The church decided to put to death Jesus. They knew what they had done in the night was illegal, so they needed to cover their tracks. They sent him to the governor, Pilate, to handle the situation and do what they decided needed to happen. That way their hands stayed "clean".
It finally hit Judas what he had done. His betrayed Jesus and now Jesus was going to die. That took hold of him and would not let him go. He was full of remorse, but it was too late. He could not go back in time and change what he did. He tried to return the money he had accepted to betray Jesus, but the church would not touch blood money. They didn't care what it was doing to Judas. He had been nothing but a pawn to them.
Judas found himself in a field and there he killed himself. He was hoping to atone for his sin, but all he did was enforce his curse for eternity. He did have a choice. He could have found forgiveness too. He just made all the wrong choices.
The church used his money to buy the field that he killed himself on for foreigners (unwanted people) to be buried. They called it the Field of Blood. They did not realized that this fulfilled Jeremiah's prophecy enforcing Jesus to be who he claimed.
During Jesus' trail, Jesus remained quiet. Pilate knew Jesus was innocent and tried to give him an out. It was custom to release a prisoner during the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Passover festival week). Pilate offer to the people to release Jesus or Barnabas, a notorious criminal. Pilate sat back with his hands washed of the situation while the people decided. No one wanted to be responsible for Jesus' death, but that made all of them responsible.
While this was going on, Pilate's wife sent him a message: You can't harm Jesus. The church had gotten the people worked up, so they allowed Barnabas to go free and Jesus was sentenced to death. His death sentence was crucifixion. That is the most barbaric way to kill a person. It is completely inhumane. The person was nailed to a cross, then break their legs where they can't push themselves up for air. They slowly suffocate from their own body weight.
Pilates hands were tied. He had to honor what he said he would do even though he did not want to. If he did not, then he would be risking everything for a stranger. He had choices, but they were not choices he wanted. He gave Jesus over to the guards and washed his hands of him.
In prison, Jesus was flogged. That means he was wiped with barbs 40 times. It tore all the flesh off his back. It mutilated his muscle. You probably saw some bone. It was cruel and that alone killed some people. The soldiers in charge of him beat him. They mocked him. They fulfilled prophecies with their cruelty.
Jesus was not allowed to die yet. He first had to carry his cross on that back to the location of his death. He couldn't do it. He had lost too much blood and was in too much pain. The soldiers weren't going to help, so they forced Simon to help Jesus carry his cross to Golgotha. Then he was hung up there between two other men that were criminals. He had two guards with him at all times and they mocked him at every chance. They even placed a sign above his head to have other people mock him. This displays a level of hate that is beyond words.
On the ninth hour, Jesus cried out to God. It intrigued people for their fascination with what could happen. They treated this like entertainment. In reality, it was his last temptation. He stayed the course. He endured all the pain. He stayed true to God.
Jesus finally gave up his spirit before they could break his legs at three pm. Seriously, had he not been through enough that they would break his legs too. Even if he were a criminal, that is just cruel. At the moment that his spirit left him, the very heavy and thick curtain in the most holy of holy places in God's temple tore from the top to the bottom. God declared the time of separation was over. Tombs broke open in an earthquake and some of the dead walked among the people alive again. Jesus' death indicated the victory over death. Now they just had to wait for him to rise again to open the doors to salvation.
A man named Joseph, member of the Sanhedrin, volunteered his tomb for Jesus. He had opposed what was done to Jesus, so that was all he could do to try to make things right. Jesus being allowed to be buried instead of rotting on the cross was a rare thing too. It proves that Pilate truly believed in Jesus' innocence, even if he did not believe that Jesus was the Messiah.
Jesus' body was prepared and he was placed in a borrowed tomb. Then a huge stone was placed in front so no one could steal the body. Just in case the stone was not enough, it was sealed and had two guards stationed there. The group of Marys witnessed all of this.
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