Gospel of April 10 2020 with comment

From the Gospel of Jesus Christ according to John 18,1-40.19,1-42.
At that time, Jesus went out with his disciples and went beyond the Cèdron stream, where there was a garden in which he entered with his disciples.
Judas, the traitor, also knew that place, because Jesus often retired there with his disciples.
Judah therefore, having taken a detachment of soldiers and the guards provided by the high priests and the Pharisees, went there with lanterns, torches and weapons.
Then Jesus, knowing all that was to happen to him, came forward and said to them: "Who are you looking for?"
They said to him, "Jesus, the Nazarene." Jesus said to them, "It is I!" There was also Judas the traitor with them.
As soon as he said "It's me," they backed away and fell to the ground.
Again he asked them, "Who are you looking for?" They replied: "Jesus, the Nazarene".
Jesus replied: «I have told you that it is me. So if you are looking for me, let them go. "
Because the word he had said was fulfilled: "I have not lost any of those you have given me."
Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it out and struck the high priest's servant and cut off his right ear. That servant was called Malco.
Then Jesus said to Peter, "Put your sword back in its sheath; am I not to drink the cup that the Father has given me? »
Then the detachment with the commander and the Jewish guards grabbed Jesus, tied him up
and they brought him first to Anna: he was in fact father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest in that year.
Then Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews: "It is better for a single man to die for the people."
Meanwhile Simon Peter followed Jesus together with another disciple. This disciple was known by the high priest and therefore entered with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest;
Pietro stopped outside, near the door. Then that other disciple, known to the high priest, came out, spoke to the concierge and also let Peter enter.
And the young concierge said to Peter, "Are you also one of this man's disciples?" He replied, "I am not."
Meanwhile the servants and guards had lit a fire, because it was cold, and they warmed up; Pietro also stayed with them and warmed up.
Then the high priest asked Jesus about his disciples and his doctrine.
Jesus answered him: «I have spoken to the world openly; I have always taught in the synagogue and in the temple, where all the Jews gather, and I have never said anything in secret.
Why are you questioning me? Question those who have heard what I have told them; behold, they know what I have said. "
He had just said this, that one of the guards present gave Jesus a slap, saying: "So you answer the high priest?".
Jesus answered him: «If I have spoken badly, show me where the evil is; but if I have spoken well, why do you strike me? ».
Then Anna sent him tied to Caiaphas, the high priest.
Meanwhile Simon Peter was there to warm up. They said to him, "Aren't you also one of his disciples?" He denied it and said, "I am not."
But one of the high priest's servants, a relative of the one whose ear Peter had cut off, said, "Did I not see you with him in the garden?"
Pietro denied again, and immediately a rooster crowed.
Then they brought Jesus from the house of Caiaphas to the Praetorium. It was dawn and they did not want to enter the Praetorium so as not to contaminate themselves and be able to eat Easter.
So Pilate went out to them and asked, "What accusation do you bring against this man?"
They said to him, "If he weren't a criminal, we wouldn't have handed him over to you."
Then Pilate said to them, "Take him and judge him according to your law!" The Jews answered him, "We are not allowed to put anyone to death."
Thus were fulfilled the words that Jesus had said indicating which death was to die.
Then Pilate returned to the Praetorium, called Jesus and said to him, "Are you the king of the Jews?"
Jesus replied: "Are you saying this to yourself or have others told you about me?"
Pilate replied, "Am I a Jew? Your people and the high priests have handed you over to me; what have you done?".
Jesus replied: «My kingdom is not of this world; if my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have fought because I was not handed over to the Jews; but my kingdom is not down here. "
Then Pilate said to him, "So you are a king?" Jesus replied: «You say it; i am king. For this I was born and for this I came into the world: to bear witness to the truth. Whoever is from the truth, listen to my voice ».
Pilate says to him, "What is truth?" And having said this he went out to the Jews again and said to them, "I find no fault in him.
There is a custom among you that I free you one for Easter: do you want me to free you the king of the Jews? ».
Then they shouted again, "Not this one, but Barabbas!" Barabbas was a robber.
Then Pilate took Jesus and scourged him.
And the soldiers, weaving a crown of thorns, put it on his head and put a purple cloak on him; then they came up to him and said to him:
«Hail, king of the Jews!». And they slapped him.
Meanwhile Pilate went out again and said to them, "Behold, I will bring him out to you, for you to know that I find no fault in him."
Then Jesus went out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple cloak. And Pilate said to them, "Here is the man!"
Upon seeing him, the chief priests and the guards shouted: "Crucify him, crucify him!" Pilate said to them, "Take him and crucify him; I find no fault in him. "
The Jews answered him, "We have a law and according to this law he must die, because he made himself the Son of God."
