Teachings About the Cross of the Lord Jesus: Persecution, Betrayal, Trial, Suffering, Crucifixion, Death and Burial

Categories: The teachings of the Lord Jesus, the Gospels

Introduction

Continuation from “The Teachings of the Lord Jesus.”

The Gospels present us with the Son of God, the Lord Jesus, and His work on earth: His birth, His ministry, His persecution, His trial, His suffering on the cross, and His victory over death. The dark worked with the help of humans to destroy the Son of God while on earth in all ways possible, starting to build opposition against Him even from His birth (Matthew 2:16-18). With the help of wicked men, the dark worked toward the Lord Jesus’ persecution, betrayal, trial, suffering, crucifixion, death, and burial. But the Lord Jesus, the Son of God, is God of the Trinity, and on the cross, He won the victory over the dark by rising from the dead in His body on the third day, then ascending to heaven in His earthly and heavenly body as one (Luke 24:50-51, Acts 1:9-11). The Father Himself glorified and exalted His beloved Son above all and received Him back in heaven where He is seated at the right hand of the Father, where He belongs, and all those who pierced Him on the cross will see Him coming back to earth on the clouds of heaven with great power and glory (Mark 14:62).

The Son of God, the Lord Jesus, has come to earth, to His own, to bring salvation to the world, but His own have plotted with the lawless hands and have put Him on the cross (Acts 2:23). The death of the Lord Jesus on the cross, His broken body, and His shed blood on that cross are the essence of the New Covenant that God the Father has established with humankind. The Lord Jesus, the beloved Son of God, the Lamb of God, the only sinless Man, died on that cross to take away the sins of the world (John 1:29). There is no forgiveness of sins for any human if not through the cleansing blood of the Lord Jesus, which He shed on that cruel cross (1 John 2:2). The Holy Spirit, speaking through the prophet Isaiah, says about our Lord Jesus in Isaiah 53:5: “He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed.” The Bible clearly tells us that we can find peace and healing for our souls only when we come to the Lord God Almighty, in the name of the Lord Jesus, His beloved Son, and believe in the cleansing power of the blood of His Son, the Lord Jesus.

The Gospel of Matthew 26:26-28 tells us about the New Covenant that the Father has established through His beloved Son Jesus Christ:

Matthew 26:26: "And while they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed, broke it, and having given to the disciples, He said, Take, eat; this is My body."

When the Lord Jesus broke the bread and shared it with the disciples, it represented His human body; and that is all we should think about when breaking the bread at the Lord’s Supper. The bread the Lord and the disciples used at the Passover meal was unleavened bread. For us as Christians, “unleavened bread” also signifies that the Lord Jesus is sinless and pure. He was born in a body of flesh, but He is completely clean. He never commits any sin. He lives with a body that is of the dust of the earth, but that body is clean. No human being can be as clean as the Lord Jesus.
When baptizing in water, we baptize in His blood of the covenant, and we should use the practice of baptizing by immersion under water. When you don’t immerse yourself under the water when you baptize, you do not follow the Lord’s example. The Bible tells us that the Lord Jesus is the example to follow for all humans on earth. We should be baptized by immersion under water, not sprinkled over with water.

Matthew 26:27: "And He took a cup, and having given thanks, gave to them, saying, Drink of it, all of you;"

Matthew 26:28: "for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins."

This blood of the new covenant refers to the moment when they pierced the Lord Jesus’ side. The Bible tells us that blood and water came out when they pierced Him; the blood is for cleansing, and the water represents water baptism (See John 19:34). When the water from His body dropped to the earth it spread everywhere on earth; therefore, you can be baptized in every part of the earth to be born again in the water of His blood, and that is why you need to be baptized. His blood represents the cleansing from sins: when His blood was poured out, it had the cleansing water poured out all over the world to wash away all the sins of humans through baptism in water. All humans should think about why it is written that the blood and water flowed out from His side.
The believers that did not acknowledge the power of the Blood of Jesus have not received the forgiveness of their sins. The beloved Son of God has accepted His duty from the Father, and anyone who wants to be a true believer must also accept their own duty that the Lord has put in their heart regardless of what type of duty and how important that duty is, and do that duty with the heart of joy.

The Lord Jesus, the sinless Lamb of God, was crucified for the sins of the world, died on that cross, was buried in a new tomb that was sealed and secured, descended into Hades, and on the third day, He rose again: the Lord Jesus is the Son of Man and God of the Trinity, God cannot die (Mark 12:27), and the flesh He took on this earth cannot see decay (Acts 2:27-31; Psalm 16:10).

While on the cross, to atone for the sins of the world, the Lord Jesus was separated for a moment from the Father because He carried all the sins of the world on His shoulders by His death. We read about this in the Gospel of Matthew 27:46: "Then about the ninth hour, Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? That is, My God, My God, why have Thou forsaken Me?"

