THE WEEK OF THE CROSS (continued)

The night before the cross - His six trials. After midnight, Judas brought the Jewish leaders and soldiers to arrest Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. They came with swords and clubs to arrest the Prince of Peace. They bound Jesus and took Him to the Jewish leaders for trial. His trial before Annas (Trial 1) was illegal ... being without witnesses. An officer struck Him. He was taken to the high priest Caiaphas for another trial (Trial 2) ... this one with false witnesses. They asked, "Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?" ... and He answered, "I am.” Mark 14:61-62. The High Priest tore his robe as a sign condemning blasphemy. The priests condemned Him to be deserving of death. Guards spit in His face, beat Him with fists, and slapped Him. Peter denied Jesus three times ... then he went out and wept bitterly. They brought Him to the Sanhedrin when they convened at sunup (Trial 3). They asked, "Are you the Son of God?" ... and He answered, "Yes, I am." Luke 22:70. They convicted Him and transferred Him to the Romans for execution. He was tried before Pilate (Trial 4) ... taken to Herod (Trial 5) ... and then brought back to Pilate (Trial 6). The crowd rejected His release. Pilate sentenced Him to death. Jesus was beaten, mocked, spit on, severely whipped, and crowned with thorns. Jesus was too weak to carry His cross to Golgotha to be crucified. Simon of Cyrene helped carry it for Him. Golgotha, the place of the skull, was not a scenic mountain location ... it was the execution site along the road to the dump.

The day of the cross - His supreme sacrifice. Near 9 AM, they nailed Jesus to the cross between two thieves. Above His head a sign proclaimed, "King of the Jews". Jesus prayed, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." Many mocked Him ... including the Jewish leaders, passers-by, soldiers, and even one of the two thieves. The other thief believed. Jesus said to him, "Today you shall be with Me in Paradise." Guards divided His clothing and cast lots for His tunic. At noon, the sky became dark. At about 3PM Jesus said, "My God, My God why hast Thou forsaken Me?" ... "Father, into Thy hands I commit My spirit" ... "It is finished." He bowed His head and died. An earthquake rumbled through Jerusalem. The veil of the Temple was torn in two. The Centurion guard at the foot of the cross began praising God ... and proclaimed, "This man was innocent ... this man was the Son of God." After Jesus died, a guard speared His side to be sure that He was dead. He was dead. There was no reason to break His legs. The perfect, sinless God-man had paid for the sins of the world. Jesus was taken down from the cross to be buried in a borrowed tomb. The tomb was sealed and guarded by Roman soldiers ... because He had prophesied that He would rise from the dead in three days. The story of the crucifixion and the quotations in this paragraph are from Matthew 27, Mark 15, Luke 23, and John 19.

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THE LIFE OF CHRIST 9    PAGES: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14    
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Disciplemaking 1, copyright 2003, is available free from www.MyDisciplemaker.org where you can study online or print free copies. You may copy this course, any any part of it, for free or at-cost distribution ... without change to the content ... and with this copyright policy attached. Published by www.ActsOneEight.org. Bible Quotations are from the NASB unless noted.