After the unjust verdict, the battered Jesus was led along the Via Dolorosa (The Way of Suffering) to the execution site outside the city walls: Golgotha (The Place of the Skull) . This was the destined altar for the Lamb of God.
The Ascent to the Cross
Having endured the scourging and mocking, Jesus was forced to bear His own Cross until He collapsed, requiring Simon of Cyrene to carry it the rest of the way. Upon arrival, He was stripped, nailed to the wood, and raised up between two common criminals. Above His head was posted the charge written by Pilate, which served as a painful declaration of truth: INRI (Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum - Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews).
The Seven Last Words
During the six hours He hung upon the Cross, from the third hour (9 a.m.) to the ninth hour (3 p.m.), Jesus spoke seven phrases that define His redemptive love and mission:
Forgiveness: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." (Luke 23:34) — A prayer for His persecutors.
Promise to the Penitent: "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise." (Luke 23:43) — Salvation offered to the thief who repented beside Him.
Filial Care (The Marian Gift): "Woman, behold, your son! ... Behold, your mother!" (John 19:26-27) — Entrusting the care of His Mother, Mary, to the Apostle John, an act often understood as entrusting Mary to the entire Church.
Desolation: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46) — Crying out the first line of Psalm 22, bearing the full sense of humanity's sin and separation from God.
Suffering: "I thirst." (John 19:28) — Expressing His agonizing physical need, fulfilling scripture.
Fulfillment: "It is finished." (John 19:30) — Declaring that the prophetic requirements of the Old Covenant and the redemptive work mandated by the Father were complete.
Submission and Death: "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." (Luke 23:46) — The final act of perfect obedience before His death.
The Pierced Side and the New Sacraments
Around three o'clock in the afternoon (the ninth hour), Jesus cried out and died. The earth shook, the veil in the Temple was torn in two from top to bottom (symbolizing the end of the Old Covenant and the direct access to God), and the Roman Centurion confessed, "Truly this was the Son of God!"
To ensure He was dead before sundown, a soldier pierced His side with a lance. The Gospel of John (19:34) solemnly notes that blood and water flowed out. The Church has traditionally viewed this flow as profoundly sacramental: the Blood representing the Eucharist and the Water representing Baptism, showing the origin of the Church's life in the very side of Christ.
The sacrifice was complete; the new life was about to begin.
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