The Last 12-Hours of the Life of Jesus Christ - Part 2

Well, happy Sabbath once again! It's good to see all of you with us today on this great Sabbath day. We're going to continue part two of the sermon, The Last Twelve Hours in the Life of Jesus Christ. And if you're catching this on our YouTube channel, I would strongly encourage you to perhaps listen to part one first, because this will make a lot more sense. All the puzzle pieces will come together a little more neatly if you listen to part one, which is already posted on YouTube before you hear today's sermon. So let's have a quick recap of the events that we covered in part one. Well, after sharing the Passover together with his disciples, and after they had sung a hymn together, everyone walked to the Mount of Olives and into the garden on the Mount. Of course, the exception was Judas, who had left during the Passover itself, as John wrote in John chapter 13 verse 30, having received the piece of bread, he then went out immediately. It was night. So Jesus made a comment about the bread, and the person who would dip the bread with him would betray him. And according to John's account, that is the point of time that Judas left.

We covered the arrival in the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus, being human, struggled with the inner conflict of whether he really wanted to go through the task, and he struggled with that.

When the time was needed in his life, when he needed the emotional support of his disciples while he was in the garden, he needed encouragement from his friends. They were unconcerned, and they fell asleep on him a couple of times. As I mentioned last week, it had already been a long day. They were exhausted, their eyes were heavy, the Scriptures say, and he came to realize that what he would have to do as Jesus the Christ, the Messiah, the anointed one, the Lamb of God, he would have to do alone. Then we saw where Jesus was arrested. When he was approached by the officials, Jesus showed that he was in control of the situation and voluntarily allowed those individuals to arrest him. His display of power as the I AM also convinced the troops to honor Christ's request to let his disciples go free, which they did. Then we saw that Jesus was taken to Annas. He was a member of the Sadducean aristocracy and was considered by his peers to be arrogant and ambitious. He was also a very wealthy man, and he was taken to him in the night time, simply trying to find a reason to accuse Christ of a crime in order to rush through a trial later on. Again, this would have been a hearing, not a trial in itself. This happened approximately 3 a.m., and it begins the last 12 hours of the life of Jesus Christ until 3 p.m.

Then he was taken to Caiaphas, who was the actual high priest at this time.

Annas was the father-in-law to Caiaphas. Caiaphas was the high priest from 18 to 36 a.d., so 31 a.d. certainly falls within the time that he was a high priest. He also was not conducting an actual trial, but was attempting to find fault with Christ so they could have a mock kangaroo quick trial quickly and quietly the next morning. As a high priest, it was Caiaphas who felt most threatened by the teachings of Jesus Christ. This was an ad hoc hearing. Well, then he went from Caiaphas to Pilate. The Jews under Roman law were not allowed to crucify or kill anyone through capital punishment, and as we emphasized last time, they wanted Jesus dead. They didn't want him severely beaten. They didn't want to just ostracize him, and this fellowship from the Judean community — no, that wouldn't be enough — they wanted him absolutely dead, and they needed the Romans to agree to do that because, according to Roman law, it had to be approved by a Roman official. So Caiaphas sent him to Pilate. Pilate was the procurator or the legal agent of Judea in succession to a man whose name was Gratus, and Pilate held this role for 10 years. Many date his administration from 26 to 36 AD, and he's confused. He just doesn't get this. He can't figure out why the Jews hate this man so much. The man isn't arrogant. He's a confident man. He's well-spoken, but he's not arrogant. He doesn't act like a zealot, and Pilate is so confused why they insist on this man being killed. Christ doesn't act like a typical zealot or troublemaker. Jesus states that he is the intended king of another world. Therefore, Pilate doesn't feel threatened that he's treasonous towards Rome. And when Pilate hears that Christ is from Galilee, it's just the excuse he was looking for to get out of this problem and pass it on to someone else. So he commands that Jesus be sent to Herod. And that's where we're going to pick up the story today and finish the last 12 hours in the life of Jesus Christ. If you turn to Luke chapter 23 and verse 8. Luke chapter 23 and verse 8. So Pilate sends Jesus to Herod. Herod was the governor of Galilee, and it was independent of Pilate's jurisdiction. Maybe give you a metaphor. If I travel from Ohio to Pennsylvania, even though we're both under the control of the federal government, Pennsylvania has different laws than Ohio. So once I cross that state border, I am now in the jurisdiction of the state of Pennsylvania. I am subject to their judicial system, to their police, to the way that they are structured. So in a very similar way, we can also understand the same about Herod. He was the governor of Galilee.