How sad heaven is when the Son cannot feel the Father! The death of Jesus’ human body had an impact on heaven as well because that human is the Son of Man, departing from the earth; there was sadness beyond what human words can explain (See Complementary Comments on Matthew 25:6). Because the Lord was in a human body, while at the point of death, the Father just stayed above watching; the Father was not in human form, but His feeling was impacted because of the human death in His Son’s body. There was sorrow beyond what human words can say when the Three in One felt separated; because the Son took human form, the death of the human body of the Son also impacted the Father. When the death of the Son happened, the Son went down to the death place to give light to the dark place. The Father will not go there; His glory will destroy the death there.

The Lord gave the Holy Spirit word-by-word dictated Bible to humankind (read our article: Bible Dictation), and the Bible records the salvation work of the beloved Son of God on earth. All humans can see God in the creation and are responsible for believing that there is a Creator (Romans 1:20), the Trinity of God, who sent His Son into the world to bring salvation to all (John 3:16). There is no need for further signs and miracles to be shown to the world; the only sign given to “this generation” is the Lord Jesus’ death on the cross and His bodily resurrection from the dead. “This generation” refers to all the generations of humans from the Lord Jesus’ crucifixion until His second coming to the earth.

In the Gospel of Matthew 16:1-4, the Lord Jesus, interacting with the leaders of the Jews at that time, talks about the sign of His death and resurrection as the ultimate sign for humankind. Below, we comment on these verses:

Matthew 16:1: "And the Pharisees and Sadducees having approached, tempting, asked Him to show them a sign from heaven."

If you believe there is no further need to see any miracles in front of your eyes. Believing is by the heart and not by the eyes. Faith comes by the heart first, not by the eyes. The Pharisees and Sadducees wanted to tempt the Lord Jesus, to show people that the Lord Jesus is nobody, that they are the only ones who can interpret the times, and that only they alone can understand what God is doing.

Matthew 16:2: "And answering, He said to them, When it is evening, you say, Fair weather, for the sky is red."

Matthew 16:3: "And in the morning, A storm today, for the sky is red, gloomy. Indeed, you know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but the signs of the times you are not able."

Humans always make guesses; they always use human interpretation, as that is God’s doing. For example, we interpret the meaning of the red sky, but who made that red sky? We make an interpretation of why the sky is red, but we forget that the Lord is the one who made it red. We forget to think about who made all things. First, we must acknowledge the Creator’s hand in everything.
“... but the signs of the times you are not able.” This saying simply tells us that humans cannot interpret the signs of the times since only the Lord can. We do not need a sign, and we should not waste our time interpreting because the times are changing according to the Father’s will.

Matthew 16:4: "An evil and adulterous generation seeks a sign; but a sign will not be given to it, if not the sign of Jonah. And having left them, He departed."

“An evil and adulterous generation ...” This word is a fitting word for them. They have seen the miracles the Lord Jesus has done so far, but they still ask for a sign. The Pharisees and Sadducees could not understand the meaning of the Lord Jesus being among humans, so they asked for a sign from heaven. They are darkened and blind; another generation has not seen the miracles, yet they believe, so their generation has a greater sin. Even for us, we read about the miracles the Lord has done, which we have not seen, but the Word of God has spoken to us, and we believe.
“... but a sign will not be given to it, if not the sign of Jonah.” As the prophet Jonah was kept in the dark for three days, the Lord Jesus will be kept in the dark of the earth for three days. But, in that time, the Lord’s mercy was extended to the dark side; it is written in the Bible that the dark has heard the Lord Jesus’ voice (see 1 Peter 3:18-20; Ephesians 4:8-9). The Bible never talks about Hades in detail because it is not for us to know these things in detail. The Lord gave a chance to those in the darkness (in Hades) to be saved; to those souls that were on earth before the Lord came to earth, who did not have a chance to hear the good news of the Gospel. During those three days when the Lord Jesus was in the grave, He Himself ministered to those lost souls. The Lord Jesus ministered only to the lost souls of His chosen people. He did not go there to make disciples; He just went to bring the lost souls into Abraham’s bosom place; the souls that never had a chance to be saved before. At the same time, during these three days, the Lord Jesus also went to Abraham’s bosom place, a place of waiting for those who believed in God but didn’t have a chance to hear the good news. Even these souls need to hear the good news because there is only one way to be saved: through faith in the Lord Jesus. Abraham’s bosom place is a place of waiting for the souls that have faith in God and have departed from earth before the coming of the Lord Jesus. The souls of the believers who die in the Lord Jesus also have their own place of waiting.

As followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, we all must come to the foot of the cross, believe in the Lord Jesus’ salvation work, ask for forgiveness from the Father in the name of the Lord Jesus, and make peace with God the Father in order to secure our place for eternity with His beloved Son, the Lord Jesus (read our article: Make Peace with God the Father through His Son Jesus Christ).

This spiritual category contains many Gospel teachings about the cross of the Lord Jesus. We organize these teachings into three themes, as given below.

  1. Persecution, betrayal, and suffering.
  2. Crucifixion and the meaning of the cross.
  3. Death and burial.

The Presentation of the Teaching Themes

This section describes all the teaching themes by highlighting their essential features. Also, we present a complete list with links to Bible passages in the Gospels that relate to each theme, with a short description of each passage. These links point to our Bible Commentary Forever work, where you will find more helpful comments to better understand the Word of God.

