Sayings of Jesus on the cross - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

There are seven expressions traditionally attributed to Jesus

Jesus

Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...

during his crucifixion

Crucifixion of Jesus

The crucifixion of Jesus and his ensuing death is an event that occurred during the 1st century AD. Jesus, who Christians believe is the Son of God as well as the Messiah, was arrested, tried, and sentenced by Pontius Pilate to be scourged, and finally executed on a cross...

, gathered from the four Canonical Gospels. Three of the sayings appear exclusively in the Gospel of Luke

Gospel of Luke

The Gospel According to Luke , commonly shortened to the Gospel of Luke or simply Luke, is the third and longest of the four canonical Gospels. This synoptic gospel is an account of the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. It details his story from the events of his birth to his Ascension.The...

and three appear exclusively in the Gospel of John

Gospel of John

The Gospel According to John , commonly referred to as the Gospel of John or simply John, and often referred to in New Testament scholarship as the Fourth Gospel, is an account of the public ministry of Jesus...

. The other saying appears both in the Gospel of Mark

Gospel of Mark

The Gospel According to Mark , commonly shortened to the Gospel of Mark or simply Mark, is the second book of the New Testament. This canonical account of the life of Jesus of Nazareth is one of the three synoptic gospels. It was thought to be an epitome, which accounts for its place as the second...

and the Gospel of Matthew

Gospel of Matthew

The Gospel According to Matthew is one of the four canonical gospels, one of the three synoptic gospels, and the first book of the New Testament. It tells of the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth...

. In Mark and Matthew, Jesus cries out to God. In Luke, he forgives his killers, reassures the good thief, and commends his spirit to the Father. In John, he speaks to his mother, says he thirsts, and declares the end of his earthly life.

Since the 16th century these sayings have been widely used in the preachings on Good Friday

Good Friday

Good Friday , is a religious holiday observed primarily by Christians commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and his death at Calvary. The holiday is observed during Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum on the Friday preceding Easter Sunday, and may coincide with the Jewish observance of...

and entire books have been written on the theological analysis, and the devotional elements of the seven sayings.

Physicians and scientists who have studied the medical aspects of the crucifixion concluded that the sayings had to be short because crucifixion causes asphyxia

Asphyxia

Asphyxia or asphyxiation is a condition of severely deficient supply of oxygen to the body that arises from being unable to breathe normally. An example of asphyxia is choking. Asphyxia causes generalized hypoxia, which primarily affects the tissues and organs...

. This makes inhaling air to speak difficult and painful, especially as death approaches.

The seven sayings tradition is an example of the Christian approach to the construction of a Gospel harmony

Gospel harmony

A Gospel harmony is an attempt to merge or harmonize the canonical gospels of the Four Evangelists into a single gospel account, the earliest known example being the Diatesseron by Tatian in the 2nd century. A gospel harmony may also establish a chronology for the events of the life of Jesus...

, in which material from different Gospels is combined, producing an account that goes beyond each Gospel. James Dunn considers the sayings as are part of the elaborations in the diverse retellings of Jesus' final hours.

Seven sayings

The seven sayings form part of a Christian meditation

Meditation

Meditation is any form of a family of practices in which practitioners train their minds or self-induce a mode of consciousness to realize some benefit....

that is often used during Lent

Lent

In the Christian tradition, Lent is the period of the liturgical year from Ash Wednesday to Easter. The traditional purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer – through prayer, repentance, almsgiving and self-denial – for the annual commemoration during Holy Week of the Death and...

, Holy Week

Holy Week

Holy Week in Christianity is the last week of Lent and the week before Easter...

and Good Friday

Good Friday

. The traditional order of the sayings is:

Father forgive them, for they know not what they do .
Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise .
Woman, behold your son: behold your mother .
My God, My God, why have you forsaken me, ( and ).
I thirst .
It is finished .
Father, into your hands I commit my spirit .

Traditionally, these seven sayings are called words of 1. Forgiveness, 2. Salvation, 3. Relationship, 4. Abandonment, 5. Distress, 6. Triumph and 7. Reunion.

As can be seen from the above list, not all seven sayings can be found in any one account of Jesus' crucifixion. The ordering is a harmonisation of the texts from each of the four canonical gospels

Gospel harmony

. In the gospels of Matthew

Gospel of Matthew

and Mark

Gospel of Mark

, Jesus is quoted in Aramaic

Aramaic of Jesus

It is generally agreed that the historical Jesus primarily spoke Aramaic, perhaps along with some Hebrew and Greek . The towns of Nazareth and Capernaum, where Jesus lived, were primarily Aramaic-speaking communities, although Greek was widely spoken in the major cities of the Eastern Mediterranean...

