after celebrating the Passover meal
Jesus and His disciples traveled to a
place called Gethsemane near the Mount
of Olives there Jesus said to his
disciples sit here while I go over there
to pray he took Peter James and John
with him and as he walked on he became
very sad and upset then he told them my
soul is crushed with sadness to the
point of death stay here and keep watch
with me Jesus went a little farther by
himself and fell on his face praying my
father if it is possible let this cup of
suffering be taken away from me but not
if it is only my desire I want your will
to be done three times he went to his
disciples and found them asleep instead
of praying on the third time he said to
them are you still sleeping look the
time has come and the Son of Man is
betrayed into the hands of sinners get
up and see that my betrayer is here
while he was still speaking Judas one of
the twelve disciples arrived with a
crowd of men armed with swords from the
chief priests and elders of the people
Judas the traitor had given them a sign
saying whoever I embrace he is the one
seized him
immediately he came to Jesus and said
greetings rabbi and he hugged him jesus
said to him friend why are you here the
armed men grabbed Jesus and arrested him
jesus said to the crowd am i a dangerous
robber that you come with swords and
clubs to seize me I was with you every
day in the temple teaching and you
didn't arrest me but all this has
happened to fulfill the scriptures of
the prophets then all the disciples left
Jesus and fled Jesus was taken to the
home of the high priest Caiaphas where
the scribes and elders had gathered they
were trying to find witnesses who would
tell lies about Jesus so they could put
him to death the next morning the chief
priests and elders met again to make
plans for putting Jesus to death they
bound him led him away and took him to
Pilate the Roman governor when Jesus
stood before the governor Pilate asked
him are you the King of the Jews
jesus replied so you say then all the
chief priests and elders accused Jesus
of many lies but Jesus remained silent
don't you hear all these charges they
have against you but Jesus gave no
response not even one word to the
governor surprise so Pilate said to the
chief priests elders and all the crowd
that was gathering what should I do with
Jesus who was called the Messiah they
all responded crucify him
Pilate exclaimed why what crime is he
committed but the crowd roared angrily
crucify him Pilate saw that nothing was
going to change the demands of the crowd
of people but instead they were getting
very angry he took water and washed his
hands in front of the crowd saying I am
innocent of the blood of this righteous
man the choice is yours Pilate ordered
that Jesus be beaten and then handed
over to the Roman soldiers to be
crucified
fine the soldiers nailed Jesus to the
cross and then they kept guard they
placed a sign above his head showing the
accusation against him this is Jesus
King of the Jews many people passed by
and shouted mean taunts and mocked him
saying look at you now if you are the
son of God save yourself and come down
from the cross at about noon that day a
great darkness covered all the land for
three hours then Jesus cried with a loud
voice ella ella and MI sabachthani which
means my God my God why have you
forsaken me
then Jesus shouted once more and he died
at that moment the whole earth quaked
rocks shattered apart so why did Jesus
willingly die on that cross Jesus died
as the punishment for our sin and he
took our place Jesus was an innocent man
who never sinned not even once we all
know that we sinned sometimes but Jesus
never did the Bible also says that God
is always faithful everything he does is
just unfair so because God is just sin
must always be punished but our God is
merciful
He loves us so much he sent His only Son
to die in our place for our sins
the evening after Jesus's death a rich
man from Arimathea named Joseph went to
Pilate and asked for Jesus's body Pilate
agreed and Joseph took the body and
wrapped it in a clean linen cloth and
laid it in the tomb then he rolled a
large stone against the opening of the
tomb the next day the chief priests and
the Pharisees went to Pilate with a
request they said sir
we remember what that deceiver said
while he was still alive after three
days I will rise again command that the
tomb be made secure until the third day
pilot replied to them you have a guard
go make it as secure as you can and so
they went with the guard to secure the
tomb and seal the stone entrance
for three days and three nights
Jesus was in hell he went to hell to pay
the punishment for our sin after all of
our sin was punished God raised Jesus
from the dead but God knew what would
happen when Jesus was betrayed nailed to
a cross and willingly died God being
fair and just released him from the
horrors of hell and raised him back to
life for death could not hold down an
innocent man early on Sunday morning
Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went
to see the tomb suddenly there was a big
earthquake an angel of the Lord came
down from heaven and rolled the stone
away his appearance was as bright as
lightning and his clothes were as white
as snow
the guards were so terrified they
fainted then the angel spoke to the
women don't be afraid for I know that
you were looking for Jesus who was
crucified he is not here he has risen
from the dead just as he said would
happen come see the place where his body
was lying
for God so loves us that he sent His
only Son so that whoever believes in Him
should not die because of their sins but
have eternal life
God has given us the gift of eternal
life through Jesus Christ every gift
that was ever given must be received the
Bible says that if you believe that
Jesus died on the cross for your sin and
that God raised him from the dead you
will be saved and live forever in heaven