God in the Garden

“And He came out and went, as was His habit, to the Mount of Olives; and the disciples followed Him.” Luke 22:39

I touched on the events in the garden a little in my last post, but I would like to go back to it because a lot happened in that garden. Jesus and His disciples come to this garden for prayer. Jesus knows what the day holds and calls on God in preparation for it. We see this most clearly in Luke 22:42-43. After this, we see Judas coming with a crowd to take Him. Seeing this, Peter, in all his boldness and rashness, jumps into action, cutting the ear of one in the crowd. Jesus steps in, to stop and rebuke Peter. He goes on to show how even in His capture, Jesus is still in power and still fully God, however He allows it for the fulfillment of the Scriptures. After He says this, we see the disciples scatter and flee like sheep without their Shepherd.

Peter in the Courtyard

“Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard, and a servant-girl came up to him and said, “You too were with Jesus the Galilean.”” Matthew 26:69

“And Peter remembered the [prophetic] words of Jesus, when He had said, “Before a rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly [in repentance].” Matthew 26:75

When Peter flees, we see he follows Jesus at a distance when a servant-girl comes up to Peter connecting him to Jesus and just as Jesus foretold, Peter denies knowing Him. Another servant girl comes to him and again, Peter denies. Once again, people come up to Peter and again Peter denies. After the third denial, Peter goes a step further to distance himself from Jesus and begins to curse. We are watching Peter go back to his roots before he met Jesus with cursing. This should be a reminder to us that although we may feel like we are ready to live and die for Christ. We are much weaker than we think and could very easily slip like Peter is doing. Remember, this is the same Peter that Jesus calls to be the rock that the church will be built upon and the same one that just hours before claimed he would die for Jesus. Now he is denying even knowing Christ. Following the third denial, a rooster crows as Jesus said. At that moment Luke 22 says Jesus turns and looks to Peter, reminding Peter of all that Jesus told him. We will pick up with Peter’s story in a later post as it is far from over. 

Barabbas on Trial

“Then the Jews led Jesus from Caiaphas to the Praetorium (governor’s palace).” John 18:28

We catch up with Jesus as He is brought to Pilate. In a previous post, I pointed out how the Holy Week is full of the leaders inspecting Jesus and how He is being the ultimate Passover Lamb. Jesus continues being the Passover Lamb by being silent. He answers Pilate’s first question but after that, Jesus fulfills the prophecy said in Isaiah 53:7 that says “like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, He did not open His mouth.” Again, Jesus could stop this at any moment, yet He silently takes on all the accusations and all the mocking, that Scripture would be fulfilled and that all could be saved. One of the clearest pictures of how we are saved immediately follows. Pilate gives the people a choice, set Jesus free or a man named Barabbas free. Barabbas was a known murderer and thief. The people still choose to free Barabbas and made Jesus take his place. Barabbas was set to be killed just like Jesus would be, but because Jesus takes his place, he is pardoned. That is the gospel. We are all like Barabbas, guilty and deserving of punishment, but Jesus has stepped in so that we may be saved. It is not recorded what Barabbas did after his release, but you can still choose what you will do after your pardon. Will you return to your life as if nothing happened, or will you not go back and live for the One that died for you?

Jesus on the Cross

“After He was found in [terms of His] outward appearance as a man [for a divinely-appointed time], He humbled Himself [still further] by becoming obedient [to the Father] to the point of death, even death on a cross.” Philippians 2:8

Finally, we have arrived at the cross. The Romans made sure each part of the crucifixion was brutal. Whether it be the crown of thorns on His head or being forced to carry the cross on His freshly whipped back, the very wood He created pressed into the flesh He took on for us. When Jesus was finally on the cross, He continues to show His heart for humanity. Firstly, He shows His great forgiveness in praying for those that put Him on that cross. Even as the people killed Him, Jesus goes to God on their behalf pleading for their forgiveness. The second way is His interaction with the thief. Jesus was not crucified alone, but with a thief on either side. Both thieves start by mocking Jesus, but something changes, and one of them has a change of heart. That thief does not even ask to get into heaven, but that Jesus would just remember him. Jesus shows His grace and tells the thief that they will be in Heaven together. Lastly, Jesus ensures that those He loves will be okay. He sees His mother and makes sure she will be taken care of after His death. He does this by telling John, the disciple Jesus loved, and told him to care for Mary as if she was his own mother. In each of these cases, Jesus is caring for everyone from those guilty of His death to those saddened by His death. When Jesus sees that all scripture is fulfilled and all is taken care of, He lets out one final statement, “It is finished”, meaning the price is paid, the debt has been satisfied, and sin has been put to death. He then bows His head and voluntarily gives up His spirit.