“But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out” (John 19:33)
When the priest prepares the Holy Host for communion before the public part of the Divine Liturgy begins, his last action is to thrust the cutting spear he uses into the side of the square of bread. While doing so he recites the above words. It means that our Lord’s heart was receptive to the very end of His life on earth. He was forgiving us all, even to His last breath. Hatred hardens one’s heart and fear makes it tight—but He went on forgiving and loving despite His anguish and intense pain.
Knowing that, how can we not but emulate Him to the extent that our spiritual progress has made it possible? How can it be that we do as the angry, bitter and vindictive in our environment, and yet say that we are Christ’s disciples? He expects from us tender love and forgiveness of offenses aimed at us. When He said to His Father, “Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You” (John 17:11), whom can He mean by these if not you and I? We who wear crosses on chains at our necks and on the walls of our houses are in the world. And He realizes what our world is like. If our world has been for a half century relatively serene, in the new millennium it is no longer like that. Rage and outrage, hatred and terror, are unleashed. Satan is given new weapons by which to tear the tenderhearted Christians from the arms of Christ.
And how will we respond? Will we become hardhearted, savage and vicious to match those who display such attitudes towards us? Do we train our children in violence merely as survival tactics? What face do we wear to face the brutality in this world in which we live? Is it possible or even preferable to cultivate a tender heart in a hard-hearted culture? St. John Chrysostom reminded his hearers that our Lord Jesus called Himself the Good Shepherd. It means that He is the Shepherd of sheep determined not to let the wolves of Satan tear us away from His care. It’s possible to become a wolf yourself and battle with the predators of this world. If you do so, however, remember that you are something other than a lamb in the flock of the Shepherd. He never said that He is a leader of a wolf pack.
In that same prayer with and for His disciples the Lord said that He was praying for them and us. He also promised the gift of joy: “Now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves” (John 17:13). Not only does He wish us happiness, He is telling the Father that by understanding His words, we will find happiness in them.
We are to comprehend the mystery of His love. Our weapon is the Cross. It is by our faith in Christ that we test and prove our love for Him. By accepting our own crosses, we shall overcome hatred and fear. When we do so, our hearts will remain ever tender and pure. The world will not love or respect us for it. He said that also: “The world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world” (17:16). But the true Christian is not of the world. And if this is who you are, then you can say with St. Paul: “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).