Tag: Herod

Jesus’ Last Week: Thursday, April 2, A.D. 33

HOLY THURSDAY IS THE day on which Jesus celebrated the Passover seder with His disciples. This final meal together has become known as the Last Supper.[fn1 ] The word “maundy” is often used in identifying Holy Thursday because of Jesus’ command to the disciples to love and serve one another in humility. The word comes from the Latin mandatum novum, meaning “new commandment.” Jesus spends several hours dining and fellowshipping with the disciples. He washes their feet as an example of humble service. Jesus makes three predictions during the evening: Judas will betray Him; the disciples will desert Him; and Peter will deny Him. Judas is noticeably blindsided by Jesus’ knowledge that he met with the religious leaders earlier to finalize the plans for arresting Jesus.

Jesus later goes to the garden of Gethsemane for prayer and contemplation regarding what He knows must happen next. Only Peter, James, and John go with Him. The other disciples disappear into the crowd and abandon Jesus. In the garden, Jesus asks the Father if it is possible to allow this cup of wrath to pass. He prays, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will” (Luke 22:42). He remains determined to fulfill the will of the Father. Regardless, Jesus suffers such great agony that He falls to His knees and His sweat is like drops of blood falling to the ground (22:44). Sweating blood (hematohidrosis) is a rare medical condition that can occur under conditions of great emotional stress. Tiny capillaries in the sweat glands can rupture, thus mixing blood with perspiration.1

Jesus did not suddenly become afraid to die. I believe His stress came from knowing within hours He would willingly take on all of humanity’s sins and suffer the Father’s wrath. Jeremiah provides a description of God’s wrath: “Therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets, ‘Behold, I will feed them with bitter food and give them poisoned water to drink, for from the prophets of Jerusalem ungodliness has gone out into all the land'” (Jer. 23:15). Isaiah 51:17 says, “Wake yourself, wake yourself, stand up, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of the LORD the cup of his wrath, who have drunk to the dregs the bowl, the cup of staggering.”

As Jesus walks back to the disciples waiting with Him in the garden, there is a ruckus. Temple guards armed with clubs and swords enter the garden of Gethsemane to arrest Jesus. The high priest Caiaphas has ordered Jesus’ arrest, but he is not personally present. Instead, his personal assistant Malchus is there. Judas had earlier told the temple guards, ” The one I will kiss is the man; seize him” (Matt. 26:48). Now, Judas approaches Jesus, calls him “Rabbi,” and kisses Him on the cheek. A chilling use of an otherwise warm and tender greeting. Jesus stands tall, in complete control. When He makes the divine pronouncement “I Am he” (egō eimi) His enemies stumble backward and fall to the ground (John 18:6), aware of God’s proclamation to Moses, “I AM.”

As the guards attempt to seize Jesus, Peter leaps into action. He draws his weapon and cuts off one of Malchus’ ears. Peter does not use a Roman sword (a “gladius”), which is over 40 inches long and quite heavy. Such a powerful weapon would have caused far more damage than a severed ear.2 Instead, he uses a small sicarius knife. Immediately, Jesus heals Malchus’ ear without having to reattach it. I like the scene in the movie The Passion of the Christ3 regarding this incident. A look of comprehension comes over Malchus’ face and he remains kneeling as if paralyzed by fear and awe. In town, after Jesus is arrested, Peter three times denies knowing Jesus as people in the crowd recognize him. He is devastated when he hears the rooster crow three times, as Jesus prophesied.

Jesus is taken before the high priest and the assembled chief priests, elders, and scribes in several closed door hearings during the night (John 18:19-24; Matt. 26:57). These religious trials violate Jewish law and rules of procedure, revealing the hypocrisy of the leadership, as well as their fear and hatred of Jesus. No trial is to be held at night, but these proceedings are held before dawn. The accused is to be given legal representation, but Jesus has none. The accused is not to be asked self-incriminating questions, but Jesus is asked to acknowledge the claim that He is the Messiah. No trial is to be held during feast time. Each member of the court is to vote individually to convict or acquit, but Jesus is simply “declared” guilty. If the death penalty is given, a night must pass before the sentence was carried out; however, only a few hours pass before Jesus is crucified. The Jews have no authority to execute anyone, which is why Caiaphas seeks to push the execution onto Pontius Pilate. Initially, as people learn of this illegal secret proceeding, they protest. Eventually, the influence of Ciaphas and the Pharisees leads to a boisterous cry for Christt to be crucified.

