A5- PART V

PART V: Crucifixion and resurrection
PART V:
CRUCIFIXION
AND RESURRECTION
Jesus is crucified, pronounced dead and placed in a sealed tomb. Later the tomb is
found empty and the resurrected Jesus speaks to Mary Magdalene.
The Sabbath of the Passover was near.
It was a day of much significance
beginning on the Friday just before
the sun had set. And thus, although, at times,
it took the crucified some days to die
– in fact the purpose of the punishment
was to extend the agonies of death –
on this occasion Jewish minds were set
to celebrate their freedom and recall
the day that marked their special provenance.
The two who’d hung beside the Lord that day
were both alive and looked as though they might
survive for longer and would so ‘pollute’
the Sabbath celebration now at hand.
To hasten their removal and their deaths
the Jews requested that the legs of each
be broken. This procedure, which was not
unusual, deprived the crucified
of any further chance of pressing up
to snatch another breath. They died from lack
of oxygen. Pilate agreed. And so
the execution squad began their task.
They broke the legs, as ordered, of the two
transgressors who had hung there by his side
but when they came to Jesus it appeared
he was already dead. So, to make sure
a javelin thrust that made a fist-sized hole,
in his right side, was deemed enough for all
to claim their duty had been done – and John
the gospel writer, states with emphasis
that he was there, and saw the incident
and notes that blood and water freely flowed
out of the wound. He does not say which side
received the spear’s thrust. This is assumed
q

A gospel in blank verse with rhymed parables
because a soldier’s training taught him how
to concentrate his aim upon the side
left unprotected by his enemy’s
gripped shield. (The Turin Shroud confirms the wound
if you believe that to be genuine.)
Further the physiology makes clear
that Jesus was already dead before
the soldier’s final thrust was driven home.
A soldier – a centurion he was –
the ‘exactor mortis’, the very one
in charge of staying with the crucified
until the three were dead, had seen and heard
all that had passed since noon upon that day.
He was uniquely able to conclude
that something very strange was happening.
‘Oh, certainly this man was innocent,’
he gasped.’ ‘His claim was true: he was indeed
the Son of God.’ And those who’d stayed to see
the death throes on the gibbets, moved away
and beat their breasts in anguish and in fear.
Joseph – a member of the Sanhedrin,
a rich man of Judea from a place
we can no longer now identify
(Arimathea was its name) – was one
of those whom Jesus had impressed. He was
a man of courage and integrity.
Careless of public reputation, he
approached the Governor and requested that
the body of the Lord be given him.
He would arrange a quiet burial.
Pilate expressed surprise that he was dead.
He knew that crucifixion could take days.
When the centurion in charge confirmed
that Jesus, and the robbers were all dead
permission was soon granted. Perhaps now
might be the time when we can best describe
the tomb that Joseph had in mind to lay
to rest the life-less body of the man
who’d so affected him. Joseph was rich.
He’d had a new tomb dug out recently
just for himself and for his family --
a tomb that had been excavated from
the rocky cliff-side close to Golgotha.
w

PART V: Crucifixion and resurrection
This was a fairly complex enterprise.
Through solid rock they’d made an opening
as big as was required to walk inside
to find two largish chambers, hollowed out:
the first a sort of vestibule, the next
the tomb itself which was some six feet long
but not as wide. Along one wall there was
a kind of shelf with a substantial stone
on which the body’s head could rest. Outside,
to protect the corpse from desecration
by animals or men intent to rob
there was a very clever kind of door.
A stone, shaped like a millstone or a wheel,
ran down a sloping channel. It was large
and heavy and was held in place by (a) wedge.
A garden had been planted near the tomb
and through this garden Joseph and a friend
named Nicodemus carried in the corpse:
This Nicodemus was the man who came
to talk to Jesus very late at night:
but now he brought the customary myrrh
and aloes – a mix of perfumed resin –
both needed to complete the burial.
The men had wrapped already the dead Christ
in linen shrouds, but left much else to do.
The obsequies remaining to be done
was work which, by long custom, had become
the women’s privilege. There, standing close,
as faithful to the Lord in death as they
had been in life, were Mary Magdalene
and Mary, wife of Zebedee, mother
of James and John. They had begun their tasks
but must leave them unfinished since the hour
which marked the start of Sabbath intervened.
The Law prescribed that all work had to stop.
A delegation led by Caiaphas
as soon as the restrictions of the Law
were satisfied, including Pharisees,
approached the Governor and put to him
a problem they foresaw. They were afraid
in case the Lord’s disciples should remove
his body from the sepulchre and claim
that he had risen from the dead as once
he said he would: for such a fraud would cause
e

