Once Jesus says all this, He looks up to the sky and addresses God. He tells God that He knows He's going to die and that's just fine by Him. But He does have one little favor to ask before He goes: He wants God to protect the disciples. It's going to be rough out there for them in the future and they're going to need some serious divine intervention to keep alive. This is really the least God can do since He's the one who has commanded them all to go out and speak the truth. Especially since the truth tends to enrage the people in power. Jesus ends by asking God to always be with the disciples and to love them.
After Jesus and His disciples go to the Kidron Valley where there's a garden. Judas leads a group of soldiers to the garden to arrest Jesus. They're carrying torches and all kinds of weapons, so they clearly mean business. Jesus, of course, knows that this is all going to happen. The men come into the garden and Jesus identifies Himself. He'll go quietly, but Jesus wants the soldiers to let the disciples go unharmed. Peter springs into action. He whips out a sword and cuts off one of the soldiers' ears. Well, then. Jesus quickly fixes things. He tells Peter to stop it and put the sword away. The soldiers and the temple police tie up Jesus's hands and lead Him away.
The first place they take Jesus is to the house of Annas. Annas is the father-in-law of Caiaphas (the high priest) and a former high priest himself. Peter follows Jesus there, but has to wait outside the gate to the house. The woman guarding the gate sees Peter and asks if he was one of the people she has seen following Jesus. Peter denies that he is. Strike one. Meanwhile, inside the house, Annas questions Jesus about His disciples and the things He taught. They've all heard what He had to say before. One of the soldiers doesn't think Jesus's answer is very respectful, so he gives Jesus a smack. Jesus says. I'm just telling the truth over here. While this is all happening inside the house, Peter is still outside, warming himself by a fire. There are other people standing around, trying to keep warm, too. One of them asks him if he is one of Jesus' disciples. Again, Peter denies that he is. Strike two. Another guy starts to question him, too. He happens to be related to the solider whose ear Peter cut off and was there when they arrested Jesus. "Didn't I see you in the garden with Him?" he asks Peter. But Peter denies it again. As he says this, a rooster crows in the distance. That's strike three.
The soldiers take Jesus to see Caiaphas, and from there, they take Him to Pontius Pilate, the Roman emperor of the province of Judea. It's his job to determine an appropriate sentence for Jesus. The religious authorities are there, of course. Except they won't go inside Pilate's house. It's going to be Passover soon and they want to avoid "ritual defilement," so they remain outside. Pilate wants to know what Jesus has done. The religious authorities tell him that Jesus is nothing more than a common criminal. Guys like Him need to be off the streets for good. Well, Pilate tells them, if He's a criminal, then sentence Him yourself under Jewish law. Problem solved. Ah, but the religious authorities aren't allowed to put anyone to death under Jewish law. They won't settle for anything less than execution. So, Pilate goes back inside and questions Jesus. Is He "the King of the Jews?" Did you come up with that on your own? Jesus asks. Or is that just what you've been hearing around town? Pilate tells Jesus that he could care less what the Jews say. He isn't a Jew. But, if Jesus's own people turned Him in, He must have done something terrible. What is it? Jesus answers that His kingdom is not in this world. If it were, He wouldn't be in this predicament. Oh, so you are a king? Pilate asks. Jesus tells him He was just born to tell the truth. "What is truth?" Pilate asks, but we never get any answer. Again, Pilate goes outside and tells the religious authorities that he can't figure out what Jesus has done wrong. He's feeling generous today, so he'll release one prisoner. How about Jesus? The religious authorities immediately shout that they want a thief named Barabbas to be released instead of Jesus. Go figure! Oh that heart of stone again.
And with that, Pilate gives the order for Jesus to be executed. The soldiers take Jesus to Golgotha. There, they will crucify Him with two other men. Pilate orders Jesus to be flogged. The soldiers take branches from a plant with sharp thorns and weave them into a crown shape and place it on Jesus's head. They take a purple robe, the color of royalty, and drape it around His shoulders. Then they mock and bully Him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!" and hit Him in the face.
Pilate thinks that this small gesture of torture might make the crowd happy. Jesus has been whipped, but that's as far as he'll go. Jesus hasn't done anything wrong, so he can't just sentence Him to die. The religious authorities see Jesus standing there beaten, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe and start screaming bloody murder. They demand that Pilate crucify Him right now. He broke the law! He claimed to be God's son! This makes Pilate a little worried. He tries to question Jesus again, but Jesus is unwilling to contribute to His own defense. He just stands there silent. Pilate tells Him that he has the power to have Him killed. Jesus replies that Pilate actually has no power. God's the one with the power. He's already set all this in motion. Again, Pilate tries to release Jesus, but the religious authorities are not having it. They tell Pilate that if he lets Jesus go, he is a traitor to the Roman emperor. Jesus has claimed to be king, which means He has set himself up as a political opponent to the emperor. Pilate brings Jesus outside and asks the people if he should really crucify their king. No, you've got it all wrong, they shout. We love the emperor! He's our only king! Crucify Jesus! Crucify Him now! So Pilot ordered to be put on the cross the saying, "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews." This further annoys the religious authorities. They tell Pilate that it should really say that Jesus says he is the King of the Jews. But Pilate doesn't really care what they think. Four soldiers nail Jesus to the cross. They strip Him naked and tear His robe into four pieces, one for each of them to take. They also take His tunic and "cast lots" to decide who gets it.
Standing by the cross are four women: Jesus' mother, his aunt, Mary (who is the wife of someone named Clopas), and Mary Magdalene. The Beloved Disciple John is also there, standing beside Jesus's mother. Jesus tells the Beloved Disciple John to take care of His mother after He dies. He knows that His life is almost over. He tells the onlookers that He is thirsty, and they put a sponge soaked in wine on a branch and hold it to His mouth. After Jesus drinks the wine, He says His last words: "It is finished." Then, He lowers His head and dies.
Passover will start soon and the religious authorities don't want bodies left up on the crosses during the festival. So, they ask Pilate to have the soldiers break the men's legs. The soldiers break the legs of the other two men crucified with Jesus, but when they come to Jesus, it looks like He's already dead. One of them tests this by stabbing Him in the side with his spear. Blood and water flow out of the wound. Joseph of Arimathea (who was never mentioned before but is secretly one of Jesus's disciples) asks Pilate if he can take Jesus's body away for burial. Nicodemus helps by bringing one hundred pounds of spices in order to prepare Jesus's body for burial. They wrap the body in the spices and some linens and place it in tomb in a nearby garden. This happens to be a new tomb, where no one has ever been buried before.
Here is one of my paintings
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