Jesus alone

Laura Digan April 03, 2026 1 1

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John 19: 17-30 (NIV-UK)

17 Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). 18 There they crucified him, and with him two others – one on each side and Jesus in the middle.

19 Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: jesus of nazareth, the king of the jews. 20 Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek. 21 The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, ‘Do not write “The King of the Jews”, but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews.’

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

23 When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom.

24 ‘Let’s not tear it,’ they said to one another. ‘Let’s decide by lot who will get it.’

This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled that said,

‘They divided my clothes among them
    and cast lots for my garment.’

So this is what the soldiers did.

25 Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing near by, he said to her, ‘Woman,[b]here is your son,’ 27 and to the disciple, ‘Here is your mother.’ From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.

28 Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, ‘I am thirsty.’ 29 A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. 30 When he had received the drink, Jesus said, ‘It is finished.’ With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

“I walked as far as I could, but then came the moment when he had to go on alone. The weight of the cross pressed into his broken body and into all of us who watched.

I saw his mother, Mary, her heart breaking in a way no words could ever express. And I felt it too, the helplessness, the sorrow, the love.

He had carried us all this far, and now he carried the weight of everything alone. The weight of eternity.

I was amazed that when he spoke, even from the cross, it was still for others. Still love, still giving, still mercy. And I wondered, is this what it means to follow him? That love must cost this much?

Seeing Jesus on the cross I realised that the cross is not just a moment we pass through. It is a shape pressed into our lives. Marking us, tattooing us. It calls us to lay down, to trust, to give ourselves away.

As he said, “It is finished,” something in me changed. Something in me began. A new life marked by his love.”

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, in the shadow of your cross, shape my life with your love.

Teach me to carry it with trust, and to give myself as you gave for us.

Amen