1. Persecution, Betrayal, Trial, and Suffering

The Bible shows that the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, came to earth to bring salvation to humankind and that the dark knows who the Son of God is (Luke 4:34, Luke 4:41, Mark 3:11). Knowing who He was, they used humans to try to destroy Him. The Gospels show us how the dark slowly built up their fight on earth against the Son of God with the help of the leaders of the Jews and the outsiders until they put the Lord Jesus to death on the cross of Golgotha (Mark 15:22-32). At first, even His brothers did not believe in Him and were jealous of Him (John 7:3-5, Mark 3:21), and He was not honored in His own region, where people scoffed at Him (Mark 6:3-6). Furthermore, as the Lord Jesus ministered to people all over and performed miracles among the people, the leaders of the Jews, because of jealousy and hatred, started to plot to destroy Him (Matthew 12:14, John 7:1). They tried to frighten the people who believed that the Lord Jesus is the Christ of God by persecuting those who confessed Him as Christ (John 9:22, John 9:34), and their hatred became so great that they even plotted to kill Lazarus, whom the Lord raised from the dead, because on his account many came to believe in the Lord Jesus (John 12:9-11). Finally, the dark, with the help of the betrayer (Luke 22:3-6), one of the Lord Jesus’ disciples, used the Jews to arrest and condemn the Lord Jesus and, with the help of the outsiders, to put Him on the cross (John 18:2-40).

In John chapter 14, the Lord Jesus talks to His disciples about the Trinity of God, His love for the Father, and what it means to be a true believer. He also prepares the disciples for what is going to happen to Him by telling them ahead about His coming suffering on the cross, specifically talking about who is behind the fight against God and who wants to destroy the Son of God and His work of salvation by saying in John 14:30-31: “I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world comes; and he has nothing on Me; but that the world may know that I love the Father, and according as the Father gives Me commandment, even so, I do. Arise, let Us go from here.”

We now comment in detail on these prophetic words spoken by the Lord Jesus to His disciples: “I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world comes; and he has nothing on Me.”

“... for the ruler of this world comes.” The dark does not know the plan of salvation; the only thing the dark wants is to fight with God, and the only way the dark can think of how to fight is by using humans. If God in human form has spent life as a human, then the dark itself can only think that humans mean something to God, and for them, the beloved Son of God in human form had to die first in order to destroy the plan of God for humans; God in human form had to disappear first for them. As the verse has told to all believers, the dark wants to conquer the whole world, and now they are coming. If one does not meditate on the Word and follows the teaching of God, the evil one will use the pleasures of this world itself to lead that soul astray; the human soul always seeks first for fun; to meditate on the Word, it needs work to do, and humans do not like to be serious about the Word of God, and the dark side will use this weakness of humans in order to make humans fall into the trap of pleasures and fun of earthly things.
“And he has nothing on Me.” Because the beloved Son of God is in human form, the dark themselves believe that if God goes into their domain of the dark, God Himself will lose His own power. They believe this world (the earth itself) is the world of light and has given the power to the beloved Son of God, and if the beloved Son of God goes into the dark domain, He will lose His power; for the dark believe that this world has given the beloved Son of God power. So, the dark themselves believe that if they can keep the beloved Son of God in their domain, they have won the fight with God because their power is strongest in the dark domain. God is the God of light, so the dark believe that if the beloved Son of God will be kept in the dark domain, He will have no power left to fight. For the dark itself, that is the victory: if they can keep the beloved Son of God in their domain, they can brag they have won, and the beloved Son of God will become a slave in the dark domain. The dark never understands the power of God; they can only think that in their own domain, God cannot fight with them on their own terms. So, the “nothing” in this verse refers to keeping the beloved Son of God without power in the dark domain. In the dark’s thought, the Son in human form does not have the same power as the Father in heavenly form does. So, when the verse says, “he has nothing on Me,” it refers to the fact that the dark has thought in their own mind that they can use the beloved Son of God to trick humans into believing in the dark, so if they can keep the beloved Son in their domain the claim for humans (human souls) has succeeded in their hand, which is false since the Lord Jesus won the victory over the dark and death by raising from the dead.

The Lord Jesus also spoke openly to His disciples about the suffering that would soon come upon Him. In Luke 18:31-33, we read: “And taking aside the twelve, He said to them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written through the prophets about the Son of Man will be accomplished. For He will be delivered up to the Gentiles, and will be mocked, and will be shamefully treated, and will be spit upon; and having scourged they will put Him to death, and the third day He will rise again. And they understood none of these things; and this spoken-word was hidden from them, and they knew not the things that were said.”

The Lord Jesus spoke these words to prepare His disciples for the things that were about to happen to Him. We will now consider the meaning of these prophetic words.

“For He will be delivered up to the Gentiles.” Remember who was the ruler of the people at that time; in order to be delivered to the people, first the Lord Jesus must be given into the hands of the ruler of the earth, and then they will make the Gentiles do their will to the beloved Son of God, in order for them not to feel guilty towards God because they are not the ones who mistreated the beloved Son of God. The way they disgraced the Lord Jesus was as if He was a criminal, but the beloved Son of God was willing to accept that treatment in order to turn around and save all humans on earth to be as His own people.
“They will put Him to death …” Death for the human body is a fearful thing even for the beloved Son of God Himself, but He knows perfectly well that in three days, He will rise again.
“And they understood none of these things …” When the beloved Son of God spoke to them about His death, this was according to the Father’s will, but the human mind would not be able to understand, even His own disciples; they were simple humans as well. The things that He had told them, for the human mind to understand, would not be revealed yet until He would explain to them in their hearts, not by human words but by the spiritual way only.

