Journey to Calvary's Cross
1. The Triumphal Entry/Palm Sunday
Luke 19:29-40
As he approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, "Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, 'Why are you untying it?' tell him, 'The Lord needs it.' "Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them. As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, "Why are you untying the colt?" They replied, "The Lord needs it." They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it. As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road. When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen: "Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!" Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!
As he approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, "Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, 'Why are you untying it?' tell him, 'The Lord needs it.' "Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them. As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, "Why are you untying the colt?" They replied, "The Lord needs it." They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it. As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road. When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen: "Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!" Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!
Weeping Over Jerusalem!
Luke 19:41-44
As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace but now it is hidden from your eyes.The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognise the time of God’s coming to you.”
As Jesus looks over our community, and all of the communities in our
Province, Country and World, He’s Crying! He died on Calvary’s Cross for every person in the world; an incomprehensible act of Love, and yet there are so many living without Him. Jesus is weeping for our family members, friends and loved ones that have not allowed Him entrance into their heart and life. So please take a moment now to pray for their Salvation!
As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace but now it is hidden from your eyes.The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognise the time of God’s coming to you.”
As Jesus looks over our community, and all of the communities in our
Province, Country and World, He’s Crying! He died on Calvary’s Cross for every person in the world; an incomprehensible act of Love, and yet there are so many living without Him. Jesus is weeping for our family members, friends and loved ones that have not allowed Him entrance into their heart and life. So please take a moment now to pray for their Salvation!
2. The Passover/Lord's Supper
Luke 22: 7-20
When the hour came, Jesus and his
apostles reclined at the table. And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfilment in the kingdom of God.” After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among you. For I tell you I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.”
When the hour came, Jesus and his
apostles reclined at the table. And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfilment in the kingdom of God.” After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among you. For I tell you I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.”
The Table Spread!
13 place settings; 1 for Jesus and 1 for each of the 12 Disciples!
Do this in Remebrance of Me!
As we know Holy Communion is not Salvation nor is it a substitute for Salvation. The bread and the juice (wine) used in communion serve as symbols of His broken Body and His shed Blood. Holy Communion is a wondeful worship experience where we can remember and reflect upon the awesome sacrifice Christ made for us on Calvary's Cross. As Born Again Christians we took part in His Body when at our conversion we were baptized into His Body! We participated in Jesus' Blood when He washed away our confessed sins. PRAISE HIS NAME!
Charoseth
Matthew 26:21-27
And while they were eating, he said, “I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me.” They were very sad and began to say to him one after the other, “Surely not I, Lord?” Jesus replied, “The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl (Charoseth) with me will betray me. The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.” Then Judas, the one who would betray him, said, “Surely not I, Rabbi?” Jesus answered, “Yes, it is you.
Charoseth is a sauce made from fruit, nuts, honey, and herbs. The Charoseth has a dual purpose: First, the mixture recalls the mortar made by the children of Israel in Egyptian captivity. When they dip food in the Charoseth it is a reminder of the pain their people suffered in captivity. Second, when it is tasted it is sweet and delicious reminding them of God's Deliverance. This is similar to what Jesus, Judas and the rest of the
disciples dipped their bread in as they shared the Last Supper meal
together.
3. Servant Leadership/Washing the Disciples feet
John 13:3-9
Great Act of Humility by the Servant Leader!
Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and
that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel round his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped round him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus replied, “You do not realise now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.” “Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”
In Bible times everybody wore sandals and they walked on dusty roads. So obviously, their feet would get dirty by the end of the day. Washing feet would be done by the lowliest servant in a household, it was a menial task! And yet God in the flesh, Jesus, creator of the universe humbled Himself and performed this lowly task. At first Peter was not going to allow his Lord and Master to do such a thing. Jesus lovingly says to him,“Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.” Hearing this Peter completely changes his mind: Wash all of me is his response! There are many times on this
Christian Journey that we have to ask Jesus to wash us completely clean from all sin and unrighteousness!
Take a few moments now to pray and ask Jesus to apply His Blood on you making white as snow!
