Part Six - Jesus' Last Passover And Crucifixion

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THE DAY GOD DIED!

The greatest event since the creation of the world was about to take place. Jesus Christ, Who was God manifested in the flesh (I Tim. 3:16), was going to die! He would give His life as the supreme sacrifice for the sins of all mankind. John the Baptist understood this when he said of Jesus: “Behold the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). This momentous event had been planned before the creation of the world: “…the Lamb, slain from the foundation of the world” (Rev. 13:8).

When and how did sin enter the world? Why was it necessary for Jesus Christ to lay down His life for the sins of mankind? How can His one sacrifice purge all sin?

The sin of Adam and Eve was not the first transgression against God. The original sin was committed by Lucifer and the angels who followed him. Lucifer (Latin, “Light Bringer” or “Shining One”) was the first created being to commit sin; therefore he is the author of sin. He boasted that he would become like the Most High and sit on God’s throne (Isa. 14:14-15; Ezek. 28:12-18). One third of the angels followed him in his rebellion (Rev. 12:3-4). At that time, Lucifer became Satan the devil, the adversary of God, and the rebelling angels who followed him became known as demons.

When Satan and the demons attempted to seize the throne of God, they were cast back down to the earth (Luke 10:18). That war left the earth in ruin and parts of the heavens in shambles. Everything that Lucifer and his angels had established on earth before the rebellion was destroyed, and the earth was covered with a flood (Gen. 1:2). Then God, the one Who became Jesus Christ, recreated the surface of the earth and filled it with life.

On the sixth day of creation, God made man in His own image and likeness, male and female (Gen. 1:26-27). God gave Adam and Eve free moral agency. He set before them the way of eternal life, as symbolized by the Tree of Life. He also set before them the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, which represented the way that seemed right to them, under the sway of Satan the devil. But God commanded them not to eat of the fruit of that tree, and warned them that if they ate of it they would surely die.

Under the influence of Satan the devil, Adam and Eve chose to disobey God by eating the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Through their disobedience sin and death passed to all mankind (Rom. 5:12). As a result, nearly all of humanity has followed the dictates of human nature under Satan’s sway, cut off from God. Although God has set limits on Satan, God has not yet removed Satan and his evil influence. In His own time, God will ultimately bring mankind out from subjection to sin and Satan. Through His plan of redemption, initiated by His Son’s perfect sacrifice, God has made it possible for all mankind to be delivered from sin and the penalty of death.

God as Lawgiver and Creator has decreed that the wages of sin for all human beings is death (Rom. 6:23). Sin is the transgression of God’s holy, spiritual laws and commandments (I John 3:4). All have sinned and have come short of the glory of God, so all face death unless they accept the way of salvation that God has provided (Rom. 3:23). The death that is decreed for sin is the second death in the lake of fire. From that death there is no resurrection (Rev. 20:13-15; 21:8).

After Adam and Eve sinned, God pronounced His judgment upon them. Within His sentence, we find the first prophecy of the death of the Messiah: “And I will put enmity between you [the serpent—Satan the devil] and the woman [a type of Israel, and later, the Church of God], and between your seed [the followers of Satan] and her Seed [Jesus Christ, the coming Messiah]; He will bruise your head [Satan], and you [Satan], shall bruise His heel [the crucifixion of Christ]” (Gen. 3:15).

This prophecy was spoken by God Himself, the one Who was to become Jesus Christ. As the Lord God of the Old Testament, He prophesied His own death to atone for the sins of Adam and Eve and all their descendants to come. This prophecy was spoken more than 4,000 years before His beating, scourging and crucifixion on the Passover day, Nisan 14, April 5, 30 AD.

The Promised Seed of the Covenant With Abraham

The promise of a Seed who would conquer sin and banish Satan was confirmed by the covenant that God made with Abraham. The words of the covenant were a prophecy of His own future birth as the fleshly Seed of Abraham. Let us examine the account in the book of Genesis: “And behold, the Word of the LORD came to him [Abraham], saying, ‘This man [his steward Eliezer] shall not be your heir; but he that shall come forth out of your own loins shall be your heir’ ” (Gen. 15:4).

The birth of Isaac, the son of Abraham and Sarah, was only the beginning of the fulfillment of this promise to Abraham. The promise was not only for Isaac but also for his future descendant, the coming Messiah. The birth of Jesus Christ was the ultimate fulfillment of the promise, the Seed to Whom the promises were given: “Now to Abraham and to his Seed were the promises spoken. He does not say, ‘and to your seeds,’ as of many; but as of one, ‘and to your Seed,’ which is Christ” (Gal. 3:16). Jesus Christ is the promised Seed and true Heir of the promises God made to Abraham.

The account in Genesis 15 reveals that evening had come when God began to give the promises to Abraham. On that night, God took Abraham outside and showed him the stars of heaven. Then He gave Abraham another promise: “And He brought him outside and said, ‘Look now toward the heavens and number the stars—if you are able to count them.’ And He said to him, ‘So shall your seed be’ ” (Gen. 15:5). The New Testament shows that these words of God do not refer to Abraham’s physical descendants but to those who would become the children of Abraham through faith in Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul wrote: “Because of this, you should understand that those who are of faith are the true sons of Abraham” (Gal. 3:7).

The true children of Abraham are not counted by their physical lineage. They are a spiritual nation, composed of individuals of every race and every bloodline who follow in the faith of Abraham (verses 8, 14). At the return of Jesus Christ, they will be resurrected to eternal life as glorified spirit beings and will shine as the stars forever (Dan. 12:3, Matt. 13:43, I Cor. 15:40-44).

Next, God promised to give to Abraham and his physical seed the land of the Canaanites: “And He said unto him, ‘I am the LORD that brought you out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give you this land to inherit it’ ” (Gen. 15:7). This promise was for his physical descendants, the children of Israel. Many generations would pass before the promised Seed, Jesus Christ, would come to prepare a spiritual people for a spiritual kingdom—the sons of God in the Kingdom of God. Abraham received the promises with complete faith that God would fulfill them: “And he believed in the LORD. And He accounted it to him for righteousness” (verse 6).

The Covenant Confirmed by a Maledictory Oath

When God established His covenant with Abraham, He confirmed it with a maledictory oath, which was a pledge and prophecy of His own future death. On the morning after giving Abraham the promises, God spoke to him and instructed him to prepare a special sacrifice to seal the covenant: “And He said to him, ‘Take Me a heifer of three years old, and a she-goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.’ And he took all these to himself, and divided them in the middle, and laid each piece opposite the other; but he did not divide the birds. And when the birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, Abram drove them away” (verses 9-11). The bloody carcasses of the sacrificial animals were laid on the ground to represent the symbolic death of the one Who would confirm the covenant. By passing between the parts, He would pledge His own life to fulfill the covenant.

By the time that Abraham had finished preparing the covenant sacrifice, it was late in the day: “And it came to pass, as the sun was going down, that a deep sleep fell upon Abram. And, behold, a horror of great darkness fell upon him” (verse 12). While Abraham lay sleeping, God appeared to him in a vision and promised that his physical descendants would inherit the land. However, this would not happen until they had lived in another land for four generations: “And He said to Abram, ‘You must surely know that your seed shall be sojourners in a land that is not theirs, (and shall serve them and afflict them) four hundred years. And also I will judge that nation whom they shall serve. And afterward they shall come out with great substance. And you shall go to your fathers in peace. You shall be buried in a good old age. But in the fourth generation they shall come here again, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full’ ” (verses 13-16).

After prophesying these events, God bound Himself to fulfill them by passing between the sacrificial animals to seal the covenant: “And it came to pass—when the sun went down [beginning the next day], and it was dark—behold, a smoking furnace and a burning lamp passed between those pieces. In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram…” (verses 17-18).

After the sun had gone down, God passed through the middle of the sacrificial animals, revealing His presence by the smoking furnace and flaming torch. When God passed between the parts, He walked a death walk, pledging His future death. Apparently, the smoking furnace wholly consumed the sacrificial animals. That is how God ratified His unilateral covenant with Abraham.

The full account in Genesis 15 reveals that the making of the covenant took place during two consecutive days. When God first spoke to Abraham, it was night because the stars could be seen (verse 5). In the morning, God gave Abraham instructions for preparing the covenant sacrifice. Abraham prepared the sacrifice that same day. We know that he completed the preparations while the sun was still high because the birds of prey were flying about and attempting to land on the sacrifice (verse 11). The next verse records the end of the day: “it came to pass, as the sun was going down, that a deep sleep fell upon Abram ” (verse 12). After the sun had gone down, God appeared to Abraham and ratified the covenant (verse 18).

There is great significance in the fact that the covenant was established over a two-day period, with the promises being given on the first night and the covenant being ratified on the second night. The timing of these events has an exact parallel in the chronology of the Passover and the Exodus, which were the first acts in the fulfillment of God’s promises for the physical seed—the descendants of Abraham through Isaac and Jacob.

Israel’s First Passover and the Exodus from Egypt

Exodus 12 records that the children of Israel kept the Passover on the 14th day of the first month, or Abib (this month was later known as Nisan). The Passover lamb, a type of the coming Messiah, was killed immediately after sunset at the beginning of the 14th. The people took some of the blood and put it on the side posts and lintel of the doors of their houses so that God would pass over their houses and spare their firstborn. Then they roasted the lamb with fire and ate it with bitter herbs.

At midnight on the 14th, God executed His final judgment on the Egyptians and their gods by killing all the firstborn of men and beasts. When God saw the blood of the Passover lambs on the houses of the children of Israel, He passed over them, sparing their firstborn.

At sunrise, as the day portion of Nisan 14 began, the children of Israel left their houses to assemble at Rameses for the Exodus. As they journeyed to Rameses, they completely spoiled the Egyptians, fulfilling God’s promise to Abraham that his descendants would depart from the land of their servitude with great substance. God commanded the children of Israel to observe this day, the 14th day of the first month, as the feast of the Passover for all generations to come, in commemoration of His final judgment against the Egyptians and their gods and His sparing of the firstborn of Israel (Ex. 12:3-14, 21-28, Lev. 23:5).

