When Love Carried the Cross: A Journey Through Jesus's Final Days and His Rising Hope

Over the past six weeks I have shared moments in Jesus’s life with you that has led us to this pivotal moment in history. It is, literally, His story.

We learned that we don’t have to be clean for Him to accept us. We learned what it means to be a servant leader. We learned we get to choose to be on His team. We learned we get to choose who sits at our table. We learned we can flip the switch by changing our thoughts and focusing on His promises.

Today, we will travel to Jerusalem together. We will look at the beating Jesus endured, walk the road to Golgotha, witness what happened on the cross, and conclude with His miraculous resurrection.

This post will be different as I focus on the details of Jesus’s final days here on earth. My hope is that these moments give us a better understanding of what He endured and draws us closer to Him.

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The Journey

Let's Journey to the Cross.

As we learned in The Plus Sign, the Pause, and the God Who Never Denies Us, Jesus stood before the Sanhedrin as they accused Him of blasphemy. They brought Him to Pilate, and once again Jesus was falsely accused. Pilate asked Him if He was a king. Jesus replied with His own question: “Jesus answered, “Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?” (John 18:34, ESV).

Pilate responded that he was not a Jew, then asked Jesus what he had done. Jesus explained that everything was being done to fulfill His purpose, which is to bear witness to the truth. Pilate told the crowd that he found Jesus innocent and gave them the option to release Barabbas, a known murderer, or release Jesus.

To Barabbas’s surprise, the crowd chose him. Pilate had no choice but to release Barabbas and hand Jesus over to the Roman soldiers to be scourged.

This was not an ordinary flogging. The soldiers used a short whip with leather braids that were attached to small iron balls or sheep bones striking the criminal until they were unrecognizable. The blows tore into flesh, down to the muscle, and at times even to the bone.

After beating Jesus, the soldiers continued to mock Him. They put a crown of thorns on His head, the thorns sunk into His scalp causing blood to run down His face. They put a purple robe on Him, hit Him with their hands, and then presented Him to Pilate.

Pilate brought Jesus out for the crowd to see if this would satisfy them and again announces that he finds Him innocent. The crowd is still not happy and yells crucify Him. Pilate told the crowd if they wanted Jesus crucified, they would have to do it themselves. The Jews shout back He should die because He made Himself the Son of God. This statement causes Pilate to hesitate. The crowd reminds him that if he released Jesus, he was not a friend of Caesar. Pilate washed his hands and sentences Jesus to be crucified.

The Cross

The trek out of Jerusalem up to Golgotha, the place of the skull, was a walk of shame. People lined the road to mock and scorn the criminals sentenced to crucifixion. This day was no different, although I imagine there were even more people on the road because so many Jews were in town for the Passover.

Jesus, weakened from His beating, was unable to carry the crossbar the entire way. A Roman soldier appointed Simon of Cyrene to carry the cross for Him. When they arrived at Golgotha, they nailed Jesus to the cross. One nail was driven into each wrist and another nail through His feet. He would not be able to breathe or speak without pushing Himself up.

Jesus loved those around Him so much that He endured the pain and pushed up Himself up seven times. The first time, He prayed for the soldiers and asked God to forgive them. The second time, He told His mother, Mary, to take care of John and told John to take care of her. The third time He spoke, He told one of the criminals that he would be in Paradise with Him that very day.

In the ninth hour Jesus cried out to God. Darkness covered the land, a reflection of His anguish. The fifth time Jesus spoke, He told the soldiers He was thirsty. They offered Him a sponge soaked in sour wine. Then He said, “It is finished.” With His final breath Jesus exclaimed, “Father, into your hands I commit my Spirit.” (Luke 23:46, ESV)

At that exact moment the veil in the sanctuary was torn from top to bottom. There was an earthquake, rocks were split open, and the soldiers acknowledged that Jesus was the Son of God.

The Resurrection

The Jews insisted the soldiers take down the bodies before sunset. Pilate agreed, and the soldiers broke the legs of the criminals. When they came to Jesus, they realized He was already dead, so they did not break His legs, fulfilling the prophecy that His bones would not be broken. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear.

Pilate was surprised that Jesus had died so quickly. He grants permission for Joseph of Arimathea to take Jesus’s body and lay it in the tomb he purchased. They wrapped Him in linen cloths and poured burial spices over Him.

The next day the Pharisees went to Pilate and asked for the tomb to be secured. They heard others say Jesus would rise on the third day and they feared this would cause even more trouble among the Jews and the Gentiles.

On the third day, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Salome went to the tomb. When they arrived, they found the stone had been rolled away. Two men dressed in fancy clothes asked them why they are looking for the living among the dead and told them Jesus was not there. He had risen.

The women ran to tell the disciples. Simon Peter and John sprinted to the tomb and found Jesus really wasn’t there. They left, but Mary stayed behind and wept. When she looked into the tomb, she saw two men sitting where Jesus’s body had been laid. They asked her why she was crying. As she turned around to walk out of the tomb, she saw a man and believed he was the gardener. When Jesus spoke to Mary, she recognized Him.

That same day He appeared to two disciples traveling to Emmaus. They did not recognize Him and told Him about the crucifixion and the women who found the empty tomb. They invited Him to have dinner with them and He accepted the invitation. As He prayed and broke the bread, their eyes were opened and they recognized Him. Then Jesus vanished.

The two disciples returned to Jerusalem that same day to tell the other disciples they had seen Jesus. That evening Jesus appeared to the disciples and showed them His hands and His side. They were scared, but they believed it was Him.

Eight days later, Jesus returned to the place where the disciples were gathered. The disciples had been telling Thomas they saw Jesus, but he did not believe them. Jesus appeared and told Thomas to look at His hands and touch His side. Then Thomas believed.

Jesus appeared one more time to reconcile Peter’s denial and establish the church. Peter and several other disciples were fishing when they saw a fire on the shore and Jesus standing next to it. He called them to shore and fed them breakfast.

After they finished eating, Jesus asked Peter if he loved Him. He asked him three times, and each time Peter answered yes. Each time Jesus told Peter what to do with His flock. The first time He told him to “Feed my lambs.” The second time, He told him to “Tend my sheep.” The third time He told him to, “Feed my sheep.”

Jesus asking Peter if he loved him three times upset him, but it had to be done. Without this moment of restoration, Peter would not have become the man Jesus called him to be.

We all need Jesus. We need the kindness of our Savior and the closeness of a friend. We need a good, good Father whose love never ends. As we wrap up our journey to the cross, I pray you found yourself understanding more of what a relationship with Jesus looks like and you started to trust and rely on Him more. Without Jesus we are not who God created us to be.

So, I ask you. Do you know the Jesus as your Lord and Savior? If you do not and you want to be a follow Him, it can be done in three easy steps.

1)      Admit you are a sinner.  We all make mistakes.

2)      Believe that Jesus is your Savior.

3)      Confess that He is Lord and you want Him to be your Savior.

Don’t leave it there. Find a community of fellow believers. Reach out to me or someone you know who follows Jesus and share the good news.