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The Seven Sayings of Jesus from the Cross: Observations on Order and Presentation in the New Testament, Literature and Cinema
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 February 2024
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Ever since Tatian’s Diatessaron (c. 150 CE) there has been a tradition within the Christian Church of harmonizing the life of Jesus and blend together the four gospel accounts so as to compose a biography of the Lord. Perhaps nowhere is this tendency to harmonization more clearly demonstrated than in the sayings of Jesus from the cross. In fact, there are seven so-called ‘sayings from the cross’ recorded within our New Testament, but it sometimes comes as a surprise to discover just how these seven sayings are distributed. We note the following table:
1. The Sayings of Jesus from the Cross
§1.) ‘My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?’ (Mark 15:33/Matthew 27:46)
§2.) ‘Father forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.’ (Luke 23:34)
§3.) ‘Truly I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise. (Luke 23:43)
§4.) ‘Father into your hands I commit my spirit.’ (Luke 23:46)
§5.) ‘Woman behold your son ... Behold your mother. (John 19:26—27)
§6.) ‘I am thirsty.’ (John 19:28)
§7.) ‘It is finished!’(John 19:30)
2. Distinctives in Presentation within the Gospels
The first thing to notice about the distribution of the sayings is that the sole saying recorded in both Matthew and Mark is the same, probably due to Matthew’s reliance upon Mark for the passion narratives in his gospel. This means that if the only gospel we had was Mark, we would have quite a distinctive picture of the crucifixion. Here, the only statement of Jesus is one of extreme dereliction, of forsakeness and isolation.
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- Copyright © 1991 Provincial Council of the English Province of the Order of Preachers
References
1 The Passion and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, (DLT: London, 1969). p. 198.
2 A Harmony of the Gospels for Students of the Life of Christ, (Hodder & Stoughton: London, 1922), pp 228–234. Robertson notes that the precise order of the sayings is difficult to determine but attempts to reconstruct a chronology of the crucifixion based on Mark’s account.
3 The Seven Sayings of the Saviour on the Cross, (Summit Books: Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1976). Pink associates each of these sayings with a particular noun which he feels describes the meaning of the utterance (‘The Word ...’). Thus, the seven sayings, in his proposed order, communicate: forgiveness, salvation, affection. anguish, suffering, victory and contentment.
4 (Longmans. Green & Co: London, 1949).
5 Jesus the Messiah: An Illustrated Life of Christ, (Pickering & Inglis: London, 1972) pp. 347–352. Dorothy L. Sayers, in her play-cycle on the life of Jesus Christ entitled The Man Born to be King. (Eerdmans: Grand Rapids, 1943), also adopts this particular order.
6 (Harper & Row: New York, 1957). The first two sayings Bishop gives as being uttered between 1:00 and 2:OO pm.; the next three as being uttered between 2:00 and 3:00 p.m.; and the last two as being uttered after 3.00 p.m.
7 In Mr. Jones, Meet the Master. Peter Marshall, (Fontana Books: London, 1954,) pp. 89–99.
8 Although Lagerkvist (quite appropriately for his purposes in the novel) does have one saying of Jesus related, the cry of dereliction recorded by Matthew and Mark.
9 (Magnum Books: London, 1979). pp. 322–325. Burgess puts several extra-biblical sayings on the lips of Jesus during the crucifixion.
10 (Ballantine Books: New York, 1977). pp. 121–122.
11 Quotation taken from the promotional materials accompanying the boxed set of videos of the film.
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