The Jews put the Lord Jesus on the cross with the help of the outsiders, but it was not the outsiders who accused the beloved Son of God; His own people were the ones who wanted to use the outsiders to kill the innocent Lamb of God. As shown in John 18:19, Pilate did not know the true accusation that the people of God brought before the outsiders to punish the innocent One and asked: “What accusation do you bring against this Man?”

Each Gospel presents some information related to the Lord Jesus’ trial, but to have a complete picture of the trial as given by all the Gospels, we need to combine all the events. To present a complete picture of the Lord Jesus’ trial, we follow the sequence of events as presented in the Gospel of Luke because we believe that the Gospel of Luke presents the events of the Lord’s ministry on earth in an orderly manner (See Comments Luke 1:3); then, based on this sequence, we can clearly connect all the events that took place during the Lord Jesus’ trial, as shown below.

  • Luke 22:63-65: The Lord Jesus was mocked by those that held Him (this happened when Jesus was taken from Annas and awaiting the council of the high priests and the elders to gather together at Caiaphas, the high priest; also, during this time was when Jesus looked at Peter when Peter denied Him).
  • Luke 22:66-71: The Lord Jesus was tried by the council of the Jews (the elders, chief priests, and the scribes).
  • Luke 23:1-2: The council of the Jews brought the Lord Jesus to Pilate and accused Him of “perverting our nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, and saying that He Himself is Christ a King” (See Comments John 18:2).
  • Luke 23:7-11: Herod questioned the Lord Jesus, and the chief priests and the scribes accused Him.
  • Luke 23:12-16: The Lord Jesus was returned to Pilate, but neither Pilate nor Herod found Him guilty.

The events recorded in the Gospels of John, Matthew, and Mark can now be aligned with the orderly sequence presented in the Gospel of Luke, as shown below.

  • John 18:24: The Lord Jesus was sent to Caiaphas, the high priest (the council of the Jews trial).
  • Matthew 27:1-2: The Lord Jesus was tried by the chief priests and the elders.
  • Matthew 27:11-14: The Lord Jesus was tried by Pilate and accused by the chief priests and the elders of the Jews.
  • Mark 15:1: The Lord Jesus was tried by the chief priests, the elders, and the scribes, and the whole council bound Him and sent Him to Pilate (the council of Jews trial).

Therefore, let us come in faith at the foot of the cross and ask forgiveness since the Bible tells us that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23-24). We must come to the Lord Jesus in faith, believe that He is the only Savior of the world and the only way to the Father (John 14:6), and ask Him to give us the promise of the Father (Luke 24:49) so we can understand the meaning of the cross and His sufferings, which He endured for our sins.

The Gospel passages that relate to this theme are listed below. Through the hyperlinks provided, you will find additional comments and explanations in our Bible Commentary Forever (BCF for short) work.

