He stirs up the people by teaching throughout all Judea, from Galilee where he began even to this place. When Pilate heard this, he asked whether the man was a Galilean. And when he learnt that he was under Herod's jurisdiction, he sent Him off to Herod, who was himself in Jerusalem at that time. When Herod saw Jesus he was very glad for he had been wanting to see Jesus for a long time, because he had heard about Him and was hoping to see Him perform some sign. He questioned him at some length, but Jesus gave him no answer. The chief priest and the scribes stood by vehemently accusing Him. Even Herod with his soldiers treated Him with contempt and mocked Him.
Luke 23: 5 - 11
Jesus was going about all of Jerusalem healing the sick. The blind were receiving their sight, the lame were walking, the leapers were cleansed, the deaf began to hear, the dead were raised to life, the poor were listening to the good news of the Kingdom of God. Thus large crowds were following Jesus and they wanted to take him by force and make him King. News about his deeds and his teachings were spreading all around Jerusalem. It had also reached the ears of the chief priests, the scribes and the pharisees who were beginning to get more and more envious of the growing popularity of the so called Messiah.
His fame was spreading throughout all Syria. And great crowds followed him from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and from beyond the Jordan. The chief priests began to discuss among themselves how the accused was challenging their authority as priests and authorities of the temple. Soon there would be an uprising and a revolt against the authorities, the people would start complaining about the heavy burdens being put on their backs by the lawyers, scribes and pharisees, the unjust system of taxes and many other evils happening in the society in the name of the law. The people would stop going to the synagogues and the temples. The temple tax and donations to the temple and synagogues would dry up. They would be in a state of anarchy and lawlessness. Eventually the Romans would come and destroy both their nation and their Holy places. So Caiaphas who was high priest that year stated that it was better to have one man die than to have the whole nation destroyed. So from that day they planned to put Jesus to death.
After trying several times to trap Jesus and arrest Him, they finally found an opportunity when Judas offered to betray Jesus for the price of thirty pieces of silver. In the garden of Gethsemane, when Jesus was praying with his disciples Judas arrived with the police of the authorities, and a crowd of scribes, chief priests and elders carrying swords and clubs. On seeing Jesus in the garden, Judas went over to Him and kissed Him. Seizing the opportunity, the soldiers caught hold of Jesus and arrested Him.
They brought Jesus before Caiaphas the High priest. The scribes and the elders were also gathered there. Among them there were many false witnesses who came forward to give false testimony against Jesus. Then Caiaphas asked Jesus about the accusations being brought against Him and about the work he was doing. Jesus answered "I have spoken openly to the world; I have always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all the Jews come together. I have said nothing in secret. Why do you ask me. Ask those who have heard what I said to them; they would know what I said"
Then the high priest asked Him again, "I put you under oath before the living God, tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of the living God."
Jesus said to Him, "You have said so, but I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man, seated at the right hand of power and coming on the clouds of Heaven."
Jesus answered, "If I have spoken wrongly, testify to the wrong. But if I have spoken rightly, why do you strike me?"
Then they took Jesus from Caiaphas to Pilate's headquarters. It was early in the morning.
While Pilate was seated on the judgement seat the chief priests and the scribes brought Jesus before him. They began to accuse Jesus before Pilate saying that he claimed to be the Messiah and many other false accusations. Pilate listened to all these accusations and then asked Jesus, "Are you the King of the Jews?" Jesus answered, "Do you ask this of your own accord, or did others tell you about me?" To this Pilate replied, "I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?" Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is my kingdom is not from here." Pilate said to him, "So you are a King?" Jesus answered, "You say that I am a King. For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice". Pilate asked Him "What is the truth?" Jesus remained silent. Pilate still found no basis against the man that deserved the death sentence. Earlier his wife had sent word to him, "Have nothing to do with that innocent man, for today I have suffered a great deal because of a dream about Him." He realized that it was out of jealousy that the chief priests and scribes were accusing Him and was wary of passing judgement on Him. Now since Jesus was a Galilean and he came under the jurisdiction of Herod, he sent him to Herod to be judged.
