Relationships with Jesus can be very different for different people. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus had theirs too. Their own. Unlike any others. These people were not apostles; most likely they did not even consider themselves disciples of Jesus. But they came in order to perform the burial rite. It would seem not so much, but none of the closest disciples did this. Almost all of them scattered. And everyone was sure that everything was over.

It is hard to blame them: all of them were sincere; all acted as their own understanding of the situation prompted them. And it turned out that all of them, except perhaps Peter and John, were bound to the Teacher first of all by the work. By a prospect. By the great future awaiting them beside this Man. And when it turned out that there was no such future, they decided that they were no longer needed by Him. And He by them? Needed, of course, but He Himself had decided to renounce everything. So how could they help Him?

Only for a few did relationships with Him prove to be something unconditional and valuable in itself. Yes, of course, for Peter and probably for John; otherwise he would not have been at the cross. And for the women who stood there too, at that same cross. And now also, who would have thought it, for Nicodemus and Joseph. After all, they had communicated with Him least of all. They knew Him less than the others.

But sometimes it happens: a meeting occurs in life, perhaps the only one, such as will never be repeated, and it remains forever with the person who experienced it. And it fully or largely determines all his subsequent life. And no one except those two who met each other knows about the meeting. And perhaps one will never again see the one, or the One, who overturned the whole life. But the life has already been overturned. It is already different, and the former one is no more. And the relationship with the One who overturned it remains for one's whole life. And it no longer matters what the One who overturned the life managed to do and what He did not. The main thing, after all, He has already done. That is why the relationship with Him will remain forever.

And even death, well, in our world everyone dies... Even death will not destroy these relationships. Because they belong to the Kingdom. And everything connected with them does too. And there nothing is forgotten and nothing disappears without a trace. And everything is absolutely important and absolutely precious.

The crucifixion and death of Jesus are not simply a moment in His biography, and therefore the description of this event is not simply one of the stories about His life. It is testimony. The evangelist points several times to the witnesses of the execution: the beloved disciple, Mary, the other women, those who "testified," whose "testimony is true." John wants to bring us to the place of the crucifixion so that we too may stand with him at the cross, confirming the truthfulness of his account to the other disciples.

Why is this testimony needed, why the quotations from the Law and the prophets? Do we really doubt that a Man who lived two thousand years ago died? Of course not. That means John's testimony is not testimony about death, but testimony about a victory that has been accomplished...

"We venerate Your Cross, O Christ..." What do these words mean for us? Boundless compassion for the innocent, beaten, naked righteous one hanging on this wood. Love for Him, limitless gratitude. And also the understanding of how infinitely lighter our own cross is. All the problems that seem impossible to carry are nothing compared with the measure of suffering He took upon Himself for our sake. "You, who so loved Your world..."

And there are other words: "Then He says to the disciple, 'Behold your mother.'" On these words the Church is built, the strongest of strongholds. We have all been made sons and daughters, and therefore we can never be orphans. Orphanhood is a word from some other life. We often enter prayerfully into the Passion of Christ, but it is much harder to enter into the passion of Mary. His inconceivable physical pain and her inconceivable pain of soul. The whole world is embraced by this pain.