Who Was the Last Person to Touch Jesus’ Heart?
Perhaps, outside of seeing the Resurrected Christ, it is the most incredible.
It was when the centurion pierced the Heart of Jesus as the Lord hung limp in death on His Cross that first Good Friday so long ago.
As the Beloved Disciple tells us, it was at that moment that “immediately there came out Blood and Water” John 19:34.
And then as a further eyewitness to events, John describes how Joseph of Arimathea took the Body of Jesus and “bound it in linen.”
The Lord’s burial Shroud, of course.
But there is another event that occurs at this time which we believe John was an eyewitness to as well. One he did not record in his Gospel.
But one the Shroud bears witness to.
As we remember the scene of those who stood at the Foot of the Cross during that awful but redemptive day, we can never forget that Mary, Jesus’ Mother, stayed with Her Son until the moment they placed His Body in the Sepulchre — and then, rolled the stone across it.
As a vision of the time preceding this, we have the incredible Pieta by Michaelangelo that so vividly portrays the Sorrow of Mary as She holds Her Son’s lifeless Body.
The Woman who had first wrapped Him in swaddling linen now held Him for the last time in His burial linen.
And the Shroud records something that we believe no scientist will comprehend.
It is something only the heart can feel.
In the scientific realm, researchers have long ago proven that the Bloodstained Heart wound is definitely postmortem.
This means there is no doubt that John told us the Truth when he witnessed the centurion piercing Jesus’ Heart AFTER our Savior was dead.
For John was amazed that Jesus was not only dead, but when the centurion pierced the Heart of Christ, our Savior was doubly dead. This alone made the visible Resurrection of Christ all the more miraculous to John.
The Bloodstains on the Shroud prove that this is a postmortem Heart wound in three different ways:
* serum levels have increased dramatically from the wound as normally occurs when blood oozes out from a body that is already dead. Bloodstains in other areas on the Shroud do not contain these high serum levels as these stains occurred while the Body was alive and bleeding.
* despite the severity of the Heart wound, there is not one iota of swelling around this wound, proving that the Body was already dead, for dead tissue does not swell up no matter how hard one might puncture it.
* finally, if the Heart was still beating when this wound occurred, Blood would have splattered all over the Body as the muscle would have pump one or two more times before stopping. The Blood on the Shroud clearly shows that it is just pulled out of the wound by the force of gravity, consistent with a body in crucifixion position, proving the Heart of Christ had stopped beating when It was punctured.
And all of this was witnessed by Mary, the Mother of God.
For 45 minutes, the time it took from the moment Jesus was dead on the Cross to the time Joseph of Arimathea was able to take His Body down, Mary wept and watched as someone — perhaps John — placed the Sudario (sweat cloth, or the napkin as it is called in the Gospels) over Her Son’s Holy Face to cover it in death.
(We know that this 45-minute time span from His Death on the Cross to the removal of His Body from the Cross is a scientific fact from the research of the Bloodstains on the Sudario, the very cloth that covered Jesus’ Face on Good Friday and which resides today in a Church in Oviedo, Spain.)
And in Her emotion as the Sorrowful Mother, Mary could do only one thing from the time She met Her Son on His Way to the Cross to the time He was placed in the Sepulchre. Mary knew She could NOT stop Her Son’s Crucifixion and save Him from Rome’s murderous soldiers as She did when She saved Him as a Child from Herod’s murderous soldiers.
Mary knew all She could do for Her Son now was to pray — pray to Her Father and Her Spouse, the Holy Spirit, that enough graces would be granted Her Son so that He may complete His most Holy and Sacred Mission.
And then, at the end, Mary could only hold Her Son’s lifeless Body in Her arms when it was consummated.
Mary could only wipe away the sweat, tears and Blood from Her Son’s eyes.
She could only hold Him and keep Him wrapped closely in His Shroud.
And then the moment came when the men would want to take Her Son’s Body from Her and place Him on the slab in the tomb.
This is the moment that we believe is recorded on the Shroud.
For on the cloth the Bloodstains of the Heart wound are the most prominent.
How could this be?
It is a known scientific fact that Jesus’ Body is already in a state of rigor mortis with His knees bent from the Crucifixion position, His Head tilted forward and the angle of both forcing the linen cloth to rise above the chest of the Body when He is placed in His Shroud. Physically, the Shroud cannot be laying flat across Jesus’ chest at this moment in time.
Yet, the Bloodstains on the cloth show that they have been pressed up against the chest of Christ. It appears as if someone has placed their very hand — indeed, their very fingers — into the wound.
We believe this was the moment when Mary placed Her Hand on Her Son’s Sacred Heart wound one last time and pressed it close to His Body.
One last moment in time when Mary could touch Her Son’s Heart and still feel the bond between them — a bond that was inseparable throughout Their earthly journey.
Two Sacred Hearts reaching out to one another: one in the stillness of life, yet aching and beating; and one wounded and pierced, silent in the stillness of death.
Two Sacred Hearts as They shared a final moment of silence — the fait accompli of the Sorrowful Mysteries.
Two Sacred Hearts intertwined once again and recorded on a linen cloth for all the world to see in a Love that is inseparable for all Eternity.
Who was the last Person to touch Jesus’ Heart?
There is only one Candidate whether scientists wish to confirm it or not — and we all know Who it is spiritually.
For while the scientist can never logically comprehend it — for the heart can only feel it — the Shroud proves Mary was the last Person to touch Jesus’ Sacred Heart!
© 2003 Agnus Dei Presents!
