Before the Cross
Jesus was born, then raised and protected by Joseph and Mary. When He was about 30, He started His ministry.
For over 3 years, His disciples lived, ate, and stayed with Him — 24/7. They saw diseases healed, demons cast out, and the dead raised back to life. They had seen Jesus walk on water and calm a stormy sea. Three of them witnessed Jesus speaking with Moses and Elijah, both of whom had died many years before this.
Now, Jesus was standing trial before the Jewish leaders, then the Roman governor. The disciples knew that this was the Son of God – God Himself. Surely, He would not allow Himself to be physically harmed. They had even seen Him walk right through angry mobs before.
Jesus had told His disciples that He was going to be killed, then raised from the dead, but they didn’t understand.
They had one last Passover meal together.
While they were eating, Jesus told them that He would be betrayed.
Betrayal
21 When Jesus had said this, He became troubled in spirit, and testified and said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, that one of you will betray Me.”
Both Jesus and His disciples must have been very sad. After all that they had seen and heard, how could one of them possibly betray Jesus? Jesus then showed them that it was Judas Iscariot who would betray Him.
Next, Peter was given news that he couldn’t believe.
Peter’s Denial
37 Peter said to Him, “Lord, why can I not follow You right now? I will lay down my life for You.”
38 Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for Me? Truly, truly, I say to you, a rooster will not crow until you deny Me three times.
Wow, this night just keeps getting worse. If Jesus said that Peter would deny Him, Peter knew it would happen, but he still couldn’t believe it.
They sang a song after the Passover meal, then went to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray, as was their custom.
Gethsemane
32 They came to a place named Gethsemane; and He said to His disciples, “Sit here until I have prayed.”
33 And He took with Him Peter and James and John, and began to be very distressed and troubled.
34 And He said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved to the point of death; remain here and keep watch.”
Jesus wanted His disciples to pray with Him. They were very tired, though, and they had no idea what was about to happen, but Jesus did.
This was going to be the hardest thing that He ever had to do.
Prayer
41 And He withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and began to pray,
42 saying, “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.”
43 Now an angel from heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him.
44 And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground.
Jesus knew the torture and agony that He was about to endure. It was more than He could handle on His own. Notice that even Jesus received help from a ministering angel. God does not expect us to live this life on our own. He wants us to ask Him for help.
Just like Jesus, He also wants us to say, “yet not My will, but Yours be done.”
Then came the ultimate betrayal.
Prayer
Mark 14:44; Luke 22:44-48 (NASB)
44 Now he who was betraying Him had given them a signal, saying, “Whomever I kiss, He is the one; seize Him and lead Him away under guard.”
47 While He was still speaking, behold, a crowd came, and the one called Judas, one of the twelve, was preceding them; and he approached Jesus to kiss Him.
48 But Jesus said to him, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?”
Judas had lived with Jesus for over three years. Even though Jesus always knew that Judas would ultimately betray Him, He still loved and cared for Judas. Judas didn’t just betray Jesus; he betrayed Him with a kiss.
The Jews and Romans led Jesus away. They tried Him in their Jewish court, using witnesses who were paid to lie about Jesus. Then they brought Jesus to the Roman governor and convinced him to crucify Jesus, even though He had done nothing wrong. Before He was crucified, He was beaten, mocked, spit upon, and whipped. He then had to carry His own cross, until He was too weak, then they forced someone else to carry it for Him.
Crucifixion was a horrible, slow, painful death.
The Cross
29 Those passing by were hurling abuse at Him, wagging their heads, and saying, “Ha! You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days,
30 save Yourself, and come down from the cross!”
31 In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes, were mocking Him among themselves and saying, “He saved others; He cannot save Himself.
Jesus created the heavens and the earth. He even created these people who were now mocking Him. They were so spiritually blind they could not even see Who was right in front of them.
Jesus’ mother and some of His disciples were also there, watching the whole thing.
The Cross
33 When the sixth hour came, darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour.
This was noontime, when the sun was normally at its highest point. All of creation was mourning. The Son of God was dying. Things could not get any darker.
Jesus was crucified around 9:00 a.m. The sun went dark from 12:00 noon until 3:00 p.m.
Forsaken
34 At the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “ELOI, ELOI, LAMA SABACHTHANI?” which is translated, “MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?”
Even with all of the incredible pain and torture that Jesus had already endured, this is what affected Him the most. Jesus took on all of our sins at this point.
God, His Father, could not bear to look at this sin. This was the only time in all of eternity that God the Father and the Son were separated. Just for this brief, agonizing moment, the Father had to turn away from His Son.
Jesus stayed faithful until the end.
Death
30 Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.