  • BCF Links in the Gospel of Matthew: Matthew 12:14 (The Pharisees make plans to destroy the Lord Jesus); Matthew 14:1-12 (John the Baptist is put into prison and then killed on account of his testimony); Matthew 23:33-39 (The children of God have persecuted, killed, and stoned many servants and prophets of the Lord; therefore, their house will remain desolate until they repent and accept the Son of God, the Lord Jesus); Matthew 26:3-5 (The chief priests and the elders take council to seize the Lord Jesus and kill Him); Matthew 26:14-16 (The betrayer plots to betray the Lord Jesus for money); Matthew 26:47-50 (The betrayer with a great multitude go and seize the Lord Jesus); Matthew 26:57-62 (The trial of the Lord Jesus at the high priest palace using false witnesses); Matthew 26:65-68 (The Jews accuse the Lord Jesus of blasphemy and deserving death; they mock and abuse Him); Matthew 27:1-10 (The Jews deliver the Lord Jesus to Pilate the governor; the word spoken through the prophet Jeremiah is fulfilled); Matthew 27:11-26 (Pilate and the Jews condemn the Lord Jesus to be crucified; they release a criminal instead of the sinless Lamb of God); Matthew 27:27-32 (The soldiers and the people mock and abuse the Lord; they crown Him with a crown of thorns and they take Him to be crucified).
  • BCF Links in the Gospel of Mark: Mark 3:6 (The Pharisees make plans to destroy the Lord Jesus); Mark 6:14-29 (John the Baptist is put into prison and then killed on account of his testimony); Mark 11:18 (The chief priests and the scribes seek to destroy the Lord Jesus); Mark 14:1-2 (The chief priests and the scribes seek to kill the Lord Jesus); Mark 14:10-11 (The betrayer plots to betray the Lord Jesus for money); Mark 14:43-50 (The betrayer with a multitude with swords and staves go and seize the Lord Jesus); Mark 14:53-60 (The trial of the Lord Jesus at the high priest house using false witnesses); Mark 14:63-65 (The Jews accuse the Lord Jesus of blasphemy and deserving death; they mock and abuse Him); Mark 15:1-15 (The Jews deliver the Lord Jesus to Pilate; Pilate and the Jews condemn the Lord Jesus to be crucified; they release a criminal instead of the sinless Lamb of God); Mark 15:16-21 (The soldiers and the people mock and abuse the Lord; they crown Him with a crown of thorns and they take Him to be crucified).
  • BCF Links in the Gospel of Luke: Luke 3:19-20 (John the Baptist is put into prison on account of his testimony); Luke 9:7-9 (John the Baptist is beheaded on account of his testimony); Luke 11:53-54 (The scribes and Pharisees seek to entrap the Lord Jesus in order to condemn Him); Luke 22:1-2 (The chief priests and the scribes seek how to put the Lord Jesus to death); Luke 22:3-6 (The betrayer plots to betray the Lord Jesus for money); Luke 22:47-48 (The Lord Jesus prays in a place at the Mount of Olives; the betrayer comes with a crowd to betray the Son of Man); Luke 22:52-54 (The chief priests, the captains of the temple, and the elders seize the Lord Jesus and take Him to the high priest house); Luke 22:63-66,71 (The men that held the Lord Jesus mock Him and beat Him and lead Him into their council to condemn Him); Luke 23:1-6 (The Jews deliver the Lord Jesus to Pilate and accuse Him of many things); Luke 23:7-12 (Pilate sends the Lord Jesus to Herod; the chief priests and the scribes vehemently accuse Him; they mock Him and send Him back to Pilate); Luke 23:13-25 (Pilate and the Jews condemn the Lord Jesus to be crucified; they release a criminal instead of the sinless Lamb of God).
  • BCF Links in the Gospel of John: John 5:15-16 (The Jews persecute the Lord Jesus for doing healings on the Sabbath); John 7:1 (The Jews seek to kill the Lord Jesus); John 7:32 (The chief priests and the Pharisees send officers in order to take the Lord Jesus); John 7:49-53 (The Jews plot to condemn the Lord Jesus; Nicodemus defends the Lord Jesus); John 8:41 (The Jews reject the Lord Jesus and deny His deity); John 9:17-23 (The Jews persecute those who would confess the Lord Jesus as the Christ); John 10:20-21 (Division arises on account of the Lord Jesus); John 10:39 (The Jews seek to seize the Lord Jesus, but are not able); John 11:46-50 (The chief priests and the Pharisees assembled a council to condemn the Lord Jesus to death, fearing the people might follow Him); John 11:53-57 (The chief priests and the Pharisees take council to seize and kill the Lord Jesus; the Lord Jesus does not walk openly among the Jews; the Jews give orders to people to report where He is); John 12:1,9-11 (The Lord Jesus is in Bethany; the Jews plot to kill Lazarus because the Lord raised him from the dead); John 14:29-32 (The dark does not know the salvation plan; the dark wants to destroy the Son of God with the help of humans); John 16:1-4 (The Lord Jesus’ disciples will face persecution because the world does not know the Father nor the Son); John 18:2-5 (The betrayer comes with a military guard and servants from the Jews to seize the Lord Jesus); John 18:10-14 (The military guard, the commander, and the servants of the Jews bind the Lord Jesus and take Him to the high priest house); John 18:22-23 (The officer of the high priest strikes the Lord Jesus with his hand); John 18:24 (Annas sends the Lord Jesus to Caiaphas the high priest); John 18:28-31,33-35 (The Jews send the Lord Jesus to the outsiders to be judged and put to death; Pilate questions the Lord Jesus); John 18:38-40 (The Jews ask Pilate to release a criminal and condemn the Lord Jesus to death); John 19:1-5 (The Lord Jesus is scourged, they put a crown of thorns on His head, and array Him in a purple robe; they mock Him and abuse Him); John 19:6-12 (The Jews ask Pilate to crucify the Lord Jesus because of His claim to be the Son of God; Pilate seeks to release the Lord Jesus); John 19:13-14 (Pilate judges the Lord Jesus at the place called the Stone Pavement).

2. Crucifixion and the Meaning of the Cross

When humans do not stay in prayer, they are easily controlled by the activity of the dark and lose focus of their God and Savior. The Lord Jesus took much abuse, mocking, and suffering from His capture until His death on the cross.

The Lord Jesus was accused of blasphemy (Mark 14:64) by His own chosen people, the Jews, and handed to the outsiders to be judged and put to death on the cross (Mark 15:1, John 18:28). During the Lord Jesus’ trial, the Jews cried out to Pilate, “If you release this Man, you are not a friend of Caesar,” who after hearing these words sat down on the judgment seat and judged the Lord Jesus (John 19:12-13). Moreover, the Bible tells us in John 19:15 that the Jews cried out, “Take away, take away, crucify Him! Pilate says to them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar.” Then, at the cross, to show people that the Lord Jesus deserved death, they crucified Him in between two criminals by piercing His body with nails to a wooden cross (Acts 2:23).

