of Cadiz in Spain asked Haydn to compose instrumental music in seven words, which, according to biblical tradition, Jesus uttered on the cross. In those distant times, an oratorio was performed annually in the main cathedral of Cadiz during the days of Great Lent. The walls, windows and columns were covered with black cloth, the doors were locked ... and the music began to sound. After the introductions, the bishop pronounced one of the seven Words and accompanied it with an interpretation. When his speech ceased to sound, the orchestra entered. “This action was to correspond to my composition,” Haydn himself wrote about the history of the creation of the composition. For provincial Cadiz in the 18th century, this idea was very daring, and professional church composers did not respond to the priest's request. But Haydn agreed, enthusiastically plunging into hard work. "Seven Words" exists in four versions - orchestral, quartet and piano versions, as well as an oratorio.

It is not possible to establish the genre of this work with certainty. It is a synthetic thing, half-service, half-concert. In the Soviet period, it was played without words - for example, the famous pianist Maria Yudina, a deeply religious person. The fact that now music is combined with the word of the shepherd is a merit of the present time.

During the concert on April 2, excerpts from the Gospel will be read and theologian and preacher, Archpriest Alexander Kovalev. At first glance, the standard seminar task - to reveal in speech the meaning of the seven words of the Savior, turns out to be not so easy for priests in a stage environment. However, Father Alexander - a great lover of music and a connoisseur of the classical heritage - for the second time has undertaken to tell us about the words of Christ, sounded at the hour of the cross. He will perform as a full participant in the performance as the orchestra. It was Father Alexander who took part in the first performance of "Seven Words" in 2001. And then it was also Monday.

“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing”;

“Today you will be in paradise”;

"Mother, behold your son";

"My God, my God, why did you leave me";

"Thirsty";

"It is finished";

"Into your hands, Lord, I commit my spirit."

These phrases in Latin are written out in the score of the work before its parts. Listeners will listen to the musical incarnations of the gospel story, when the path begins with a mournful introduction and ends with a grandiose picture of an earthquake. The composer turned out to be close to the great artists of the Renaissance, his work is full of sincerity and humanity, it is marked by sublime simplicity and great spiritual depth. Music will speak to listeners about things that cannot be expressed in words.

We invite you to meet her!

When we read in the Gospel the story of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ or just look at the picture with the crucifixion, we actually have very little idea what this execution was like and what happened to the man hanging on the cross. This article sheds light on the agony of the crucifixion.

So crucifixion was invented by the Persians in 300 BC, and perfected by the Romans in 100 BC.

• This is the most painful death ever invented by man, the term "torment" is relevant here as never before.
• This punishment was primarily for the most vicious male criminals.
• Jesus was stripped naked, His clothes were divided among the Roman soldiers.
  

  "They divide my vestments among themselves and cast lots for my clothes"
  (Psalm 21 verse 19, Bible).

• The crucifixion guaranteed Jesus a terrible, slow, painful death.
• Jesus' knees were bent at an angle of about 45 degrees. He was forced to carry his own weight with the thigh muscles, which is not an anatomically correct position that can be maintained for more than a few minutes without cramps in the thigh and lower leg muscles.
• The whole weight of Jesus was pressing on His feet with nails driven through them. Because the muscles in Jesus' legs quickly grew tired, the weight of His body had to be transferred to His wrists, arms, and shoulders.
• A few minutes after being placed on the Cross, Jesus' shoulders were dislocated. Minutes later, the Savior's elbows and wrists were also dislocated.
• The result of these dislocations is that His arms were to be 9 inches (23cm) longer than usual.
• In addition, Psalm 21 verse 15 fulfilled the prophecy: “I was poured out like water; all my bones have crumbled. " This prophetic psalm very accurately conveys the feelings of Jesus Christ on the cross.
• After Jesus' wrists, elbows and shoulders were dislocated, the weight of His body through the arms caused pressure on the muscles of the chest.
• This caused His ribcage to stretch upward and outward in its most unnatural state. His chest was constantly in a state of maximum inspiration.
• To exhale, Jesus had to lean on his nailed legs and lift his own body, allowing his chest to move down and in to release air from his lungs.
• His lungs were at rest with a constant maximum inhalation. Crucifixion is a medical disaster.
• The problem was that Jesus could not freely lean on his legs, because the muscles of His legs, bent at a 45-degree angle, were stiff and extremely painful, constantly in convulsions and in an anatomically incredibly incorrect position.

