2025/03/03
185. The Prophesied One, Part 7
The characters from the Gospel of John and the Book of Revelation reunite on the San Damiano Crucifix. At the top of the crucifix, John of Revelation is holding a scroll with seals. To the right of Jesus on the cross are his mother and the Apostle John, and to the left are Mary Magdalene and Mary, the wife of Clopas.
In addition, some gaze intently at Jesus on the cross. On the left of Mary Magdalene and Mary, the wife of Clopas, there is the centurion, who symbolises the conversion of the Roman Empire to Christianity, and his serious gaze reminds us of Paul, who paved the way to Rome. The person looking up at Jesus over the centurion's shoulder is the prophecy of Francis, who would encounter this crucifix. This encounter with the crucifixion led him to take on the Gospels of John and Revelation. He came to have the eyes of the Apostle John.
The rooster painted smaller below the cross, to the left of Jesus' knee, also stares up at Jesus. At the Last Supper, when Peter was hot-blooded and said, "I will lay down my life for you" (Jn 13:37), Jesus foretold, "Truly, truly, I say to you, the cock will not crow, till you have denied me three times" (13:38) and guarded his life. The gaze of the rooster depicted here expresses Peter's thoughts.
Two other men are also depicted as small on either side of Jesus on the cross, looking at him. They are traditionally said to be the following. The person on Jesus' left is the person who offered Jesus the sponge soaked in vinegar. The Gospel of John says that Jesus accepted it (cf. Jn 19:29-30). That was a sign that the "Kingdom of God" that Jesus had mentioned in his words, "I tell you that from now on I shall not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes" (Lk 22:18) had come. He was a witness to it.
The man on Jesus' right is the Roman soldier who pierced Jesus' side with a spear. He was present at the establishment of the New Covenant and the birth of the Church and was bathed in the blood and water that flowed from Jesus' side. The Gospel of John writes, "And again another scripture says, 'They shall look on him whom they have pierced.'" (Jn 19:37). This description is found only in this passage and Revelation in the New Testament (cf. Rev 1:7).
The fact that the Gospel of John and the Book of Revelation are interrelated here overlaps with the final theme of the final episode of the scene of the Lord's resurrection in the Gospel of John, as written below. That is why the themes of the Gospel of John and the Book of Revelation are depicted together in the San Damiano Crucifix. And that must have been of great significance to Saint Francis, who was called to this crucifix and became a prophesied one. We will discuss this in the next issue.
"The saying spread abroad among the brethren that this disciple was not to die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he was not to die, but, 'If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?'" (Jn 21:23).
Maria K. M.