Reading 1,Ā Isaiah 52:13-53:12

13Ā Look, my servantĀ willĀ prosper,Ā willĀ grow great,Ā willĀ rise to great heights.

14Ā As many people were aghast at him — he was so inhumanly disfigured that he no longer looked like a man-

15Ā so many nationsĀ willĀ be astonished andĀ kingsĀ willĀ stay tight-lipped before him, seeing what had never been told them, learning what they had not heard before.

1Ā Who has givenĀ credenceĀ to what we have heard? And who has seen in it aĀ revelationĀ of Yahweh’s arm?

2Ā Like a sapling he grew up before him, like a root in arid ground. He had noĀ formĀ or charm to attract us, no beauty to win our hearts;

3Ā he was despised, the lowest of men, aĀ manĀ of sorrows, familiar with suffering, one from whom, as it were, we averted our gaze, despised, for whom we had no regard.

4Ā Yet ours were the sufferings he was bearing, ours the sorrows he was carrying, while we thought of him as someone being punished and struck with affliction by God;

5Ā whereas he was being wounded for our rebellions, crushed because of our guilt; the punishment reconciling us fell on him, and we have been healed by his bruises.

6Ā We had all gone astray like sheep, each taking his own way, andĀ YahwehĀ brought theĀ actsĀ of rebellion of all of us to bear on him.

7Ā Ill-treated and afflicted, he never opened his mouth, like a lamb led to the slaughter-house, like a sheep dumb before its shearers he never opened his mouth.

8Ā Forcibly, after sentence, he was taken. Which of his contemporaries was concerned at his having been cut off from the land of the living, at his having been struck dead for his people’s rebellion?

9Ā He was given a grave with the wicked, and hisĀ tombĀ is with the rich, although he had done no violence, had spoken no deceit.

10Ā It was Yahweh’sĀ goodĀ pleasure to crush him with pain; if he gives hisĀ lifeĀ as aĀ sinĀ offering, heĀ willĀ see his offspring and prolong his life, and through him Yahweh’sĀ goodĀ pleasureĀ willĀ be done.

11Ā After the ordeal he has endured, heĀ willĀ see the light and be content. By his knowledge, the upright one, my servantĀ willĀ justify many by taking their guilt on himself.

12Ā Hence I shall give him a portion with the many, and heĀ willĀ share the booty with the mighty, for having exposed himself to death and for being counted as one of the rebellious, whereas he was bearing theĀ sinĀ of many and interceding for the rebellious.

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Responsorial Psalm,Ā Psalms 31:2, 6, 12-13, 15-16, 17, 25

2Ā turn your ear to me, make haste. Be for me a rock-fastness, a fortified citadel to save me.

6Ā you hate those who serve useless idols; but my trust is in Yahweh:

12Ā I have no more place in their hearts than a corpse, or something lost.

13Ā All I hear isĀ slanderĀ — terror wherever I turn — as they plot together against me, scheming to take my life.

15Ā every moment of myĀ lifeĀ is in your hands, rescue me from the clutches of my foes who pursue me;

16Ā let your face shine on your servant, save me in your faithful love.

17Ā I call on you, Yahweh, so let disgrace fall not on me, but on the wicked. Let them go down to Sheol in silence,

Gospel,Ā John 18:1-19:42

1Ā After he had said all this,Ā JesusĀ left with his disciples and crossed the Kidron valley where there was a garden into which he went with his disciples.

2Ā Judas the traitor knew the place also, sinceĀ JesusĀ had often met his disciples there,

3Ā so Judas brought the cohort to this place together with guards sent by the chief priests and the Pharisees, all with lanterns and torches and weapons.

4Ā Knowing everything that was to happen to him,Ā JesusĀ came forward and said, ‘Who are you looking for?’

5Ā They answered, ‘Jesus the Nazarene.’ He said, ‘I am he.’ Now Judas the traitor was standing among them.

6Ā WhenĀ JesusĀ said to them, ‘I am he,’ they moved back and fell on the ground.

7Ā He asked them a second time, ‘Who are you looking for?’ They said, ‘Jesus the Nazarene.’

8Ā Jesus replied, ‘I have told you that I am he. If I am the one you are looking for, let these others go.’

9Ā This was to fulfil the words he had spoken, ‘Not one of those you gave me have I lost.’

10Ā Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant, cutting off hisĀ rightĀ ear. The servant’s name was Malchus.

11Ā Jesus said to Peter, ‘Put your sword back in its scabbard; am I not to drink the cup that the Father has given me?’

12Ā The cohort and its tribune and theĀ JewishĀ guards seizedĀ JesusĀ and bound him.

13Ā They took him first to Annas, becauseĀ AnnasĀ was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was highĀ priestĀ that year.

14Ā It wasĀ CaiaphasĀ who had counselled the Jews, ‘It is better for oneĀ manĀ to die for the people.’

15Ā Simon Peter, with another disciple, followed Jesus. This disciple, who was known to the high priest, went withĀ JesusĀ into the high priest’s palace,

16Ā but Peter stayed outside the door. So the other disciple, the one known to the high priest, went out, spoke to the door-keeper and brought Peter in.