4. The Garden of Gethsemane
Luke 22: 39-44
Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. On reaching the place, he said to them, “Pray that you will not fall into temptation.” He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done." An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. When he rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow. “Why are you sleeping?” he asked them. “Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.”
Not My will Father but thine be done!
We all know about the brutal beatings Jesus received from the Sanhedrin, and the Roman Soldiers. Then there was the unimaginable torture that was the Cross! However, in the Garden as He prayed, He may have endured more pain and agony than the beatings and crucifixion combined. And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. Hematidrosis is a very rare disease in which a human sweats blood. It may occur when a person is suffering extreme levels of stress.
Take some time and reflect upon the emotional agony and extreme level of stress that Jesus was experiencing to sweat drops of blood! Try and
imagine what he must have been feeling as He cried out to the Father!
5. Betrayal & Arrest of Jesus
Luke 22: 47-54
While he was still speaking a crowd came up, and the man who was
called Judas, one of the Twelve, was leading them. He approached Jesus to kiss him, but Jesus asked him, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?” When Jesus’ followers saw what was going to happen, they said, “Lord, should we strike with our swords?” And one of them struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear. But Jesus answered, “No more of this!” And he touched the man’s ear and healed him. Then Jesus said to the chief priests, the officers of the temple guard, and the elders, who had come for him, “Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come with swords and clubs? Every day I was with you in the temple courts, and you did not lay a hand on me. But this is your hour — when darkness reigns.” Then seizing him, they led him away and took him into the house of the high priest. Peter followed at a distance.
30 Pieces of Silver
Judas is certainly not a popular baby name for boys now is it?” Have you ever heard of anybody being called Judas? The name of Judas will be forever linked to Jesus` betrayer, the infamous Judas Iscariot. Unfortunately, when Judas realized that he made a terrible mistake he made another one. Instead of ending his life he should have found Jesus and begged for His forgiveness! Would he have received it? Absolutely, look at the Apostle Paul/the chief of sinners!
We did not betray Jesus to the extreme that Judas did. However, if we examined our own lives we would quickly realize that we failed Him many times as well, and had to seek His forgiveness! So let's thank & praise our merciful God for His Amazing Grace! A chorus we sometimes sing says: When He sees me He sees the Blood of the Lamb, He sees me as worthy and not as I am! Hallelujah!
6. The Trial
The Brutal Beatings endured by the Saviour
Matthew 26:67 The Perpetrators: Chief Priest and the Sanhedrin
Then they spat in his face and struck him with their fists. Others slapped him and said, “Prophesy to us, Christ. Who hit you?”
Luke 22:63-65 The Perpetrators: The Temple Guards
The men who were guarding Jesus began mocking and beating him. They blindfolded him and demanded, “Prophesy! Who hit you?” And they said many other insulting things to him.
Matthew 27:28-30 The Perpetrators: Roman Soldiers
They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand and knelt in front of him and mocked him. “Hail, king of the Jews!” they said. They spat on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again.
John 19:1 The Perpetrators: Roman Soldiers
Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged.
We cannot begin to comprehend the severity and the amount of punishment Jesus endured before His crucifixion. As it states in the above scriptures the Roman Soldiers hit Him on the head again and again! Who knows how many times again and again is? When Jesus was flogged many believe He received 40 lashes because the Law (Dueteronomy 25:3) states that a Jewish flogging must be limited to that amount. However, Jesus received a Roman flogging not a Jewish one! There were no lashing restrictions for the Romans, Jesus could have been whipped far more than 40 times. The Barbaric Roman Soldiers would tie a criminal to a post and whip them mercilessly with a whip called a flagellum (a leather strap
intertwined with pieces of bone and metal). This instrument of death would cut through the skin on the persons back leaving it hanging in shreds. It's possible that Jesus was nearly at the point of death after the flogging. This is evidenced by how quickly Jesus dies on the cross-6 hours. Some that were crucified with little punishment before hand would last for days on a cross before they died.
Yes, the beating Jesus took during His mock trial is unimaginable and all of this, with the cross to follow.
Pilate tries to appease his own conscience!