After the children of Israel had assembled in Rameses, the Exodus from Egypt began. The people departed from Rameses as the 14th day was ending at sunset and the 15th day was beginning. The timing of this event fulfilled another promise that God had made to Abraham: “Now the sojourning of the children of Israel in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years, and it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, it was EVEN ON THAT VERY SAME DAY, all the armies of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt. It is a night to be much observed to the LORD for bringing them out from the land of Egypt...” (Ex. 12:40- 42).

The phrase “the selfsame day” (KJV) refers to a specific day exactly four hundred and thirty years before the Exodus. What day was this? The Scriptures reveal that it was the “selfsame day” that God established His covenant with Abraham. On that day, God promised that He would bring his descendants out of bondage with great substance. On that “selfsame day,” the 15th day of the first month, God fulfilled His promise. Therefore, God established the 15th day of the first month as a holy day to commemorate the beginning of the Exodus (Ex. 12:37-42; 13:3-10; Lev. 23:6-8).

The Foundation of the Christian Passover in the Covenant with Abraham

Four hundred and thirty years after establishing His covenant with Abraham, God brought the children of Israel out of Egypt. After bringing them out, He established a covenant with them now called the Old Covenant. In his epistle to the Galatians, the apostle Paul confirms that the Old Covenant was established four hundred and thirty years after God’s covenant with Abraham: “Now this I say, that the covenant ratified beforehand by God to Christ [Abraham’s true Heir] cannot be annulled by the law [the physical requirements of the Old Covenant], which was given four hundred and thirty years later, so as to make the promise of no effect” (Gal. 3:17).

The Old Covenant with the children of Israel did not fulfill God’s promise to Abraham of a spiritual seed that would shine as the stars forever. This promise did not begin to be fulfilled until the coming of the New Covenant, the covenant of everlasting life, which was established nearly 2,000 years later. As God manifested in the flesh, Jesus Christ, the promised Seed of Abraham, instituted the New Covenant on the Passover night, the 14th day of the first month, named Nisan. The Passover that initiated the New Covenant was not a supper of lamb and bitter herbs, as was the Passover of the children of Israel under the Old Covenant. When Jesus instituted the new Christian Passover, He changed the symbols of the Passover to represent His own body and blood, which He sacrificed as the true Passover Lamb of God to ratify the New Covenant. Although He changed the symbols, He did not change the day, or the time of day, on which the Passover was to be observed.

The Christian Passover, as instituted by Jesus Christ, is to be observed on the night of Nisan 14. The new ceremony consists of three parts: 1) footwashing (John 13:2-17); 2) partaking of the broken unleavened bread, symbolizing Jesus’ broken body (Matt. 26:26, Mark 14:22, Luke 22:19, I Cor. 11:23-24); and 3) partaking of the wine, symbolizing the blood of Jesus shed for the remission of sins so that all who accept His sacrifice may enter the New Covenant (Matt. 26:27-29, Mark 14:23-25, Luke 22:17-20, I Cor. 11:25-26).

Why Did God Have to Die?

As we have learned, God ratified His promises to Abraham with a maledictory oath. By passing between the parts of the covenant sacrifice, He pledged that He would give His own life to fulfill the promises. The bloody slaughter of these sacrificial animals symbolized the brutal suffering and crucifixion of Jesus Christ, which occurred in 30 AD on the Passover day—Nisan 14. The deep sleep and horror of great darkness that Abraham experienced was symbolic of Jesus Christ’s burial in the tomb as Nisan 14 was ending at sunset. Thus, 2,000 years later, on the very same day that God ratified His covenant with Abraham, His lifeless body was in the tomb. He had carried out His pledge that He would die in order to fulfill the promises.

Before we can comprehend the death of God manifested in the flesh, we need to understand a fundamental truth about God. The Scriptures reveal that the Godhead is composed of more than one divine Being. In the first chapter of Genesis, the Hebrew name Elohim is used to describe God. In the Hebrew language, the suffix im added to a word makes it plural. Thus Elohim is a plural noun, meaning that there is more than one Being in the Godhead. When God created Adam and Eve, God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness…” (Gen. 1:26).

John begins his Gospel by revealing this fundamental truth: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and not even one thing that was created came into being without Him. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men….He was in the world, and the world came into being through Him, but the world did not know Him….And the Word became flesh, and tabernacled [temporarily dwelt] among us (and we ourselves beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten with the Father), full of grace and truth” (John 1:1-4, 10, 14).

Jesus Himself testified that He was with the Father in glory before the world existed. In His final prayer to God the Father before He was arrested, tried and crucified, He said, “I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work that You gave Me to do. And now, Father, glorify Me with Your own self, with the glory that I had with You before the world existed” (John 17:4-5).

The Scriptures of the Old Testament and the New Testament consistently reveal that from the beginning there were two Beings Who existed together as God, or Elohim. The one of Elohim Who created all things was the one Who became Jesus Christ, the Messiah and the Savior of the world. The other one of Elohim became the Father. We find a prophecy of this in the book of Psalms: “I [the one of Elohim Who became the Son, Jesus Christ] will declare the decree of the LORD. He [the one of Elohim Who became the Father] has said to Me, ‘You are My Son; this day I have begotten You [the day He was begotten in the womb of the virgin Mary]” (Psa. 2:7).

The one of Elohim Who became Jesus Christ, the Son of God and Savior of the world, had to divest himself of His power and glory as God. He had to become a pinpoint of life in order to be begotten by the Father in the womb of the virgin Mary. The apostle Paul reveals how this was accomplished: “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus; Who, although He existed [Greek huparchoon, to exist or pre-exist] in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but emptied Himself [of His power and glory], and was made in the likeness [Greek homoioma, the same existence] of men, and took the form of a servant [Greek doulos, a slave]; and being found in the manner of man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” (Phil. 2:5-8).

These inspired words of Paul confirm that before Jesus Christ became human He was, in fact, Jehovah Elohim, the Lord God of the Old Testament. Existing as God, He was composed of ever-living Spirit. In this existence, it was impossible for Him to die. The only way for God to die was to become fully human—to be “manifested in the flesh.” The God Who had created man in His image and likeness took on the same flesh and nature as man in order to redeem man from sin.

Jesus Christ voluntarily became a man in order to give His life as an offering for the sin of the world. The Father gave Him authority to lay down His life and to receive it back, as Jesus Himself testified: “Just as the Father knows Me, I also know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring those also, and they shall hear My voice; and there shall be one flock and one Shepherd. On account of this, the Father loves Me: because I lay down My life, that I may receive it back again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have authority to lay it down and authority to receive it back again. This commandment I received from My Father” (John 10:15 -18).

Jesus Christ came to do the will of the Father and to give His life as the sacrifice for sin. In his epistle to the Hebrews, Paul quotes the words of the prophecy of Psalm 40:6-8: “For this reason, when He comes into the world, He says, ‘Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but You have prepared a body for Me [Christ’s human body of flesh]. You did not delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin. Then said I, “Lo, I come (as it is written of Me in the scroll of the book) to do Your will, O God” ’ ” (Heb. 10:5-7).

It was the purpose of the two Beings Who were Elohim that one of Them would be made fully human in order to die, so that through His sacrifice, all mankind might be granted grace unto salvation. Paul makes this absolutely clear: “But we see Jesus, Who was made a little lower than the angels, crowned with glory and honor on account of suffering the death, in order that by the grace of God He Himself might taste [partake of] death for everyone; because it was fitting for Him, for Whom all things were created, and by Whom all things exist, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the Author of their salvation perfect through sufferings” (Heb. 2:9-10).

The Scriptures reveal that Jesus Christ was a mortal human being. He was not an angelic being that appeared to be a man. Paul states very clearly that He shared the same flesh and blood as all human beings: “Therefore, since the children are partakers of flesh and blood, in like manner He also took part in the same, in order that through death He might annul him who has the power of death—that is, the devil; and that He might deliver those who were subject to bondage all through their lives by their fear of death.

“For surely, He is not taking upon Himself to help the angels; but He is taking upon Himself to help the seed of Abraham. For this reason, it was obligatory for Him to be made like His brethren in everything [sharing the same flesh and nature], that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, in order to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For because He Himself has suffered, having been tempted in like manner, He is able to help those who are being tempted” (Heb. 2:14-18).

What a magnificent expression of God’s love! The Creator of all mankind temporarily gave up His eternal existence as God and lowered Himself to the level of mortal man so that He could suffer and die for every human being! By the grace and love of God, through the power of the Holy Spirit, He willingly took upon Himself the death penalty that He had pronounced upon Adam and Eve and their descendants.

Jesus Christ voluntarily chose to lay down His life to reconcile mankind to God so that all who accept His sacrifice may have the opportunity to receive salvation and eternal life. Jesus endured all His suffering in the flesh so that He might become the Author of eternal salvation, “Who, in the days of His flesh, offered up both prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears to Him Who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because He feared God. Although He was a Son, yet He learned obedience from the things that He suffered; and having been perfected, He became the Author of eternal salvation to all those who obey Him” (Heb. 5:7-9).

It took the death of the Creator God, manifested in the flesh, to become the perfect sacrifice for the forgiveness of human sin. No other sacrifice could bring forgiveness of sin to mankind. All the animal sacrifices and the shedding of their blood could never bring full forgiveness for human sin before God. The apostle Paul makes this truth very clear: “For the law, having only a shadow of the good things that are coming and not the image of those things, with the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year, is never able to make perfect those who come to worship. Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered? For once those who worship had been purified, they would no longer be conscious of sin. On the contrary, in offering these sacrifices year by year, there is a remembrance of sins; because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins” (Heb. 10:1-4).