Jesus was now before Herod the tetrarch, The Governor of Galilee. The chief priests and scribes had accompanied Him to Herod's palace with a band of soldiers. Herod was waiting since a long time for this day when he would see the self proclaimed God man who was doing many miracles and healing people, raising the dead to life and gathering a large following of people by his teachings and his healings. The chief priests placed their accusations before Herod and were vehemently condemning Jesus before him. But Jesus remained silent through all these accusations without saying a word in his defense. Herod then asked Jesus, that if he were the Messiah, the Son of God, that he perform a miracle, to show some sign to prove his divinity. But Jesus again remained silent. Herod was perplexed and annoyed. Here he was brought before him with a charge of blasphemy, and the accused was doing nothing to defend Himself. On the contrary, his silence was like a resigned acceptance of the penalty that faced such a claim. The chief priest and elders were waiting expectantly for Herod to pass the death sentence on the accused. But Herod suddenly burst out into a loud laughter. This puzzled the chief priests. It was a loud boisterous laugh which was soon picked up by his people and the soldiers present in the room. They began to mock Jesus. He had claimed to be the Messiah, but here he was standing silent and resigned in the face of death. Surely Herod was not going to waste his time or his judgement on this meek silent man standing in front of him. He didn't feel any threat to his kingship by this man. If the accused was not going to perform any sign to prove his divinity, if he was not going to defend himself against the accusations being brought against Him by his own people, neither was Herod going to pass any judgement on Him. He simply dismissed the accused. If He was truly the Son of God, he would have to save Himself by His own divine powers.
The chief priests and the scribes now realized that they were cornered. They were trapped at their own game. They made laws which put heavy burdens on the backs of people, but they themselves would not lift a finger to move these burdens or help the people. They would accuse people of crimes deserving the death penalty, but they themselves would not pass the death penalty. They didn't realize that in Herod they were dealing with the Master of the Game. The fox was more crafty than they had imagined. They now had to figure out a way to crucify the condemned man without breaking their own laws.
The Game of Kings was now in its last stages. The rooks, the knights and the vazirs, the defenders of the kingdom, were all killed over the centuries. The pawns were decimated in their infancy. The last knight standing was beheaded by none other than Herod himself.
The condemned man was now sent back to Pilate. Left with little choice Pilate gave a verdict that Jesus be scourged, hoping that after seeing His condition after the scourging, the crowds would have mercy on Him and set Him free. Jesus was now at the mercy of the soldiers. These soldiers were ruthless in carrying out their job. The scourging was brutal. It was the worst form of flogging carried out by the Roman soldiers. Its purpose was not only to inflict intense agonizing pain, but also to humiliate the convict and shred his last remains of human dignity. It was to show the condemned person that society had absolutely no place for such lowly criminals. The whips used to deliver this punishment were called a flagellum or a flagrum (a latin word). It had several strands weighed with lead balls and pieces of bone in it to inflict mind numbing pain and to cut through the flesh. With these whips Jesus was scourged brutally and repeatedly to the point of death. After this, the soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they dressed him in a purple robe. They kept coming to Him saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!" and striking Him on the face.
After the scourging Pilate called together the chief priests, the leaders, the elders and the people. But their hearts were not moved. They kept demanding for the death of Jesus. In the presence of the assembly, Pilate asked Jesus "Where are you from?" But Jesus gave him no answer. Pilate therefore asked Him, "Do you refuse to speak to me? Do you know that I have power to release you and power to crucify you?" Jesus answered him, "You would have no power over me unless it had been given you from above; therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of the greater sin."
So Pilate tried one last time to seek pardon for Jesus. Now as per their law they could release one criminal. So Pilate asked the crowd whether he should release Barabbas or Jesus. Now Barabbas was a notorious criminal who had been put in prison for an insurrection that had taken place in the city, and for murder. The scribes, the chief priest and the elders had by now devised their next move to get the death sentence for Jesus. They were going to win over the masses. They were going to convince the crowds of the seriousness of the crime of blasphemy. They mingled in the crowd gathered and started making a noise of the grave offence of the self proclaimed god man. They had managed to stir up an agitation against Him to the extent that they were willing to release a hardened criminal like Barabbas. This agitation was leading to a revolt. Pilate brought Jesus outside and sat on the judges' bench at a place called the Stone Pavement, or in Hebrew Gabbatha. He said to the crowd of Jews gathered, "Here is your King!" The crowds cried out, "Away with Him! Away with Him! Crucify Him!" Pilate asked them, "Shall I crucify you King?" The chief priests answered in a tone of feigned loyalty, "We have no King but the Emperor." Finally Pilate relented and he handed Jesus over to the Jews to be crucified. Crucifixion was such a brutal death sentence that if the condemned man who was already scourged to the point of death did not wilt under the weight of the cross, he would slowly bleed to death hanging on the cross.
The cross put on Jesus' shoulders was heavy, one reserved for the most hardened criminals like Barabbas. The verdict given was by the masses, the method of execution was by the law. A faint hearted mortal would collapse on the way by the sheer weight of the cross.
