Rosary: The Crucifixion of Jesus

The Fifth Sorrowful Mystery of the Rosary

Aug 07, 2024

The Fifth Sorrowful Mystery of the Rosary: The Crucifixion & Death of Jesus

Feast Day: Good Friday in Holy Week

Luke 23:32 Two others also, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with Him. 33 When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified Jesus there with the criminals, one on His right and one on His left. 34 Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” And they cast lots to divide His clothing. 35 And the people stood by, watching; but the leaders scoffed at Him, saying, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is the Messiah of God, His chosen one!” 36 The soldiers also mocked Him, coming up and offering Him sour wine, 37 and saying, “If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself!” 38 There was also an inscription over Him, “This is the King of the Jews.”

39 One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding Him and saying, “Are You not the Messiah? Save Yourself and us!” 40 But the other rebuked Him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41 And we indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this Man has done nothing wrong.” 42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when You come into your Kingdom.” 43 He replied, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”

44 It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, 45 while the sun’s light failed; and the curtain of the Temple was torn in two. 46 Then Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, “Father, into Your hands I commend My spirit.” Having said this, He breathed His last. 47 When the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God and said, “Certainly this Man was innocent.” 48 And when all the crowds who had gathered there for this spectacle saw what had taken place, they returned home, beating their breasts. 49 But all His acquaintances, including the women who had followed Him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.

This fifth Sorrowful Mystery of the Rosary highlights the Crucifixion and Death of Jesus on the Cross. Jesus Christ, our Lord and King, the Second Person of the Trinity, the Alpha and Omega, the Passover Lamb, the Lamb of God, has offered Himself up on the Cross on Mount Calvary. The Son has offered Himself to the Father, and opening up the reunion between mankind and God. He is the one mediator of the New Covenant that reconciles mankind to our Maker. The Lord of Lords and the King of Kings embraces absolute humility by embracing His Cross. Our sins put Him on that Cross and we must always remember that. We must keep in mind that while we were sinners, He still chose to embrace us and save us from our filth and depravity.

Even with His death on the Cross, Our Lord takes the Good Thief with Him as He goes to Abraham’s Bosom (Paradise) to preach to those spirits who are waiting to be released to Heaven. Even after death Our Lord still reaches out to mankind to redeem us.

John 19:16 Then he handed Him over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus; 17 and carrying the cross by Himself, He went out to what is called The Place of the Skull, which in Hebrew is called Golgotha. 18 There they crucified Him, and with Him two others, one on either side, with Jesus between them. 19 Pilate also had an inscription written and put on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” 20 Many of the Jews read this inscription, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, in Latin, and in Greek. 21 Then the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’” 22 Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.”

23 When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took His clothes and divided them into four parts, one for each soldier. They also took His tunic; now the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from the top. 24 So they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see who will get it.” This was to fulfill what the Scripture says,

“They divided My clothes among themselves, and for My clothing they cast lots.”

25 And that is what the soldiers did. Meanwhile, standing near the Cross of Jesus were His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus saw His mother and the disciple whom He loved standing beside her, He said to His mother, “Woman, behold thy son.” 27 Then He said to the disciple, “Behold thy mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.

28 After this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished, He said (in order to fulfill the Scripture), “I am thirsty.” 29 A jar full of sour wine was standing there. So they put a sponge full of the wine on a branch of hyssop and held it to His mouth. 30 When Jesus had received the wine, He said, “It is finished.” Then He bowed His Head and gave up His spirit.

Here Our Lord says “I am thirsty” and then drinks sour wine. At the Last Supper He said that He would not drink of the fruit of the vine until He would drink it new with the Apostles in His Father’s Kingdom. Yet here He does exactly that. This is because Jesus is declaring that THIS is His Father’s Kingdom. Our Lord is redeeming all of humanity and creation through His offering of Himself on the Cross. When He refuses the last cup of wine, He is refusing to complete the Passover at the Last Supper. The Passover had four cups of wine that were consumed at various stages of the ritual. The third cup is where Jesus institutes the Eucharist and begins the New Covenant. He refuses the fourth cup which completes the Passover because the Passover is completed HERE on Calvary. Our Lord has transformed the Passover into the Divine Liturgy (the Mass). The Old Covenant has been transformed into the New Covenant. The Old Covenant is no more and the New Covenant embraces the entire world.