The Bible provides enough information for us to follow the timeline of the Lord Jesus’ trial and crucifixion (See Comments John 19:14). Specifically, the Gospels give us three precise times related to these events, which we present below using the Roman time method.

  • John 19:14 tells us the time when the Lord Jesus was tried and condemned by Pilate and the Jews at the Stone Pavement: “Now it was the day before the Sabbath of the Passover; the hour was even as the sixth” (6 am).
  • Mark 15:25 gives the time of the crucifixion as: “And it was the third hour, and they crucified Him” (9 a.m.).

Based on these time references, we can follow the sequence of the main events presented in the Gospels during the Lord Jesus’ trial and crucifixion. All these events took place on the day before the Sabbath of the Passover, which was a Friday.

  • The Lord Jesus was tried by the council of the Jews (the elders, chief priests, and the scribes) before 4 am (Luke 22:66-71); then they took Him to the Praetorium (John 18:28).
  • He was taken to Herod before 6 am and was questioned by Herod; the chief priests and the scribes accused Him (Luke 23:7-11); He was taken back to Pilate (Luke 23:12-16).
  • He was judged by Pilate at the Stone Pavement place around 6 am (John 19:13).
  • The Lord Jesus was crucified at 9 am (See Mark 15:25); the Lord Jesus was on the cross with two criminals on His side (Luke 23:32-33) and He was mocked on the cross by the soldiers and the people (Luke 23:34-43).

At the cross, humans enjoyed the show of seeing the Son of God being abused and tortured and showed no mercy to Him (Matthew 27:39-44), yet He showed His love and mercy to all humans by taking all the suffering and not calling His angels to destroy them (Matthew 26:53). While being mocked and abused and taken to the place of crucifixion, the place called the Skull, the Lord Jesus shows His great mercy on all humans by saying in Luke 23:34: “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. Then dividing His garments, they cast lots.”

We now comment on these loving words that the Lord Jesus left for all humans at the cross and on the action of the soldiers.

“Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” All believers should notice the loving heart of the beloved Son of God. Even in His most painful time in human form, even as the drops of blood are pouring down from His wounds, in His heart, and in His mind, all the Lord Jesus wants is for the Father to forgive them all because they have crucified all Three at this time. The Trinity has been crucified there on that cross.
“Then dividing His garments, they cast lots.” The greed of humans never ends, even for the garments of the dead one they cast lots to share, but as they shared the beloved Son of God’s garments, they all have shared the sin against God as well. As the verse says, they have shared His garments among them, and all who have part in this have equal sin as the one that has pierced the nails into His flesh, the unforgivable sin; they have shared part of it as they have cast lots upon His garments. One begotten Son the Father has, and He has been crucified. They follow orders, but when they share the garments, all responsibility for their own actions falls on them. Taking the garment off His body has exposed the nakedness of His body and brought shame to the dead one, and that is no different from piercing the nails into His flesh. As believers, we know as well that the beloved Son of God has been crucified, but He has never truly died. When they have taken His garments off, it is considered to disgrace Him because the beloved Son of God is always living. If you have disgraced Him in any way, you have done it to the Creator as well.

The Lord Jesus spoke about His coming death and His purpose in laying down His life before the events of the cross took place. To understand the meaning of the cross and its significance for humankind, we will comment on a passage of Scripture in John 10:14-18.

John 10:14: I am the good shepherd; and I know My own, and I am known by Mine.

Here, the beloved Son of God also has told all humans about one of His roles; He is the good shepherd, and He knows all His sheep, and at the same time, all His sheep recognize Him as well.
“And I am known by Mine.” One can ask how this knowledge can be. Think of yourself in this time as well; you know the beloved Son of God has died for you, and you are saved by His blood. In the same way, all His sheep know Him as all believers know their Savior.

John 10:15: Just as the Father knows Me, I also know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.

“Just as the Father knows Me …” The Father knows the beloved Son of God, and the beloved Son of God also knows the Father. Therefore, the Father knows that the beloved Son of God will do all His will. When the beloved Son of God came down on earth, in His human form, there was only one purpose of life He would want to do: to accomplish the work the Father has given to Him.
“I lay down My life for the sheep.” In order for the beloved Son of God to accomplish the work that the Father has given to Him, the beloved Son of God is willing to be crucified by the hand of the creatures that He has created because by laying down His life, He will save all the people that belong to Him, and the Father will do according to His (beloved Son) will as well.

John 10:16: And other sheep I have, which are not of this courtyard; and those it is necessary for Me to bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock, one shepherd.

The Lord talks about two sheep courtyards, one spoken of in John 10:1 and one in this verse. The first courtyard of the sheep is His people, who we call Jews, but the other courtyard of the sheep is all the Gentiles; the Gentiles with a heart for the Lord will also hear His calling. And they all will become one flock together when they both come at the foot of the cross, and both His people and the Gentiles become His children.
“And those it is necessary for Me to bring, and they will hear My voice.” Whoever is not in the flock yet and has realized that and accepts the Holy Bible as the true living Word of God, all these people the Lord will bring into His flock as well because they have accepted the true living Word of God: the ear of their soul will be open, and they will obey His teaching, and He will bring them into His flock.