Man Cannot Save Himself: No other fleshly human being could have sacrificed his life to redeem mankind. If it were possible for a man to live perfectly in the letter of the law and never sin, his perfect human life, if sacrificed for sin, would not be sufficient to redeem even one human life. Redemption from sin and death requires greater obedience than the letter of the law. This is the whole lesson of Job’s trials and suffering. Although he was perfect in the letter of the law, His own righteousness could not save him: “And the LORD answered Job and said, ‘Shall he who contends with the Almighty instruct Him? He who reproves God, let him answer it.’

“And Job answered the LORD and said, ‘Behold, I am vile [all human beings have a sinful nature, regardless of perfect behavior in the letter of the law]! What shall I answer You? I will lay my hand on my mouth. Once I have spoken; but I will not answer; yea, twice, but I will proceed no further.’ And the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said, ‘Gird up your loins now like a man. I will demand you, and you declare unto Me. Will you even annul My judgment? Will you condemn Me so that you may be righteous?

“ ‘And have you an arm like God? Or can you thunder with a voice like His? Deck yourself now with majesty and excellency, and array yourself with glory and beauty. Cast abroad the rage of your wrath; and behold everyone who is proud, and abase him. Look on everyone who is proud, and bring him low; and tread down the wicked in their place. Hide them in the dust together; and bind their faces in darkness. Then I will also confess to you that your own right hand can save you” (Job 40:1-14). As God told Job, it is impossible for any man to save himself—much less all of humanity.

Angels Cannot Save Mankind: God created angels to be ministering spirits. Angels are in a completely different category than human beings or God. While God created them out of spirit, they do not have the potential to enter into the God Family, as do human beings who will be transformed to spirit at the resurrection. Neither are they like the one of Elohim Who became the Son, as Paul wrote: “God, Who spoke to the fathers at different times in the past and in many ways by the prophets, has spoken to us in these last days by His Son, Whom He has appointed heir of all things, by Whom also He made the ages; Who, being the brightness of His glory and the exact image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His own power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high; having been made so much greater than any of the angels, inasmuch as He has inherited a name exceedingly superior to them.

“For to which of the angels did He ever say, ‘You are My Son; this day have I begotten You’? And again, ‘I will be a Father to Him, and He will be a Son to Me’? And again, when He brought the Firstborn into the world, He said, ‘Let all the angels of God worship Him.’ Now on one hand, of the angels He says, ‘Who makes His angels spirits, and His ministers a flame of fire’….But unto which of the angels did He ever say, ‘Sit at My right hand, until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet’? Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister to those who are about to inherit salvation?” (Heb. 1:1-7, 13-14) It was not possible for the sacrifice of angels to pay for the sins of all mankind.

Only God Can Save Man: The only Being whose life could purchase redemption from sin for all humanity is the Creator God. If the one Who had created man died, complete and total payment for human sin could be made, and reconciliation with God would be possible for all humanity. God’s mercy could then be extended to all who repent and accept the death of Jesus Christ, God manifested in the flesh, as payment for their sins. This is why God had to die!

The one of Elohim Who created the heavens and the earth became Jesus Christ— God manifested in the flesh. He was divinely begotten by God the Father and born of the virgin Mary, His physical mother. He was the same as any ordinary human being, except that He had the Holy Spirit from conception. Only the death of God could reconcile man and God. Thus Jesus had to be God in the flesh—human as well as divine.

While He lived in the flesh, Jesus Christ was subject to every type of temptation that a human being can experience, but He never yielded to a single temptation of the flesh or of Satan. Jesus Christ never sinned. His obedience was perfect in the full spirit of the law. By living a sinless life, He was qualified to become not only the Savior and Redeemer of mankind but also the High Priest and Mediator between God and man: “Having therefore a great High Priest, Who has passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, we should hold fast the confession of our faith. For we do not have a high priest who cannot empathize with our weaknesses, but One Who was tempted in all things according to the likeness of our own temptations, yet He was without sin. Therefore, we should come with boldness to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb. 4:14 -16).

Jesus’ life in the flesh was able to purchase redemption from sin for all humanity because:

1) He was the Creator of all human beings.

2) He was divinely begotten by God the Father.

3) He was God manifested in the flesh.

4) He was the only human to live His entire life according to the will of God.

5) He was the only human never to sin.

6) He was the only human never to yield to a single temptation of the flesh or of Satan the devil.

7) He was the only human not to come under the death penalty for sin.

Only the precious blood of the Lamb of God could atone for all human sin. The death of God in the flesh was complete and perfect as a sacrifice and an atonement because His life in the flesh encompassed the full scope of human experience. On the human level, He suffered every type of temptation possible. He suffered the vilest of human indignities and excruciating tortures, enduring a violent beating, scourging, and crucifixion, and the shame of public death. He suffered rejection by His own people and injustice at the hands of religious and civil authorities. He was the victim of political expediency and religious hypocrisy. He overcame all, gaining total victory over Satan the devil and the pulls of the flesh through His perfect love and obedience to God the Father. The sacrifice of His perfect life opened the way for all mankind to receive salvation through faith in Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in Him may not perish, but may have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world that He might judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him” (John 3:16-17).

God the Father accepted the death of Jesus Christ once for all time as full payment for human sin. But before the sacrifice of Jesus Christ can be applied to an individual, he or she must first repent of sin, accept Jesus Christ as personal Savior and be baptized by full immersion in water. At baptism, he or she is conjoined into Christ’s death by symbolic burial in a watery grave. Each one who is raised out of that baptismal burial is to walk in newness of life, learning to love God the Father and Jesus Christ with all the heart and to keep Their commandments in the full spirit of the law. This is the way of life that Jesus established for those who enter the New Covenant through faith in His sacrifice for sin.

All who enter the New Covenant are commanded to observe the Passover year by year as a renewal of the covenant of everlasting life. By partaking of the Passover as Jesus taught, they acknowledge that they have accepted the body and blood of Jesus Christ as full payment for their sins and have dedicated their lives to live by Him (John 6:57). When they partake of the broken unleavened bread, they acknowledge that they are healed of their diseases by the broken body of Jesus Christ: “…by Whose stripes you were healed” (I Pet. 2:24). When they partake of the wine, they acknowledge that they trust in His shed blood “for the remission of sins” (Matt. 26:28).

All true Christians have been bought with a great price. They belong to Jesus Christ, Who paid with His own blood to release them from the power of Satan and the bondage of sin, and to reconcile them to God the Father. “Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us” (I Cor. 5:7). This is the meaning of the DAY JESUS THE CHRIST DIED FOR THE SINS OF THE WHOLE WORLD!

THE AGONY OF THE CRUCIFIXION

At His last Passover meal with the apostles, Jesus said, “Behold, even now the hand of him who is betraying Me is with Me at the table” (Luke 22:21). Although Jesus knew that Judas would betray Him, He washed Judas’ feet along with the other apostles’ (John 13:2-5, 11). Then Judas left. As Jesus administered the symbols of His body and His blood to the eleven apostles who were with Him, He knew that the time of His betrayal was near. When He departed with the apostles to the Mount of Olives, walking into the darkness of that dread night, Jesus began to feel the melancholy oppressiveness of the sins of the whole world weighing on Him, and His mind was filled with thoughts of the suffering and agony that lay ahead. Though His apostles were with Him, an overwhelming feeling of isolation penetrated every cell of His being. He could not share His sorrow with them because they did not understand what the rest of that Passover night and day would bring. He had spoken to them in the days leading up to the Passover, forewarning them of His betrayal and death, but they did not grasp the meaning of His words. They did not know that His life was about to end with a gruesome death on the cross as the TRUE PASSOVER SACRIFICE OF GOD—THE SIN OFFERING FOR THE WORLD.

The time had come! His rendezvous with destiny drew closer and closer to its ultimate climax! The Lord God of the Old Testament, Who had come to earth in the flesh, was about to die the agonizing death that He and the prophets had foretold. This was the reason He had come into the world. He had come in the flesh in order to die—to give His body to be beaten, scourged and crucified, and to offer His blood for the sins of mankind. But no human being desires to die a slow death in great pain and agony. As Jesus anticipated His suffering, His flesh cried out to be spared. Only the love of God, which had sustained Him and brought Him to this day, could give Him the strength to endure the suffering that was appointed to Him.

He had manifested the love of God during His days in the flesh, setting a perfect example for His disciples. Now the love of God would be manifested by His death. As they were walking to the Mount of Olives, He charged His apostles, “LOVE ONE ANOTHER, AS I HAVE LOVED YOU.” He spoke from the depths of His innermost being, desiring to indelibly etch His words into their minds: “If you keep My commandments, you shall live in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and live in His love.

“These things I have spoken to you, in order that My joy may dwell in you, and that your joy may be full. This is My commandment: that you love one another, as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this: that one lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:10-13).

Jesus was about to manifest the greatest love of all by laying down His life for them, as well as for the whole world. But the apostles did not know this yet, nor did they know that some of them would also lose their lives for His name’s sake in the days ahead. Jesus warned the disciples that the world would hate them and persecute them, just as the world had hated and persecuted Him: “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. However, because you are not of the world, but I have personally chosen you out of the world, the world hates you for this. Remember the word that I spoke to you: a servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you also. If they kept My word, they will keep your word also. But they will do all these things to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know Him Who sent Me.

“If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have had sin; but now they have nothing to cover their sin. The one who hates Me hates My Father also. If I had not done among them the works that no other man has done, they would not have had sin; but now they have both seen and hated both Me and My Father. But this has happened so that the saying might be fulfilled which is written in their law, ‘They hated Me without a cause.’ But when the Comforter has come, which I will send to you from the Father, even the Spirit of the truth, which proceeds from the Father, that one shall bear witness of Me. Then you also shall bear witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning. I have spoken these things to you so that you will not be offended” (John 15:18-16:1).

