Stage 5: Friday

It is now early Friday morning, a little after midnight, when Jesus and His disciples go to the garden of Gethsemane to pray. Jesus has predicted at the Last Supper that Judas would betray Him, Peter would deny knowing Him, and that the rest of the disciples will desert Him.

They walk into the Garden of Gethsemane, and Jesus has the disciples stay by the gate, all of them except Peter, James, and John. Jesus asks them to walk a little further with Him. It is then that Jesus reveals what He is feeling. He says,

"My soul is deeply grieved to the point of death; remain here and keep watch." Mark 14:34

Jesus goes about a stone's throw away and begins to pray. Jesus prays for Himself, He prays for His disciples, and finally, Jesus prays for you and me. We were on His mind. The Bible says that Jesus was in such torment and prayed with such intensity that drops of blood poured from His brow. A great struggle was underway.

Face down on the ground, Jesus prayed, "My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want Your will, not Mine.” Luke 22:42

It was there in the Garden of Gethsemane that Jesus decided He would rather go to hell for you than to go to heaven without you.

As Jesus prayed, Judas came with soldiers and a large crowd, and Judas kissed Jesus on the cheek. This was the signal that He was the One to be arrested.

Jesus is then bound and dragged away from the garden as His disciples flee into the night. In less than 12 hours, Jesus will go through six different trials. Each trial was illegal according to the law, and each trial had one theme: Crucify Jesus.

Jesus is dragged before Annas, the political boss of Jerusalem. He is struck on His face for claiming to be the son of God. This is the first of many blows to His body. He is brought before Caiaphas, the reigning high priest. He is blindfolded and punched. By dawn, His face will be black and blue. Jesus is then dragged before the Jewish ruling council. A group called the Sanhedrin. They spit in His face and strike Him again and again. Because they did not have the power to have Jesus killed they dragged Jesus before the Roman Provincial Governor. A man named Pontius Pilate.

They first told Pilate that Jesus refused to pay taxes to Caesar, but Pilate knew that was a lie. Pilate knew the religious leaders were accusing Jesus of these crimes out of envy. Jesus had become much more popular than they were, and they saw Jesus as a threat to their power and their position.

The religious leaders realized they weren't getting any traction with Pilate, so they accused Jesus of claiming to be a king. This was a much more serious accusation. Anyone who claimed to be a king was a threat to Caesar, but the priest unknowingly opened a way of escape for Pilate to not have to deal with Jesus.

They said, "He stirs up the people, teaching all over Judea, starting from Galilee, even as far as this place." Luke 23:5

When Pilate heard that Jesus was a Galilean, he concluded that this matter was out of his jurisdiction and had Jesus sent to Herod Antipas, thinking that was the end of the matter for him.

Herod had wanted to see Jesus for quite some time. He asked Jesus many questions and asked Him to perform miracles for him. Jesus stood in silence.

In what must have been a very frustrating time, Herod had Jesus turned over to his soldiers who dressed Him in a robe and mocked and ridiculed Him. Jesus was then sent back to Pilate.

Pilate was disappointed to see Jesus back in his presence. Jesus was obviously innocent. Even Herod found no charge against Him. Pilate tried to have Jesus released. He offered the crowd the option to release one prisoner. He would release either Barabbas or Jesus, but the people shouted for Barabbas to be released and for Jesus to be crucified.

Pilate then decided to have Jesus flogged as an attempt to get Him released. Jesus was stripped and tied to a post with His hands over His head and was whipped.

The interesting thing is that Jesus did not beg for mercy, and that must have angered the soldiers. Mark 15:16 says,

"The soldiers led Jesus away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium) and called together the whole company of soldiers."

There they stripped Jesus and put another robe on him and placed a crown of thorns on his head. They put a staff in his hand and mocked Him as a King. The soldiers took the staff from him and beat him across the head over and over again. Jesus could have destroyed them all with one word, but He bore the shame and the humiliation.

Pilate brought Jesus before the people thinking Jesus had been punished enough, but the people in the crowd still demanded Jesus’ death. They said to Pilate,

“if you release this man, you are no friend of Caesar's; everyone who makes himself out to be a king opposes Caesar." John 19:12

Pilate gives in to their requests and sentences Jesus to death by crucifixion.

Jesus picks up His cross and begins the journey to the place of the skull called Golgotha. The same people that praised His name five days earlier are now lining the streets their voices filled with rage. Somewhere along that stretch of road, Jesus, out of strength, falls under the weight of the cross, and another man is chosen to carry the cross for Jesus.

They get to Golgotha, and Jesus is crucified between two thieves. Crucifixion is a means of execution so cruel that the Roman government outlawed this type of sentence on all Roman citizens. After Jesus’ hands and feet are nailed to the cross, it becomes increasingly more difficult to breathe. Jesus could breathe in, but He couldn't breathe out. The usual cause of death for a person being crucified was asphyxiation or suffocation and shock from a loss of blood. Jesus would have to push up on his nail-filled feet to continue to breathe in and out.

The first thing Jesus says on the cross is, "Father, forgive them for they don't know what they do." Luke 23:34

At noon, the sky grew dark.

For three hours, the earth was covered in darkness.

A few moments later, Jesus cries out in a loud voice, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Matthew 27:46

You see, at this moment, all the sins of mankind were placed upon Jesus. The most painful encounter for Jesus wasn't the nails that went through His feet and hands. It wasn't the mocking of the people. It wasn't the crown of thorns or the punches that landed on His face and body. The most painful encounter for Jesus was when all the sins of mankind were placed upon Him. It was the first time that Jesus felt separation from God. It was the first time He felt the emptiness and loneliness and guilt that sin brings.

Around three o'clock in the afternoon, six hours after being placed on the cross, Jesus said, “I'm thirsty.” He was given some vinegar water and then took a deep breath and cried out, "It is finished." That phrase Jesus cries out means "paid in full.”

Jesus was proclaiming that our sin debt that we owed God had been paid in full by His sacrificial death on the cross.

The final words Jesus said were in the form of a prayer. He prayed, "Father, into your hands, I commit my Spirit.” Luke 23:46

Why did Jesus do it? Jesus saw us in a world that was broken. He saw us with an empty soul, and He knew that there was no way that we could have a relationship with God unless He took our place and died for our sins.

God gave up His only Son, but He won't give up on you.

“Dear God, thank you for allowing Jesus to die for my sins. Thank you that my sins are now washed clean by the blood of Jesus. Thank you for loving me. Thank you for never giving up on me. I love you. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”