On hearing these words, Pilate was even more afraid
and again entering the Praetorium he said to Jesus: "Where are you from?" But Jesus did not answer him.
Then Pilate said to him, "Don't you talk to me? Don't you know that I have the power to set you free and the power to put you on the cross? ».
Jesus replied: «You would have no power over me if it had not been given to you from above. This is why whoever handed me over to you has a greater guilt. "
From that moment Pilate tried to free him; but the Jews cried out, "If you free him, you are not a friend of Caesar!" For whoever makes himself king is against Caesar. "
Hearing these words, Pilate had Jesus led out and sat in the court, in the place called Litòstroto, in Hebrew Gabbatà.
It was the preparation for Easter, around noon. Pilate said to the Jews, "Here is your king!"
But they shouted, "Go away, crucify him!" Pilate said to them, "Shall I put your king on the cross?" The high priests replied: "We have no other king besides Caesar."
Then he handed him over to them to be crucified.
They then took Jesus and he, carrying the cross, went to the place of the skull, called in Hebrew Golgotha,
where they crucified him and two others with him, one on one side and one on the other, and Jesus in the middle.
Pilate also composed the inscription and had it placed on the cross; it was written: "Jesus the Nazarene, the king of the Jews".
Many Jews read this inscription, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; it was written in Hebrew, Latin and Greek.
The chief priests of the Jews then said to Pilate: "Do not write: the king of the Jews, but that he said: I am the king of the Jews."
Pilate replied: "What I have written, I have written."
The soldiers then, when they crucified Jesus, took his clothes and made four parts, one for each soldier, and the tunic. Now that tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom.
So they said to each other: Let's not tear it up, but let's draw lots for whoever it is. Thus was the Scripture fulfilled: My garments were divided among them and they laid fate upon my tunic. And the soldiers did just that.
His mother, his mother's sister, Mary of Cleopa and Mary of Magdala, stood at the cross of Jesus.
When Jesus saw the mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to the mother, "Woman, behold your son!"
Then he said to the disciple, "Here is your mother!" And from that moment the disciple took her into his home.
After this, Jesus, knowing that everything had now been accomplished, said to fulfill the Scripture: "I am thirsty".
There was a jar full of vinegar there; therefore they placed a sponge soaked in vinegar on top of a cane and placed it close to his mouth.
And after receiving the vinegar, Jesus said: "Everything is done!". And, bowing his head, he expired.
It was the day of the Preparation and the Jews, so that the bodies would not remain on the cross during the Sabbath (it was in fact a solemn day on that Sabbath), asked Pilate that their legs should be broken and taken away.
So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and then the other who had been crucified with him.
But they came to Jesus and seeing that he was already dead, they did not break his legs,
but one of the soldiers hit his side with the spear and immediately blood and water came out.
Whoever has seen bears witness to it and his testimony is true and he knows he is telling the truth, so that you too may believe.
This indeed happened because the Scripture was fulfilled: No bones will be broken.
And another passage of the Scripture still says: They will turn their gaze to the one they have pierced.
After these events, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate to take the body of Jesus. Pilate granted it. Then he went and took the body of Jesus.
Nicodemus, the one who had previously gone to him at night, also went and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloe of about a hundred pounds.
They then took the body of Jesus, and wrapped it in bandages together with aromatic oils, as is the custom for the Jews to bury.
Now, in the place where he had been crucified, there was a garden and in the garden a new sepulcher, in which no one had yet been laid.
There they therefore laid Jesus, because of the preparation of the Jews, because that tomb was near.

Saint Amedeo of Lausanne (1108-1159)
Cistercian monk, then bishop

Martial Homily V, SC 72
The sign of the cross will appear
"Truly you are a hidden God!" (Is 45,15) Why hidden? Because he had no splendor or beauty left and yet the power was in his hands. Its strength is hidden there.

Wasn't he hidden when he handed his hands over to brutes and his palms were nailed? The nail hole opened in his hands and his innocent side offered himself to the wound. They immobilized his feet, the iron crossed the plant and they were fixed to the pole. These are only the wounds that God suffered for us at his home and in his hands. Oh! How noble, then, are his wounds that have healed the wounds of the world! How victorious his wounds with which he killed death and attacked hell! (...) You, o Church, you, dove, have the cracks in the rock and the wall where you can rest. (...)

And what will you do (...) when it comes to the clouds with great power and majesty? He will descend at the crossroads of heaven and earth and all the elements will dissolve in the terror of his coming. When he comes, the sign of the cross will appear in the sky and the Beloved will show the scars of the wounds and the place of the nails with which, at his home, you have nailed him