The eighth nave window
In this window we see a spear and a stick with a sponge on the end. They refer to two separate incidents that occurred while Jesus was on the cross. The sponge is mentioned when –
“A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth.” [John 19:29].
Even today the experts are not sure what plant is referred to as hyssop. It is mentioned many times in the Bible and was frequently used for sprinkling blood during Jewish religious ceremonies. It may have been a variety of oregano which is a member of the mint family (like basil, sage, rosemary, marjoram, thyme, and lavender). In some translations of the incident the sponge is put on a reed rather than a hyssop branch and that is more in keeping with the detail in the window.
You may think that a reed is a bit short for reaching up to Jesus’ mouth. So it would be if the cross were twenty metres high as in many religious illustrations. In fact, Jesus would have been raised only a metre or less above the ground.
The sour wine is variously translated as wine, bitter wine, wine vinegar, and vinegar. It is likely that it was just the wine that the soldiers drank which would have been poor quality wine and might have been tart rather than sour.
The spear incident occurred after Jesus had died on the cross. The crucified victim was not able to support his own weight properly and, when hanging from his (women were never crucified) arms, could not breathe properly. Death eventually came from the wounds of the scourging and nailing or from suffocation. It was common practice to “finish off” the victim by breaking his legs, thus ensuring speedy suffocation. The victim was often left on the cross for several days. Crucifixion was normally a slow death but, for Jesus, it lasted six hours from the third hour (9 a.m.) until the ninth hour (3 p.m.), hence the spear. –
“But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water.” [John 19:33,34].
The dedication at the bottom of the window is shown in the image at far right and reads,
BALLYBRANKNOCK IN
HUSBAND PATRICK POWER