Easter, the last words of Jesus on the cross
Good Friday, day of the passion and crucifixion of Jesus Christ. First he was scourged and then crucified. Flagellation was a terrible torture that sometimes caused the death of the condemned.
Jesus, therefore, when he was nailed to the cross was already in very serious physical conditions. His agony, in fact, lasted three hours. On the cross he suffered unspeakably: the nails damaged his nerves, and Jesus was forced to leverage them to get some breathing room, since the weight of his body hanging from the nails in his wrists prevented breathing.
It is likely that Jesus had very bad headaches and feverish attacks and nausea. Dear Jesus, how did you manage in those terrible conditions, even to pronounce out loud as he reports Luca, all the words attributed to you? And if you really said them, considering their importance, since they were the last ones before dying, why did they evangelists didn’t they report them with extreme fidelity?
Luke first reports your words addressed to the Father: “Forgive them, for they know not what they do” (23.34). Then the words you would have addressed to the thief: “Truly I say to you: today you will be with me in Paradise” (23, 43). Then the last words (in a loud voice, the evangelist reports) still addressed to the Father: “Into your hands I commend my spirit” (23, 46).
Mark and Matthew ignore all these words of yours; they report that both thieves insulted you, and they only say that you exclaimed, still in a loud voice: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mk 15.34; Mt 27.46). All three, Marco, Matteo e Luca they ignore the very important words that Giovanni attributes to you.
You would have said to your grieving mother: “Woman, here is your son”, and to the disciple you loved: “Here is your mother”. Then: “I’m thirsty”. And finally: “It is finished.” In short, Jesus, did you really speak on the cross? And if you spoke, did you really say all the words reported by the evangelists? And if not all, which ones?