If Jesus were to fall and collapse on the way it was game over. His band of followers who had followed Him, would take His body and lay it in a tomb. And all would be forgotten. No one would think twice about a criminal who had fallen and died on the way with his cross. The cross would be pushed to one side of the road or maybe used for the next condemned man. Jesus would be just another statistic in the large number of condemned criminals who was unable to carry his own cross to Calvary. The story of the resurrection would be a nice fairy tale concocted by a group of deserters.
When Jesus was lead outside, with the heavy cross on His shoulders, he was already terribly weakened and exhausted by the scourging which had resulted in a heavy loss of blood from his body. A few steps into his walk on the way of the cross, he fell for the first time with the weight of the heavy cross falling on his body. Barely able to walk he was now flattened face down with a heavy cross on top of Him. When he finally managed to get up, He saw His mother Mary standing there in front of Him. The enemy had not accounted for this. The sight of her Son in that condition, battered by the scourging and carrying the heavy cross on his bruised shoulders left her aghast in complete shock and dismay. She must have barely had the strength to stand after the shock of seeing her Son in such a broken condition. But by sheer force of will and with a prayer in her heart, she regrouped herself. At that moment she did not care about the soldiers wielding their whips and swords. She did not think about his disciples who had been with Him for three years and had now simply vanished. She knew she had to be there. She was going to walk the way of the cross with her Son. With her own heart broken, she was going to lead the lamb to the slaughter house. In life if his people had brought Him to such a low inhuman state, she was going to make sure that she would salvage what dignity she could for Him in death. It was a shameless display of love of a Mother for her innocent Son, a shameless display of God's love for a fallen humanity and an even more shameless display of of evil and hatred of humanity towards God and to a fellow human being. The colosseum was the Way of the Cross and the spectators were the Jews and the people of Jerusalem who had come that early morning to watch the spectacle - some were the followers of the scribes and the elders, many had come out of curiosity to know the fate that was to befall the condemned man and a few had come out of pity and compassion for the man falsely accused of blasphemy. The gladiator was the man with the cross, betrayed with a kiss, scourged and battered to the point of death, with a heavy cross dumped on his shoulders and the goalpost was Calvary. The brutal game was now in its last stages, it was reaching the climax. The only people left on board were the battered King and His Queen Mother. The enemy on the other hand was there with all his might. But at that moment even if all the enemies and powers of the world would come to fight the battered King, His mother would be there standing by His side. She was going to defend the King with her life if required. She was going to accompany Him to the top of Calvary and make sure there was no more foul play. The enemy on the other hand was doing all in his power to thwart this plan. On this rested the salvation or the doom of mankind.
After his first fall, the crowds seeing the state of Jesus were moved to some degree of pity and they started asking the Roman soldiers to show some mercy on the battered criminal and to provide Him some help in carrying the Cross. Their initial cries were ignored, but when the crowds kept insisting, they made a man coming from Cyrene, Simon, to help Jesus to carry his cross. Now Simon was carrying the cross from behind. This allowed Jesus and Simon to move faster with the cross as it was no longer dragging on the graveled path, but it caused the heavy cross beam to rest more heavily on Jesus' already tired and battered shoulders. In giving this help also, there was no succor for Jesus, and after a little distance of walking in this manner Jesus fell for the second time. Jesus fell face down on the hard graveled path. When he rose after the fall, the blood on His face was mixed with mud and gravel blurring His vision. A woman named Veronica, moved with compassion, wiped his blood covered face. The towel with which she wiped his face bore the imprint of His face soaked in blood and grime. There were woman also standing by the road side who were weeping at His plight. Jesus had the strength to go beyond His pain and to advice them not to weep for Him, but to rather think about their own lives and families, and to turn to God and repent and save themselves from the impending wrath of a hateful world. They now reached the base of the incline of the hill leading to Calvary. The early morning sun was beating hard on their tired bodies. Ever since the kiss of death in Gethsemane, Jesus had not drunk a drop of water. He had sweated profusely the night before, a mixture of blood and water, on his impending passion. The brutal scourging had also caused a large loss of blood and water from his body. Simon also by now was tired and his arms began to ache. To relieve the weight of the cross on his arms, he shifted the cross a bit upwards, causing the balance of weight to tilt more towards Jesus, and he simply buckled under the weight of the cross. The third fall was like a knockout punch. He had simply no more strength left in Him. At the sheer depths of despair with that fall, his eyes met his mother's, and he could feel the pain she was going through. She no longer had the will to urge Him on. For a moment she must have willed the misery to end there for her son. But they both knew that he had to fulfill his Fathers will. They knew that He had to finish the cup that was given to Him by His Father. He had to rise up again. By the will of God and the last few ounces of strength left in His body, He rose. With the help of Simon and the last dregs of strength left in His body He carried the cross the last few steps to the top of Calvary. By the time he reached the top, there was no longer any strength left in his broken body.