, shouting the fourth phrase only, and cries out wordlessly before dying. In Luke's Gospel

Gospel of Luke

, the first, second, and seventh sayings occur. The third, fifth and sixth sayings can only be found in John's Gospel

Gospel of John

. In other words:

In Matthew
Gospel of Matthew
The Gospel According to Matthew is one of the four canonical gospels, one of the three synoptic gospels, and the first book of the New Testament. It tells of the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth...

and Mark
Gospel of Mark
The Gospel According to Mark , commonly shortened to the Gospel of Mark or simply Mark, is the second book of the New Testament. This canonical account of the life of Jesus of Nazareth is one of the three synoptic gospels. It was thought to be an epitome, which accounts for its place as the second...

:
- My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?
In Luke
Gospel of Luke
The Gospel According to Luke , commonly shortened to the Gospel of Luke or simply Luke, is the third and longest of the four canonical Gospels. This synoptic gospel is an account of the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. It details his story from the events of his birth to his Ascension.The...

:
- Father forgive them, for they know not what they do
- Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise (in response to one of the two thieves crucified next to him)
- Father, into your hands I commit my spirit (last words)
In John
Gospel of John
The Gospel According to John , commonly referred to as the Gospel of John or simply John, and often referred to in New Testament scholarship as the Fourth Gospel, is an account of the public ministry of Jesus...

:
- Woman, behold your son: behold your mother (directed at Mary, the mother of Jesus, either as a self reference, or as a reference to the beloved disciple and an instruction to the disciple himself)
- I thirst (just before a wetted sponge, mentioned by all the Canonical Gospels, is offered)
- It is finished (last words)

Father forgive them, for they know not what they do

Then Jesus said, "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do".

This first saying of Jesus on the cross is traditionally called "The Word of Forgiveness". It is theologically interpreted as Jesus' prayer for forgiveness

Forgiveness

Forgiveness is typically defined as the process of concluding resentment, indignation or anger as a result of a perceived offense, difference or mistake, or ceasing to demand punishment or restitution. The Oxford English Dictionary defines forgiveness as 'to grant free pardon and to give up all...

for those who were crucifying him: the Roman soldiers, and apparently for all others who were involved in his crucifixion. However, many early manuscripts omit Luke 23:34.

Today you will be with me in paradise

And he said to him, "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise".

This saying is traditionally called "The Word of Salvation". According to Luke's Gospel, Jesus was crucified between two thieves, one of whom supports Jesus' innocence and asks him to remember him when he comes into his kingdom. Jesus replies, "Truly, I say to you..." , followed with the only appearance of the word "paradise

Paradise

Paradise is a place in which existence is positive, harmonious and timeless. It is conceptually a counter-image of the miseries of human civilization, and in paradise there is only peace, prosperity, and happiness. Paradise is a place of contentment, but it is not necessarily a land of luxury and...

" in the Gospels ' onMouseout='HidePop("87362")' href="/topics/Persian_language">Persian

Persian language

Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...

pairidaeza "paradise garden

Paradise garden

The Paradise garden is a form of garden, originally just paradise, a word derived from the Median language, or Old Persian. Its original meaning was "a walled-in compound or garden"; from pairi and daeza or diz...

").

Behold your son: behold your mother

Jesus saw his own mother, and the disciple standing near 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, he took his mother into his family.

This statement is traditionally called "The Word of Relationship" and in it Jesus entrusts Mary, his mother, into the care of "the disciple whom Jesus loved

Disciple whom Jesus loved

The phrase the disciple whom Jesus loved or, in John 20:2, the Beloved Disciple is used five times in the Gospel of John, but in no other New Testament accounts of Jesus. claims that the Gospel of John is based on the written testimony of the "Beloved Disciple".Since the end of the 2nd century,...

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me

Around the ninth hour, Jesus shouted in a loud voice, saying "Eli Eli lama sabachthani?" which is, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

And at the ninth hour, Jesus shouted in a loud voice, "Eloi Eloi lama sabachthani?" which is translated, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

This saying is traditionally called "The Word of Abandonment" and is the only saying that appears in more than one Gospel. This saying is given in Aramaic

Aramaic language

Aramaic is a group of languages belonging to the Afroasiatic language phylum. The name of the language is based on the name of Aram, an ancient region in central Syria. Within this family, Aramaic belongs to the Semitic family, and more specifically, is a part of the Northwest Semitic subfamily,...

with a translation (originally in Greek

Greek language

Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...

) after it. This phrase is the opening line of , a psalm about persecution, the mercy and salvation of God. It was common for people at this time to reference songs by quoting their first lines. In the verses immediately following this saying, in both Gospels, the onlookers who hear Jesus' cry understand him to be calling for help from Elijah (Eliyyâ). The slight differences between the two gospel accounts are most probably due to dialect. Matthew's version seems to have been more influenced by Hebrew

Hebrew language

Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...

, whereas Mark's is perhaps more colloquial.

