The Garden: Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane
Jesus is afraid.
It’s dark. He knows the soldiers are coming. And His friends are asleep. It will be the last time He sees them before they abandon Him. He knows their betrayal is only minutes away.
But He doesn’t accuse. He doesn’t lecture. Instead, He chooses to pray. He prays for His sleeping friends, and for everyone who would believe in Him from that point on.
We also know that He begged for an exit. “Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will, not mine.” (Luke 22:42)
If He could have, He would have turned His head back on the whole mess. But He didn’t.
He didn’t because He saw you. Right there in the middle of a world that isn’t fair. He saw you betrayed by those you love—in your own garden of gnarled trees and sleeping friends. He saw you, and He didn’t want you to be alone.
He had made His decision. He would rather go to hell for you than go to heaven without you.
- Paraphrased from
He Chose the Nails
by Max Lucado
The Betrayal: Jesus is Betrayed by Judas
The coins clink with each step. There are 30 pieces of silver—nothing too big, just the equivalent of a few months’ wages—in Judas’ pockets. As he walks, he thinks about Jesus. The night is silent and he wonders if he really loved this man, this friend, with whom he spent the last couple of years with. He had seen Jesus’ kindness. He had seen his compassion. He had witnessed the miracles with his very own eyes. And yet when word got out that those who felt threatened by Jesus had put a price on his head, Judas felt his heart give way.
Yes. Maybe he did love him. Just not enough.
Although most of us can hardly imagine perpetrating a betrayal like Judas’, we often trade God in for far lesser things: a career, relationship, a habit, or money. It could be a variety of many other things.
Oftentimes, the things we pursue the most are also tied to our greatest fears— what you love the most is what you fear losing the most. The Scriptures compel us to fear God above all else. We can freely take this risk because he is the one who loves us unconditionally and will provide for all that we will ever need
The Trial: Jesus Before the Sanhedrin
Many bible scholars who have studied the trial of Jesus consider it an “illegal trial” for a host of reasons. Here are a few:
• Jesus was subjected to a secret preliminary examination at night. The law only permitted daytime hearings.
• The Sanhedrin by law could not originate charges. In this case the accusers were the judges.
• An advocate was required to speak on behalf of the defendant because the accused could not be convicted by his own testimony. Jesus had no one.
• The verdict could not be given the same day as the trial. Jesus’ trial was completed in less than nine hours, his execution within twenty-four.
The trial system of the Sanhedrin was one that took pride in how they erred on the side of mercy. Eager to cast “stones of judgement” so to speak, they didn’t even realize that they breached all their standards and condemned the only innocent man that ever lived.
The Verdict: Jesus is Judged by Pilate
I find NOT HING WRONG with this man. (John 18:38)
I have found no basis for your charges against him. As you can see, he has DONE NOT HING to deserve death. (Luke 23:14-16)
What crime has this man committed? I have found in him NO GROUNDS for the death penalty. (Luke 23:22)
Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find NO BASIS for a charge against him. (John 19:4-6)
He took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, “I am INNOCENT of the blood of thisJUST person.” (Matthew 27:24)
- Pontius Pilate
Roman Governor / History’s Greatest Coward
The Whip: Jesus is Scourged
Crucifixion typically began with flogging the back of victims. The flagrum, a short whip composed of braided leather strands tied to sharp pieces of bone and metal, was the choice tool of torture. Its intent was to weaken the subject to a state just short of death.
A description of Roman scourging appears in an article from the Journal of the American Medical Association from 1986:
As the Roman soldiers repeatedly struck the victim’s back with full force, the iron balls would cause deep contusions, and the leather thongs and sheep bones would cut into the skin and subcutaneous tissues. Then, as the flogging continued, the lacerations would tear into the underlying skeletal muscles and produce quivering ribbons of bleeding flesh. Pain and blood loss generally set the stage for circulatory shock.
The prophet Isaiah, foretelling the torture of the Jesus tells us,
But he was pierced for our rebellion, Crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. (Isaiah 53:5)
In essence, Jesus was whipped so that we could be healed.
The Curse: Jesus is Crowned with Thorns
In the Scripture, thorns symbolize the effects of sin. After Adam and Eve disobeyed God in the garden of Eden, the land got cursed, “the very ground is cursed because of you… The ground will produce thorns and weeds for you, and you will get food the hard way.” (Genesis 3:17-18)
Because thorns are the fruit of sin, we only need to step in to humanity’s prickly patch to feel its thistles: Shame. Fear. Disgrace. Discouragement. Anxiety. Whether from our own doing or the fault of someone else’s bad decisions, we are all too familiar with the weight of sin and its consequences.
The crown of thorns that pierced his head is a reminder that Jesus completely absorbed the curse of sin. As a matter of fact, he became the curse for us. (Galatians 3:13)
- Paraphrased from
He Chose the Nails
by Max Lucado
The Cross: Jesus Carries His Cross
The Via Dolorosa or Way of Sorrows, according to tradition, is the uphill route that Jesus took as he carried the cross. Jesus arduously walked from the hall of Pilate up to Calvary, totaling to about half a kilometer.
No one really knows the exact route Christ followed that painful Friday. But a bird’s eye view of the Scripture story tells us where the road actually begins. No, not from the court of Pilate. It didn’t start from the garden of Gethsemane either. Not from the journey into Jerusalem. It didn’t even begin in Bethlehem.
The journey to the cross began long before. As the echo of the crunching of the fruit was still sounding in the Garden of Eden, Jesus was leaving for Calvary.
