Article 22: The Events of the Passion The Passion of Christ Article 22: The Events of the Passion

All leading to Jesus’ Death All Four Gospels give the same account of the events leading to Jesus’ Death, with small differences in details. These events are so important by how much each gospel is devoted to these accounts. One thing to think about is that these events took the place on one day… yet they take up multiple chapters in the gospels. The passion and resurrection of Christ were the focal points of the early church’s teaching and preaching.

Jesus enters jerusalem Understand that Jesus knew by going to Jerusalem that it would result in his ultimate death. [the Pharisees, chief priests & other Jewish leaders had enough of this Jesus character from Galilea and they were ready to have him killed.] First, when Jesus arrived he was met with large crowds that applauded him.. As if he were a king. {Mt. 21:1-11} Jesus’ presence in the city was too direct of a challenge to ignore. Jesus went right to the temple, the very seat of the high priests and scribes’ authority, and cast out the moneychangers and thieves. {Mt. 21:12-13} [Now in the Gospels of Mark & luke it is indicated that this was the last straw and they began looking for a way to kill jesus.]

The last supper Early Thursday evening jesus gathers the apostles and his closest friends, for a final celebration of the Passover. During the meal jesus washes their feet to show that true leadership is service. [John 13:1-20] {jesus shows us what true humility is…} Because the meal is a passover meal, jesus identifies with the paschal lamb whose blood was shed and flesh was eaten. He does this through the institution of the eucharist. When we celebrate the eucharist, we commemorate and make present Christ’s sacrifice. {realize that this celebration is not a re- sacrifice, it is not a cannibalistic ritual… it is something more.. Something that cannot be explained.}

The garden of gethsemane After the meal jesus goes with his apostles to one of his favorite places to pray, the garden of gethsemane. While he is in prayer, accepting his father’s will, judas leads the temple guards to him so that he can be arrested and taken before the jewish religious leaders. Understand there is a biblical parallel with (first) Adam who disobeyed god in the garden of Eden, bringing sin and death into the world. Now jesus, the new Adam, will make a conscious choice to obey his Father, thus defeating sin and death (MK 14:36). Just as satan tempted adam & eve to betray god in a garden, now satan temots judas to betray the son of god in a garden (Mk 14:43).

The Trial before the sanhedrin Jesus is brought before the Sanhedrin, the ruling group of the Jewish religious leaders. They question jesus, and key leaders are determined to find him guilty of a capital crime. [The gospels make it clear that they have difficulty doing this.] MK 14:55-59 The fact that it was now late at night indicates that these leaders wanted to keep this trial out of public view and get it over as quickly as possible. Jesus’ popularity with the non-elites , they were concerned that there would be riots if their treatment of jesus became public. {Realize that the angry mob is motivated by what they are told and propaganda is real and usually the lower class citizens are the ones easily manipulated by the upper class citizens.}

The trial {Cont’ed} They find jesus guilty of blasphemy when he confirms that he is the messiah. [MK 14:61-62] This becomes ironical because he is the son of God. He is charged with blasphemy for claiming to be the son of god, in which he is the son of God the second person of the trinity, his blasphemy is speaking the truth. According to the Law, the penalty for blasphemy is death by stoning. But since they are now under roman authority, the jewish leaders do not have the authority to condemn someone to death.

The trial before pontius pilate The jewish leaders take jesus to the roman governor, Pontius pilate, and make their case against jesus. Since pilate does not care about jewish law, they have to accuse jesus of treason rather than blasphemy. They charge jesus with inciting a rebellion against rome, probably of even claiming to be the king of the jews, which is a capital offense in the roman empire. [Mk 15:1-3] In the gospels of luke & john indicate that Pilate thinks Jesus is innocent, the reality is that only Pilate could have ordered jesus to be crucified. That Pilate does so indicates he believes that Jesus’ message is in some way a threat to roman authority. The Fact that Jesus says little to defend himself probably indicates that no matter what he says, he knows he will be found guilty and that nothing he can say will change pilates decision.

The scourging Once Pilate orders Jesus’ execution (or allows it depending on the gospel), jesus is prepared to be executed. A roman execution was meant to be as brutal as possible, it was intended to be as horrible and as frightening as possible to force everyone into submission and obedience. First jesus is publicly humiliated by clothed with a purple cloak and then crowned with thorns. [to mock his supposed claim to being a king.] He is then scourged with a whip that has pieces of bone and metal embedded in the leather. It was literally meant to tear flesh from a persons back. This was sometimes done to condemned prisoners to hasten their death; at times people died from this alone. Finally , he has to carry on his bloody back the crossbeam on which he will be crucified.

The Crucifixion When Jesus reaches the hill called golgatha, he is stripped of his clothes to completely humiliate him as he is nailed through the wrists to a crossbeam, which is lifted into place on a permanent post. His arms and feet are tied to the cross to keep his body from tearing free of the nails. People who were crucified often lived for days before dying from blood loss, exposure, or inability to breathe. The gospels provide details that show how the events of the crucifixion are the fulfillment of many Old Testament prophecies. Jesus’ final words on the cross indicate his suffering, his humanity, his forgiveness, his love for his mother, and ultimately his trust in god the father.

Jesus’ Death According to the gospel accounts, jesus dies in six hours or less, no doubt in part due to the blood he loses from the scourging. His death is accompanied by dramatic natural events: an eclipse and an earthquake. [MT 27:45,51] The earthquake splits the veil of the Temple, the curtain that separated the Holy of Holies from the rest of the temple. Only the high priest could go behind the temple veil. So the tearing of the temple veil symbolically indicates that with the death of Christ, all people, not just the high priest, have access to the presence of god.

Jesus’ Death Now normally a convicted criminal’s body would be left on the cross to be a warning for others passing by or for further desecration which usually came from birds and animals eating and tearing at the carcass. But an influential follower of jesus was able to convince Pilate to let him take down Jesus’ body and place it in his personal tomb. [MT 27:57-60] The gospels are careful to mention that the location of the tomb was noted by the women disciples.[MT 27:61] Matthew also adds the detail that the tomb was watched by guards. [mt 27:66] these details confirm that Jesus’ death was real and that his body was not later stolen by his followers.

Concluding thoughts the gospel stories take great care to show that jesus experienced doubt, pain, and fear, as he was betrayed, put throught a mock trial, tortured, and crucified. He was not saved from these human feelings because of his divine nature. His death was real… the son of god died.. For you and for me… The son of god died and was buried for the forgiveness of our sins so that we might experience full communion with god in this life and the next.