He was independent of Pilate's jurisdiction. So let's go to Luke chapter 23 and verse 8. Now, when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceedingly glad. He thinks this is going to be entertaining.

He's wanted to see Jesus for a long, long time. He's heard about the miracles of Jesus Christ, and he thinks this is going to be fun. This is approximately before sunrise, Wednesday morning, about 5 to 6 a.m. So he received word that they were sending Jesus to him, and he saw Jesus. It says he was exceedingly glad, for he had desired for a long time to see him, because he had heard many things about him, and he hoped to see some miracle done by him. He was looking forward to Jesus doing a parlor trick of some type in order to entertain him. After all, he'd heard about his ministry for years. Verse 9. Then he questioned him with many words, peppered him. The phrase we would use today peppered him with a number of questions. He answered him nothing. He wasn't even going to give him a response. And the chief priest and the scribe stood and vehemently accused him. So again, we see these individuals adamant about condemning Jesus Christ. Adiment in front of Pilate. Now adamant in front of Herod. They want him dead. Verse 11. Then Herod, with his men of war, treated him with contempt and mocked him, arrayed him in a gorgeous robe, again in a form of mocking, as if he were a secular king, and sent him back to Pilate. Verse 12.

That very day Pilate and Herod became friends with each other, for previously they had been at enmity with each other. So why from that day would they have become friends? It's because they both had something now in common. What they had in common is they had contempt. They held contempt for the religious Jews of that time. Both had been amused by the voracious desire of the Jews. Again, imagine eyeballs popping out of their heads and the veins in their forehead swelling as they become angry and as they're going into a rant, telling about how bad this man is and all. And they were both, Pilate was amused. It was like a cat in a mouse game with him. And Herod obviously finds no fault with him. Verse 11. We can read verse 11 here from the new international version. Then Herod and his soldiers ridiculed and mocked him, dressing him in an elegant robe. They sent him back to Pilate. The Greek word here, by the way, translated contempt, the English word contempt, does not mean physical violence but bullying and intimidation, what we would call emotional violence today. So this was Herod Antipas that we've just read about, who was governor of Galilee from about 4 BC to 39 AD. He killed John the Baptist. It was a tetrarch, which was another title that he had, who ruled this small domain or kingdom. They mocked Jesus for entertainment. Herod thought that this was all a joke. That's why he sent it. He said, I find no fault in this man, similar to what Pilate had said, and he sent him back to Pilate. He's not doing the parlor trick. He's not talking. He's not entertaining me. Done!

Sent him back to Pilate, is what Herod says. He couldn't find a problem with him.

All right, so the next event. This is around sunrise, Wednesday morning, approximately 6 to 9 AM. Number of events occur here. We're going to go to John chapter 19 and verse 1. If you'll turn there with me, John chapter 19 and verse 1. And remember, to get this picture, we have to go to all four of the Gospels. And then primarily three that we've been covering in part one and part two, you have to cover the synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and also John's gospel in order to get the complete picture of these events and everything that's going on. Once again, I'll mention that John's Gospels are written around 100 AD, about 50 years or so after the actual events. It's as if he had one of the synoptic Gospels in front of him, since he writes much later than they do. It's as if when he's writing his gospel, he's saying, ah, they didn't cover this, so I'll cover this part. Ah, this has already been said numerous times, so there's no reason for me to cover this all over again. You get that distinct impression when you read John's gospel. All right, John chapter 19 and verse 1. So then Pilate took and scourged him, we'll read about scourging in a minute, and the soldiers twisted a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they put on him a purple robe, much like Herod's men did to mock him, and then they said, hail, king of the Jews!