• 1Unlike all Hollywood Crucifixion films, the victim was extremely active. The crucified victim was physiologically forced to move up and down the cross, about 12 inches (30 cm) in order to breathe.
• The breathing process caused excruciating pain mixed with the absolute horror of suffocation.
• As the crucifixion lasted 6 hours, Jesus was less and less able to place his weight on his legs as His thighs and other leg muscles became weaker and weaker. The displacement of His wrists, elbows and shoulders increased, and further elevation of His chest made His breathing harder and harder. A few minutes after the crucifixion, Jesus began to suffer from severe shortness of breath.
• His up and down movements on the Cross to breathe caused excruciating pain in His wrists, His feet, and dislocated elbows and shoulders.
• His movements became less frequent as Jesus became more and more emaciated, but the horror of imminent death by suffocation made Him continue to struggle to breathe.
• Jesus' leg muscles developed an excruciating spasm from pressure as he tried to lift his own body to exhale.
• The pain from the two shattered median nerves in His wrists literally exploded with every movement.
• Jesus was covered in blood and sweat.
• Blood was the result of the scourging that nearly killed Him, and the sweat was the result of His attempts to breathe out. Moreover, He was completely naked, and the leaders of the Jews, crowds and thieves on both sides of the cross mocked, cursed and laughed at Him. It was also observed by Jesus' own mother. Imagine His emotional humiliation.
• Physically, the body of Jesus went through a series of tortures leading to death.
• Because Jesus could not maintain adequate ventilation, He was in a state of hypoventilation.
• The oxygen level in Jesus' blood began to fall, and He developed hypoxia. In addition, due to limited breathing movements, the level of carbon dioxide in the blood (CO2) began to rise, this condition is called hypercritical.
• The rise in CO2 levels caused His heart to beat faster in order to increase the flow of oxygen and remove CO2.
• The breathing center in Jesus' brain was sending urgent messages to His lungs - to breathe faster. He began to breathe heavily, wheeze convulsively.
• Jesus' physiological reflexes required deeper breathing from him, and He involuntarily moved up and down the Cross much faster, despite the excruciating pain. The agonizing movements spontaneously began several times a minute, to the delight of the crowd who mocked Him with the Roman soldiers and the Sanhedrin.
  

  “I am a worm (a red smeared spot), not a man, a reproach among people and contempt among the people. All who see me curse me, speak with their lips, nodding their heads: “he trusted in the Lord; let him deliver him, let him save him, if he pleases him. "
  (Psalms 21 verses 7-9)

• However, due to Jesus being nailed to the Cross and His increasing emaciation, He can no longer provide oxygen to His body.
• Hypoxia (lack of oxygen) and Hypercapnia (abundance of CO2) made His heart beat faster and faster, now He developed Tachycardia.
• Jesus' heart beat faster and faster, and his pulse rate was probably about 220 bpm.
• Jesus had not drunk anything for 15 hours since 6 pm the previous evening. Let us remind you that He experienced the scourging that nearly killed Him.
• He was bleeding all over his body due to scourging, a crown of thorns, nails in his wrists and feet, as well as numerous lacerations he received from beatings and falls.
  

  “... But He was wounded for our sins and we are tormented for our iniquities; the punishment of our peace was upon Him ... He was tortured, but He suffered willingly and did not open His mouth; like a sheep, He was led to the slaughter, and like a lamb dumb before its shearer, so He did not open His mouth. "
  (Bible, Isaiah 53 verses 5,7)

  

• Jesus was already very dehydrated, His blood pressure dropped to a minimum.
• His blood pressure was probably around 80/50.
• He was in first degree shock, with hypovolemia (low blood levels), tachycardia (excessively fast heart rate), tachypnea (excessively rapid breathing), and hyperhidrosis (excessive sweating).
• Around noon, Jesus' heart probably began to skip.
• Jesus' lungs probably began to fill with pulmonary edema.
• This only aggravated his breathing, which was already greatly complicated.
• Jesus is experiencing heart and respiratory failure.
• Jesus said, “I am thirsty,” because His body was screaming for liquid.
  