Matthew 27:19-25
While Pilate was sitting on the judge’s seat, his wife sent him this message: “Don’t have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him.” But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus executed. Which of the two do you want me to release to you?” asked the governor. “Barabbas,” they answered. “What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called Christ?” Pilate asked. They all answered, “Crucify him! “Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate. But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!” When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. “I am innocent of this man’s blood,” he said. “It is your responsibility! All the people answered, “Let his blood be on us and on our children!”
How Many People in our world today try and wash their hands clean
of Jesus by avoiding making a decision to follow Him as Saviour and
Lord!
Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus carry His Cross!
Matthew 27:32
As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross.
During our Christian Journey, how often do we feel or say that the cross we are carrying is too heavy? Well, the Cross our Saviour asks us to carry will never be as heavy as His!
7. The Crucifixion
Luke 23: 26-49
As they led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him. Jesus turned and said to them, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children. For the time will come when you will say, 'Blessed are the barren women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!' Then 'they will say to the mountains, "Fall on us!" and to the hills, "Cover us!" For if men do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?" Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."And they divided up his clothes by casting lots. The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, "He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One." The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar and said, "If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself." There was a written notice above him, which read: this is the king of the Jews. One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: "Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!"But the other criminal rebuked him. "Don't you fear God," he said, "since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong." Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise." It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Jesus called out with a loud voice, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." When he had said this, he breathed his last. The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, "Surely this was a righteous man." When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away. But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.
Why the Cross? Because God so loved the world!
The Nails!
What pain must have shot through His entire Body when those cruel nails were pounded through His Wrists and Feet! Yes, the sadistic Roman Soldiers nailed Jesus to the Cross but we cannot claim to be without fault! Our sin put Jesus on that tree! So we must shoulder our share of the responsibility. It's like the chorus says: I should have been crucified, I should have suffered and died, I should have hung on the cross in disgrace but Jesus, God's Son took my place. During the Prayer Room experience there was a hammer, some nails and a cross laid on the floor. Those who took the prayer journey were encouraged to take a nail, drive it in the cross and give Jesus praise and thanks for dying in their place!
8. The Glorious Resurrection of our Saviour and Lord!
Luke 24:1-12
On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: `The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ “Then they remembered his words. When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.
The women were going to the tomb to anoint their Lord's body for burial. This is usually done before a person is buried but because the Sabbath was approaching, Jesus' body was placed in the tomb very quickly. This did not give the women enough time to anoint His body after the
crucifixion. So these women went home, and kept the Sabbath as the law required. When the Sabbath was over they bought and prepared their spices and perfumes to bring to the tomb very early on Sunday morning. Bringing spices to a tomb in those days is equivalent to bringing flowers to a grave today. Anointing a body was a sign of love, devotion and respect for the deceased. So as they walk to tomb these faithful women must be overcome with grief and sadness. For their Master and Lord whom they loved so much, is dead, they are heartbroken.
All of their hopes and dreams that were so high just a few days ago, now seem to be completely dashed. But wait a moment, as they approach the tomb they see that the stone is rolled away, and the body of Jesus is GONE! In a state of shock they try and figure out what has taken place! Then two angels appear to them and say: “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee:
The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ With this the women remember Jesus' words! Can you imagine the complete 360 degree turn around in emotions these ladies must have experienced. From hopeless grief, to exuberant joy; their Saviour was Alive!
As you reflect upon the greatest event in World history, The Glorious Resurrection of Christ, give Him Praise and sing, Because He Lives!
The stone is rolled back, gone!
Matthew 28:2
There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it.
Have you ever wondered why the Angel rolled back the stone from the tomb? Was it to let Jesus out? Of course not! Moving a stone was an easy
task for the all powerful Risen Saviour. The Angel of the Lord rolled back the stone to let the women in!
The Linen Cloth
Luke 24:12
Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.
The Risen Christ!
Matthew 28:18
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
The Church's job to do, but not alone; we are promised His Abiding Presence!
The Journey to Calvary's Cross ends with an empty tomb! Praise God!
