What Jesus Did

Two revolutionaries were crucified with [Jesus], one on his right and one on his left.

The people passing by shouted abuse, shaking their heads in mockery. "Look at you now!" they yelled at him. "You said you were going to destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days. Well then, if you are the Son of God, save yourself and come down from the cross!"


—Matthew 27:38-40 NLT

Key Thought​

It is truly hard for us to imagine the shame and indignity that crucifixion was for Jesus...

 

After they had nailed [Jesus] to the cross, the soldiers gambled for his clothes by throwing dice. Then they sat around and kept guard as he hung there. A sign was fastened above Jesus' head, announcing the charge against him. It read: "This is Jesus, the King of the Jews." Two revolutionaries were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left.

—Matthew 27:35-37 NLT

Key Thought​

They gambled with dice (literally, "cast lots") for Jesus' clothes as he bled and died on...

 

Along the way [to crucify Jesus, the soldiers] came across a man named Simon, who was from Cyrene, and the soldiers forced him to carry Jesus' cross. And they went out to a place called Golgotha (which means "Place of the Skull"). The soldiers gave Jesus wine mixed with bitter gall, but when he had tasted it, he refused to drink it.

—Matthew 27:32-34 NLT

Key Thought​

Forced to carry his cross! Simon was forced to carry Jesus' cross. But what about us? Are we forced to carry...

 

Some of the governor's soldiers took Jesus into their headquarters and called out the entire regiment. They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him. They wove thorn branches into a crown and put it on his head, and they placed a reed stick in his right hand as a scepter. Then they knelt before him in mockery and taunted, "Hail! King of the Jews!" And they spit on him and grabbed the stick and struck him on the head with it. When they were finally tired of mocking him, they took off the...

 

[When the crowd asked for Barabbas to be released,] Pilate responded, "Then what should I do with Jesus who is called the Messiah?"
They shouted back, "Crucify him!"

"Why?" Pilate demanded. "What crime has he committed?"

But the mob roared even louder, "Crucify him!"

Pilate saw that he wasn't getting anywhere and that a riot was developing. So he sent for a bowl of water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, "I am innocent of this man's blood. The responsibility is yours!"

And...

 

Now it was the governor's custom each year during the Passover celebration to release one prisoner to the crowd — anyone they wanted. This year there was a notorious prisoner, a man named Barabbas. As the crowds gathered before Pilate's house that morning, he asked them, "Which one do you want me to release to you — Barabbas, or Jesus who is called the Messiah?" (He knew very well that the religious leaders had arrested Jesus out of envy.)

Just then, as Pilate was sitting on the judgment...

 

Now Jesus was standing before Pilate, the Roman governor. "Are you the king of the Jews?" the governor asked him.
Jesus replied, "You have said it."

But when the leading priests and the elders made their accusations against him, Jesus remained silent. "Don't you hear all these charges they are bringing against you?" Pilate demanded. But Jesus made no response to any of the charges, much to the governor's surprise.


—Matthew 27:11-14 NLT

Key Thought​

If the murder of Jesus...

 

When Judas, who had betrayed him, realized that Jesus had been condemned to die, he was filled with remorse. So he took the thirty pieces of silver back to the leading priests and the elders. "I have sinned," he declared, "for I have betrayed an innocent man."

"What do we care?" they retorted. "That's your problem."

Then Judas threw the silver coins down in the Temple and went out and hanged himself.

The leading priests picked up the coins. "It wouldn't be right to put this money in the...

 

Very early in the morning the leading priests and the elders of the people met again to lay plans for putting Jesus to death. Then they bound him, led him away, and took him to Pilate, the Roman governor.

—Matthew 27:1-2 NLT

Key Thought​

The religious leaders were looking for a simple little execution done behind the scenes so they could get Jesus out of their hair and keep things the same. From their perspective, he was a disruptive problem that had to be taken care of as...

 

Meanwhile, Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. A servant girl came over and said to him, "You were one of those with Jesus the Galilean."

But Peter denied it in front of everyone. "I don't know what you're talking about," he said.

Later, out by the gate, another servant girl noticed him and said to those standing around, "This man was with Jesus of Nazareth."

Again Peter denied it, this time with an oath. "I don't even know the man," he said.

A little later some of the other...