"Take this all of you and eat it, for this is my body, which will be given up for you."
The first part of the battle was won. On top of Calvary, Jesus was stripped off his garments. The last shreds of dignity left on His body were stripped out, with only a piece of cloth covering Him below the waist. Along with his garments, came off flesh and blood, as His garments had got stuck to his blood soaked body. The lamb was laid bare on the cross. The nails hammered into His hands and feet. The nails pierced through flesh and sinew, such that no bone in his body was broken, nor any vein or artery cut which would have led to a quick death due to a heavy blood loss. When he complained of thirst on the cross, he was offered wine mixed with myrrh, but on tasting it he refused it. The wine would only dehydrate his already emaciated body and further add to His distress and agony. Not a single drop of water was offered to his distressed soul. Pilate had an inscription written and put on the cross. It read "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews."
It was about nine in the morning by the time Jesus was nailed to the cross which was now made to stand vertical. Along with Him were two other criminals crucified, one on His left and one on His right. From nine in the morning till three in the afternoon, Jesus hung on the cross, alive and breathing and he bled. The blood dripped from every laceration and wound on His body, drop by agonizing drop. Every breath he took became heavier and more laborious. The mid morning sun was beating down heavily and was drying up the sweat in the wounds which caused the salt to cause an intense burning in his open and bleeding wounds. Every breadth was an act of intense labor which required his torso to be lifted up to pull air into his lungs. He was hanging there in a state of intense distress and helpless misery. In that state of anguish he could not help but feel that even His own Father had deserted Him. By noon the sun's heat at Calvary was at its peak. It was then till three in the afternoon that the sky was covered in darkness. His Father had not abandoned Him. He was now shielded by the intense heat of the sun by His Fathers loving embrace. But by now Jesus was too submerged in his pain and agony to feel this embrace, or even if He felt it He was not in a condition to show it. Standing near the cross of Jesus were His mother, and his mother's sister Mary - the wife of Clopas - and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple John whom he loved standing beside her, He said to his mother, "Woman, here is your son." In a way he was trying to console his bereaved mother by giving her his disciple John as her son. Then he said to his disciple, "Here is your mother." By this gesture he was giving His mother to us to be Our Mother of Perpetual Help. From that hour the disciple took His mother into his own home. He pardoned the good thief, and told him, "Today you will be with me in paradise." With this He was telling our fallen human race that God's mercy and grace is there for even the most hardened criminal, even at the last moments of his life provided he would repent and turn to God. He cried out to His Father in heaven and told him to forgive his people saying "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do." By three His end was nearing and Jesus cried out with a loud voice and said, "Father into your hands I commit my spirit." Having said this he breathed His last. The blood flow by now had stopped. When Longinus, a Roman soldier came to Jesus, he saw that he was no longer breathing. So he did not break His legs. But he pierced his side with a spear. And out poured the last drops of blood and water from Jesus' body. The ransom was paid in full. In blood till the last drop. The covenant was made with blood, for an eternity.
"Take this all of you and drink from it, for this is the chalice of my blood,the blood of the new and everlasting covenant, which will be poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins."
The piercing of His side, sent a sharp piercing pain through the heart of His Mother who was already torn by the agony of the crucifixion unfolding in front of her. The lifeless body of the King was brought down from the cross and laid in the arms of the Queen Mother. She held the lifeless body of her Son and she wept ..... and wept. The world had come to a stop for her. She would have kept holding her son in her arms forever, had it not been for the beloved disciple John who finally managed to hold her and make her let go while his disciples took his body and embalmed it for being laid in the tomb.
The events of the day that were unfolding were being relayed to Herod all throughout the day. The fox was already perplexed after the beheading of of John as he was still hearing about miracles and healing taking place. Adding to his perplexity was another riddle, how could a mortal human so badly scourged carry such a heavy cross all the way to Calvary? Two days later he was pacing to and from on the terrace garden of his palace, scratching his head and wondering. He was now confounded with an even more greater mystery, Who had rolled the stone from the tomb?? What the hell was going on???
It was GAME OVER. CHECKMATE.
Winnith Rebello