17Ā The girl onĀ dutyĀ at the door said to Peter, ‘Aren’t you another of that man’s disciples?’ He answered, ‘I am not.’

18Ā Now it was cold, and the servants and guards had lit a charcoal fire and were standing there warming themselves; so Peter stood there too, warming himself with the others.

19Ā The highĀ priestĀ questionedĀ JesusĀ about his disciples and his teaching.

20Ā Jesus answered, ‘I have spoken openly for all the world to hear; I have always taught in theĀ synagogueĀ and in theĀ TempleĀ where all theĀ JewsĀ meet together; I have said nothing in secret.

21Ā Why ask me? Ask my hearers what I taught; they know what I said.’

22Ā At these words, one of the guards standing by gaveĀ JesusĀ a slap in the face, saying, ‘Is that the way you answer the high priest?’

23Ā Jesus replied, ‘If there is some offence in what I said, point it out; but if not, why do you strike me?’

24Ā ThenĀ AnnasĀ sent him, bound, toĀ CaiaphasĀ the high priest.

25Ā AsĀ Simon PeterĀ stood there warming himself, someone said to him, ‘Aren’t you another of his disciples?’ He denied it saying, ‘I am not.’

26Ā One of the high priest’s servants, a relation of theĀ manĀ whose ear Peter had cut off, said, ‘Didn’t I see you in the garden with him?’

27Ā Again Peter denied it; and at once a cock crowed.

28Ā They then ledĀ JesusĀ from the house ofĀ CaiaphasĀ to the Praetorium. It was now morning. They did not go into the Praetorium themselves to avoid becoming defiled and unable to eat the Passover.

29Ā So Pilate came outside to them and said, ‘What charge do you bring against this man?’ They replied,

30Ā ‘If he were not a criminal, we should not have handed him over to you.’

31Ā Pilate said, ‘Take him yourselves, and try him by your own Law.’ TheĀ JewsĀ answered, ‘We are not allowed to put anyone to death.’

32Ā This was to fulfil the wordsĀ JesusĀ had spoken indicating the way he was going to die.

33Ā So Pilate went back into the Praetorium and calledĀ JesusĀ to him and asked him, ‘Are you the king of the Jews?’

34Ā Jesus replied, ‘Do you ask this of your own accord, or have others said it to you about me?’

35Ā Pilate answered, ‘Am I a Jew? It is your own people and the chief priests who have handed you over to me: what have you done?’

36Ā Jesus replied, ‘Mine is not a kingdom of this world; if my kingdom were of this world, my men would have fought to prevent my being surrendered to the Jews. As it is, my kingdom does not belong here.’

37Ā Pilate said, ‘So, then you are a king?’Ā JesusĀ answered, ‘It is you who say that I am a king. I was born for this, I came into the world for this, to bearĀ witnessĀ to the truth; and all who are on the side ofĀ truthĀ listen to my voice.’

38Ā ‘Truth?’ said Pilate. ‘What is that?’ And so saying he went out again to theĀ JewsĀ and said, ‘I find no case against him.

39Ā But according to a custom of yours I should release one prisoner at the Passover; would you like me, then, to release for you the king of the Jews?’

40Ā At this they shouted, ‘Not this man,’ they said, ‘but Barabbas.’ Barabbas was a bandit.

1Ā Pilate then hadĀ JesusĀ taken away and scourged;

2Ā and after this, the soldiers twisted some thorns into a crown and put it on his head and dressed him in a purple robe.

3Ā They kept coming up to him and saying, ‘Hail, king of the Jews!’ and slapping him in the face.

4Ā Pilate came outside again and said to them, ‘Look, I am going to bring him out to you to let you see that I find no case against him.’

5Ā Jesus then came out wearing theĀ crown of thornsĀ and the purple robe. Pilate said, ‘Here is the man.’

6Ā When they saw him, the chief priests and the guards shouted, ‘Crucify him! Crucify him!’ Pilate said, ‘Take him yourselves and crucify him: I find no case against him.’

7Ā TheĀ JewsĀ replied, ‘We have a Law, and according to thatĀ LawĀ he ought to be put to death, because he has claimed to be Son of God.’

8Ā When Pilate heard them say this his fears increased.

9Ā Re-entering the Praetorium, he said to Jesus, ‘Where do you come from?’ ButĀ JesusĀ made no answer.

10Ā Pilate then said to him, ‘Are you refusing to speak to me? Surely you know I have power to release you and I have power to crucify you?’

11Ā Jesus replied, ‘You would have no power over me at all if it had not been given you from above; that is why theĀ manĀ who handed me over to you has the greater guilt.’

12Ā From that moment Pilate was anxious to set him free, but theĀ JewsĀ shouted, ‘If you set him free you are no friend of Caesar’s; anyone who makes himself king is defying Caesar.’

13Ā Hearing these words, Pilate hadĀ JesusĀ brought out, and seated him on the chair of judgement at a place called the Pavement, in Hebrew Gabbatha.

