Jesus dies on the cross

By A.Vonn Hartung

The moment Jesus dies, the temple veil is split, and lightning splits the sky. The Good Thief is as if sheltered from this terrible light of truth that this was the son of God condemned falsely, and that he, the condemned criminal who dared to believe in Him, will be in paradise today. Jesus was lanced through the heart from which blood and water flowed, to fulfill the prophecy “Not one of His bones will be broken” (John 19:36), as the Passover was at hand, as Jesus had only hung on the cross for around six hours in his excruciating agony, which must have seemed like a lifetime. The agony of crucifixion can be best understood by reading the book A Doctor at Calvary by French surgeon Pierre Barbet. In Jesus’ case, He would have had to push up on the nails that pierced His feet in order to breathe, as the weight of His body would pull His lungs apart, and He would suffocate if He did not excruciatingly push Himself up to breathe one painful breath at a time. We might contemplate this in prayer by imagining the pain as we breathe in and out.