  “My strength has dried up like a crock; my tongue clung to my throat, and You brought me to the dust of death. "
  (Psalms 21:16)

• Jesus badly needed an intravenous infusion of blood and plasma to save His life.
• Jesus could not breathe properly and was slowly suffocating.
• At this stage, Jesus probably developed a circulatory disorder (Haemopericardium).
• Plasma and blood gathered in the space around His heart called the pericardium. "My heart became like wax, melted in the midst of my bowels." (Psalms 21:15)
• This fluid around His heart caused a cardiac tamponade (which prevented Jesus' heart from beating properly).
• Due to the increasing physiological needs of the heart and the development of Haemopericardium, Jesus probably ended up with a ruptured heart. His heart literally burst. Most likely, this was the cause of His death.
• To slow down the death process, the soldiers erected a small wooden ledge on the Cross that would allow Jesus to "privilegedly" carry his weight on the cross.
• The result was that up to nine days could die on the cross.
• When the Romans wanted to hasten death, they simply broke the legs of the victims, forcing the victim to suffocate in a matter of minutes.
• At three o'clock in the afternoon Jesus said, "It is finished." At that moment, He gave up His Spirit and died.
• When the soldiers came to Jesus to break His legs, He was already dead. No part of His body was broken in fulfillment of the prophecies.
• Jesus died within six hours after the most excruciating and horrific torture ever invented.
• He died so that ordinary people like you and me could be participants in the Kingdom of Heaven.

"For he made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."
(2 Corinthians 5:21)