John 10:17: Because of this, the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life, that I may take it again.

“Because of this, the Father loves Me …” This is the testimony of the beloved Son of God that even He came down to do the work for the Father, but to die on the cross also was His own will to do. It was not by force from the Father for Him to be crucified, but He Himself loves humans and wants to save them as well, so He laid down the human life in Him for all humans; God in human form has sacrificed the human form in Him to save all humans of this earth.
“I may take it again.” The beloved Son of God has been resurrected in human form as well because nothing that has been created will disappear. When the earth takes the punishment, no humans will be left again, but already there is One true human in heaven in the beloved Son of God Himself; His human body will be in heaven forever.
Also, the cross is essential for the resurrection; the beloved Son of God in human form must die on the cross because the humans will be the ones that have killed the human God, and also, humans will see that the human God has resurrected and went back to heaven as well. God in human form will not leave the human body on earth, but on judgment day, humans will see His human body and the damage of that body that happened under the humans’ hands. The picture of the Lord Jesus will be in front of their eyes; His broken body will appear on the judgment throne, and every eye will see what He had taken for all humans as punishment. This picture of the Lord Jesus’ body is vital to prove the resurrection of His body. If the Lord had merely vanished from the cross, we would not have the Gospel and the resurrection.

John 10:18: No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it again. This commandment I received from My Father.

“No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself.” When humans crucified the beloved Son of God, His last breath of life on earth, He was willing to give it away in order to save the humans; the last breath on earth hurt Him more than all the nail piercings on Him. If He did not give away the last breath on the cross at that moment, the humans would further destroy His body. Still, His earthly human body needs to remain to be used on the judgment day so that no soul can argue that God does not know the sufferings of humans when every soul will see His tortured body standing firm and judging them.
“But I lay it down of Myself.” People misunderstood the purpose when the Lord allowed humans to crucify the Lord Jesus on the cross. For the Lord Jesus, in the end, there was only one way, dying on the cross or escaping, but when the beloved Son of God was on the cross, He laid down His human life. For the Father to do the work and complete it, the Son of God must give up His human life to the Father, and when He has taken the last breath on earth, it is with His own will to depart from this earth in order to fulfill the work He has received from the Father. When the verse says, “I lay it down,” that also tells all humans that He allowed them to do to Him according to their will, but it was not His Own will to die, and He didn’t take His life by Himself; He gave it to the Father, but it was the humans’ will to see Him perish on the cross. Because the Lord Jesus is one hundred percent human as well, when any human has been put to be crucified, they will all die, so the beloved Son of God would not change the way humans would die. God never dies, but God in human form can die, which is also to prove to all humans that God knows what humans go through; even the death itself, God Himself has tasted it as well. The Lord Jesus spent time alone when God in human form died; He had gone to the death place where the Father can’t go since His glory will kill all the dead, but the beloved Son of God in human form could go to the death place.
“I have authority to lay it down.” To let go of His life in human form, it is in the Son of God’s own will to do so. He did not choose to change the event that would happen; if He wanted to continue life as a human on earth, the humans would not be able to pierce the nails through His body; even in human form, His power was still there as well with Him. Also, if He freezes time and frees Himself, it will not be a resurrection to save the souls; the resurrection must happen, and it happened with the will of the beloved Son of God to take the torture on Himself from the hand of the humans He has created.
“I have authority to take it again.” Now, the beloved Son of God is talking about the resurrection. The resurrection must happen to show humans that the way to be saved is only through the beloved Son of God. God that has tasted death knows full well the pain of death; the beloved Son of God in human form has tasted all humans’ sufferings, from birth to death. He has tasted it all for all humans, the birth as a human, growing up from baby until manhood, has received all suffering as humans have it, and died in the hands of humans. The beloved Son of God has done all, and all the feelings that He went through, the Father has gone through them as well; the Trinity of God has gone through the pain of death, through the death on the cross of the beloved Son of God in human form, and that is one of the reasons the Father listens when the beloved Son of God asks forgiveness for any human that sins.
“This commandment I received from My Father.” The beloved Son of God has received the commandment to be born as a human and die for humans as well. The Father Himself has a plan to save humans, not only to save them alone but also the Father has the will to forgive them through the love of the beloved Son of God; the Father will do all things for Him as well. The Father has given the commandment to find the way to save humans, and the beloved Son of God has obeyed the commandment and has come down to be a human and die for humans; the Father has commanded His Son Jesus to save the humans, that is the commandment of the Father.

To gain a fuller understanding of the cross and its significance for humankind, we will now comment on another passage of Scripture in John 19:36-37.

John 19:36: For these things came to pass, so that the Scripture might be fulfilled, Not one bone of Him will be broken.