A gospel in blank verse with rhymed parables
more problems then, than if the man still lived.
The so-called ‘king’ had been quite lawfully
and properly despatched. His body now
was lying in a tomb and that was where
they wished it to remain. They’d like a squad
of soldiers to stand guard. Pilate agreed.
They marched off to the sepulchre and fixed
a seal. The job was done: their cause had won.
As dawn was breaking Mary Magdalene
and Mary, mother of the younger James,
Salome, too, also from Galilee
came dashing to the tomb. They’d work to do.
They needed to complete what they’d begun.
The Sabbath was now over. They would start –
at least they hoped they could – they were not sure
because they knew they could not move the stone
unless they had some help. They were surprised
to find the entrance now agape. They paused:
then went in quietly through the opening.
They’d no idea at that time that the guards
had felt the earth quake overnight and seen
a figure, white and bright as lightning
single-handed roll back the stone and sit
upon it. Traumatised, the guards all lay,
subdued by panic and afraid to move.
With just a glance the women recognised
the corpse had been removed. Without a word
the Magdalena rushed away to take
this most distressing news to all the rest
of those who’d followed Jesus since the days
he first began to teach in Galilee.
She found young John and Peter and at once
with anxious haste they ran ahead of her
to see what they could make of this strange news.
But John outran his elder and arrived
to find that what the Magdalena said
was true. Stooping and peering warily
he saw no corpse but just the linen cloths
which Joseph and which Nicodemus used.
r

PART V: Crucifixion and resurrection
But, true to form, Peter went straight inside.
and there indeed were all the linen shrouds
which Jews, by custom, used to clothe the dead.
Only the napkin, covering the head,
had been rolled up with care and placed elsewhere.
Though John did not yet fully understand
the import of the sight that met his eyes
a transcendental feeling stayed with him
that lasted all his life. Peter and he,
perplexed and mystified, both left for home.
By this time Mary Magdalene was back.
She, Salome, and the other Mary
went yet again to look inside the tomb
and there they saw to their astonishment
two figures, sitting on the ledge where once
the body which they sought had been laid out.
They were white-robed and shone as angels shine.
‘Why do you seek the living (a)mong the dead?
Remember what he said to you one day
while he was still in Galilee: “I shall
be made a prisoner and crucified,
but on the third day I shall rise again.”
He has risen. What he foretold was true.
You must go back and tell the Twelve the news.
Tell them that they will see him once again
in Galilee. We are his messengers.
It will be so. Go quickly. Tell them all.’
But Mary Magdalene remained behind
and let the others do what they’d been asked.
She was exhausted. She had spent her day
thus far relaying messages. Perhaps
she could anticipate the way the facts
would be received – with scorn and disbelief:
for no mere women would be credited
as bearers of such overwhelming news.
And so she sat among the trees and flowers
and wept as if her heart would break....... until
a man approached. She turned to look at him.
He seemed concerned. ‘What are you crying for?
he asked. She thought the garden might be his.
Perhaps he worked there: and perhaps he’d know
where she might find the body that she sought.
t

A gospel in blank verse with rhymed parables
‘Whom are you looking for?’ he asked. ‘Jesus’
she said. ‘His corpse was lying in a tomb:
here, in the garden. Sir, I owed him much
and came to treat his body with respect.
You see, I have got myrrh and aloes here.
If you have moved him, tell me where he is.’
But all he said, in her own dialect,
with a familiar lilt she recognised
was ‘Mary!’ ‘Oh! Rabboni!’ she exclaimed
and moved to hug the man she’d thought was dead.
The Lord drew back. ‘Please do not touch me yet.
My Father waits for me and I must first
ascend to Him – to my God and to yours:
they are the same. What you must do is go
and tell my friends I’ll see them very soon
in Galilee.’
Meanwhile, the tomb guards were recovering.
Shame-faced, yet still astonished at the sight
that had so frightened them, they went to seek
the Chief Priests to report the happening
and to explain how they had failed their duty.
There was no doubting here, and hastily
the Sanhedrin was called to contemplate
how best to make sure that this incident
was buried and not quickly spread abroad.
The soldiers’ palms were greased. They were to say
that they had been asleep on guard and that
the body had been stolen by his friends.
They would square Pilate. Leave it all to them.
This lie became the common currency.
y