- Paraphrased from
He Chose the Nails
by Max Lucado
The Two Simons
Simon Peter
“And he went outside and wept bitterly.” (Luke 22:62)
Simon Peter fell from his high horse and flat on his face as he buckled under the weight of his guilt. In less than 24 hours, Peter went from declaring his loyalty to Jesus even unto death (Luke 22:33), to flat out denying that he knew the man. He had just denied his Lord. Not once, but three times.
Peter could have well earned the title, ‘History’s Greatest Flake’, but his story doesn’t end there. Decades later, he finds himself hanging on a Roman cross. Tradition tells us that he requested to be hung upside down, feeling unworthy to even die the same death as Christ.
The charge? Preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. The gospel for those who need a second chance—the gospel for flakes.
Simon of Cyrene
When torture has taken its toll and the cross has become too heavy to bear, Jesus looks back and finds not a friend, not a disciple, not anyone from his inner circle. Jesus finds the help of a stranger.
He could have been left anonymous; records could have kept him unnamed. But the gospel writers don’t merely gloss over the detail that a foreigner helped Jesus carry the cross. For this act, he is forever etched in history. The stranger is from Cyrene. And his name is Simon.
The Crucifixion: Jesus is Crucified
The Romans perfected execution by crucifixion to an art. It was reserved for the lowest of criminals and carried out to inflict the maximum amount of pain before death.
The Romans did not tie the convict to the cross. They used tapered square spikes about five-and-a-half inches long and drove them through the wrist and feet, causing excruciating and intolerable pain.
Ultimately, one died by suffocation. To breathe, the convict was forced to push himself up on his feet to allow for the lungs to expand. As the body weakened and pain in the feet and legs became unbearable, he would eventually trade breathing for pain and exhaustion until the lungs collapsed and the heart finally failed.
Why choose such a horrible death? Why would God allow His only son to experience what is probably the most gruesome way to die in all of human history?
The sacrifice on the cross reveals how repulsive sin really is. But it also shows us the awesome magnitude of God’s love. God put your sin on his Son and punished it there, so that you would be free.
Why?
For moral duty?
Heavenly obligation?
Paternal requirement?
No. God is required to do nothing.
John 3:16 reads that,
“God so LOVED the world, that he gave his only son.” The motivation was love. The motivation was you.
- Paraphrased from
He Chose the Nails
by Max Lucado
The Mother: Jesus Entrusts Mary to John
It is almost impossible to reflect on the events surrounding Jesus’ final hours without thinking about Jesus’ mother, Mary. Tradition places Mary following Jesus as he trekked the road toward Calvary. And while most of Jesus’ friends had already abandoned him, we find the faithful mother at the foot of the cross until his death.
What memories flashed through Mary’s mind as she witnessed her beloved son’s torture? Did she replay Gabriel’s declaration of his birth, and that “His kingdom will have no end” (Luke 1:33)? Did she think of the silent night in Bethlehem when her baby boy was finally born? What about the time, at age twelve, when Jesus traveled to the temple alone to talk about God? And who can forget Jesus’ first miracle at the wedding at Cana?
One thing is for sure: From Bethlehem to Calvary, Mary was there for her son. She loved Jesus. And Jesus, he loved her. He cared for her so much that in the midst of his own suffering, he made sure to entrust her to the friend he loved.
The Promise: Jesus Promises Paradise to the Repentant Thief
Two thieves hang on the cross on either side of Jesus.
One insults him,
You call yourself Messiah? Well, then come down from that cross. How are you going to save us if you can’t save yourself? (Luke 23:39)
The other one tosses up a confession with a desperate cry for forgiveness,
We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong. Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.
How could two men see the same Jesus, and one choose to mock him while the other choose to pray to him? We don’t know, but they did.
And when one prayed to him, Jesus loved him enough to save him.
And when the other mocked, Jesus loved him enough to let him. He allowed him the choice.
He does the same for you.
The Darkness: Jesus Dies
It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Jesus called out with a loud voice,
“Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last. (Luke 23:44-46)
A mysterious eclipse shrouded the hill of the skulls, the hill where Jesus hung.
Darkness is fitting for this moment, for the Light of the world had been snuffed out.
John the apostle, referring to Jesus, did say that
“the light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it… The light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of the light.” (John 1:4, 8:9)
The darkness of Good Friday seems real. It seems permanent. Most of all it seems to contradict the promise of Jesus when he said, “I am the Light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life”.
“SEEMS” is the operative word.
The Cloth: Jesus Rises
“Peter then saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus’ head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen.” (John 20:6-7)
During Jesus’ time, there was one way a carpenter let a contractor know a job was finished. A signature if you will. When the final piece of a job had been completed, the carpenter would typically fold a towel neatly in half and set it on the finished work and walk away. Whoever would arrive later to inspect the work would see the towel and understand its simple message:
The work is finished.
On the first Easter, Peter crouched in to look into an empty tomb. He saw only the linens that Jesus had left behind.
Imagine that a smile crossed Peter’s face as sorrow was replaced by hope. He saw the wrap that had covered Jesus’ face; it had been folded in half, and left neatly on the floor of the tomb. The carpenter had left behind a simple message.
- Paraphrased from
The Carpenter’s Cloth
By Sigmund Brouwer
The Table: Remembering Jesus
The Master, Jesus, on the night of his betrayal, took bread. Having given thanks, he broke it and said,
This is my body, broken for you. Do this to remember me.
After supper, he did the same thing with the cup:
“This cup is my blood, my new covenant with you. Each time you drink this cup, remember me.”
What you must solemnly realize is that every time you eat this bread and every time you drink this cup, you reenact in your words and actions the death of the Master. You will be drawn back to this meal again and again until the Master returns. You must never let familiarity breed contempt. (1 Corinthians 11:23-34, The Message)
Text from Walkway Online. #walkway2012 #walkway
