13: Jesus dies
A bleak scene as the final moment comes, rain pours from the dark sky, and a tumultuous storm rages at the last, and as the tempest moves on, so the soul of Jesus leaves his body.
We hear the final verse of the chorale "O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden" from J.S. Bach's St Matthew Passion, with the text (by Paul Gerhardt) as follows:
Wenn ich einmal soll scheiden,
So scheide nicht von mir,
Wenn ich den Tod soll leiden,
So tritt du denn herfür!
Wenn mir am allerbängsten
Wird um das Herze sein,
So reiß mich aus den Ängsten
Kraft deiner Angst und Pein.
This may be translated as:
When I must one day depart,
Do not depart from me;
When I must suffer death,
Then stand before me!
When my heart grows most fearful,
And anxiety fills my breast,
Rescue me from my terrors
Through your own anguish and pain.
“It was now noon; darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, the sun's light failed; and the temple veil was torn in two. Jesus, cried out loud, 'Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.' Having said this, he breathed his last.”
Luke 23:44-46
It is done...
Commentary by Revd Catherine Shelley