14Ā It was the Day of Preparation, about the sixth hour. ‘Here is your king,’ said Pilate to the Jews.

15Ā But they shouted, ‘Away with him, away with him, crucify him.’ Pilate said, ‘Shall I crucify your king?’ The chief priests answered, ‘We have no king except Caesar.’

16Ā So at that Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified. They then took charge of Jesus,

17Ā and carrying his own cross he went out to the Place of the Skull or, as it is called in Hebrew, Golgotha,

18Ā where they crucified him with two others, one on either side,Ā JesusĀ being in the middle.

19Ā Pilate wrote out a notice and had it fixed to the cross; it ran: ‘Jesus the Nazarene, King of the Jews’.

20Ā This notice was read by many of the Jews, because the place whereĀ JesusĀ was crucified was near the city, and the writing was in Hebrew, Latin and Greek.

21Ā So theĀ JewishĀ chief priests said to Pilate, ‘You should not write “King of the Jews”, but that theĀ manĀ said, “I am King of the Jews”. ‘

22Ā Pilate answered, ‘What I have written, I have written.’

23Ā When the soldiers had finished crucifyingĀ JesusĀ they took hisĀ clothingĀ and divided it into four shares, one for each soldier. His undergarment was seamless, woven in one piece from neck to hem;

24Ā so they said to one another, ‘Instead of tearing it, let’s throw dice to decide who is to have it.’ In this way the words ofĀ scriptureĀ were fulfilled: They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothes. That is what the soldiers did.

25Ā Near the cross ofĀ JesusĀ stood his mother and his mother’s sister,Ā MaryĀ the wife of Clopas, andĀ MaryĀ of Magdala.

26Ā Seeing his mother and theĀ discipleĀ whom he loved standing near her,Ā JesusĀ said to his mother, ‘Woman, this is your son.’

27Ā Then to theĀ discipleĀ he said, ‘This is your mother.’ And from that hour theĀ discipleĀ took her into his home.

28Ā After this,Ā JesusĀ knew that everything had now been completed and, so that theĀ scriptureĀ should be completely fulfilled, he said: I am thirsty.

29Ā A jar full of sour wine stood there; so, putting a sponge soaked in the wine on aĀ hyssopĀ stick, they held it up to his mouth.

30Ā AfterĀ JesusĀ had taken the wine he said, ‘It is fulfilled’; and bowing his head he gave up his spirit.

31Ā It was the Day of Preparation, and to avoid the bodies’ remaining on the cross during theĀ SabbathĀ — since thatĀ SabbathĀ was a day of specialĀ solemnityĀ — theĀ JewsĀ asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken away.

32Ā Consequently the soldiers came and broke the legs of the firstĀ manĀ who had been crucified with him and then of the other.

33Ā When they came to Jesus, they saw he was already dead, and so instead of breaking his legs

34Ā one of the soldiers pierced his side with a lance; and immediately there came out blood and water.

35Ā This is the evidence of one who saw it — true evidence, and he knows that what he says is true — and he gives it so that you may believe as well.

36Ā Because all this happened to fulfil the words of scripture: Not one bone of hisĀ willĀ be broken;

37Ā and again, in another placeĀ scriptureĀ says: TheyĀ willĀ look to the one whom they have pierced.

38Ā After this,Ā JosephĀ of Arimathaea, who was aĀ discipleĀ ofĀ JesusĀ — though aĀ secretĀ one because he was afraid of theĀ JewsĀ — asked Pilate to let him remove the body of Jesus. Pilate gave permission, so they came and took it away.

39Ā Nicodemus came as well — the same one who had first come toĀ JesusĀ at night-time — and he brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a hundred pounds.

40Ā They took the body ofĀ JesusĀ and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, following theĀ JewishĀ burial custom.

41Ā At the place where he had been crucified there was a garden, and in this garden a newĀ tombĀ in which no one had yet been buried.

42Ā Since it was theĀ JewishĀ Day of Preparation and theĀ tombĀ was nearby, they laidĀ JesusĀ there.

READ: Open Heaven Devotional 15 April 2022 ā€“ Blessings From The Victory At Calvary

Reading 2,Ā Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:7-9

14Ā Since in Jesus, the Son of God, we have the supreme highĀ priestĀ who has gone through to the highest heaven, we must hold firm to our profession of faith.

15Ā For the highĀ priestĀ we have is not incapable of feeling our weaknesses with us, but has been put to the test in exactly the same way as ourselves, apart from sin.

16Ā Let us, then, have no fear in approaching theĀ throneĀ ofĀ graceĀ to receive mercy and to findĀ graceĀ when we are in need of help.

7Ā During hisĀ lifeĀ on earth, he offered upĀ prayerĀ and entreaty, with loud cries and with tears, to the one who had the power to save him from death, and, winning a hearing by his reverence,

8Ā he learnt obedience, Son though he was, through his sufferings;

9Ā when he had been perfected, he became for all who obey him the source of eternal salvation