46 And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, “Father, INTO YOUR HANDS I COMMIT MY SPIRIT.” Having said this, He breathed His last.
All vestiges of hope that the disciples had were gone. The hopes of His followers, His mother, and all who had placed their trust in Him were completely lost. This was the darkest day in the history of the world. It seemed that evil had ultimately triumphed over God Himself.
There was nothing left for anyone; all was lost.
Burial
Jesus’ family, friends, and disciples watched as the Roman soldiers jabbed Him in the side with a spear, to see if He was dead. Blood and water came out. (Jn.19:34) Two godly men, Nicodemus and Joseph, took the body after the soldiers removed Him from the cross. Joseph had a tomb that he had prepared for himself, which was close by.
After they prepared the body of Jesus, they laid it in Joseph’s tomb. They had to work quickly, because the Sabbath day was about to start, when they were not allowed to do any work. After they finished, they rolled a large stone in front of the tomb.
The Jewish leaders were worried that someone might steal the body of Jesus, so they stationed a group of soldiers there to guard the tomb. If these soldiers allowed anyone to steal the body, they would probably all be killed, so they stayed alert.
Waiting
You can imagine how despondent everyone was Friday night, Saturday, and Saturday night. All of their hopes and dreams died with Jesus. They had nothing left.
Sunday Morning
Early Sunday morning (the third day), a few women came to prepare the body of Jesus more carefully, since there was not enough time for the full process the day He died. They walked slowly, wishing they could be anywhere else, doing anything else. Their love for Jesus compelled them to keep moving.
They wondered who could open the tomb for them, because they were not strong enough to move the large stone in front of it. When they arrived, they probably thought that things kept getting worse – it looked like someone actually did steal the body of Jesus.
Suddenly, they realized something else was happening.
Resurrection
1 Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave.
2 And behold, a severe earthquake had occurred, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it.
3 And his appearance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow.
4 The guards shook for fear of him and became like dead men.
5 Entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting at the right, wearing a white robe; and they were amazed.
6 And he said to them, “Do not be amazed; you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen; He is not here; behold, here is the place where they laid Him.
7 “But go, tell His disciples and Peter, He is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see Him, just as He told you. “
The women were in shock. They couldn’t believe what had just happened.
This was too good to be true. They ran and told the disciples, who came and saw for themselves.
Peter and John
3 So Peter and the other disciple went forth, and they were going to the tomb.
4 The two were running together; and the other disciple ran ahead faster than Peter and came to the tomb first;
5 and stooping and looking in, he saw the linen wrappings lying there; but he did not go in.
The long, winding linen wrappings that Joseph and Nicodemus had wrapped Jesus in were lying there, but Jesus was gone!
In the Tomb
6 And so Simon Peter also came, following him, and entered the tomb; and he saw the linen wrappings lying there,
7 and the face-cloth which had been on His head, not lying with the linen wrappings, but rolled up in a place by itself.
8 So the other disciple who had first come to the tomb then also entered, and he saw and believed.
9 For as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead.
Up until now, they had thought that Jesus was going to be like one of the Old Testament judges or prophets. They thought that Jesus had come to set the Jewish people free from the Roman occupation and establish His kingdom here on earth. They didn’t understand that the kingdom of God is a spiritual kingdom.
Appearance to the Disciples
19 So when it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
20 And when He had said this, He showed them both His hands and His side. The disciples then rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
That same evening, Jesus appeared to the disciples and showed them His pierced hands and side. The worst possible event in their lives instantly had turned around. They could not understand before, but now they did. While He was just a man, Jesus could not be with all of us forever. After He sent His Holy Spirit, now He can. Jesus took the penalty for our sins and He nailed them to the cross. He then rose from the dead, so that we could, too.
Today
I have seen many times in my life where it looked totally bleak; there was no way out of this situation. Then, all of a sudden, God worked it out. Never give up hope.
Jesus died for our sins. He also died to teach us to trust Him in everything. No matter what it looks like, Jesus will be there. Whether we receive the answer to our prayer or we have to walk through the trial, He is still there.
What are you going through today? Is today the day that you will decide to reach out to Jesus and ask Him for help? If so, pray this prayer of commitment with me.
Lord Jesus, thank you for taking my sins and dying on the cross for me.
Forgive me and help me live a godly life, starting today.
I want to live my life for You.
I give You control.
You are my Lord, my Savior, and my Friend.
In Jesus’ Name, amen.
God bless you as you walk and talk with Jesus. We invite you to let us know that you made a commitment to Jesus. You can reach us at:
LibertyWorshipCenter.org or 504-689-5185.
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We would love to speak with you or have you worship the Lord with us. Please let us know how we can serve you.
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