The phrase could be either:

[ēlî ēlî lamâ azavtanî]; or
[ēlî ēlî lamâ šabaqtanî]; or
[ēlâhî ēlâhî lamâ šabaqtanî]

The Aramaic word šabaqtanî is based on the verb šabaq, 'to allow, to permit, to forgive, and to forsake', with the perfect tense ending -t (2nd person singular: 'you'), and the object suffix -anî (1st person singular: 'me').

A. T. Robertson

Archibald Thomas Robertson

Archibald Thomas Robertson was an American biblical scholar born at Cherbury near Chatham, Va. He was educated at Wake Forest College and at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Ky. , where he was thereafter instructor and professor of New Testament interpretation...

noted that the "so-called Gospel of Peter

Gospel of Peter

The Gospel According to Peter , commonly called the Gospel of Peter, is one of the non-Canonical gospels which were rejected by the Church Fathers and the Catholic Church's synods of Carthage and Rome, which established the New Testament canon, as apocryphal...

1.5 preserves this saying in a Docetic

Docetism

In Christianity, docetism is the belief that Jesus' physical body was an illusion, as was his crucifixion; that is, Jesus only seemed to have a physical body and to physically die, but in reality he was incorporeal, a pure spirit, and hence could not physically die...

(Cerinthian

Cerinthus

Cerinthus was a gnostic and to some, an early Christian, who was prominent as a "heresiarch" in the view of the early Church Fathers. Contrary to proto-orthodox Christianity, Cerinthus's school followed the Jewish law, used the Gospel according to the Hebrews, denied that the Supreme God had made...

) form: 'My power, my power, thou hast forsaken me!'"

I thirst

He said, "I thirst".

This statement is traditionally called "The Word of Distress" and is compared and contrasted with the encounter of Jesus with the Samaritan Woman at the Well

Samaritan Woman at the Well

The Samaritan woman at the well is an episode in the life of Jesus that appears only in the Gospel of John, in . In Eastern Orthodox Church tradition, she is known as Photina.According to the John 4:...

in John 4:4-26.

It is finished

Jesus said, "It is finished".

This statement is traditionally called "The Word of Triumph" and is theologically interpreted as the announcement of the end of the earthly life of Jesus, in anticipation for the Resurrection.

Father, into your hands I commit my spirit

And speaking in a loud voice, Jesus said, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit".

From Psalm 31, this saying, which is an announcement and not a request, is traditionally called "The Word of Reunion" and is theologically interpreted as the proclamation of Jesus joining the God the Father

God the Father

God the Father is a gendered title given to God in many monotheistic religions, particularly patriarchal, Abrahamic ones. In Judaism, God is called Father because he is the creator, life-giver, law-giver, and protector...

in Heaven.

Theological interpretations

The last words of Jesus have been the subject of a wide range of Christian teachings and sermons, and a number of authors have written books specifically devoted to the last sayings of Christ.

Priest and author Timothy Radcliffe

Timothy Radcliffe

Timothy Radcliffe, OP is a Catholic priest and Dominican friar of the English Province, and former Master of the Order of Preachers from 1992-2001...

states that in the Bible, seven is the number of perfection, and he views the seven last words as God's completion of the circle of creation and performs analysis of the structure of the seven last words to obtain further insight.

Historicity of the sayings

James Dunn

James Dunn (theologian)

James D. G. Dunn was for many years the Lightfoot Professor of Divinity in the Department of Theology at the University of Durham. Since his retirement he has been made Emeritus Lightfoot Professor. He is a leading British New Testament scholar, broadly in the Protestant tradition. Dunn is...

considers the seven sayings weakly rooted in tradition and sees them as a part of the elaborations in the diverse retellings of Jesus' final hours. Dunn, however, argues in favor of the authenticity of the Mark/Matthew saying in that by presenting Jesus as seeing himself 'forsaken' it would have been an embarrassment

Criterion of embarrassment

The criterion of embarrassment, also known as criterion of dissimilarity, is a critical analysis of historical accounts in which accounts embarrassing to the author are presumed to be true because the author would have no reason to invent an embarrassing account about himself...

to the early Church, and hence would not have been invented. Geza Vermes

Geza Vermes

Géza Vermes or Vermès is a British scholar of Jewish Hungarian origin and writer on religious history, particularly Jewish and Christian. He is a noted authority on the Dead Sea Scrolls and other ancient works in Aramaic, and on the life and religion of Jesus...

, states that the first saying from (Mark and Matthew) is a quotation from Psalm

Psalms

The Book of Psalms , commonly referred to simply as Psalms, is a book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible...

22, and is therefore occasionally seen as a theological and literary device employed by the writers. According to Vermes, attempts to interpret the expression as a hopeful reference to scripture provide indirect evidence that it is an authentic cry of despair. Leslie Houlden, on the other hand, states that Luke may have deliberately excluded the Mark/Matthew saying from his Gospel because it did not fit in the model of Jesus he was presenting.

External links

The Seven Last Words of Christ Bethany Christian Church, Easter 1974, Pastor: Ben H. Swett.

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.