And they struck him with their hands, and Pilate went out again and said to them, behold, I am bringing him out to you, that you may know that I find no fault in them. Then Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and a purple robe, and Pilate said to them, behold the man. Therefore, when the chief priest and the officer saw him, they cried out, saying, crucify him, crucify him.

Now this stuns Pilate, because as I'll read about in a few minutes, scourging was an incredible torture. And Pilate thought, since he didn't want to kill Jesus Christ, he thought, look, if I bring out this bloody pulp of a human being and bring him out for them to look at him, and all the humiliation he's already suffered, surely they'll at least have some human compassion on this man and say he suffered enough. But guess what? They don't feel that way.

Verse 6, when therefore, when the chief priest and the officer saw him, they cried out, saying, crucify him, crucify him. Pilate said to them, you take him and crucify him, for I find no fault in him. Once again, this cat and mouse game, you want him dead, Pilate says, you do it. Of course, knowing very well that Pilate was the only one who had the authority to do it. Herod would have had the authority, but he didn't find any fault in Jesus either. So again, they're playing this game of cat and mouse between Pilate and the Jewish leaders who he frankly despises. Verse 7, the Jews answered him, we have a law, and according to our law, he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God. Therefore, when Pilate heard that saying, he was more afraid. He's been playing this game of cat and mouse. Suddenly, he's becoming the mouse, and they're getting the upper hand. He's very sensitive to being accused of treason, and he sees that they are so angry that they're adamant about this, he fears inciting a riot among the Jews. Verse 9, and went again into the praetorium, and he said to Jesus, where are you from? Again, Pilate is just confused. Why?

Why do they want you dead? It just doesn't make sense. You're not violent. You're not a zealot. You're obviously not hateful. None of this makes any sense to me. Why? Where do you come from? he says to him. But Jesus gave no answer. Then Pilate said to him, are you not speaking to me? Do you not know that I have the power to crucify and the power to release you? Pilate is saying, in essence, give me a reason to go back out there and tell them that you shouldn't die.

Tell me something, anything. Give me something to say so that I can spare your life. Then Pilate asked him, are you not speaking to me? Do you not know that I have the power to crucify you and the power to release you? Again, give me something to say. And Jesus answered, you could have no power at all against me unless it had been given you from above. In other words, my father is in control of this entire situation. You don't have the authority that you think you do because anything that you do is because of an allowance from above. And he continues, he says, therefore, the one who delivered me to you, the Jewish leaders, have or has the greatest sin.

So Jesus finally speaks, and he just mentions to Pilate, again, in a calm way, in a relaxed way, that this is occurring because it has to occur. It's something that's part of a divine plan.

You may not even understand, Pilate, why you're part of this and doing this, but it has been preordained that this event occur and it's from on high. That's basically what Jesus is telling him. So Pilate scourged Jesus, again, hoping it would calm the Jews so that he could avoid the problem of crucifying Jesus Christ. Scourging was a most extreme form of physical torture. The scourging that we read about here in John 19 was the third experience of physical violence upon Jesus. The crown of thorns immediately afterward is the fourth act of physical violence on him as the thorns would prick and pierce his skin. Then, striking with the hands, verse three would be the fifth act of physical violence. Pilate took Jesus out of the crowd, hoping they would see what was left of his visage after the terrible act of scourging and that they would have compassion on his condition, but it didn't move them at all. They still wanted him to be crucified. So let me read about scourging here. This is from the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Volume 4, page 2704. Let me read to you. I've edited a little bit of this. I'll not make it too horrific, but this is what it was like to be scourged. Quote, A Roman implement for severe bodily punishment, Horace calls it the horrible flagellum, it consisted of a handle to which several cords or leather throngs were fixed.

They were weighed with jagged pieces of bone or metal to make the blow more painful and effective.

The victim was tied to a post, and the blows were applied to the back and loins, sometimes even in the wanton cruelty of the executioner to the face and the bowels.

