Easter Wednesday

Easter Sunday is Coming.

With Easter just a couple of days away we are going to begin going through the last days of Jesus’ life. Everybody has heard this story multiple times but we still need to understand the importance of what is happening during this time.

Imagine being an onlooker watching all of this take place and the emotions felt during this time. The craziest thing about these last couple of days is that Jesus did all of this for me and you. There are many times in life when we think that we might not be loved but Jesus actually laid down his life for us.

The start of Passion week started with Jesus riding in to Jerusalem on donkey being hailed as the king of kings. People were actually taking off their outer cloaks so that the donkey that Jesus was riding on would not touch the stones underneath it. People were exalting Jesus as the messiah and were amazed at all he had done.

But how quickly all of this changed.

Fast forward to Thursday of Passion week and this is where we are going to start our verses.

Mark 14:22–25 ESV

22 And as they were eating, he took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” 23 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. 24 And he said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. 25 Truly, I say to you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”

We start our journey back in biblical times at a table with all of Jesus’s closest friends. Jesus loved being with his disciples and actually even longed for this time to spend his last meal on earth with these people that were more like family. Jesus knew exactly what was coming up in the near future. He knew that one of his best friends would betray him and that the death he was to receive brought about much torture and agony. But during this time he cherished the closeness of his friend. He also was explaining to them what was to take place.

Mark 14:

Mark 14:22–26 ESV

22 And as they were eating, he took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” 23 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. 24 And he said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. 25 Truly, I say to you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.” 26 And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

Jesus explained to them that the bread and the wine symbolized his blood and body that were to be poured out and ended in just a few short hours.

Imagine the emotions that are felt during this time with those closest to him hearing that this would be the last time they every have a meal with Jesus. The disciples still did not truly understand that Jesus would soon die though.

Mark 13:32-42

Mark13:

Mark 14:32–42 ESV

32 And they went to a place called Gethsemane. And he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” 33 And he took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be greatly distressed and troubled. 34 And he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch.” 35 And going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. 36 And he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” 37 And he came and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour? 38 Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” 39 And again he went away and prayed, saying the same words. 40 And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy, and they did not know what to answer him. 41 And he came the third time and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? It is enough; the hour has come. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 42 Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.”

Jesus then took his disciples to go pray and others to follow more closely to Him to pray. Jesus need to talk to his Father during this time and begged for God to find another way for salvation to be possible for all mankind.

So many times we forget the Jesus was completely human and had emotions just like we have today. Jesus went to pray because he was Sorrowful unto death. He was dreading the upcoming hours because he knew what was coming up in his life. Just because Jesus knew what was going to happen does not make it any easier. He was under so much stress that he even began sweating blood. Much like when you were little some of you still might be scared of needles. When you would go to the Doctor you knew that you were going to get a shot but that did not make it any easier when you actually got the shot.

Jesus wanted his future to be changed so badly that he was pleading with his Father to make it pass or to find another way. The earnest prayer that he was praying was calling upon his dad to help him through this. He pleaded 3 different times for his Father to let this cup pass

Some people look at this as a Father neglecting his son but this is rather a loving God who loves mankind so much that he would not spare even his sons life to have a relationship with us.

After this prayer the mob came out to arrest Jesus and one of his Best Friends then betrayed him with a kiss. Jesus was then sent to be beaten and mocked.

Mark 15:16-20

Mark 15:16–20 ESV

16 And the soldiers led him away inside the palace (that is, the governor’s headquarters), and they called together the whole battalion. 17 And they clothed him in a purple cloak, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on him. 18 And they began to salute him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 19 And they were striking his head with a reed and spitting on him and kneeling down in homage to him. 20 And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. And they led him out to crucify him.

The pain and torture that Jesus went through is indescribable. The soldiers beat Jesus with a whip called the cat of nine tails. This whip had shards of glass, bone, metal, rock, and anything else that would cause pain woven into the nine leather straps. They would tie the victim’s hands to a whipping post by their hands so that their full back and back of their legs were exposed to the whipping. The whip would be hit across their backs and legs ripping away flesh and muscle to the point of near death. The beatings would be so severe that their would be exposed organs and shreds of muscle.

After this beating Jesus was then sent to a room full of soldiers where they would blind fold him and hit him in the face and ask him to prophesy who had hit him. They then took a purple robe and placed it on his shredded back where the blood would coagulate on the robe. They also beat the crown of thorns on his head where the thorns were around 1 inch long. They began mocking him by worshipping him calling him king of the jews. The soldiers then took the rod and started beating his head with it while the crown of thorns was still on him. After all of this they ripped the robe off of his back which would be similar to us ripping a bandaid off.

Jesus endured all of this to give us the opportunity to have a relationship with God. But this was not the end of the torture and punishment.

Mark 15:33–41 ESV

33 And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. 34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” 35 And some of the bystanders hearing it said, “Behold, he is calling Elijah.” 36 And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.” 37 And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. 38 And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. 39 And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!” 40 There were also women looking on from a distance, among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. 41 When he was in Galilee, they followed him and ministered to him, and there were also many other women who came up with him to Jerusalem.

The last step of the torture that was involved with holy week ended at the cross. The romans had perfected the art of execution to deter others from doing the same crime so victims of crucifixion would be on the cross for hours and sometimes even days before they died. They had metal spikes driven through their wrist and ankles and a wooden block right under their feet. The cross was not easy and painless but rather the most excruciating thing ever invented. The Romans would not even let a Roman citizen endure the this form of execution. The cross was not a smooth piece of wood but rather a rough cut tree some with the bark still on it so when a person would gasp for breath their backs would rub against the cross. This doesnt sound that terrible until you remember that Jesus had no flesh and just raw hamburger for a back rubbing against a rough tree. The reason they would force you to gasp for air is you body naturally rises when you breath and the romans would crucify a person so that they lungs were constantly in a stretched and open state so the victim would have to push up with their legs so that the air would be forced out and new air introduced into their lungs.

The crazy thing about it is that none of this actually killed Jesus. Jesus gave up his life for us. Jesus yielded up his spirit so that we can have eternal life with HIM. This is a love that is not comparable to anything else ever. God loved us so much that HE sent HIS son to die for us! The whole purpose of this was so that when we accept Christ as a gift for our salvation then God looks at us as if we are Holy and righteous. How can we reject someone who has loved us this much? Then the second part is why are we so apathetic in sharing God’s saving grace with everyone we come in contact with. The entire world can come to a stopping halt due to a virus but God’s love and forgiveness never can stop.

We should be constantly sharing God’s love with people due to the overflowing of what God has done for us. If you do not get anything else that I have said get this! God loves you and sent his Son to die in our place! If that does not make you want jump for joy and shout it from the roof tops go back and reread mark 14 through the end of the book! We should not be able to be quiet about what God has done.

At the Cross, Jesus died in our place not only so we can experience forgiveness of sin, but also so we can live a life of purpose and significance today— as God’s apprentice.