The Society of Saint John the Evangelist: The Daily Office

Holy Week at the Monastery

Good Friday

Br. David Vryhof

Meditations for Holy Week, 2008 – Friday
Collects for Good Friday and Easter IV

The Good Friday Liturgy

Recalling the crucifixion
The Jesus of John’s Gospel

“I am the Good Shepherd”

A popular and accessible image (e.g. “The Catechesis of the Good Shepherd”)

God as Shepherd

Again and again in the Hebrew Scriptures, the Lord is portrayed as a shepherd to his people (Ps.23:1, Ps.80:1, Ps.95:7, Ps.100:3, Isa.40:11).
In Ezekiel, the messianic king will be the shepherd of his people (34:23, 37:24).
God entrusts the care of God’s people to human ‘shepherds.’ God trusts that they will be faithful and true, and condemns those who fail in their task (Jer.23:1, Ezek.34:4, 15-16).

Jesus as Shepherd

In the gospels Jesus applies the image of the shepherd to himself:
He is like a shepherd who goes out to find the one sheep that is lost (Mt.18:12).
He is moved with compassion for the people, because they are like sheep without a shepherd (Mt.9:36, Mk.6:34).
He refers to his disciples as his own little flock (Lk.12:32). When the shepherd is smitten, the flock is leaderless and scatters (Mk.14:27, Mt.26:31).
In John 10:1-14, Jesus is pictured as the Good Shepherd, who knows each of his sheep by name. The sheep know his voice and follow him. He is for them a door of protection from danger and entrance into safety (10:7-10). Unlike the hireling who flees at the first sign of danger, the Good Shepherd is ready and willing to give up his own life for the sheep.
The early Church also used this imagery for Jesus. Jesus is the shepherd and watchman for our souls (I Pet.2:25). He is the great shepherd of the sheep (Heb.13:20).
In the NT, the leaders of the Church are likened to shepherds. The Christian leader must shepherd the flock of God, not as a matter of constraint, not for pay or prestige, but as an example to the flock (I Pet.5:2,3). Jesus uses shepherd imagery to restore Peter to the fellowship of the disciples and to his position as a pastoral leader in the Church (Jn.21:15-19). The Church has its pastors (Eph.4:11) – [pastor is the Latin word for shepherd].

The Qualities of the Good Shepherd

The Arrest, Trial and Crucifixion of Jesus according to the Fourth Gospel

Jesus’ arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane (18:1-11)
Peter’s denies Jesus (18:15-18, 25-27) – see also the account of his forgiveness and restoration to a position of pastoral leadership in the early Church in John 21: 15-19

Jesus’ appearance before Annas and Caiaphas (18:12-14, 19-24)

Jesus appears before Annas, the father-in-law of Caiaphas, rather than before Caiaphas himself (as in the synoptic gospels).
The Jewish “trial” in John’s Gospel is not a formal procedure, but rather an interrogation to see whether Jesus will admit anything revolutionary in his movement or his teaching (18:19)
Jesus is supremely self-confident and easily outpoints Annas (18:20-21) so that his captors are frustrated to the point of abusing him ((18:22). The interrogation leaves Annas, not Jesus, with the embarrassing and unanswered question (18:23).

Jesus’ appearance before Pilate (18:28-19:16a)

Unlike the synoptic gospels’ account, where Jesus remains silent before Pilate who interrogates him in the presence of his accusers, the Jewish priests, John creates a drama in which Pilate moves back and forth between the priests and the crowd outside and Jesus on the inside. Outside there is pressure, conniving and outcry; inside there is calm and penetrating dialogue.
Jesus is not silent in John’s Gospel, but eloquently answers the false charges brought against him. He does not refuse the title of “The King of the Jews” if Pilate wants to call him that, but the real reason he has come into the world is not to be a king, but rather to bear witness to the truth (18:37).
R. Brown: “So eloquent and self-assured is Jesus that we can scarcely speak of Pilate’s trial of Jesus in the Fourth Gospel; it is Pilate who is put on trial to see whether he is of the truth. Pilate may think he has the power to try Jesus, but he is calmly told that he has no independent authority over Jesus (19:10-11). It is not Jesus who fears Pilate; it is Pilate who is afraid of Jesus, the Son of God (19:7-8). The real question is not what will happen to Jesus who controls his own destiny, but whether Pilate will betray himself by bowing to the outcry of the very people he is supposed to govern (19:12). The price he exacts from them by way of an insincere allegiance to Caesar (19:15) is a face-saving device for a man who knows the truth about Jesus but has failed to bear witness to it (18:37-38).”
In Matthew and Mark the scourging is part of the sentence and occurs just before the journey to Calvary and after Jesus has been condemned. In John’s account, the scourging and mockery occur inside, before Jesus is brought out to the crowd. In all the Gospels the cries to crucify Jesus represent a self-judgment on the part of the onlookers. Jesus who is rejected wears the mantle and crown of a king – this, combined with preference for Caesar, is portrayed as an abandonment by the Jews of their own messianic hopes. (Note again the reason for the hostility against “the Jews” in John’s Passion narrative, which arises out of the tension between the early Christian community and the synagogue.)