In the tense position of the body, the effect can be easily imagined. So hideous was the punishment that the victim usually fainted and not rarely died under it. Eusebius draws a horribly realistic picture of the torture of scorching. Its application secrets and confessions were wrung from the victim, and that's not uncommon throughout human history. People were tortured to get them to confess to something they either knew about or sometimes to confess about something they didn't do, and many human beings will do that under the act of torture. It usually preceded capital punishment. It was illegal to apply the flagellum to a Roman citizen. So if you go into Acts chapter 22 and you see where Paul is about to be scourged, he tells those that are preparing him to scourge him, he says, he casually says, excuse me, I'm a Roman citizen. Is it legal to scourge a Roman sittacourse? It wasn't. They immediately backed off. They told the chief jailer or the individual who was about to do the scourging. He backed off and it entirely changed the situation for Paul because he knew his rights as a Roman citizen. So that's a little bit about scourging. It was an extreme form of torture, and Jesus obviously had experienced it. Now verse 12.

From then on, Pilate sought to release him, and the Jews cried out, saying, if you let this man go.

Again, the game of cat and mouse is just about over. The Jews are about to sink their teeth into the mouse. If you let this man go, you are not Caesar's friend. Whoever makes himself a king speaks against Caesar. Remember, Jesus admitted that he was born to be a king. So they're turning this around and saying, this man is committing treason, and if you allow him to live, you are aiding and abetting in treason against Caesar. When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus out and sat him in the judgment seat in the place that is called the pavement, but in Hebrew, gabbathah. So this statement forced Pilate to sentence Jesus to death. Why? Well, a little bit of history. Pilate was already in trouble with Rome, with his superiors, because of his past administrative mistakes. When he first entered Jerusalem, about 26 AD, he first marches in there, and he foolishly, perhaps through ignorance, refused to cover the standards his men carried. So the Roman soldiers march in there with him in the Jerusalem, and they have these standards.

And to the Jews, that was idolatry. There was a huge riot over that. Of course, that got back to Rome. Pilate was insensitive. He wasn't respecting Rome's desire that the Jewish people could live in peace, and you didn't interfere with their religious values. So he looked bad. Again, this was to the Jews an idolatrous image, and it caused a riot. Well, he's not content with that. After that time, he built an aqueduct to bring fresh water from Jerusalem. Well, that part was good, except it was discovered that he had confiscated holy temple money to pay for the aqueduct.

Well, this caused another major riot, and one Roman soldier was killed. Well, this obviously goes back to his superiors in Rome. He's not looking like a very smart person at this time to his superiors. He couldn't afford to have another report sent back to Rome that, A, he was allowing someone who was treasonous to live, and he was aiding and abetting that individual, or, B, he wasn't doing his job effectively.

He didn't want to risk being accused of allowing treason or a violent riot. And he could tell, again, by the Jews, by their countenance, by the way that they insisted this man die, that this could easily become a riot. And that would get back to Rome, and he would look very bad. All right, verse 14. Now it was the preparation day of the Passover. Jesus and his disciples, of course, kept the Passover.

The Jewish community was preparing a different day, a day later, for the Passover, and about the sixth hour. And he, Pilate said to the Jews, Behold your king. But they cried out, Away with him! Away with him, crucify him! And Pilate said, Shall I crucify your king? So again, he's mocking them. He's personally offended by the presence of the Jews, and their attitude towards him and the chief priest answered, We have no king but Caesar.

All right, in this verse, there's something that said it confuses a lot of people. It says this happened about the sixth hour. Now John uses Roman time with the hours. Roman time beginning at midnight, counting 12 hours, and then beginning at noon, much like we do today. Our day begins at midnight. We roll over into the next day. That is what John is doing. So here, the sixth hour is not Hebrew time, which would be noon, but rather 6 a.m., as Matthew says in Matthew chapter 27, earlier in the morning.

So John is writing about 50 years after these events near 100 a.d., and by now the church is dominated by Gentile converts who use Roman time designations. So since he's writing so late, unlike the synoptic gospels that use Hebrew time delineations, John is using Roman time. So we need to understand that. Again, the synoptic gospels use Hebrew reckoning, and that began at sunrise, so 6 to 7 a.m. would be the first hour, and that's how the day progressed.