After He is beaten and ridiculed by the Jews, the elders bring Jesus before Pilate. In order to level legal charges against Christ that fit Roman law, He is charged with inciting people to riot, forbidding the people to pay their taxes, and claiming to be King. Pilate is perplexed by the case. Pilate realizes Jesus is a Galilean and therefore under Herod’s authority, thankful for a way out of this controversial case (Luke 23:7). Jesus is brought before Herod, but Herod merely finds Jesus to be ridiculous and and remands Him back to Pilate (Luke 23:11-12). Unwilling to sentence Jesus to death, Pilate orders Him to be scourged. Jesus is beaten nearly to death and returned to the steps of the Praetorium. Pilate has become genuinely concerned over the fate of Jesus and tries one more time to spare His life. Pilate says to him, “You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?”Jesus tells Pilate, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin” (John 19:10-11).

In keeping the Jewish tradition of pardoning a Jewish defendant on the eve of Passover (the “Paschal Pardon”), Pilate gives the crowd a choice of pardoning Jesus or a murderous insurgent named Barabbas. The crowd asks for Barabbas to be spared and begins to cry out for Jesus to be crucified. Pilate releases Barabbas and finds Jesus guilty. He symbolically washes his hands in a bowl of water, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves” (Matt 27. 24).

Jesus is led off to be crucified.

Steven Barto, B.S. Psy., M.A. Theo.

References
1 R. Lumpkin, “The Physical Suffering of Christ,” Journal of Medical Association of Alabama (1978) 47:8-10.
2 Warren F. O’Rourke, “Peter’s Sword: Getting the Imagery Right” (n.d. ). Accessed April 5, 2023, https://mistero.tripod.com/lukeswords.html.
3 The Passion of the Christ, directed by Mel Gibson (2004; Icon Productions; Feb. 25, 2004), film.

[fn1] Calculating ancient dates gets complicated for a number of reasons: Jewish months all started at the new moon; they had two “new years” per year; they added in leap months as needed; days started at sunset, not sunrise; ancient people often used imprecise designations for years, and not everyone was using the same calendar system in the first century. Jesus celebrated a Passover dinner on Thursday night before his crucifixion, placing his crucifixion the next day, on Friday, Nisan 15. The most likely date of the crucifixion is Nisan 15 (= April 3), AD 33.

Good Friday

FROM THE MOMENT JESUS was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane until His final breath upon the cross on Calvary, He was subjected to a brutality that words cannot possibly describe. His entire life and ministry on earth was about putting the will of the Father above all else; putting the lives of others ahead of His own. His death and resurrection are the foundation on which God established the plan for redemption that was ordained before the foundation of the world. It is the means by which the partition between God and man was torn down. Jesus’ death paid the debt for sin; additionally, when Jesus died He restored man’s relationship with the Father. Jesus, as the Second Adam, repaired the damage done by the First Adam.

Jesus was fully God and fully man—the Word incarnate, inconceivably united personally to flesh and endowed with a rational soul. His human body felt pain, sorrow, fatigue, hunger: all attributes associated with being human. Origen wrote, “Therefore, with this soul acting as a mediator between God and flesh—for it was not possible for the nature of God to be mingled with flesh without a mediator—there was born the God-man [deus-homo], that ‘substance’ being the connecting link which could assume a body without denying its own nature…” (1) (emphasis added). Thomas Torrance wrote, “It is to be noted that the defence [sic] of the complete reality and integrity of the historical humanity of Christ by Nicene theologians was offered mainly on soteriological grounds,” the Doctrine of Soteriology being about salvation.

The Beginning of the End

It was approximately 10PM when Jesus and the disciples left the location of the Last Supper and headed to Gethsemane in the Kidron Valley north-east of Jerusalem. Judas had left earlier to set his betrayal of Jesus in motion. It took Jesus and the eleven others nearly an hour to walk to the garden. Jesus went deeper into the garden and prayed fervently for about three hours. In a typical posture of complete humility and submission, Jesus fell on His face before God. By the third hour, His body was under so much stress that he began to sweat blood. Physicians refer to this condition as hematidrosis, a causing of the blood to mingle with sweat during periods of extreme stress. Capillaries surrounding the sweat glands become so constricted that they rupture. Jesus told the disciples earlier, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me” (Matt. 26:38).

