Jesus' Last Words

a visual/carceral reflection for Holy Week

Scott Erickson’s cross made of images from Jesus Last Words.

A year ago, my friend Clare Hamoor and I led holy week services inside a men’s prison in Canyon City, Colorado. Our Good Friday service was simple; we read the passion, and having posted the images from Scott Erickson’s Last Words of Jesus on the walls of the prison chapel, we then invited the men to write a few words in response to each.

A selection of these responses - each line written by different men, are below - along with a reflection from Scott. I hope it can serve as a Holy Week meditation for you.

Father, forgive them for they do not know what they do.

We never really do.

I continually beat myself up.

We are all lost sheep without a shepherd.

And I forgive them too.

I pray this unto myself and Father, please forgive me.

If I can receive forgiveness for all I have done, how great and wonderful would that be?

Today, you will be with me in paradise.

I’ve heard this many times and never seen it this way!

The promise is kept. I am in paradise.

When we perish we arise in paradise!

Paradise comes quickly, making us realize what a short time we have on this Earth.

Paradise seems so far away from where I know.

You will be a part of my life from here on out.

I’m pretty glad to know thieves will be in paradise.

Dear woman, here is your son. And here is your mother.

Reminds me of my mom.

It ends where it begins.

We are all related.

Look at the person and love them.

Jesus knew Mary would be alone, called upon John to lover her and her, him.

How do I forgive myself?

Please Lord, look after my mother, Amen.

I thirst.

I thirst to have my son back in my life.

Fill my life with the only living water that is capable of quenching my thirst.

I thirst for my wrongs to be forgiven.

My cup overfloweth, thank you.

Take my thirst.

It’s unavoidable.

I thirst for what I know nothing of.

I am afraid to drink, afraid to grow in you, afraid of being loved, cared for, understood.

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

Trauma.

Redeem me.

Even at the end, Jesus was still seeking knowledge.

Although it’s possible to feel this, the Father never will.

Trials.

I’m all but forsaken.

Please forgive me.

It is finished.

Thank you, Jesus.

You saved me when I wasn’t worthy of being saved. How do I pay it forward?

Thank you, I will do better.

Final, but not at all.

Your sacrifice was our redemption.

Everything has been forgiven.

For me it’s just beginning.

It is a masterpiece.

Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.

Father I am trying to turn myself into your hands

I rebuke all other spirits except yours, Lord

Unknowingly they have always been there

I wish I would have listened to my heavenly AND earthly fathers more

Through your guidance I can be free

Father, take my spirit as they take my life

Father, into my heart you’ve committed your spirit

From Scott:

There was no getting off the cross until the goal of crucifixion was done. The invitation to death was set in motion and there was no stopping it, even for Jesus.

What gets me about these last seven sayings is that they are not performative, meaning one does not keep up a false propaganda in the midst of being tortured to death. These seven recorded short statements are representative of the core values of our crucified king. 

That in the end you think about your loved ones. 

That we long for a restored reality. 

That even in the midst of injustice, forgiveness is the foundation of The Kingdom of Heaven. 

That it’s normal to feel forsaken. 

That all things eventually end… and most likely before their time. 

That we eventually trust fall into arms of Benevolence.

My interest in making imagery from these seven statements was in using the power that visual art has in becoming an excavation tool for our deepest conversations. These statements represent a moment when we cease to be performative and we exhume what we real feel about our lives. 

Although I may find myself in a vastly different place than the situation of some of these men - surprising /not surprising - their reflections mirror some of my own thoughts, regrets, hopes, and prayers. We have so much more in common than we often realize. It’s as if two or three of us come together in our honesty, in our humanity, we will find Jesus there in our midst too. 

From Nadia:

It was chilly on Good Friday last year, that’s how I remember it. When Clare and I arrived to set up the prison chapel, the smell of lavender still faintly hung in the room, having been added to the foot washing water for Maundy Thursday the previous day. I hesitated to open all the doors, and lose the scent of it, but Good Friday would not wait, as much as I might want it to.

So we set about placing Scott’s images of Jesus Last Words around the room, with a couple pens and piece of paper for each and waited for the men to file in the room, and fill up the sheets. “It is finished”, the scale of so called justice unbalanced in a human skull, seemed especially powerful in this place.

I took the sheets home knowing I would not read them until this week, a year later when I would share them here with you.

How do YOU respond to Scott’s images and the last words of Jesus?

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Wishing you a blessed Holy Week,

Nadia (The Pastor) & Scott (The Painter)

Scott and me a couple years ago, after having eaten the best chile relleno burritos in the whole world.