So to put it all together, if you put John's gospel together with the synopsics, all together, it's 6 a.m. Pilate makes this mocking declaration to the Jews. Three hours later, after more derision and walking to the location where he would be crucified, carrying the cross beam of the cross and someone else carrying it for him part of the way, our Lord was nailed to the cross and elevated about 9 a.m.

What Mark would say, according to Hebrew reckoning, the third hour. That's Mark chapter 15 and verse 25. Then it says, darkness fell over the land from noon until 3 p.m. or the sixth hour to the ninth hour, using, again, Hebrew reckoning. That's from Matthew chapter 27 verse 45 and Mark chapter 15 and Luke chapter 23 verse 44. So before we look at the sequence in more detail, we are now at about the point, Wednesday morning, approximately 9 a.m., Jesus has been led away and now he's being crucified.

I'd like to read, once again, go back to the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia and read a few paragraphs on the cross. So here's what it says. The punishment was meted out for such crimes as treason. That's one reason the Jews emphasized that point, the push pilot over the edge.

For treason, desertion in the face of an enemy, robbery, piracy, assassination, sedition.

It continued in vogue in the Roman Empire until the day of Constantine when it was abolished as an insult to Christianity. This would be hundreds of years later after this event. Among the Romans, crucifixion was preceded by scourging, we've already seen that, undoubtedly to hasten impending death. The victim then bore his own cross or at least the upright beam to the place of execution.

This in itself proves that the structure was less ponderous than is commonly supposed. So he didn't carry this entire member, including the stake portion and the cross beam. The stake portion was probably something that was used over and over again. Sometimes it was a literal tree.

What the victim carried was that cross piece that they would be tied to or nailed to. So that's what it means when the scripture talks about him carrying his cross. So let's continue here.

It says, when he was tied to the cross, nothing further was done and he was left to die from starvation. If he was nailed to the cross, which is in the case of Jesus, at least in Judea, a stupefying drink was given him to deaden the agony. The number of nails used seems to have been indiscriminate. A tablet on which the feet rested or on which the body was partly supported seems to have been a part of the cross to keep the wounds from tearing through the transfixed members.

The suffering of death by crucifixion was intense, especially in hot climates. Severe local inflammation coupled with an insignificant bleeding of the jagged wounds produced traumatic fever, which was aggravated by the exposure to the heat of the sun. This is if someone lived a few days.

And the strained position of the body, an insufferable thirst, the wounds swelled about the rough nails, and the torn and lacerated tendons and nerves caused excruciating agonies. The arteries of the head and stomach were surcharged with blood and a terrific, throbbing headache ensued. The mind was confused and filled with anxiety and dread foreboding.

The victim of crucifixion literally died a thousand deaths.

Tetanus was not rarely supervened, and the rigors of the attending convulsions would tear at the wounds and add to the burden of the pain, till at last the bodily forces were exhausted and the victim sank into unconsciousness and death. The length of this agony was determined by the constitution of the victim. Realize, as we're going to see, Christ died earlier than Pilate expected. He had already been up for many, many hours. He not only had been scourged, but previously a number of times he already had been physically assaulted, physically abused violently. Let me go back to that sentence. The length of this agony was wholly determined by the constitution of the victim, but death rarely ensued before 36 hours had elapsed. Instances are on record of victims of the cross who survived their terrible injuries when taken down from the cross after many hours of suspension. Josephus mentions that in his writings, by the way. Death was sometimes hastened by breaking the legs of the victim and by a hard blow delivered under the armpit before crucifixion. The reason they would do that is that tablet that they put under your feet in order to breathe properly so that your diaphragm could expand and continue your life. You would press your feet on that tablet and pull yourself up so that you could get another breath. When they broke your legs, you could no longer pull yourself up. So all of your body weight was compressing your diaphragm and it would quicken the time when death would occur to the victim. All right, that's enough of that. Mark chapter 15 and verse 25, if you'll turn there with me. Mark chapter 15 and verse 25, just one verse from Mark.

