The Trial - Part 3

Peter Denies Jesus Christ

When: 9 am, Friday, April 7, 30 AD
Where: Jerusalem, Judea

PROCESSION TO CRUCIFIXION:

Pilate's order was carried out almost immediately. An execution squad of four solders was organized. Since Jesus was to be crucified now, the Romans decided to execute two "other" criminals at the same time. There had been some concern that Pilate was crucifying them during the Judean Passover, but Pilate believed that it sent a strong message, and that there was little chance of a riot because the Judean Jews would be busy celebrating their Passover.

The squad gathered the three criminals to be crucified and assigned the 100-pound wooden crossbeams for each to carry. The beams were tied to their shoulders, and then the criminals were lined up. Then began the procession, with Jesus, as the most important criminal, to be the first of the prisoners leading the procession.

As the procession moved through the streets of Jerusalem, some people lined the way. Some were supporters of the religious leaders, and they verbally assaulted Jesus. Some had been followers of Jesus, and they cried with this injustice. Some shopkeepers and their customers were curious, while others who just happened to be walking down the street, were forced to stop and wait until the condemned went past.

As the procession left the "Seat of Judgment" in the public square west of the Fortress of Antonia western gates, it became quickly obvious that Jesus was far too weak. The guard had not been sufficiently careful. Jesus staggered repeatedly and the wood gouged his exposed muscles. Jesus was kicked to "encourage him" to get up and keep moving, but though he tried, and did in fact go a short distance, he eventually fell down and could not rise.

So one of the guards picked a man from the crowd, who looked strong, to carry the crossbeam of Jesus to the site of the execution. They happened to pick a foreign Jew who had come to Jerusalem for the festival, from the North African city of Cyrene, west of Egypt. He had rented a place outside the city and had come into Jerusalem today to worship at the temple.

The solders untied the crossbeam from Jesus, and Simon picked it up and joined the procession right behind Jesus. Simon had a vague sense of who Jesus was, but little suspected that this "random selection" would radically change his life as well.

Most of the people were sorry that the Romans were executing these Jews. The local women expressed their anguish with loud cries and other physical displays, such as hitting themselves with their hands. Jesus became aware of these expressions of sorrow, and he tried to reach out to them. As he walked past them he tried to warn them. 'My suffering is ending, cry for Jerusalem. A time is coming, soon, when you will wish for death to release you from the suffering.'

Jesus led the convicted through the gate in the west wall, just north of the three towers near the Palace of Herod, to the site where the crucifixion would occur. The place was called Golgotha, the place of the skull [Gordon], which was the site of a rock quarry. Golgotha was at the northern extension of the Valley of Hinnon that had served as the city dump.

When: 10 am, Friday, April 7, 30 AD
Where: Golgotha, Jerusalem, Judea

SATAN TEMPTS JESUS:

Once the crossbeam was in place, a different kind of pain began for those who had been crucified. Gravity pulled the body downward, which put pressure on the nerves of the wrists and resulted in shooting pain. But when the condemned tried to relieve that pain by pushing himself upward, the pressure on the nerves of the feet also resulted in shooting pain.

The representatives of the Sanhedrin arrived to be certain that Jesus had been crucified. They were overheard saying to each other, 'He claimed to be the Messiah, the son of God, but since he suffers this way he must have been the son of Satan.' Shaking their heads side-to-side, as folks had done for centuries, they said to Jesus, 'You who would rebuild the temple in three days, come down and save yourself if you are the Son of God.'

Now, in reality, the representatives of the Sanhedrin were, themselves, acting as the mouthpiece of Satan. Once again Satan was tempting Jesus to doubt God. The same question that was asked after his baptism was put to Jesus again. 'Prove to everyone that you are the Messiah, by coming down from the cross.' But Jesus was determined to live by faith, not by sight.

Others were overheard saying, 'You saved Lazarus, now save yourself', and 'If you are the king of the Jews, then save yourself', and 'He said he was God's son, let see if God will rescue him'. These kinds of comments were overheard by some of the women who had followed Jesus, and who were gathered not far from the cross. One of the women was Mary, his mother, and another was Mary Magdalene.

As Jesus watched, he realized that even looking at his mother was a temptation of Satan. Why should she suffer so? 'I could call on the Father', thought Jesus, 'and come down from the cross so that she will know that I am The Messiah.' Instead, he saw that John was quietly standing with the women. Jesus wanted to be sure that his mother was cared for by someone who was a disciple, so he looked his mother in the eye, nodded toward John, then looked John in the eye and nodded toward his mother, took a breath and said 'Behold your son, your mother'. Thus Jesus established her "adoption" by John.

Even one of the men that was being crucified at this time, had been mouthing the words of Satan. 'If you are the Messiah, save yourself and us, and we will fight for you.' But the other condemned man, despite what he saw, believed in Jesus, and asked that Jesus remember him when Jesus began his reign in the Kingdom. And Jesus promised that they would be together.

When: 12 noon to 3 pm, Friday, April 7, 30 AD
Where: Golgotha, Jerusalem, Judea

DARKNESS AND DEATH:

Around noon, as the three crucified men hung on their crosses, the sky became darkened as the clouds thickened and blocked the sun. This was the time when the powers of evil seemed to be in control. Minute by minute the three crucified men suffered. Slowly the minutes passed. Then an hour passed. And then another hour passed.