Jesus continued to warn them, telling them that they, too, would be killed for preaching the truth of God: “They shall cast you out of the synagogues; furthermore, the time is coming that everyone who kills you will think that he is rendering service to God. And they shall do these things to you because they do not know the Father, nor Me. But I have told you these things so that when the time comes, you may remember that I said them to you. However, I did not say these things to you at the beginning because I was with you....These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you shall have tribulation. But be courageous! I have overcome the world” (John 16:2-4; 33).

When they arrived at the Mount of Olives, Jesus told His apostles, “My soul is deeply grieved, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me” (Matt. 26:38). Then, taking Peter, James and John, He went into the Garden of Gethsemane. “And when He arrived at the place, He said to them, ‘Pray that you do not enter into temptation.’ And He withdrew from them about a stone’s throw; and falling to His knees, He prayed, saying, ‘Father, if You are willing to take away this cup from Me—; NEVERTHELESS, NOT MY WILL, BUT YOUR WILL BE DONE’ ” (Luke 22:40-42).

Jesus Knew That He Could Not Escape Death

Even as He prayed to the Father, Jesus knew that the prophecies of His suffering and death must be fulfilled. As the Lord God of the Old Testament, He had given the first prophecy of His suffering to Adam and Eve in the presence of Satan, who would instigate His death (Gen. 3:15).

Jesus knew that He was the Lamb of God “slain from the foundation of the world” (Rev. 13:8). He knew from the beginning that He was destined to die on this Passover day—Nisan 14, April 5, 30 AD. As the Lord God of the Old Testament, He had entered into covenant with Abraham by passing between the parts of the sacrificial animals to represent His own death (Gen. 15:5-18). At the beginning of the 14th, during the dark hours of the night, He had delivered the promises of the covenant, foreshadowing the time when, as Jesus Christ, He would deliver the promises of the New Covenant. On the day portion of the 14th, the animals for the covenant sacrifice were slaughtered and their bodies were split asunder, allowing their blood to spill on the ground. During those same hours, the body of Jesus Christ would be beaten and broken open, and His blood would be poured out unto death. In the late afternoon of the 14th, the slaughtered animals lay still on the ground, and Abraham watched and waited. In like manner, Jesus’ body would remain on the cross as the end of the 14th drew near, while his followers watched and waited (Luke 23:49). Although Jesus died at the “ninth hour,” or approximately 3 PM, His body was not placed in the tomb until the 14th was ready to end at sunset.

At the exact time that Jesus would be buried, nearly 2000 years before, Abraham experienced a foretype of His death and burial: “And it came to pass, as the sun was going down, that a deep sleep fell upon Abram. And, behold, a horror of great darkness fell upon him” (Gen. 15:12). Abraham remained in this symbolic burial after the sun had gone down. When the darkness of night had come, the Lord God passed between the parts of the sacrifice: “And it came to pass—when the sun went down and it was dark—behold, a smoking furnace and a burning lamp passed between those pieces” (verse 17).

By this maledictory oath, God Himself confirmed that He would fulfill the covenant through His own death and burial. This event, which took place during “the horror of great darkness,” also had a fulfillment in Jesus Christ. The only sign that Jesus gave of His Messiahship was the length of time that He would be “in the heart of the earth” (Matt. 12:40). As He lay in the darkness of the tomb for three days and three nights, He was confirming that He was the Messiah Who would fulfill the promises of the New Covenant.

Jesus Knew That the Words of the Prophets Would All Be Fulfilled

As the covenant sacrifice had foreshadowed and the prophets had foretold, the suffering and death that were appointed to Jesus would surely come to pass. Every detail would be fulfilled, exactly as recorded in Scripture. When Judas left His presence on that Passover night, Jesus knew that Judas was on his way to the authorities to betray Him, as it was written: “Even a man, my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate of my bread, has lifted up his heel against me ” (Psa. 41:9). Jesus also knew that the elders and the chief priests would pay Judas thirty pieces of silver to betray Him: “And I said to them, ‘If it is good, give me my price; and if not, let it go.’ So they weighed my price—thirty pieces of silver” (Zech. 11:12). Thirty pieces of silver was the price of a dead slave (Ex. 21:32).

Jesus also remembered the prophecy of Isaiah that He would be led as a lamb to the slaughter: “He is despised and rejected of men; a Man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and we hid as it were our faces from Him, He was despised, and we esteemed Him not. Surely He has borne our infirmities, and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

“But He was wounded for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we ourselves are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned each one to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and He was afflicted; yet He opened not His mouth. He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter; and as a sheep before its shearers is dumb, so He opened not His mouth…. He was cut off out of the land of the living; for the transgression of My people He was stricken….Yet the LORD willed to crush Him and He has put Him to grief: You shall make His life an offering for sin….He shall see of the travail of His soul. He shall be fully satisfied. By His knowledge shall My righteous Servant justify many; and He shall bear their iniquities….because He has poured out His soul to death; and He was counted among the transgressors; and He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for transgressors” (Isa. 53:3-12).

Jesus was fully aware that He would be mocked, beaten and spit upon, and would suffer a terrible scourging. The whip that would inflict His scourging would have tips of nails and glass and would literally rip the flesh off His body. After forty lashes, He would be near death. He knew that this torturous ordeal would leave Him so horribly disfigured that He would be almost unrecognizable. Isaiah prophesied all of these things: “I gave My back to the smiters, and My cheeks to them that plucked off the hair; I did not hide My face from shame and spitting….Many were astonished at Him—for His body was so disfigured—even His form beyond that of the sons of men” (Isa. 50:6; 52:14).

Jesus knew that the prophecy of David in Psalm 22 was about to be fulfilled. He would cry out these very words while He was hanging on the cross: “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me, and why are You so far from helping Me, and from the words of My groaning? O my God, I cry in the daytime, but You do not answer; and in the night season, and am not silent….But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men and despised by the people. All who see Me mock Me; they shoot out the lip; they shake the head, saying, ‘He trusted on the LORD; let Him deliver Him; let Him rescue Him, since He delights in Him’ ” (Psa. 22:1-2, 6-8).

Even during the mocking and jeering of the people, priests and Pharisees, He would trust God the Father, as He had from His earliest days in the flesh: “For You are He who took Me out of the womb, causing Me to trust while on My mother’s breasts. I was cast upon You from birth; You are My God from My mother’s womb. Be not far from Me; for trouble is near, for there is none to help. Many bulls have encircled around Me; strong bulls of Bashan have surrounded Me. They opened wide their mouths at Me, like a ravening and a roaring lion” (verses 9-13).

The next prophecies of David reveal the excruciating agony that He would suffer during His crucifixion as His physical life drained away: “I am poured out like water, and all My bones are out of joint [from the jolt of the cross falling into its hole]; My heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of My bowels [from loss of blood]. My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and My tongue clings to My jaws;

“Dogs [the soldiers] have surrounded Me; a band of evildoers [the priests and Pharisees] have encircled Me; they have pierced My hands and My feet [nailing Him to the cross]; and You have brought Me into the dust of death. I can count all My bones [because the flesh had been ripped open]; they look and gloat over Me [in astonishment because He was so disfigured]. They divide My garments among them and cast lots upon My vesture” (verses 14-18).

In the midst of this agonizing ordeal, Jesus would pray to God the Father for strength to endure: “But You, O LORD, be not far from Me; O My strength, hasten to help Me! Deliver My soul from the sword, My precious life from the power of the dog. Save Me from the lion’s mouth; yea, and from the wild ox’s horns. You have answered Me….For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted [Jesus Christ]; and He has not hidden His face from him, but when he cried to Him, He heard” (verses 19-24). These prophetic words of David show that God the Father would not truly forsake His Son at any time during His suffering and crucifixion but would be with Him as He bore the sins of all mankind.

In Psalm 69, God inspired David to write more of the thoughts that Jesus would have while on the cross. Although He had done no wrong, He would be hated and condemned to die by crucifixion, which was the lot of criminals. His death would bring great disrepute upon His disciples, and He would be rejected by His own physical brothers and sisters: “Those who hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head; those who would cut me off are mighty being wrongfully my enemies….Do not let those who wait on You, O Lord God of hosts, be ashamed because of me; let not the ones who seek You be ashamed because of me, O God of Israel because for Your sake I have borne reproach, shame has covered my face. I have become a stranger to My brothers and an alien to My mother’s children” (Psa. 69:4-8).

Jesus would suffer all the shame and agony of the crucifixion because of His profound love and zeal for God the Father: “For the zeal of Your house has eaten Me up, and the reproaches of those who reproached You have fallen upon Me….Answer me, O LORD, for Your steadfast love is good; turn unto me according to the multitude of Your tender mercies. And hide not Your face from Your servant, for I am in trouble; answer me speedily. Draw near unto my soul and redeem it; deliver me because of my enemies. You have known my reproach, and my shame, and my dishonor [being executed like a criminal]; my enemies are all before You. Reproach has broken my heart, and I am full of heaviness; and I looked for sympathy, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none. They also gave Me gall for My food; and in My thirst they gave Me vinegar to drink” (verses 9, 16- 21).

Jesus knew that He would have to bear this shameful and agonizing ordeal to the end. He knew that His suffering would become so unbearable that He would feel as if the Father had abandoned Him. He knew that a spear would be thrust into the side of His body, as the prophet Zechariah was inspired to write: “…And they shall look upon Me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for Him, as one mourns for his only son, and shall be in bitterness over Him, as the bitterness over the firstborn” (Zech. 12:10).

Knowing that every one of these prophecies must be fulfilled, Jesus was in great anguish as He prayed to the Father. The thought of suffering such a hideous and merciless death was nearly overwhelming. Luke records, “Then an angel from heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him. And being in AGONY [in His mind and spirit, knowing that all eternity hinged on this day], He prayed more earnestly. And His sweat became as great drops of blood falling down to the ground” (Luke 22:43- 44).