As Jesus knelt in the damp dirt and cried out to the Father, He understood the gravity of what was about to happen. He willingly laid down His life to pay the wages of sin for all who would believe in Him; but He had to face the pain and horror of crucifixion while in the body of a man. He prayed, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me;nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will” (Matt. 26:39). There has been much discussion about the “cup” to which Jesus refers. It certainly includes the excruciating pain and suffering He knew was coming. But there is more to this cup than physical suffering. Psalm 75:8 says, “For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup with foaming wine, well mixed, and he pours out from it, and all the wicked of the earth shall drain it down to the dregs” (emphasis added).

Shortly after 2AM, Jesus got up from the ground and went to His disciples, saying, “Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer at hand” (Matt 26:46). While He was yet speaking to the disciples, Judas arrived with Roman soldiers. To signify which of the men was whom they came to arrest, Judas walked up to Jesus and kissed Him on the cheek. Jesus was arrested and placed in shackles. The soldiers took Him first to the house of Annas (a former high priest) then to the home of the high priest Caiaphas. It was now 5AM. The trial before Pilate, procurator of Judea, began at about 6AM. Pilate found no fault in Jesus and, realizing He was from Galilee, sent Jesus to appear before Herod. King Herod thought Jesus was perhaps crazy but saw no guilt in Him. Again, Jesus appeared before Pilate, around 7AM. Pilate tried to avoid sending Jesus to His death. Hoping to appease the religious leaders, Pilate had Jesus scourged.

Beaten and flogged nearly half to death, Jesus was taken before Pilate again. Pilate desperately wanted to be let out of the responsibility of condemning Jesus to death, and again refused to render a verdict or impose sentence. He tried a compromise; it was customary during the time of the Passover Feast to allow the crowd to ask for one prisoner to be spared. The plan backfired. The crowd insisted that Pilate pardon Barabbas and condemn Jesus in his place, crying out “Give us Barabbas!” and “Crucify! Crucify!” Pilate washed his washed his hands of the matter and condemned Jesus to die by crucifixion. It was 7AM.

Jesus is Crucified

The Roman soldiers stripped Jesus, dressed him in a toga, and fashioned a “crown of thorns” which they pounded onto His head. They gave Him a large stick as a “scepter” and bowed mockingly, crying out “King of the Jews.” The men spat on Jesus, hitting and kicking Him. Jesus was led out of the city, up a long and winding street, and to Golgotha at the southern summit of the Mount of Olives. Jesus kept stumbling and falling, with the cross often crashing down on His battered body. A Roman centurion forced Simon of Cyrene to help Christ carry the cross. Arriving at the location of the crucifixion, the soldiers laid Jesus on the cross and nailed Him there, raising the cross and slamming it into a large hole to hold it upright. Jesus’ body was drenched in His own blood, and His hair was matted. Two thieves were raised up on crosses with Him, one on His left and one on His right. The area around the crucifixion was frenzied and horrific. The crowd and the two thieves mocked Christ, demanding He prove Himself to be the Son of God by coming down from the cross.

From 12PM to 3PM the whole earth became dark as night. At approximately 2PM Jesus groaned from His very gut, crying loudly, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachtani!” This remark fulfilled the prophecy found in Psalm 22:1: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?” Concerning this verse, Derek Kidner writes, “Our Lord’s cry of dereliction (quoting this verse in his native Aramaic) told, it would seem, of an objective reality, namely the punitive separation he accepted in our place, ‘having become a curse for us’ (Gal. 3:13) (2). Kidner stresses that it is not a lapse of faith, nor a broken relationship, but a cry of disorientation as God’s familiar protective presence is withdrawn… and the enemy closes in. The Father had to withdraw His protection from Christ on the cross as He did with Job during Satan’s trial. Stephen Lennox say looking at Psalm 22 from the perspective of the OT believer, the cross will come to mean even more (3). I cannot imagine crying for help in the midst of such serious a difficulty as the bitter distress of being abandoned by God? This is essentially, and strikingly, divine silence.