So Mark says here, just one sentence I'm going to read. Now it was the third hour, again, showing the Hebrew reckoning, different than the time reckoning that John had used. So this was what we would call today about 9 a.m. Again, we can know the approximate times mentioned because they are stated in Scripture, either in the synoptics using the Hebrew reckoning or in John using a Roman reckoning. Okay, now let's go back to Matthew's account. If you'll turn there with me, Matthew chapter 27 and verse 31. Now that we have the time frame confirmed between the four Gospels, and we can see what happens next just before he's actually crucified. Matthew chapter 27 verse 31.

And when they had mocked him, they took the robe off of him, put his own clothes on him, and let him away to be crucified. Now as they came out, they found a man of Syrene, Simon by name, and they compelled him, they compelled to bear his cross. Now this gives indication that by now Jesus already doesn't have a lot of strength left. He can't even carry his own cross. Between all the physical abuse that he's already had, the sleep deprivation that he's experienced, not sleeping all through the previous night, the cascade of episodes between the people he even saw before Pilate, where he is slapped by the palm of the hand, where he's mocked, where he goes and experiences physical violence, all of these are taking a toll on him. Verse 33, and when they had come to a place called Golgotha, that is to say the place of the skull, they gave him sour wine mingled with oil to drink. This is to deaden the pain. This is what we read about from the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, but when he tasted it, he would not drink. Do you know why? Because he wanted to fully experience everything that was going on. He didn't want to deaden the pain. He didn't want to deaden the anxiety he was feeling by taking something that would cloud his mind and stupefy him. Continuing, they then crucified him. This was the sixth act of physical violence, and divided his garments, casting lots, that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by the prophet.

They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots. Verse 36, sitting down, they kept watch over him there, and they put up over his head the accusation written against him. Here it is. This is Jesus, King of the Jews. Now this isn't so much to mock Jesus as it is to mock all the Jewish leaders, because it's basically saying that Rome is rubbing it in their face. You wanted the King, your King, the King of the Jews dead? Well, here he is. Here's your King.

Verse 38, then two robbers were crucified with him, one on the right and the other on the left, and those who passed by blasphemed him, wagging their heads and saying, you who destroyed the temple and built it in three days, save yourself. Does that sound familiar? Well, it was actually the accusation of the two false accusers going all the way back to Caiaphas.

After they had a number of witnesses that didn't pan out, eventually they had two false witnesses who came and said the exact same thing, so their false witness has taken on a life of its own. Continuing, if you are the Son of God, come down from the cross. Likewise, the chief priest, also mocking with the scribes and elders, said he saved others himself he cannot save. If he is the King of Israel, let him come down from the cross and we will believe him. He trusted in God. Let him deliver him now if he will have him, for he said, I am the Son of God. So Jesus is still conscious. That's one reason he didn't take that gall. He wants to hear this as part of the plan. It's why he didn't take anything the dead and the pain. He still hears the mocking. He still hears the gloating, the accusations that are made against him. Verse 43, he trusted in God, let us deliver him now if he will have him, for he said, I am the Son of God. Verse 44, even the robbers who were crucified with him reviled him with the same thing. I want to contrast this. This is a sidebar. I want to contrast this to Luke chapter 23 verse 42 because some people will want you to believe that when one of the thieves, and it says here that all the robbers, the one on each side of him, they reviled him, they mocked him, they blasphemed him the same way as the Jews, yet some want you to believe, if you look at Luke's account, where the one says to Jesus, remember me in your kingdom, and Jesus in essence says, I'm here to tell you right now that you will be with me in paradise. You will be resurrected again and live in the kingdom of God and have an opportunity to do it right. In essence, that's what Jesus tells him, but there are some who would want you to believe that this very man who reviled him and mocked him and committed blasphemy a couple minutes later is going to be promised that he can go to heaven before Jesus goes to heaven. That's what some would want you to believe, but it doesn't fit with what the scriptures tell us. Verse 45, now, this sixth hour, from the sixth hour until the ninth hour, there was darkness over all the land. So to recap this, Jesus is crucified at the third hour, about 9 a.m. His life lingers until the ninth hour. That is 3 p.m. So he lingers along from the sixth hour to the ninth hour, and there's darkness over the land. We have to realize and appreciate that this is totally supernatural. Solar eclipses happen only at a new moon phase, yet this is happening at the time of the Passover, which was celebrated at a full moon, not a new moon. So this is direct and divine intervention. It's even more of a miracle if it only occurred in Judea and nowhere else on earth, and there's indication that that might have been the case. I'm going to read just a couple comments here from the Believer's Study Bible. Quote, the darkness signifies a miracle of God designed to draw attention to the darkness of the hour when men crucified the Savior of love. The Lord's cry from the cross, a mixture of Aramaic and Hebrew, quoting Psalm 22, verse 1, is in many respects as impenetrable as the darkness of the hour. All that is involved here cannot be known. This much can be ascertained. In that black hour, the judgment of the sins of the entire world was placed upon Jesus Christ in isolation. Quote, He alone must drink the cup of God's indignation against sin. All right, verse 46.