The Crucifixion of Jesus (19:16b-37)

There is no Simon of Cyrene in the Fourth Gospel; Jesus carries his own cross (19:17) as a continuing sign that he lays down his own life (10:18).
All four Gospels mention that a charge listing Jesus as a would-be “King of the Jews” was fastened on the cross, but John sees this as a proclamation of Jesus’ kingship. By attaching this sign to the cross, Pilate reaffirms the kingship of Jesus, in spite of the objection of the chief priests. “The Lord reigns from the wood [of the cross].”
In Matthew and Mark, the women who followed Jesus watch from afar, and none of the disciples is present, for they had fled (cf. Mk.14:50). But in John, not only are the women present at the foot of the cross, but the Mother of Jesus and the Beloved Disciple are there as well (19:25-26). Jesus brings them together as a family, giving birth to the Johannine community or the church.
Jesus is sentenced to death at noon (19:14), the very hour on Passover Eve when the priests begin to slaughter the paschal lambs in the Temple.
In John’s gospel even Jesus’ cry “I thirst” is in the context of his control of his own destiny, since he utters it “aware that all was now finished, in order to bring the Scripture to its complete fulfillment.” After he takes the wine, he declares, “It is finished,” and hands over his spirit. (Contrast this ‘laying down his life’ with Jesus’ last cry in Mark/Matthew: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

The Burial of Jesus (19:38-42)

The dead body is the body of a king and continues its salvific work (19:31-37).
The other gospels mark Jesus’ death with miraculous signs (the Temple curtain is torn; tombs open and bodies of the saints come forth, a Roman centurion believes). But in John’s Gospel the sign is in the body of Jesus itself. When the side of Jesus is pierced, there comes forth blood and water (19:34), a sign that Jesus has passed from this world to the Father and has been glorified (12:23, 13:1). R. Brown: “It is not impossible that the fourth evangelist intends here a reference not only to the gift of the Spirit but also to the two channels (baptism and eucharist) through which the Spirit had been communicated to the believers of his own community, with water signifying baptism, and blood the eucharist.”
R. Brown: “Jesus is buried as befits a king, with a staggering amount of myrrh and aloes, bound in cloth wrappings impregnated with aromatic oils (19:39-40). Thus, from beginning to end the narrative has been consistent: it is the passion of a sovereign king who has overcome the world.”

Knowing the Shepherd – a story from Madeleine L’Engle

A story is told of a 19th century dinner party, after which the family members and other guests gathered in the parlor to entertain one another with stories, recitations, and music. An actor was among the guests and when he was called upon, he rose and recited very beautifully the words of Psalm 23. When he finished the audience clapped and expressed their appreciation. As the evening was coming to an end, the family members prevailed upon an elderly aunt, who was quite deaf and had been sitting in the back of the room throughout the evening, not paying much attention to the entertainment. With coaxing she came forward, and began reciting the 23rd Psalm, the same psalm the actor had recited. When she finished, there was not a dry eye in the house. The guests sat in silence, so moved were they by the recitation.
Afterwards one of the guests asked the actor, “We appreciated the beauty of your recitation of the psalm very much, but we all were so moved by the aunt’s recitation. Why was that so?”
The actor answered, “I know the words of the psalm, but she knows the Shepherd.”

Suggestions for further reflection and prayer

Pray with the imagery of the shepherd. How do you experience Jesus’ care and provision?
Using the method of lectio divina, slowly and prayerfully read Psalm 23.
Read the entire account (John 18 and 19) slowly and prayerfully.
Write a prayer of response (e.g. thanksgiving, oblation, praise).
As members of the Body of Christ, we are called to care for one another as a shepherd cares for his sheep. In what ways are you, or can you, build up the people of God?