But oh, what a victory. Tomorrow we will glory in the sweet victory of Christ’s resurrection!

References
(1) Origen, “On the Two Natures of Christ,” in The Christian Theology Reader, 5th ed. (Chichester, West Sussex, UK: Wiley Blackwell, 2017), Ibid., 238.
(2) Derek Kidner, Kidner Classic Commentaries: Psalm 1-72 (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsityPress, 2008, 1973), 123.
(3) Stephen J. Lennox, Psalms: A Bible Commentary in the Wesleyan Tradition (Indianaopolis, IN: Wesleyan Publishing House, 1999), 77.

Holy Thursday

HOLY THURSDAY IS THE first day of Passover: the remembrance of Israel being freed from slavery to Egypt and the angel of death passing over the homes of Jews whose doors were marked with blood. Jesus spent Wednesday before His death warning of the trials and tribulations Israel will face before He returns. He said the disciples must be vigilant and prayerful, adding, “when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near” (Matt. 21:31, ESV). He said all his parables and prophesies will come to pass: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away” (21:33). Jesus rested on the Mount of Olives Wednesday night.

The religious leaders hated Jesus to the point that they arrested Him, tried Him, and brought Him to Pilate for a sentence of death. What made them so angry at Jesus that they wanted to see Him dead? The website blueletterbible.org lists the following reasons:

  • the claims that He made
  • the deeds that He did
  • His threat to their religious system
  • the people with whom He socialized
  • the lack of respect He had for their religious traditions

When Jesus claimed to be the Messiah, it meant His authority outweighed the authority of the Pharisees and high priests. These religious leaders knew some individuals who decided to follow Jesus were just plain ignorant: they didn’t know any better. But Jesus was garnering way too much attention. When Jesus cast out a demon from a man deaf and blind since birth, the Pharisees accused Him of doing so through the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons. They wanted to discredit His ministry. Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said to the Pharisees, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand. And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you” (Matt. 12:25-26, 28). Jesus then made perhaps one of His most paramount statements: “I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come” (Matt. 12:31-32).

When Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, many turned to Jesus, claiming Him as the Messiah. The Pharisees and Sadducees reacted in fear and hostility, seeing this mighty man as a threat to their religious power. “Then the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, and plotted together in order to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him. But they waited until after the Passover feast “…lest there be an uproar among the people'” (Matt. 26:1-5).

Jesus knew His time was short, and He wanted to break bread with His disciples for one last time. As the Lamb of God, He was about to fulfill the meaning of Passover by giving his body to be broken and his blood to be shed in sacrifice, freeing all sinners from the bondage of sin. He asked John and Peter to prepare an upper room for the supper.

While the two were securing the room and the food, Judas was secretly preparing to betray Jesus by disclosing where He would be later that night. For his treachery, Judas received 30 pieces of silver. How could one of the twelve do such a thing? He was one of the twelve followed Jesus for three years, witnessing His ministry, teachings, and miracles. Surely, Judas knew Jesus was the Messiah. Money was important to Judas. John said Judas “…was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it” (John 12:6).

As the disciples ate dinner with Jesus, He told them one of them was about to betray him. Each disciple denied it would be him. Judas said, “Is it I, Rabbi?” and Jesus replied, “You have said so” (Matt. 26:25). John tells us “…the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot” to betray Jesus (John 13:2). Jesus knew who would betray him and He said, “…you are clean, but not every one of you” (13:10). Peter insisted on knowing who it was. Jesus said, “It is he to whom I will give this morsel of bread when I have dipped it.” He dipped the piece of bread and gave it to Judas (13:26). Some believe Satan caused Judas to betray Jesus. John writes, “Then after he had taken the morsel, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, ‘What you are going to do, do quickly'” (13:27). Acts 1:15 says, “In those days Peter stood up among the brothers (the company of persons was in all about 120) and said, ‘Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus.'”

From this moment on, Jesus began to prepare for the most taxing and brutal moment of his physical existence. He had already told the disciples, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13).

Steven Barto, B.S. Psy., M.A. Theology