And about the ninth hour, so again this is what we would call 3 p.m. today, Jesus cried out with a loud voice, Eli, Eli, Llamis of Akthani. That's again quoting from Psalm chapter 22, verse 1, that is translated, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Some of those who stood there, when they heard that, said this man is calling for Elijah, because he did say, Eli, Eli. So they think from where they're at, they say, oh, he's crying out for Elijah to come and help him. Verse 48, Immediately one of them ran and took a sponge and filled it with sour wine, put it on a reed, and offered it to him the drink. Again, to numb the pain that he was going through. It was considered an act of compassion. The rest said, Let him alone, let us see if Elijah will come to save him. And Jesus cried out with a loud voice, and he yielded up his spirit. Let me read to you from the book of Psalms verses 1 and 2, because it includes a little bit more than what Jesus himself uttered as his final statement on the cross. Psalm chapter 22 verses 1 and 2, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me and from the words of my groaning? Oh my God, I cry in the daytime, but you do not hear. Again, that's Psalm chapter 22 verses 1 through 2. Jesus felt isolated and alone. This is only something that he alone can do for the sake of mankind. He died around 3 p.m. He was alive for about six hours on the stake or cross.

Please remember, he was exhausted even before he was scourged, not having slept all night. Now, let's go back to John. John chapter 19 and verse 31. John chapter 19 and verse 31. John chapter 19 verse 31. Therefore, because it was the preparation day, that the body should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath, for the Sabbath was a high day. So the following day would be the first day of unleavened bread. The Jews did not want any bodies. That would kind of desecrate the celebration of the first day of unleavened bread. They wanted to get this over with. They wanted to make sure the bodies were entombed before sunset. The Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken. Again, that was the speed up death, because you could no longer push yourself up so that your diaphragm could breathe more air, and that they might be taken away. Verse 32. Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and the other who was crucified with him.

But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs.

But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear. That's the seventh act of physical violence against Jesus Christ, even though he has expired. And immediately blood and water came out. And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth so that you may believe. So John says, I was there. I saw this with my own eyes.

I know it happened, and I'm trying to relate that truth to the reader. Now to Mark's account, if you'll turn with me to Mark chapter 15. Mark chapter 15. We are concluding our examination of the last hours of Jesus Christ, but I will conclude today with giving us some things to think about. But just before we get there, let's take a look at Mark chapter 15 and verse 44.