Jesus Looked Forward to the Kingdom of God

Throughout His suffering, Jesus would keep His mind on His coming resurrection and the Kingdom of God. He knew that He would be raised from the dead by the power of God the Father and would give praise and glory to Him at the future resurrection of the saints, when His kingdom would be established over all the earth: “From You comes my praise in the great congregation; I will pay my vows before those who fear Him [the resurrected saints]. The meek shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek the LORD shall praise Him; may your heart live forever. All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD [because of Jesus Christ’s sacrifice for sin]; and all the families of the nations shall worship before You [at His return], for the kingdom is the LORD’S and He rules over the nations.

“All the rich of the earth shall eat and worship; all those who go down to the dust shall bow before Him; even he who cannot keep his own soul alive. A seed shall serve Him; it shall be told of the LORD to the coming generation. They shall come and shall declare His righteousness unto a people that shall yet be born, that He has done this [through the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ]” (Psa. 22:25-31).

In the final words of His prayer, Jesus asked God the Father to restore Him to the glory that He had with the Father before the world existed. He also prayed for His disciples and for those who would become His disciples through the preaching of the gospel, that they all might be one with Him and the Father: “Jesus spoke these words, and lifted up His eyes to heaven and said, ‘Father, the hour has come; glorify Your own Son, so that Your Son may also glorify You; since You have given Him authority over all flesh, in order that He may give eternal life to all whom You have given Him. For this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, Whom You did send. I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work that You gave Me to do.

“And now, Father, glorify Me with Your own self, with the glory that I had with You before the world existed. I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, and You have given them to Me, and they have kept Your Word. Now they have known that all things that You have given Me are from You. For I have given them the words that You gave to Me; and they have received them and truly have known that I came from You; and they have believed that You did send Me.

“I am praying for them; I am not praying for the world, but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. All Mine are Yours, and all Yours are Mine; and I have been glorified in them. And I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I am coming to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, those whom You have given Me, so that they may be one, even as We are one. When I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. I protected those whom You have given Me, and not one of them has perished except the son of perdition, in order that the Scriptures might be fulfilled.

“But now I am coming to You; and these things I am speaking while yet in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in them. I have given them Your words, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that You would take them out of the world, but that You would keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in Your truth; Your Word is the truth.

“Even as You did send Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, so that they also may be sanctified in Your truth. I do not pray for these only, but also for those who shall believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, even as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, in order that the world may believe that You did send Me.

“And I have given them the glory that You gave to Me, in order that they may be one, in the same way that We are one: I in them, and You in Me, that they may be perfected into one; and that the world may know that You did send Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me. Father, I desire that those whom You have given Me may also be with Me where I am, so that they may behold My glory, which You have given Me; because You did love Me before the foundation of the world. Righteous Father, the world has not known You; but I have known You, and these have known that You did send Me. And I have made known Your name to them, and will make it known [through His death and resurrection]; so that the love with which You have loved Me may be in them, and I in them” (John 17:1-26).

When Jesus finished this prayer, He arose and returned to His disciples. “After saying these things, Jesus went out with His disciples to a place beyond the winter stream of Kidron, where there was a garden into which He and His disciples entered. And Judas, who was betraying Him, also knew of the place because Jesus had often gathered there with His disciples” (John 18:1-2).

The time had come for Jesus to be betrayed into the hands of sinners, and to give His life for their sins and for the sins of the world. It was the death of God manifested in the flesh—THE CREATOR GOD! His death and only His death could pay for the sins of all mankind. Because of God’s profound love for mankind, He personally and willingly took upon Himself the penalty for sin, which is death. Though He was made in the likeness of sinful flesh (Rom. 8:2-3), He never sinned. Thus He could offer Himself as the perfect sacrifice for sin.

He would experience a cruel death not only at the hands of wicked and treacherous men, but at the hands of Satan the devil, the author of sin and the enemy of God and man! Could God manifested in the flesh conquer sin and overcome Satan by enduring the suffering and shame of the cross?

In fact, there was no question about whether He would be able to endure the pain and agony of the beating, scourging and crucifixion. Why? What was Jesus’ mindset? In the book of Hebrews, the apostle Paul wrote of Jesus’ attitude: “… Who for the joy that lay ahead of Him endured the cross, although He despised the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb. 12:2).

The very fact that Jesus was to die in this manner was the ultimate purpose of His coming in the flesh. He was to taste death for every person because He alone was the Savior of mankind: “But we see Jesus, Who was made a little lower than the angels, crowned with glory and honor on account of suffering the death, in order that by the grace of God He Himself might taste death for everyone; because it was fitting for Him, for Whom all things were created, and by Whom all things exist, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the Author of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For both He Who is sanctifying and those who are sanctified are all of one; for which cause He is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, ‘I will declare Your name to My brethren; in the midst of the church I will sing praise to You.’ And again, ‘I will be trusting in Him.’ And again, ‘Behold, I and the children whom God has given Me’ ” (Heb. 2:9-13).

This is what Jesus must have been thinking as He finished His prayer. Now the moment had arrived! The time of His betrayal was at hand. Judas was coming. Jesus was ready.

The Ordeal Begins

His fervent prayers in the Garden of Gethsemane had brought Jesus strength from the Father (Luke 22:43). Determined to do His Father’s will, Jesus said to His apostles, “Behold, the hour has drawn near, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Arise! Let us be going. Look, the one who is betraying Me is approaching” (Matt. 26:45-46).

Then Jesus stepped forward to meet Judas, who was now possessed of Satan. The prophecy of His arrest was being fulfilled: “And immediately, while He was speaking, Judas, being one of the twelve, came up with a great multitude with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders. Now the one who was betraying Him had given them a sign, saying, ‘Whomever I shall kiss, He is the One. Arrest Him and take Him securely away.’ And as soon as he came up to Him, he said, ‘Master, Master,’ and kissed Him earnestly . Then they laid their hands on Him and arrested Him” (Mark 14:43-46).

Jesus was arrested like a common criminal, exactly as the Scriptures had prophesied: “At that point Jesus said to the crowd, ‘Have you come out to take Me with swords and clubs, as against a robber? I sat day after day with you, teaching in the temple, and you did not arrest Me. But all this has happened so that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled.’ Then all the disciples forsook Him and fled [fulfilling the prophecy in Zechariah 13:7]” (Matt. 26:55-56).

As the chain of agonizing events unfolded—the false accusations and unjust trials, the cruel beatings, the humiliating mocking and spitting, the brutal scourging and a slow death by crucifixion—Jesus Christ remained steadfast in His love and loyalty to God the Father. But the disciples and women who looked upon Jesus’ mutilated and bloodied body did not understand what they were witnessing. They stood afar off, watching His crucifixion in stunned bewilderment and disbelief that this could be happening to Jesus Christ, Whom they believed to be the Son of God. How could the promised Savior be nailed to the cross in naked shame, dying before their very eyes? They had hoped that He would save them from the Roman oppression and establish the Kingdom of God. Now there would be no salvation, not at that time or ever, so they thought, as they witnessed Jesus drawing His last breath on the cross. They did not realize until after the resurrection that the outpouring of Jesus’ blood was the beginning of the salvation of the world.

The Son of God had died to atone for the sins of the world! As the God Who had created man, His death paid the penalty for the sins of every human being, opening the way for all mankind to receive the gift of eternal life. This was the beginning of the New Covenant, sealed with the body and the blood of Jesus Christ, which would bring salvation to all the world.

TWENTY-EIGHT PROPHECIES FULFILLED ON THE CRUCIFIXION DAY

On that Passover day, the day of the crucifixion, all the words of the prophets concerning the suffering of the Christ, or the Anointed One, were fulfilled. Their fulfillment in every detail stands today as a lasting testimony to the Messiahship of Jesus Christ.

The first prophecy, the oldest of all, had been given by the Lord Himself at the time of Adam and Eve’s first sin:

1) The serpent would bruise the seed of the woman.

Prophesied: “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He will bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel” (Gen. 3:15).

Fulfilled: “ ‘Now is the judgment of this world. Now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And if I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all to Myself.’ But He said this to signify by what death He was about to die” (John 12:31-33).

2) The Messiah would be cut off, but not for Himself, as prophesied by Daniel.

Prophesied: “And after sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off but not for Himself...” (Dan. 9:26).

Fulfilled: “ ‘Nor consider that it is better for us that one man die for the people, than that the whole nation should perish.’ Now he did not say this of himself, but being high priest that year, prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation; and not for the nation only, but also that He might gather together into one the children of God who were scattered abroad” (John 11:50-52).

3) The betrayal of Jesus by Judas was foretold by David.

Prophesied: “Even a man, my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate of my bread, has lifted up his heel against me” (Psa. 41:9).

Fulfilled: “Then Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went to the chief priests in order that he might deliver Him up to them. And after hearing this, they were delighted and promised to give him money. And he sought how he might conveniently betray Him” (Mark 14:10-11).

4) Jesus Christ would be forsaken by His disciples, as prophesied by Zechariah.

Prophesied: “Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, and against the Man who is My companion,” says the LORD of hosts. “Strike the Shepherd [Jesus], and the sheep shall be scattered...” (Zech. 13:7).

Fulfilled: “Then they all forsook Him and fled” (Mark 14:50).

5) The price of His betrayal was also foretold by Zechariah.

Prophesied: “And I said to them, ‘If it is good, give me my price; and if not, let it go.’ So they weighed my price—thirty pieces of silver” (Zech. 11:12).

Fulfilled: “And said, ‘What are you willing to give me, and I will deliver Him up to you?’ And they offered him thirty pieces of silver” (Matt. 26:15).

6) Zechariah also foretold what would be done with the betrayal money.

Prophesied: “And the LORD said to me, ‘Throw it to the potter’—the princely price at which I was valued by them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them to the potter in the house of the LORD” (Zech. 11:13).

