Branches Oc

"John’s account of the crucifixion reads like a birth story. Jesus has his clothes removed (19:23) and asks for pain relief. Surrounded by women, he exclaims, “Woman, here is your son” and “Here is your mother” (vv. 26–27), at which point his mother takes the young man he addressed home. After Jesus’ triumphant cry of “It is finished,” blood and water come gushing from his side (vv. 30, 34), a detail only John records. (Along with Luke, he also records the scars and marks that remain on Jesus’ body even after the Resurrection.) John persists with the theme in his letters, repeatedly describing salvation as being “born of God” and famously insisting on the witness of Spirit, water, and blood (1 John 5:1–8)."