Lifted high on the Cross, Jesus beholds, though unimaginable pain, the world which has fastened Him there to hang in utter disgrace, and the world for which He freely and gracefully dies.
He sees those who love Him most, especially His mother, the beloved disciple and the women who followed Him to the end, even to visiting His tomb early on Easter Sunday morning to anoint His body in their love for Him, “hoping against hope” (Romans 4:18).
He views those who have put Him to death, some by malicious collusion, others by succumbing to pressures to which they could hardly resist, including utter lack of self-understanding, projecting perceived threats upon the innocent Jesus, some observing out of inexplicable curiosity, others actually enjoying his apparently futile struggle unto death.
In Jesus’ field of view is the tomb, a mere stone’s throw away, threatening a meaningless end to His hideous writhing on the Cross as He gasped for a next breath: “I am forgotten like the unremembered dead; I am like a dish that is broken” (Responsorial Psalm; Psalm 31:12).