Fulfilled: “Now when Judas, who had betrayed Him, saw that He was condemned, he changed his mind and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders, saying, ‘I have sinned and have betrayed innocent blood.’ But they said, ‘What is that to us? You see to it yourself.’ And after throwing down the pieces of silver in the temple, he went out and hanged himself. But the chief priests took the pieces of silver and said, ‘It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, since it is the price of blood.’ And after taking counsel, they bought a potter’s field with the pieces of silver, for a burial ground for strangers” (Matt. 27:3-7).

7) Isaiah prophesied that Jesus Christ would be sacrificed as the Passover Lamb of God.

Prophesied: “He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter...” (Isa. 53:7).

Fulfilled: “For Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us” (I Cor. 5:7). “Knowing that you were not redeemed by corruptible things … but by the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot; Who truly was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but was manifested in these last times for your sakes” (I Pet. 1:18-20).

8) Isaiah also prophesied the scourging and mocking that He would suffer.

Prophesied: “I gave My back to the smiters [scourgers], and My cheeks to them that plucked off the hair; I did not hide My face from shame and spitting” (Isa. 50:6).

Fulfilled: “Then he released Barabbas to them; but after scourging Jesus, he delivered Him up so that He might be crucified. Then the governor’s soldiers, after taking Jesus with them into the Praetorium, gathered the entire band against Him; and they stripped Him and put a scarlet cloak around Him. And after platting a crown of thorns, they put it on His head; and a rod in His right hand; and bowing on their knees before Him, they mocked Him, and kept on saying, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’ Then, after spitting on Him, they took the rod and struck Him on the head” (Matt. 27:26-30).

9) Both Isaiah and David prophesied that Jesus’ body would be mutilated.

Prophesied: “Many were astonished at Him—for His body was so disfigured— even His form beyond that of the sons of men” (Isa. 52:14). “I can count all My bones; they look and gloat over Me” (Psa. 22:17).

Fulfilled: “But after scourging Jesus, he delivered Him up so that He might be crucified” (Matt. 27:26). “Then Pilate therefore took Jesus and scourged Him” (John 19:1).

10) David prophesied the shame and dishonor that Jesus would suffer, being condemned as a criminal.

Prophesied: “… the reproaches of those who reproached You have fallen upon Me....You have known my reproach, and my shame, and my dishonor; my enemies are all before You. Reproach has broken my heart, and I am full of heaviness; and I looked for sympathy, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none” (Psa. 69:9, 19-20).

Fulfilled: “At that point Jesus said to the crowd, ‘Have you come out to take Me with swords and clubs, as against a robber?’ ” (Matt. 26:55) “They answered and said, ‘He is deserving of death!’ ” (Matt. 26:66).

11) David also foretold that false witnesses would testify against Christ.

Prophesied: “Cruel witnesses rose up; they asked me of things that I knew nothing about” (Psa. 35:11).

Fulfilled: “And the chief priests and the whole Sandhedrin were trying to find testimony against Jesus, to put Him to death; but they did not find any. For many bore false witness against Him, but their testimonies did not agree. And some rose up and bore false witness against Him, saying...” (Mark 14:55-57).

12) Isaiah prophesied that Jesus would not make an effort to defend Himself at the trial.

Prophesied: “He was oppressed, and He was afflicted; yet He opened not His mouth. He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter; and as a sheep before its shearers is dumb, so He opened not His mouth” (Isa. 53:7).

Fulfilled: “Then Pilate said to Him, ‘Don’t You hear how many things they testify against You?’ And He did not answer even one word to him, so that the governor was greatly amazed” (Matt. 27:13-14).

13) Isaiah also foretold Jesus Christ’s crucifixion as the sin offering for the world.

Prophesied: “Surely He has borne our infirmities, and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we ourselves are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned each one to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all....Yet the LORD willed to crush Him and He has put Him to grief: You shall make His life an offering for sin. He shall see His seed; He shall prolong His days, and that the purpose of the LORD might prosper in His hand. He shall see of the travail of His soul. He shall be fully satisfied. By His knowledge shall My righteous Servant justify many; and He shall bear their iniquities” (Isa. 53:4-6, 10-11).

Fulfilled: “Therefore, he then delivered Him up to them so that He might be crucified. Now they took Jesus and led Him away. And He went out bearing His own cross to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Hebrewis called, Golgotha. There they crucified Him, and with Him two others, one on this side and one on the other side, and Jesus in the middle. And Pilate also wrote a title and put it on the cross; and it was written, ‘Jesus the Nazarean, the King of the Jews’ ” (John 19:16-19).

14) As Isaiah had prophesied, He was numbered among lawbreakers.

Prophesied: “He was counted among the transgressors…” (Isa. 53:12).

Fulfilled: “And two other malefactors were also led away with Him to be put to death. And when they came to the place called Place of a Skull, there they crucified Him and the malefactors, one on the right and one on the left” (Luke 23:32-33).

15) David prophesied that His hands and His feet would be pierced.

Prophesied: “Dogs have surrounded Me; a band of evildoers have encircled Me; they have pierced My hands and My feet” (Psa. 22:16).

Fulfilled: “...When they crucified Him” (Mark 15:25). “Then the other disciples said to him, ‘We have seen the Lord!’ But he said to them, ‘Unless I see the nail marks in His hands, and put my finger into the nail marks, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe at all.’ Now after eight days, His disciples were within, and Thomas with them. Jesus came after the doors were shut, and stood in the midst, and said, ‘Peace be to you.’ Then He said to Thomas, ‘Put forth your finger, and see My hands; and reach out your hand, and put it into My side; and be not unbelieving, but believing’ ” (John 20:25-27).

16) The parting of His garments was also prophesied by David.

Prophesied: “They divide My garments among them and cast lots upon My vesture” (Psa. 22:18).

Fulfilled: “For this reason they said to one another, ‘Let us not tear it, but let us cast lots for it to determine whose it shall be’; that the scripture might be fulfilled, which says, ‘They divided My garments among them, and they cast lots for My vesture.’ The soldiers therefore did these things” (John 19:24).

17) In another psalm, David prophesied that they would give Him vinegar to drink.

Prophesied: “They also gave Me gall for My food; and in My thirst they gave Me vinegar to drink” (Psa. 69:21).

Fulfilled: “They gave Him vinegar mingled with gall to drink; but after tasting it, He would not drink” (Matt. 27:34).

18) David also prophesied that many would be watching Jesus during the crucifixion.

Prophesied: “...they look and gloat over Me” (Psa. 22:17).

Fulfilled: “And they sat down there to keep guard over Him” (Matt. 27:36). “And all the people who had gathered together to this sight, after seeing the things that took place, returned beating their breasts” (Luke 23:48).

19) Among those watching would be Jesus’ family and friends, who would stand at a distance.

Prophesied: “My loved ones and My friends stand apart from My plague [wounds]; and My neighbors stand far off” (Psa. 38:11).

Fulfilled: “But all those who knew Him stood afar off at a distance observing these things, the women also who had accompanied Him from Galilee” (Luke 23:49).

20) Some of His observers would shake their heads at Him.

Prophesied: “And I also became a reproach to them when they looked upon Me; they shook their heads” (Psa. 109:25).

Fulfilled: “Then those who were passing by railed at Him, shaking their heads, and saying, “You Who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save Yourself. If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” (Matt. 27:39-40)

21) Even the words of His reproachers were prophesied by David.

Prophesied: “He trusted on the LORD; let Him deliver Him; let Him rescue Him, since He delights in Him” (Psa. 22:8).

Fulfilled: “ ‘He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now, if He will have Him. For He said, “I am the Son of God.” ’ And the two robbers who were crucified with Him also reproached Him with the same words” (Matt. 27:43-44).

22) Isaiah prophesied that Jesus would make intercession for sinners. This intercession began even during His crucifixion.

Prophesied: “He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for transgressors” (Isa. 53:12).

Fulfilled: “Then Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.’ And they divided His garments, and cast lots” (Luke 23:34).

23) David prophesied the thoughts of Jesus at the height of His suffering.

Prophesied: “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me, and why are You so far from helping Me, and from the words of My groaning?” (Psa. 22:1).

Fulfilled: “And about the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?’ That is, ‘My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?’ ” (Matt. 27:46)

24) Zechariah prophesied that His body would be pierced with a spear.

Prophesied: “And they shall look upon Me whom they have pierced...” (Zech. 12:10).

Fulfilled: “But one of the soldiers had pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water had come out....And again another scripture says, ‘They shall look upon Him Whom they pierced’ ” (John 19:34, 37).

25) David prophesied that Jesus would commit His spirit to God.

Prophesied: “Into Your hand I commit My spirit...” (Psa. 31:5).

Fulfilled: “And after crying out with a loud voice, Jesus said, ‘Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.’ And when He had said these things, He expired” (Luke 23:46).

26) David also prophesied Jesus’ last words.

Prophesied: “… that He has done this” (Psa. 22:31). The Hebrew literally reads, “For it is finished.”

Fulfilled: “And so, when Jesus had received the vinegar, He said, ‘It is finished.’ And bowing His head, He yielded up His spirit” (John 19:30).

27) As no bone of the Passover lamb was to be broken (Ex. 12:46), not a bone of His would be broken.

Prophesied: “He keeps all His bones; not one of them is broken” (Psa. 34:20).

Fulfilled: “Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first one, and the legs of the other who was crucified with Him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs....For these things took place so that the scripture might be fulfilled, ‘Not a bone of Him shall be broken’ ” (John 19:32-33, 36).

28) His burial in the tomb of a rich man was foretold by Isaiah.

Prophesied: “By oppression and judgment He was taken away; and with His generation who did consider that He was cut off out of the land of the living; for the transgression of My people He was stricken. And He made His grave with the wicked [criminals], and with the rich in His death; although He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth ” (Isa. 53:8-9).

Fulfilled: “And when evening was coming on, a rich man of Arimathea came, named Joseph, who was himself a disciple of Jesus. After going to Pilate, he begged to have the body of Jesus. [Jesus would otherwise have been buried among the criminals]. Then Pilate commanded the body to be given over to him. And after taking the body, Joseph wrapped it in clean linen cloth, and placed it in his new tomb, which he had hewn in the rock; and after rolling a great stone to the door of the tomb, he went away” (Matt. 27:57-60).