And this confirms that Jesus did not survive on the cross as long as many do. It's his pilot marveled that he was already dead, and summoning the centurion, he asked him if he had been dead for some time. So pilot was astonished when he heard that Christ was already dead, as most people usually lived a lot longer. Some lived for days. But as we've already seen, Jesus had been scourged. He had been abused, beaten before a number of hearings with Annas, Caiaphas, Pilate, Herod. He had suffered emotional abuse. He had been up for at least 30 straight hours. And to make sure that he was dead, one of the soldiers stabbed him in the side to induce massive bleeding with blood and liquids coming out. Well, what we've seen today in great detail is the suffering, emotional abuse, and personal abuse that Jesus Christ accepted for you and for me. He accepted all these things because he loves us. He knew in advance that he must suffer terribly in order for you and I to be offered salvation. So perhaps now we know a little better than before why he struggled in the Garden of Gethsemane and asked his father if there was any other way that this could be accomplished aside from him having to go through all the things that we have read the last two sermons. Because of what he did for us, we proclaim him as our God, our Lord, our Savior, our Savior, our Elder Brother, and our great High Priest.

So I would like now, as we close, to give us a few things to think about as we prepare for the Passover season this year. First of all, look how much Jesus Christ loves you to have endured all the pain and the suffering so that we could be forgiven of our sins and be offered eternal life.

We are everything to him. Do we realize and appreciate this fact? Do you realize that he would have been willing to do this just for you alone? That's how much he loves you.

I hope we can understand and appreciate that a little more profoundly since we've studied these last hours of his life. As Paul wrote in Ephesians chapter 3 and verse 17, and I'll just read this, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith that you being rooted and grounded in love may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. So Paul is saying, think about how deep, how wide, how long, how broad is the love of Jesus Christ that he was willing to endure all of this for you and he would have been willing to do it if it only had been you to do it for you alone. The second thing we can remember and think about as we prepare for the Passover is that God was in complete control of all the events that we read about. There were no accidents, there were no coincidences on the things that happened. The Father or Christ could have stopped them at any time, but then Jesus would not have been the Savior, the Lamb of God. The third thing to notice is how humble Jesus was. Oftentimes he was silent when falsely accused, when falsely accused and physically beaten. Can we learn this deep level of humility from Jesus? And brethren, can we stop demanding our own way?

Christ never felt a need to strike back or to condemn his accusers. He does not demonstrate vengeance or anger towards those who hate them. Let me ask you a personal question. If we were treated the same way as he was and had the power to stop or punish our accusers, would we act like Jesus or would we incinerate them?

The fourth thing to keep in mind as we prepare for the Passover this year. Jesus had the perspective that nothing could be done unless the Father allowed it to be so. He had complete faith in his Father's purpose in him. Do we have the level of faith that Jesus Christ had when we get that diagnosis of cancer, which I've had in my lifetime, or some fatal disease or something we know is going to cut our lives short? Do we have the faith of Jesus Christ and know that God all along has had a plan for our lives and that everything that happens to us, the good and the bad, is for a greater purpose in our lives? Notice how he sought the Father's will for him, not his own will and his own desires. When we look at his example, he needed strength from the Father in the Garden of Gethsemane. He went back again and again and again until he felt the personal strength and comfort to be able to move forward with some difficult things. He expressed his will to the Father just like we should. Each and every day the Father is a good listener. He wants to hear our feelings, our desires, our prayers, but afterward Jesus accepted the Father's will for him.

Are we willing to accept the Father's will for us? Whatever that may be. When we started out in part one of this sermon, I started out by quoting from the Apostle Paul in Ephesians chapter 2, and I'll read it to you again. Verse 5 in Ephesians chapter 2, Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the very nature of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped. It wasn't important to him at all. He was willing to give it all up, all the glory, everything to come down to earth as a bond servant so that you and I could have an opportunity for salvation. Verse 7, He made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bond servant. And again, that's the Greek word, doulos, which means He made Himself subservient to human beings, to other people. And coming in the likeness of men and being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

Well, I hope that all of us will consider the personal example of the last 12 hours of Jesus Christ and all that He experienced as we prepare for this year's Passover. His last 12 hours again were from the time He was taken to Annas about 3 a.m. in the morning until He drew His last physical breath about 3 p.m. Think about all that He went through, what He said, and the things He must have thought. But you know what? He did it for the best reason in the world. He did it for you. He did it for me. And if He had to do it all over again, because of His love for you, He would do it all over again because of His great love for you. Have a wonderful Sabbath day.