Matthew 27:31 After mocking Him, they stripped Him of the robe and put His own clothes on Him. Then they led Him away to crucify Him. 32 As they went out, they came upon a man from Cyrene named Simon; they compelled this man to carry His cross. 33 And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull), 34 they offered Him wine to drink, mixed with gall; but when He tasted it, He would not drink it. 35 And when they had crucified Him, they divided His clothes among themselves by casting lots; 36 then they sat down there and kept watch over Him. 37 Over His Head they put the charge against Him, which read, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.”

38 Then two bandits were crucified with Him, one on His right and one on His left. 39 Those who passed by derided Him, shaking their heads 40 and saying, “You who would destroy the Temple and build it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the Cross.” 41 In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes and elders, were mocking Him, saying, 42 “He saved others; He cannot save Himself. He is the King of Israel; let Him come down from the Cross now, and we will believe in Him. 43 He trusts in God; let God deliver Him now, if He wants to; for He said, ‘I am God’s Son.’” 44 The bandits who were crucified with Him also taunted Him in the same way.

45 From noon on, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. 46 And about three o’clock Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” 47 When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, “This man is calling for Elijah.” 48 At once one of them ran and got a sponge, filled it with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to Him to drink. 49 But the others said, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save Him.” 50 Then Jesus cried again with a loud voice and breathed His last. 51 At that moment the curtain of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, and the rocks were split. 52 The tombs also were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised. 53 After His resurrection they came out of the tombs and entered the holy city and appeared to many. 54 Now when the centurion and those with him, who were keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were terrified and said, “Truly this Man was God’s Son!”

55 Many women were also there, looking on from a distance; they had followed Jesus from Galilee and had provided for Him. 56 Among them were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.

Our Lord was never forsaken by the Father as some erroneously assume. Here we see Jesus actually quoting the first line from Psalm 22. This is a psalm from King David (and Our Lord will rule from the throne of King David) and in this psalm, it shows the pain of feeling abandoned by God. Enemies are all around and death is imminent. Yet the end of this psalm concludes with declarations that God will rescue him. Our Lord is even now showing that while His enemies think they will win, even in His death Our Lord finds true victory. The Father will never abandon the Son. He will instead raise Him up. As Psalm 22 says, “For dominion belongs to the Lord, and He rules over the nations”. The Holy Trinity takes the greatest sin of all time and turns it into the greatest triumph that will resound throughout the infinite eternity of Heaven.

During all of this, the curtain to the Temple was torn in two. This curtain separated the Holy of Holies inside the Temple from the rest of the Temple. Only the high priest could enter this area once a year. By tearing this curtain down, God has made it possible for mankind to approach Him once again in the Eucharist.

Mark 15:22 Then they brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means the place of a skull). 23 And they offered Him wine mixed with myrrh; but He did not take it. 24 And they crucified Him, and divided His clothes among them, casting lots to decide what each should take.25 It was nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified Him. 26 The inscription of the charge against Him read, “The King of the Jews.” 27 And with Him they crucified two bandits, one on His right and one on His left. 29 Those who passed by derided Him, shaking their heads and saying, “Aha! You who would destroy the Temple and build it in three days, 30 save Yourself, and come down from the Cross!” 31 In the same way the chief priests, along with the scribes, were also mocking Him among themselves and saying, “He saved others; He cannot save Himself. 32 Let the Messiah, the King of Israel, come down from the Cross now, so that we may see and believe.” Those who were crucified with Him also taunted Him.

33 When it was noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. 34 At three o’clock Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” 35 When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, “Listen, He is calling for Elijah.” 36 And someone ran, filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to Him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take Him down.” 37 Then Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed His last. 38 And the curtain of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. 39 Now when the centurion, who stood facing Him, saw that in this way He breathed His last, he said, “Truly this Man was God’s Son!”

40 There were also women looking on from a distance; among them were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. 41 These used to follow Him and provided for Him when He was in Galilee; and there were many other women who had come up with Him to Jerusalem.

Only Our Lady, the Apostle John and a few other dedicated women remained by Our Lord during His final hours. They felt the fear of possibly being the next one hoisted up on a crucifix and still chose to be courageous and stay with Him. Take heart and always remain with Our Lord even when the times are darkest.

Galatians 3:1 You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly exhibited as crucified!

Crucifixes have always been used in the Christian faith and let no one convince you otherwise. Christians have always been reminded of what exactly Our Lord did for us, because we should wake up every single day thinking about this. Our thought and actions should be guided by the fact that God Himself came down from Heaven to redeem us even while we were hateful, disgusting enemies of God. You were redeemed at the highest cost possible. An infinite and eternal price was paid for your soul, so act like it. Keep your soul clean and stay close to the sacraments so you can stay close to Our Lord.