All these prophecies were fulfilled by the suffering, death and burial of Jesus Christ on the Passover day. In the next chapter, we will learn the significance of the timing of Jesus’ death and of the miraculous events which occurred on that Passover day, Nisan 14, April 5, 30 AD.

318. JESUS INSTITUTES THE NEW COVENANT PASSOVER:
1) FOOTWASHING 2) EATING THE UNLEAVENED BREAD3) DRINKING THE WINE
FIRST PART OF THE NEW COVENANT PASSOVER: THE FOOTWASHING
JOHN 13

2. And during supper (the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, that he should betray Him),

3. Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God,

4. Rose from supper and laid aside His garments; and after taking a towel, He secured it around Himself.

5. Next, He poured water into a washing basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel which He had secured.

6. Then He came to Simon Peter; and he said to Him, “Lord, are You going to wash my feet?”

7. Jesus answered and said to him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but you shall know after these things.”

8. Peter said to Him, “You shall not wash my feet, not ever.” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.”

9. Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head.”

10. Jesus said to him, “The one who has been washed does not need to wash anything other than the feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all.”

11. For He knew the one who was betraying Him; this was the reason He said, “Not all of you are clean.”

12. Therefore, when He had washed their feet, and had taken His garments, and had sat down again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you?

13. You call Me the Teacher and the Lord, and you speak rightly, because I am.

14. Therefore, if I, the Lord and the Teacher, have washed your feet, you also are dutybound to wash one another’s feet;

15. For I have given you an example, to show that you also should do exactly as I have done to you.

16. Truly, truly I tell you, a servant is not greater than his lord, nor a messenger greater than he who sent him.

17. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.

322. CONTENTION AMONG THE DISCIPLES AS TO WHO WOULD BE THE GREATEST
LUKE 22

24. And there was also an argument among them, even this: which of them should be considered the greatest.

25. And He said to them, “The kings of the nations lord over them, and those who exercise authority over them are called benefactors.

26. But it shall not be this way among you; rather, let the one who is greatest among you be as the younger, and the one who is leading as the one who is serving.

27. For who is greater, the one who is sitting at the table, or the one who is serving? Is not the one who sits at the table? But I am among you as One Who is serving.

28. Now you are the ones who have continued with Me in My temptations.

PASSOVER DAY NISAN 14 – TUESDAY NIGHT, APRIL 4 – 30 AD
LUKE 22

29. “And I appoint to you, as My Father has appointed to Me, a kingdom;

30. So that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and may sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”

323. A NEW COMMANDMENT—LOVE EACH OTHER AS JESUS LOVED HIS DISCIPLES
JOHN 13

33. “Little children, I am with you yet a little while. You shall seek Me; but as I told the Jews, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come,’ I am now telling you also.

34. A new commandment I give to you: that you love one another in the same way that I have loved you, that is how you are to love one another.

35. By this shall everyone know that you are My disciples—if you love one another.”

PASSOVER DAY NISAN 14 – TUESDAY NIGHT, APRIL 4 – 30 AD
325. THE BEGINNING OF THE FINAL MESSAGE TO HIS DISCIPLES
JOHN 14

1. “Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in Me.

2. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were otherwise, I would have told you. I am going to prepare a place for you.

3. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; so that where I am, you may be also.

4. And where I am going you know, and the way you know.”

5. Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going; how then can we know the way?”

6. Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me.

7. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also. But from this time forward, you know Him and have seen Him.”

8. Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and that will be sufficient for us.”

9. Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long a time, and you have not known Me, Philip? The one who has seen Me has seen the Father; why then do you say, ‘Show us the Father’?

10. Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I speak to you, I do not speak from My own self; but the Father Himself, Who dwells in Me, does the works.

11. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; but if not, believe Me because of the works themselves.

12. Truly, truly I say to you, the one who believes in Me shall also do the works that I do; and greater works than these shall he do because I am going to the Father.

13. And whatever you shall ask in My name, this will I do that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

14. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.

15. If you love Me, keep the commandments—namely, My commandments.

16. And I will ask the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that it may be with you throughout the age:

17. Even the Spirit of the truth, which the world cannot receive because it perceives it not, nor knows it; but you know it because it dwells with you, and shall be within you.

18. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. (See Appendix C, p. 355)

19. Yet a little while and the world shall see Me no longer; but you shall see Me. Because I live, you shall live also.

20. In that day, you shall know that I am in My Father, and you are in Me, and I am in you.

21. The one who has My commandments and is keeping them, that is the one who loves Me; and the one who loves Me shall be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will manifest Myself to him.”

22. Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, what has happened that You are about to manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?”

23. Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.

24. The one who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word that you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s, Who sent Me.

25. I have spoken these things to you while I am yet present with you.

26. But when the Comforter comes, even the Holy Spirit, which the Father will send in My name, that one shall teach you all things, and shall bring to your remembrance everything that I have told you. (See Appendix C, p. 355)

27. Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give it to you. Let not your heart be troubled, nor let it fear.

PASSOVER DAY NISAN 14 – TUESDAY NIGHT, APRIL 4 – 30 AD
APPROXIMATELY 9 PM
JOHN 14

28. You have heard Me say to you that I am going away, and that I will come to you again. If you loved Me, you would have rejoiced that I said, ‘I am going to the Father’ because My Father is greater than I.

29. And now I have told you before it happens, so that when it comes to pass, you may believe.

30. I will not speak with you much longer because the ruler of this world is coming; but he does not have a single thing in Me.

31. Yet he comes so that the world may know that I love the Father, and that I do exactly as the Father has commanded Me. Arise, let us go out.”

326. SOME FINAL INSTRUCTIONS TO THE DISCIPLES
LUKE 22

35. And He said to them, “When I sent you without purse and provision bag and sandals, did you lack anything?” And they said, “Nothing.”

36. Then He said to them, “Now, however, let the one who has a purse take it, and likewise his provision bag; and let the one who does not have a sword sell his garment and buy one.

37. For I say to you, that which has been written must yet be accomplished in Me: ‘And He was reckoned with the lawless’ ^a; for the things concerning Me have a fulfillment.”

a - Isa. 53:12

327. TAKE TWO SWORDS
LUKE 22

38. And they said, “Lord, see, here are two swords.” And He said to them, “It is enough.”

329. JESUS CHRIST IS THE TRUE VINE—LAST COMMANDS TO HIS DISCIPLES
JOHN 15

1. “I am the true vine, and My Father is the husbandman.

2. He takes away every branch in Me that does not bear fruit; but He cleanses each one that bears fruit, in order that it may bear more fruit.

3. You are already clean through the word that I have spoken to you.

4. Dwell in Me, and I in you. As a branch cannot bear fruit of itself, but only if it remains in the vine, neither can you bear fruit unless you are dwelling in Me.

5. I am the vine, and you are the branches. The one who is dwelling in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; because apart from Me you can do nothing.

6. If anyone does not dwell in Me, he is cast out as a branch, and is dried up; and men gather them and cast them into a fire, and they are burned.

PASSOVER DAY NISAN 14 – TUESDAY NIGHT, APRIL 4 – 30 AD
JOHN 15

7. If you dwell in Me, and My words dwell in you, you shall ask whatever you desire, and it shall come to pass for you.

8. In this is My Father glorified, that you bear much fruit; so shall you be My disciples.

9. As the Father has loved Me, I also have loved you; live in My love.

10. If you keep My commandments, you shall live in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and live in His love.

11. These things I have spoken to you, in order that My joy may dwell in you, and that your joy may be full.

12. This is My commandment: that you love one another, as I have loved you.

13. No one has greater love than this: that one lay down his life for his friends.

14. You are My friends, if you do whatever I command you.

15. No longer do I call you servants, because the servant does not know what his master is doing. But I have called you friends because I have made known to you all the things that I have heard from My Father.

16. You yourselves did not choose Me, but I have personally chosen you, and ordained you, that you should go forth and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain; so that whatever you shall ask the Father in My name, He may give you.

17. These things I command you, that you love one another.

18. If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you.

19. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. However, because you are not of the world, but I have personally chosen you out of the world, the world hates you for this.

20. Remember the word that I spoke to you: a servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you also. If they kept My word, they will keep your word also.

21. But they will do all these things to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know Him Who sent Me.

22. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have had sin; but now they have nothing to cover their sin.

23. The one who hates Me hates My Father also.

24. If I had not done among them the works that no other man has done, they would not have had sin; but now they have both seen and hated both Me and My Father.

25. But this has happened so that the saying might be fulfilled which is written in their law, ‘They hated Me without a cause.’ ^a

26. But when the Comforter has come, which I will send to you from the Father, even the Spirit of the truth, which proceeds from the Father, that one shall bear witness of Me. (SeeAppendix C, p. 355)

27. Then you also shall bear witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning.”

a - Psa. 35:19; 69:4

330. FINAL WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT
JOHN 16

1. “I have spoken these things to you so that you will not be offended.

2. They shall cast you out of the synagogues; furthermore, the time is coming that everyone who kills you will think that he is rendering service to God.

3. And they shall do these things to you because they do not know the Father, nor Me.

4. But I have told you these things so that when the time comes, you may remember that I said them to you. However, I did not say these things to you at the beginning because I was with you.

5. But now I am going to Him Who sent Me; and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’

6. But because I have spoken these things to you, grief has filled your hearts.

PASSOVER DAY NISAN 14 – TUESDAY NIGHT, APRIL 4 – 30 AD
JOHN 16

7. But I am telling you the truth. It is profitable for you that I go away because if I do not go away, the Comforter will not come to you. However, if I go, I will send it to you.

