The garden of Gethsemane. Jesus, knowing it is almost time to complete the task He was born to do, takes Peter, John, and James with Him to pray. His heart is breaking and is full of sorrow. As flesh, He begins to pray, "O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt." When He returns to His disciples, they are asleep. During His entire ministry, He has been giving them clues about what is impending, yet they sleep. Don't they know that life as they know it is about to change? How can they sleep at a time Jesus needs them the most? Why can't they stay awake and pray? Two more times, Jesus prays the same prayer and returns to find His disciples fast asleep. This last time, however, He tells them to sleep on. He no longer needs their prayers. His time has come. As He is speaking, Judas, one of His own, arrives with a crowd sent by the chief priests and elders. He betrays Him with a kiss worth thirty pieces of silver. Jesus, knowing what is next, still calls him friend. The men grab Jesus and arrest Him. One of His disciples draws his sword and cuts off the ear of the servant of the high priest. Jesus, healing his ear, replies, "Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?" He had a duty, and He would see it through to the end. We were worth it.
The house of Caiaphas. All of Jesus' disciples had forsook Him and fled away in fear. Peter, however, follows Him from a distance and sits with the servants to watch the outcome of His arrest. Many false witnesses testify against Jesus and the high priest gets angry when He refuses to respond. When He finally does respond, He gets accused of blasphemy. The crowd cries out, "He is guilty of death!" and begins to spit in His face, beat Him with their fists, and slap Him in mockery. Meanwhile, Peter is still sitting in the courtyard, when a servant recognizes him as a follower of Jesus. He denies it and leaves. On the porch, again he is recognized and again he denies it. "I do not know the man." One more time he is recognized as a follower, this time by his speech, so he begins to curse and swear. Is this why Jesus refused to respond to the high priest's questions? Was He too absorbed listening to Peter deny Him? Peter hears the cock crow. He remembers the words of Jesus, "Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice." He remembers his own fervent response, "Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee." He runs out, weeping bitterly.
The next morning. As Jesus is being delivered to Pilate, Judas, feeling guilty for his betrayal, tries to return the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders. They refuse it. He throws the blood money in the temple, runs off, and hangs himself. Meanwhile, Jesus stands before Pilate, who is amazed that He refuses to respond to the accusations of the crowd. He asks the crowd who he should set free, Jesus or Barabas? They choose Barabas - a murderer. He asks them, "What shall I do then with Jesus?" They cry out, "Let him be crucified!" Pilate washes his hands saying, "I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it." Jesus is then scourged. Scourging was meant to bring the victim as close to death as possible without killing him. He is whipped and delivered to be crucified. They strip Him and make Him wear a scarlet robe. Then they place a crown of thorns upon His head and a reed in His right hand, and begin to bow, mocking Him. "Hail, King of the Jews!" They spit on Him and begin to hit Him on the head with the reed. They disrobe Him, put His bloody and torn clothes back on, and then lead Him to be crucified.
Golgotha. The cross is too heavy for Him, but He is determined. Simon carries His cross to Golgotha. They give Jesus vinegar mixed with myrrh to drink. He tastes it but refuses to drink it. They take his hands and feet, and nail Him to the cross. He prays, “Father forgive them; for they know not what they do.” They cast lots for His garments and then sit to watch Him. Again they begin to mock Him saying, "Save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross." He could have saved His own life, but we would still be lost in our sins. So He sees it through to the end. He was born for this moment. He cries out with a loud voice, “It is finished!", bows His head, and dies. He saw it to completion. He did exactly what He set out to do. It was finished. He paid the penalties of our sins. I cannot imagine the excruciating pain, agony, and suffering He endured. He died a horrible, gruesome death. All because we were worth it.
The high priests and elders thought they finally silenced Him. The devil thought he won. But three days later, death was swallowed up in victory! He came out of that tomb victorious! He conquered death, hell, and the grave! His death and resurrection brought forgiveness of sins! The veil of the temple was ripped! We now have free access to the throne of God! We don’t need to go to a priest - we can go directly to God! We can apply His death, burial, and resurrection to our lives through repentance, baptism, and the Holy Ghost! He can live inside of us! That's the gospel! That's the good news! And He commands us to share it! This world is hopeless without God - they need the good news! He has already paved the way to freedom and forgiveness. The door to salvation is open to all of us, but we must walk through the door. His job is complete, and we must now do what is required of us. The ball is in our court. The celebration of Easter is not just about the resurrection of Jesus, but also that we can now have new life and a relationship with Him!
“But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.”
Isaiah 53:5
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