After dinner, He took His friends out to a garden to pray.
When they got there, He asked them to hang out while He
prayed. Jesus took three of them with Him to pray and
told them that He was exceedingly sorrowful. He asked
them to keep watch and then fell on the ground praying.
He came back and found His close friends sleeping. He
went back-and-forth like that three times, praying and
coming back and seeing them sleeping. He even got to the
point of sweating blood, a condition known as
Hematidrosis.
Wikipedia says, "Hematidrosis is a
condition in which capillary blood vessels that feed the
sweat glands rupture, causing them to exude blood,
occurring under conditions of extreme physical or
emotional stress." Jesus knew what was coming. The
third time He came and woke them up because His
betrayer, a disciple named Judas, was there with a mob of
people with swords and clubs to arrest Him. His friends
very briefly tried to protect Him before they all ran away. The soldier would commonly start hitting you somewhat
softly and progressively whip you harder in hopes that you
would give up your accomplice in your crime. Sometimes
the soldier would accidentally get you in the face and often
pieces of muscle, flesh, and sometimes even parts of
organs would literally be ripped out of you.
They brought Him to a hasty trial. They found Him guilty
of breaking the religious law because He said that He was
the Son of God. They proceeded to spit on Him and beat
Him. They blindfolded Him and then hit Him saying,
“Tell us which one of us hit you?” and mocked Him. Peter
had followed along at a distance and all the time that this
was going on he watched. Three times he was asked if he
was one of Jesus’ friends and three times he denied it until
finally he ran away and wept bitterly. Judas (the one who
betrayed Him) realized that he made a mistake and tried to
give the money back that he received for giving Jesus up
to the authorities, but the religious leaders wouldn't take it
back. Judas was sorrowful too, but he ended it in a much
different way then Peter. Judas apparently thought life
wasn't worth living anymore, so he hung himself. After this, the soldiers even made fun of Him by putting a
scarlet robe on His wounded and blood covered flesh and
then shoving a crown made of thorns deep down on His
head. After the blood had a chance to congeal they ripped
the robe off Him. They ripped His beard off his face and
beat Him beyond recognition. Pilate then brought Him out
and hoped that this beating would be enough. The
religious leaders stirred up the crowd and demanded that
Jesus be executed by crucifixion. Rome would routinely
crucify people to show their domination over an area, and
it was a punishment reserved for the worst of the worst of
all offenders. Pilate still did not believe that Jesus
warranted that severe of a punishment. Pilate had a
custom of releasing one prisoner during religious feasts,
he tried to still let Jesus go by offering the people a choice
of prisoners, either Barabbas or Jesus. The people chose
Barabbas, a murderer, and still called for Jesus to be
crucified. Pilate didn't want anything more to do with this,
and because the people were nearly rioting, he gave in.
The beating that Jesus took would sadly continue.
Because Israel was under Roman rule, at the time, the
religious leaders could not lawfully administer the death
penalty. So, they went and brought Him to a man named
Pilate. Pilate was a Roman official who presided over the
territory. Pilate found nothing wrong with Jesus and
wanted to set Him free, but the religious leaders refused.
They instead asked for Jesus to be crucified. Pilate thought
that if he had Jesus beaten severely that it would appease
the religious leaders. So, he commanded his soldiers to
whip Him with something called a “cat of nine tails.” This
was an instrument that consisted of a handle around 12
inches long and nine strands of leather that had pottery,
glass, and sharp stones imbedded in them. The Roman
soldier would stand close to your side and swing it at you
from around your back so that it would sink those sharp
points into your side, stomach, and back. Then he would
rip them backwards out of your flesh.
This is what Jesus went through. The Bible says:
He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He
opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to
the slaughter, and as a sheep before its
shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth.
Isaiah 53:7
Jesus was silent because he was covering for you! If He
did say something, He would have had to snitch on you.
Just imagine how brutally He was ripped apart!
The condemned prisoner was made to carry his cross to the
site of the execution and this was no different for Jesus.
Because of all the blood loss and beatings that he endured
the soldiers made someone help Him. The procession
made it to a place called Golgotha (which means place of
the skull). The soldiers then nailed His hands and feet to
the cross with large spikes. They would bend the points
that came out the other side and usually tie your arms and
legs to the cross to make sure you did not get off. You did
not die from blood loss, you typically died from liquid
filling your lungs. Because of the way you were nailed
you would have to push up at the nail through your feet to
breathe. Every. Single. Time.
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