Great Heel. Reading the 12 Gospels

In the antiphons that we have just heard, it was said that the water and blood that flowed from the rib of Jesus were divided into four sources, and these four sources are the four Gospels from which we learn about the life and death of Jesus Christ. And today, on the day we remember the crucifixion of the Lord on the cross, we hear the reading of these four Gospels, a reading that tells us about the last hours, the last minutes of Christ's earthly life. The evangelists have preserved for us the seven words of the Savior on the cross. The first of these words was the prayer that the Lord spoke when the soldiers pierced His hands with nails, when He was crucified on the cross. And the Lord prayed for them: "Lord, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." This prayer reflects all the love that the Lord has for people. The Lord loves not only those people who are faithful to Him, not only those people who fulfill His commandments, but also their enemies, and their crucifixes, and all those who, through their sins, either through ignorance, or deliberately drive nails into His hands. And even when we inflict wounds on the Lord with our sins, the Lord loves us and prays to His Father: "Lord, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."
Then in the Gospel we hear how two thieves who were crucified next to Jesus on the crosses reviled Him. But suddenly one of the robbers changed his mind. He saw the suffering Jesus, he remembered the words that Jesus said that someday there will be a Kingdom in which He will be King, and with faith he said to the Lord: "Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom." And the Lord answered him, and this is the second word that the Lord uttered on the cross: “Today you will be with Me in Paradise”. And this word teaches us that no matter how great a person's sin, how far a person would have deviated from God, even if this person was a robber, even if all his life he was unfaithful to God, and crucified God and did evil people, the word of repentance with which he turns to the Lord, can open the gates of the Kingdom of Heaven for him. And we believe, hearing this word, that no matter what happens to us, the Lord will always be ready to forgive us, the Lord will always be ready to open the gates of the Kingdom of Heaven for us, if we approach Him with faith, repentance and love.
The third word that the evangelists brought to us is the words of Jesus Christ addressed to His mother and to His beloved disciple - the apostle and evangelist John the Theologian. At the cross of Jesus stood His Mother, and seeing Her, the Lord said: "Woman, behold your son." And he said to John: "Behold thy mother." And with these words, the Lord not only entrusted His Mother to the care of His beloved disciple, and not only entrusted His disciple to the care of His Most Pure Mother, but also entrusted all of us with the love and intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos. Remembering the Lord on the cross today, we also remember the Mother of God at the cross of Jesus, the Mother of God, Who gave birth to the Son of God, Who together with Him went through all the sufferings, and Who stood at the cross of Jesus and was "torn to pieces by the womb." And the Lord entrusts to Her intercession all of us - His faithful and unfaithful sons and daughters.
In the Gospel we hear that the Lord, when He was on the cross, called out with His Father: "My God, My God, why did You forsake Me?" And in these words was present all the sorrow of being forsaken by God, which the Lord experienced on the cross. Never, not for a single moment, Jesus Christ was abandoned by His Father, never, for a single moment, the Divinity of Christ was not separated from His Humanity. But in order to go through the path of suffering, He had to endure not only spitting and strangulation, not only betrayal and renunciation of Him, He had to endure the most terrible suffering that can befall a person - this is a feeling, a feeling of being forsaken by God, this the feeling that a person experiences when it seems to him that God does not exist, or that God does not hear his prayers, or that God has left him. And the Lord had to go through this in order to become one of us, so that in these moments of God-forsakenness we too could remember that he also went through this torment.
The Lord on the cross exclaimed, "I am thirsty." This word of the Lord testifies to the fact that He experienced the torment on the cross in a real way, as every person experiences them. He was crucified, and it was a terrible and painful death, a death that came slowly from loss of blood and from thirst. But the Lord thirsted not only for material water, the Lord, first of all, thirsted for the salvation of people, He thirsted so that His sufferings on the cross would reach our hearts, so that all mankind would respond to this His sorrow, to this His torment, to this His prayer for everyone us and His crucifixes. The Lord thirsts for our salvation, and that is why the Lord ascended to the cross in order to save each of us, in order to open the doors of the Kingdom of Heaven to each of us as a prudent thief.
When the hour of the death of the Lord approached, He said: "It is finished." This word meant that the end of His earthly deed was coming. What He had to go through was ending, His earthly suffering was ending, His heavenly glory was coming. The Lord was crucified because it was necessary, it was foretold in the scriptures. And again, this was necessary for our salvation. When the Lord said: “It is finished,” it means that our salvation has been completed, it means that the gates of paradise were opened, and for each of us, including those who were in hell. For immediately after his death, the Lord descended into hell.
And finally, the last words that the Lord spoke on the cross, they were addressed to His Heavenly Father. He said, "Father, into Thy hands I commit My Spirit." We only need to think about what Christ went through, and with what feeling He could utter these words. After all, even before His suffering on the Cross, He prayed to the Father and said: "Father, if possible, let this cup pass from Me." But this cup did not pass him by. The Lord God the Father did not condescend to this cry, because that is how Jesus Christ had to suffer. And when the Lord spoke on the cross: “My God, why did you leave me?”, It was a cry of anguish from separation from the Father. But the Lord died reconciled with His Father, He died with confidence in the Father, He died with the feeling that what He had to accomplish was accomplished. He died not in a state of being forsaken by God, but in a state of the Father's presence, died with confidence in the Father. There was no reproach in His words, in His words there was one endless love and endless trust. He addressed the Father as a child addresses his parents: "Father, into Thy hands I commit My Spirit." These were the words with which Jesus Christ gave up the Spirit.
And now, remembering all these events, remembering the death of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross, we will remember that the Lord is close to each of us, that the Lord is close to us just as He was close to the prudent thief, that He loves us as He does. He loved all the people who surrounded Him then: His Mother, and His disciples, and soldiers, and crucified Him - everyone, regardless of their own attitude to Him. Let us remember that no matter what happens to us, no matter how far we are from God, the Lord will always be close to us. No matter how far we have deviated from His commandments, the Lord will always love us. And even if we left Him, He will never leave us. It is for this that He ascended to the cross.