8. And when that one has come, it will convict the world concerning sin, and righteousness, and judgment: (See Appendix C, p. 355)

9. Concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me;

10. Concerning righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you no longer will see Me;

11. And concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.

12. I have yet many things to tell you, but you are not able to bear them now.

13. However, when that one has come, even the Spirit of the truth, it will lead you into all truth because it shall not speak from itself, but whatever it shall hear, it shall speak. And it shall disclose to you the things to come.

14. That one shall glorify Me because it shall disclose to you the things that it receives from Me. (See Appendix C, p. 355)

15. Everything that the Father has is Mine; for this reason, I said that it shall receive from Me and shall disclose these things to you.

16. A little while, and you shall not see Me; and again a little while, and you shall see Me, because I am going to the Father.”

17. Then some of His disciples said to one another, “What is this that He is saying to us, ‘A little while, and you shall not see Me; and again a little while, and you shall see Me,’ and, ‘because I am going to the Father’? ”

18. Therefore they said, “What is this that He is saying, the ‘little while’? We do not understand what He is saying.”

19. Then Jesus, knowing that they desired to ask Him, said to them, “Why are you inquiring among one another about this that I said, ‘A little while, and you shall not see Me; and again a little while, and you shall see Me’?

20. Truly, truly I tell you, you shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice; and you shall be grieved, but your grief shall be turned into joy.

21. A woman when she is giving birth has grief because her time of travail has come; but after she gives birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy that a child has been born into the world.

22. And likewise, you indeed have grief now; but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and no one shall take your joy from you. ^a

23. And in that day you shall ask Me nothing. Truly, truly I tell you, whatever you shall ask the Father in My name, He will give you.

24. Until this day, you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you shall receive, that your joy may be full.

25. These things I have spoken to you in allegories; but the time is coming when I will no longer speak to you in allegories, but I will plainly disclose to you the things of the Father.

26. In that day, you shall ask in My name; and I do not tell you that I will beseech the Father for you,

27. For the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me, and have believed that I came forth from God.

28. I came forth from the Father and have come into the world; again, I am leaving the world and am going to the Father.”

29. Then His disciples said to Him, “Behold, now You are speaking plainly and are not speaking in an allegory.

30. Now we know that You understand all things, and do not need to have someone ask You. By this we believe that You came forth from God.”

31. Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe?

a - Isa. 66:14

PASSOVER DAY NISAN 14 – TUESDAY NIGHT, APRIL 4 – 30 AD
331. ALL WILL BE SCATTERED.
JESUS HAS OVERCOME THE WORLD
OHN 16

32. Listen, the time is coming, and has already come, that you shall be scattered each to his own, and you shall leave Me alone; and yet I am not alone because the Father is with Me.

33. These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you shall have tribulation. But be courageous! I have overcome the world.”

335. THE LORD’S PRAYER
JOHN 17

1. Jesus spoke these words, and lifted up His eyes to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify Your own Son, so that Your Son may also glorify You;

2. Since You have given Him authority over all flesh, in order that He may give eternal life to all whom You have given Him.

3. For this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, Whom You did send.

4. I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work that You gave Me to do.

5. And now, Father, glorify Me with Your own self, with the glory that I had with You before the world existed.

6. I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, and You have given them to Me, and they have kept Your Word.

7. Now they have known that all things that You have given Me are from You.

8. For I have given them the words that You gave to Me; and they have received them and truly have known that I came from You; and they have believed that You did send Me.

PASSOVER DAY NISAN 14 – WEDNESDAY MORNING, APRIL 5 – 30 AD
JOHN 17

9. I am praying for them; I am not praying for the world, but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours.

10. All Mine are Yours, and all Yours are Mine; and I have been glorified in them.

11. And I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I am coming to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, those whom You have given Me, so that they may be one, even as We are one.

12. When I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. I protected those whom You have given Me, and not one of them has perished except the son of perdition, in order that the Scriptures might be fulfilled. ^a

13. But now I am coming to You; and these things I am speaking while yet in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in them.

14. I have given them Your words, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.

15. I do not pray that You would take them out of the world, but that You would keep them from the evil one.

16. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.

17. Sanctify them in Your truth; Your Word is the truth.

18. Even as You did send Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.

19. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, so that they also may be sanctified in Your truth.

20. I do not pray for these only, but also for those who shall believe in Me through their word;

21. That they all may be one, even as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, in order that the world may believe that You did send Me.

22. And I have given them the glory that You gave to Me, in order that they may be one, in the same way that We are one:

23. I in them, and You in Me, that they may be perfected into one; and that the world may know that You did send Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.

24. Father, I desire that those whom You have given Me may also be with Me where I am, so that they may behold My glory, which You have given Me; because You did love Me before the foundation of the world.

25. Righteous Father, the world has not known You; but I have known You, and these have known that You did send Me.

26. And I have made known Your name to them, and will make it known; so that the love with which You have loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”

a - Psa. 41:9; 109:8

342. ANNAS QUESTIONS JESUS AND SENDS HIM TO CAIAPHAS
JOHN 18<

19. Then the high priest questioned Jesus concerning His disciples and concerning His teachings.

20. Jesus answered him, “I spoke openly to the world; I always taught in the synagogue and in the temple, where the Jews always assemble, and I spoke nothing in secret.

21. Why do you question Me? Ask those who have heard what I spoke to them; behold, they know what I said.”

APPROXIMATELY 2 AM
JOHN 18

22. But after He said these things, one of the officers who was standing by struck Jesus on the face, saying, “Do You answer the high priest in that way?”

23. Jesus answered him, “If I have spoken evil, testify of the evil; but if well, why do you strike Me?”

24. Then Annas sent Him bound to Caiaphas, the high priest.

348. PILATE SENDS JESUS TO HEROD
LUKE 23

5. But they were insistent, saying, “He stirs up the people, teaching throughout all of Judea, beginning from Galilee even to here.”

6. And when he heard Galilee named, Pilate asked whether the Man were a Galilean;

7. And after determining that He was from Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent Him to Herod, since he also was in Jerusalem in those days.

8. And when Herod saw Jesus, he rejoiced greatly; for he had long been desiring to see Him because he had heard many things about Him, and he was hoping to see a miracle done by Him.

9. And he questioned Him with many words; but He answered him nothing.

10. All the while, the chief priests and the scribes stood vehemently accusing Him.

11. Then Herod and his soldiers treated Him with contempt; and after mocking Him, he put a splendid robe on Him and sent Him back to Pilate.

12. And on that same day, Pilate and Herod became friends with each other, because before there was enmity between them.

PASSOVER DAY NISAN 14 – WEDNESDAY MORNING, APRIL 5 – 30 AD
351. PILATE WASHES HIS HANDS IN A SHOW OF INNOCENCY
MATTHEW 27

24. Now Pilate, seeing that he was accomplishing nothing, but that a riot was developing instead, took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, “I am guiltless of the blood of this righteous Man. You see to it.”

25. And all the people answered and said, “His blood be on us and on our children.”

PASSOVER DAY NISAN 14 – WEDNESDAY MORNIG, APRIL 5 – 30 AD
353. PILATE HAS SECOND THOUGHTS ABOUT CRUCIFYING JESUS
JOHN 19

6. But when the chief priests and the officers saw Him, they cried aloud, saying, “Crucify Him, crucify Him!” Pilate said to them, “You take Him and crucify Him because I do not find any fault in Him.”

7. The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to our law it is mandatory that He die, because He made Himself the Son of God.”

8. Therefore, when Pilate heard this saying, he was even more afraid.

9. And he went into the judgment hall again, and said to Jesus, “Where have You come from?” But Jesus did not give him an answer.

10. Then Pilate said to Him, “Why don’t You speak to me? Don’t You know that I have authority to crucify You, and authority to release You?”

11. Jesus answered, “You would not have any authority against Me if it were not given to you from above. For this reason, the one who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.”

12. Because of this saying, Pilate sought to release Him; but the Jews cried out, saying, “If you release this Man, you are not a friend of Caesar. Everyone who makes himself a king speaks against Caesar.”

13. Therefore, after hearing this saying, Pilate had Jesus led out, and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called the Pavement; but in Hebrew, Gabbatha.

14. (Now it was the preparation of the Passover, and about the sixth hour.) And he said to the Jews, “Behold your King!”

15. But they cried aloud, “Away, away with Him! Crucify Him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.”

360. JESUS MAKES JOHN RESPONSIBLEFOR HIS MOTHER, MARY
JOHN 19

25. And Jesus’ mother stood by the cross, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Cleopas, and Mary Magdalene.

26. When Jesus saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, “Woman, behold your son.”

27. Then He said to the disciple, “Behold your mother.” And from that time, the disciple took her into his own home.

PASSOVER DAY NISAN 14 – WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON, APRIL 5 – 30 AD
362. AN EARTHQUAKE OPENS SOME GRAVESFOR A RESURRECTION OF SOME OF THE SAINTS TO ANOTHER PHYSICAL LIFE AS A SIGN AND A WITNESS
MATTHEW 27

51. ... the earth shook, and the rocks were split,

52. So that the tombs were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had died, were resurrected

53. After His resurrection; and they came out of the tombs. Then they entered into the holy city, and appeared to many.

364. THE JEWS WANT JESUS’ BODY OFF THE CROSSBEFORE THE HOLY DAY BEGINS AT SUNSET
JOHN 19

31. The Jews therefore, so that the bodies might not remain on the cross on the Sabbath, because it was a preparation day (for that Sabbath was a high day), requested of Pilate that their legs might be broken and the bodies be taken away.

32. Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first one, and the legs of the other who was crucified with Him.

33. But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs;

34. But one of the soldiers had pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water had come out.

35. And he who saw this has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that what he says is true, so that you may believe.

36. For these things took place so that the scripture might be fulfilled, “Not a bone of Him shall be broken.” ^a

37. And again another scripture says, “They shall look upon Him Whom they pierced.” ^b

a - Ex. 12:46; Num. 9:12; Psa. 34:20 b - Zech. 12:10; Rev. 1:7”

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