Pilate finally gave in to the pressure from the Jewish leaders and sentenced Jesus to death by crucifixion.
Now think of everything Jesus had been through to this point. The stress-filled prayers in the Garden. The betrayal of Judas. The desertion of his friends. Peter’s denial. Staying up all night for a trial on trumped up charges. Being mocked and beaten. Being dragged from the high priest to Pilate to Herod and back to Pilate, who had him viciously flogged.
And now they forced him to carry his own cross. It was more than he could physically bear. As the procession headed out of
The Bible says a large number of people followed Jesus, including women who “mourned and wailed for him.” At one point Jesus turned to them and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me. Weep for yourselves and for your children. For the time is coming when you will say, ‘Blessed is the woman who has no children.’ At that time people will say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us!’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us!’ For if men do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”
Jesus, along with two other criminals, were to be executed at a place called
They offered Jesus some kind of wine, but he refused to drink it.
They nailed him to a cross, and put up the sign Pilate had made which read, “This is Jesus of Nazareth, The King of the Jews.” The chief priests complained to Pilate, “It should say that he claimed to be king of the Jews.” But Pilate said, “What I have written, I have written.”
The soldiers took his clothes, then gambled to see who would get what.
Jesus hung on the cross between two outlaws, who joined the crowd in insulting him. Some shouted, “Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!”
The Jewish leaders mocked, “He saved others, but he can’t save himself!” “He’s the King of Israel! Let him come down from the cross, then we’ll believe in him.” “He trusts in God. Let God rescue him…if he wants him…”
Even the soldiers insulted him. “If you’re the King of the Jews, save yourself!”
Jesus’ first recorded words from the cross were actually a prayer for his tormenters. “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
The insults continued as one of the criminals next to him said, “Aren’t you the Christ? Then save yourself…and us!”
Suddenly the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God? We are getting what we deserve, but this man has done nothing wrong.”
Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And Jesus responded, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.”
Among the witnesses of this cruel event were many women, including four who stayed close to Jesus: his aunt, Mary Magdalene, Mary the wife of Clopas, and his mother. At one point Jesus saw his mother standing near his disciple John, so he said, “Dear woman, here is your son.” And to John he said, “Here is your mother.” From then on John took care of Jesus’ mother.
At around noon it got dark, and stayed that way for about 3 hours.
At around 3 in the afternoon Jesus mustered the energy to cry out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
Some thought he was calling for Elijah to save him.
Near the end Jesus gasped, “I thirst.” There was a jar of wine vinegar nearby, so they stuck a sponge on a stick, soaked it in the wine vinegar, and lifted it to his lips.
Then they said, “Leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah really will come and rescue him.”
Suddenly Jesus cried out, “It is finished!”
His final words were a prayer. “Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit.” Then he bowed his head, gave up his spirit, and breathed his last.
Meanwhile, at the temple in
An earthquake occurred, strong enough to break rocks apart.
Graves were opened, and some dead saints were raised, went into
In awe of all that had occurred, the Roman centurion and those with him were afraid, and said, “Truly this was the Son of God.”
The Jews didn’t want bodies left hanging around for the upcoming Sabbath, so they asked Pilate to have their legs broken to hasten their death. They broke the legs of the criminals, but when it appeared that Jesus was already dead, they took a spear and stabbed him in the side, just to make sure.
One prominent member of the Council who had not agreed to the plot against Jesus was a rich man from Arimathea named Joseph. In fact, he had secretly become a follower of Jesus.
After Jesus died, this Joseph went to Pilate and asked for his body. Pilate didn’t believe that Jesus had died so quickly, so he had it confirmed, then consented.
Joseph and a man named Nicodemus took down Jesus’ body. They took about seventy-five pounds of myrrh and aloes and used it while wrapping the body in clean linen strips, according to Jewish burial customs.
Nearby there was a garden where Joseph owned a new empty tomb cut out of the rock. They placed the body in the tomb, then rolled a large stone in front of the entrance and went away.
Mary Magdalene and another Mary saw where they laid him. They went home to prepare spices and perfumes, and planned to come back after the Sabbath.
Meanwhile the Jewish leaders went to pester Pilate one more time. “Pilate, you’re not going to believe this, but that deceiver predicted that in three days he would rise from the dead. You’d better guard that tomb, otherwise his disciples might come and steal the body, then tell people he did rise from the dead. This last deception would be worse than the first.”
Pilate consented, telling them to “make the tomb as secure as you know how.”
So they went, made the tomb as secure as possible, put a seal on the stone, and posted the guard.
“There. That’s one body that’s not going anywhere.”
(As heard on Wave 94.1 FM)
I was inspired by and gleaned information from one of my favorite books, “The Murder of Jesus” by John MacArthur.
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