Around 3 pm, the ram's horn was sounded and the lambs began to be slaughtered in the temple for the Judean Passover festival. Jesus, knowing that to his followers this would appear to be a time of hopelessness, pushed himself upward to get a bigger breath. Through a dry mouth, Jesus began to recite a psalm of confidence in God despite the seeming failure. "My God, My God [Eloi, Eloi], why have you forsaken me (…For dominion belongs to the LORD, and he rules over the nations)", but could say no more. Too little energy. Too much pain.

Someone nearby put a sponge on the end of a shaft of wood and dipped it into a bucket of vinegar [sour wine], and was about to give Jesus a sip so that he could speak clearly. The guards wondered what Jesus was trying to say and asked about "Eli". One had heard of a prophet Elijah, so they asked the Jews why Jesus was calling for Elijah. They were told that it was believed that Elijah would come to help the righteous when they suffered. The Romans wanted to wait to see if help would come, so they told the man with the vinegar to wait.

Mary Magdalene, and some other women, who had been standing not very far away, moved in closer, in order to hear what Jesus would say. The Romans did not interfere. Jesus knew that his body would not last much longer, and there were things that he needed to say, and he did not want to be misunderstood. He needed to speak clearly. So he forced out the words, "I thirst".

The Romans laughed and gave permission to the man with the stick, to give Jesus some vinegar to wet his tongue. Jesus sipped enough to clear his mouth. He lifted his head, pushed himself upward, got a breath, and cried out in victory, 'My mission is finished'. Then he bowed his head, and to God he said, 'I trust fully in you and commit my spirit into your care'. Then he sagged down on the cross, closed his eyes, let out his last breath, and died. The glory of Jesus was his total faith in the faithfulness of God.

At that time the ground began to shake, and the centurion who was overseeing the execution, was impressed by the way Jesus died. 'Surly this was a innocent and righteous man'.

At the same time, God announced his judgment on Israel. The religious leaders had rejected God's call to be his light to the world. That part of the agreement was ended. So God ripped apart the great curtain in the Temple and threw the worshipers in the temple into a panic. Now others would become his messengers. Through the faith of Jesus others would bring the "Gentiles" to faith.

When Judas, who had been watching from a distance, saw that Jesus was dead, he lost all hope. Judas went away, found a tree and hung himself.

When: 5-6 pm, Friday, April 7, 30 AD
Where: Hinnon Valley, Jerusalem, Judea

BODY PLACED IN THE TOMB:

For almost an hour and a half the body of Jesus hung limp on his cross while the other two continued to suffer. But around 4:30 pm the other two showed no sign of dying quickly, so the representatives of the Sanhedrin went to Pilate and requested that their deaths be hastened, so that they would be off the crosses by 6 pm and therefore not defile the land on Friday night, the Passover Sabbath.

Pilate agreed, and sent instructions to the guards, that the legs of the condemned be broken so that they could no longer push themselves upward for a breath, and would suffocate fairly soon.

It was now around 5:00 pm. The soldiers broke the legs of the two, but since Jesus already appeared to be dead, they did not break his bones. Instead, one of them drove a lance point through the rib cage to pierce the lungs and heart. The disciple John watched this and saw water and blood come out of the wound.

There was a wealthy Pharisee called Joseph, originally from Arimathea (about 20 miles northwest of Jerusalem) who planned to be buried near Jerusalem. He was a good and righteous man who had heard of Jesus and knew the prophesies about the coming kingdom. He was looking forward to God's ruling the coming kingdom.

Someone had to see that the body of Jesus was buried. Joseph took on that responsibility. He did not agree with the Sanhedrin decision to hand Jesus over to the Romans. So, risking the suspicion of the religious leaders and the Roman authorities, Joseph went to Pilate and asked that he be allowed to oversee the burial of the body of Jesus.

Pilate was surprised that Jesus was already dead, considering that the soldiers could only have broken his legs a few minutes ago. Was this some trick to get a man, not yet dead, off the cross quickly? So Pilate sent for the centurion in charge and asked if Jesus was already dead. Within ten minutes the centurion had come to Pilate and told him that Jesus had been dead for almost two hours, and that he had been lanced to be sure. So Pilate gave Joseph permission.

Joseph immediately went back to Golgotha, got the body down, and had it carried to a tomb nearby [Garden tomb], that Joseph had previously had dug into the side of a limestone hill in the upper end of the Valley of Hinnon [the southern end had been the city dump, and the smoke from the burning garbage led to the description of hell].

Mary Magdalene and others followed at a distance, to see what these men would do with Jesus' body. They watched as Joseph and his servants carried the body into the tomb.

Nicodemus had already arrived at the tomb. Nicodemus had brought a skin of water, seventy-five pounds of spices (including myrrh), and fresh linen, and had them waiting inside the tomb. When Joseph arrived with the body, he and Nicodemus took the body into the tomb, and laid it on the stone preparation shelf. They cleaned the body as best they could. Then they wrapped the body in linen with the spices between the linen layers.

Around 5:30 pm Mary Magdalene had to leave. She had to get back to Bethany for the beginning of Passover. Not aware of what Joseph and Nicodemus were doing inside the tomb, Mary hurried away in order to purchase the necessary spices to prepare the body properly after the Sabbath was over and still get back to Bethany before the Sabbath was too far begun.

It was almost 6 pm when Joseph and Nicodemus finished, and the Sabbath was only minutes away. When they came out of the tomb they had the rock "door" rolled in front of the entrance. Then they left the area, and each went to his own home.

The women that were staying in Jerusalem had stayed to watch the tomb when Mary had left. They watched while Joseph and Nicodemus "closed the door" and left the tomb. Then they also went home to "rest" on the Sabbath.

                                                                              ... Continues....