The night was long after the betrayal. The trial, if you can call it that, was awful. False accusations made alongside of true eyewitness accounts of miracles and changed lives only brought confusion among people but angered the priests. The chief priest asked Jesus straight away, "Are you the Messiah?" and Jesus answered, "Yes. I am." That was it.
While this was all taking placing, Peter was trying to blend in with the crowds and several asked him if he was one of the followers, don't you know Him? And Peter vehemently denies it! He lies and denies three times that he knows Jesus...out in the distance a rooster crows...Jesus turns and looks right at Peter. Peter runs.
Taken to Pilate, Pilate really doesn't see any legal reason to condemn Jesus to death, he asks Jesus questions about being the King of the Jews. "You say that I am a King. I was born for this purpose..." Pilate, again, tells the people that neither he nor Herod believe Jesus is guilty and as was custom at the festival, he asks which prisoner to release, Barabbas or Jesus. The crowd demands Barabbas to be released and Jesus to be crucified. The same crowd who just a week ago praised and lauded, "Hosanna!" as He entered the city now screams for His death.
Soldiers take Him away and mock Him, dressing up as a king, twisting thorn branches into a crown and pushing it onto His head. They kneel in front of Him, pretending to pay homage, and then spit on Him and hit Him in the head. Putting His clothes back on Him, they make Him carry the beam of the cross and begin the walk to Golgotha. He was weak...a man named Simon was pulled from the onlookers and forced to help carry the beam. Reaching the hill, they strip Him again, pound stakes into His hands and feet, and place the cross in place. Jesus, beaten, mocked, humiliated, on display. As if it wasn't enough, they made a sign that said, "King of the Jews." All of this happened by 9am.
The crucifixion only lasted about 6 hours. At noon the sky grew dark. By 3pm, Jesus had let His final words, "It is finished." He breathed His last, and died. In an instant, the earth quaked, the curtain in the temple ripped from top to bottom opening the public to the holy of holies, and a number of dead people who had believed in Jesus were alive, walking out of their tombs!
One soldier said, "Surely He was the Son of God." Because it was Passover, Jesus's body needed to be buried. A man named Joseph, from Arimathea, went to Pilate and asked for the body. He was given permission and with the help of Nicodemus, they placed Jesus in a tomb Joseph owned. Mary, the mother of Jesus, and Mary Magdalene, both saw where Jesus was laid. Not to be made to look like fools, the priests demanded Pilate seal the tomb to ensure that non one could take His body and claim He was alive. Sundown. Sabbath. No more work.
📖Today's Reading: Matthew 27 Mark 15 Luke 23 John 18
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