Now it is not just the religious leaders or the soldiers that mock Jesus, but even one of the criminals, a downward progression of mockery. 'Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.'

So that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses.' 'Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven if you retain the sins of any, they are retained' (John 20:22-23). And even following his Resurrection, his first act is to commission his disciples to forgive: 'Receive the Holy Spirit. During the Institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper, Jesus tells them to drink of the cup: 'Drink of it, all of you for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins' (Matthew 26:27-28). He forgives the paralytic at Capernaum (Mark 2:3-12), the sinful woman who anointed him in the home of Simon the Pharisee (Luke 7:37-48), and the adulteress caught in the act and about to be stoned (John 8:1-11). When asked by Peter, how many times should we forgive someone, Jesus answers seventy times seven (Matthew 18:21-22). He teaches forgiveness in the Lord's prayer: 'Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us' (Matthew 6:12). Right up to his final hours on earth, Jesus preaches forgiveness. Is he also thinking of us, who daily forget him in our lives?ĭoes he react angrily? No! At the height of his physical suffering, his love prevails and He asks His Father to forgive!Ĭould there ever be greater irony? Jesus asks his Father to forgive, but it is by His very Sacrifice on the Cross that mankind is able to be forgiven! But is Jesus not also thinking of his Apostles and companions who have deserted him, to Peter who has denied him three times, to the fickle crowd who only days before praised him on his entrance to Jerusalem, and then days later demanded his crucifixion? Pilate realized it was out of envy that they handed him over (Matthew 27:18, Mark 15:10). He probably remembers those who have sentenced him - Caiaphas and the high priests of the Sanhedrin. He sees the soldiers who have mocked, scourged, and tortured him, and who have just nailed him to the cross. Jesus of Nazareth is looking down from the Cross just after he was crucified between two criminals. 'Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.' Here are his Seven Words, the last seven expressions of Jesus Christ on the Cross recorded in Scripture. The tradition includes fourteen Stations primarily along the Via Dolorosa, each meditation beginning with the prayer: 'We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you, because by your Holy Cross, you have redeemed the world.' The Stations of the Cross are: (1) Pilate condemns Jesus to death (2) Jesus takes up his Cross (3) He falls the first time (4) Jesus meets his sorrowful mother Mary (5) Simon of Cyrene is pressed into service to help Jesus carry his Cross (6) Veronica wipes his face with her veil (7) He falls the second time (8) Jesus consoles the women of Jerusalem (9) He falls the third time (10) Jesus is stripped of his garments (11) Jesus is nailed to the Cross (12) Jesus Christ dies on the Cross (13) Our Lord is taken down from the Cross (14) Christ is laid in the tomb. When religious pilgrimages to the Holy Land ended with occupation of Jerusalem in the Middle Ages, a popular devotion known as The Way of the Cross arose during Lent recalling events in the Passion, Crucifixion, and Death of Jesus. One may meditate on the Passion of Christ by reflecting on his Seven Words on the Cross or by a devotion known as The Way of the Cross. He suffered an indescribable end, recalled by the Church on Good Friday of Holy Week.

Condemned to death by Pontius Pilate, he carried his Cross up the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem to Calvary, was nailed to the cross, and hung between two common criminals. As recorded in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John in the Holy Bible, Jesus Christ was mocked, scorned, and tortured in the praetorium. Christ Jesus died on the Cross to redeem mankind, to save us from our sins because of his love for us.

I am jesus christ i came into the world