“For these things came to pass, so that the Scripture might be fulfilled.” Therefore, when the Father has said something, all things must happen. The Father has already told all humans that we all belong to Him and that He will take us to Himself, but in order for us to be able to go to Him, the beloved Son of God must be born as a human and be crucified by humans, and the beloved Son of God must rise from the dead in the human body, in order for humans to be able to go to the Father through the beloved Son of God in human form, and all Scripture must be fulfilled as well, only through Him all can reach the Father.
“Not one bone of Him will be broken.” This verse in John is linked to Exodus 12:46, Numbers 9:12, and Psalm 34:20. These are correct links because for the Passover Lamb of God, the bones shall not be broken, and the beloved Son of God is the Passover Lamb of God, the sacrifice for all humans; the death on the cross of the beloved Son of God is a sacrifice to the Holy Father with the Holy Lamb, only through the Holy Lamb that sacrifice can reach the throne of the Father and the time of sacrifice has come to an end because the Holy Lamb of God has been sacrificed on the cross.
Exodus 12:46: “In one house shall it be eaten; you shall not carry out any of the flesh outside of the house; neither shall you break a bone thereof.”
Numbers 9:12: “They shall leave none of it to the morning, nor break a bone thereof, according to all the statute of the Passover they shall keep it.”
Psalm 34:20: “He keeps all his bones, not one of them is broken.”
One could ask what this command means about the Passover lamb not having the bones broken. This is an old law that the Father has given to His children, but the old law has linked to the new law that will fulfill the old law and bring the completion of the old law by the perfect sacrifice of the beloved Son of God; the beloved Son of God who is crucified on the cross, has become the Holy Lamb for the Father, and this Holy Lamb is the perfect sacrifice offered for the Father: this Lamb is the beloved Son of God which has been crucified on the cross, and none of His bones shall be broken; the lamb offering for the Passover, has a link to the beloved Son of God which has been crucified, and no bones of this lamb shall be broken as well.

John 19:37: And again another Scripture says, They will look on Him whom they pierced.

This verse also tells what will happen to the beloved Son of God when they have crucified Him on the cross; even though He has already given up the last breath of life as a human, the human still pierced Him. The last wound they have given to the beloved Son of God also has turned to be the mocking wound for His children; when they have looked upon the beloved Son of God on the cross, they all will remember as well, the last stroke on Him was to make sure that the beloved Son of God is truly dead.
“They will look on Him whom they pierced.” When anyone has looked at that piercing of the beloved Son of God, because of the heart that is doubting, they will always have one conclusion: that He is not who He claims to be because He has allowed Himself to be tortured by the outsiders; regardless of the purpose He has on earth, as the beloved Son of God He should not allow them to pierce His side, He did not show His power in stopping any harm for Himself, this wound has become the mocking issue that the outsiders have made when His people have shown that He is the Son of God; in the eyes of the outsiders if He truly is the Son of God the one that pierced Him should drop dead at His feet as well. Even nowadays, if you look at the cross and in your heart, you have thought that the story regarding the beloved Son of God who died on the cross is just a story, and do not believe the truth that the Holy Bible is the living Word of God that has been given to humans, that person has made that piercing become fresh again, and the suffering of the beloved Son of God, has never ended yet because He gave His human life for all humans. Here, we need to make a difference between this comment and the comment in John 19:38. What we have said here is not that the wound becomes fresh, but that the painful feeling when He received the piercing reoccurs in His heart as that piercing has become fresh again, even though His flesh is different now, but the feeling as a human has occurred as He has been pierced over again. Also, in John 19:38 we comment, “He was the perfect sacrifice and the pain of the nails on the cross cannot happen again after His resurrection.”
“They” in this verse refers to those that were involved in piercing Him, not only the ones that pierced but the ones who agreed that it was the right wound to give to end the claim of a man that He as a man is a Son of God; the reader must look at it both ways, in the eyes of believers and in the eyes of outsiders; their understanding about the cross is different as it goes in parallel, they have no point where they join together. But the one that agrees that this is the right wound that it also involved straight in the time that the beloved Son of God has been on the cross Himself, that piercing has covered the future mind of humans and the way of life nowadays has made them see and think that they don’t need that piercing, but it is enough only that He has been crucified; the piercing is just to make sure that He truly died for the ruler of that time alone; but for people nowadays that piercing is for those in that time, the last wound does not include the sin nowadays anymore. However, because of the sins nowadays that have made that piercing happen, the sin of the past time leading it to happen, but the sins of nowadays are also involved in making it happen; you cannot truly separate them out. So, the “they” in this verse refers to all humans, past and future, for those that believe or not, and all of us are responsible for these wounds, but some will look to the wounds for salvation and some for mocking.
Because of that piercing, in the future, humans will be saved as well because of the blood and the water that have flown from that wound; the past and the future have become tangled together. In the past, people have been saved because they have seen and heard the beloved Son of God's teaching, and they have given their hearts in trusting and believing that truly He is the beloved Son of God; people in the future that have looked upon the cross, without seeing the beloved Son of God on it, if in their hearts have sensed the thought that the beloved Son of God truly has been crucified on the cross and have given the complete trust to the cross of the beloved Son of God as the way to be saved, they will have a chance to join the beloved Son of God in His kingdom.
The piercing wound on the side of the Lord Jesus also has significance beyond the event itself. Thinking about the wounds and the suffering of the Lord Jesus on the cross, we also comment in John 19:34, “The wounds from the nails spiritually represent the sins until the time of His death, but the last piercing wound spiritually represents the sins of the future which will be washed away through the beloved Son of God’s shed blood and water.” This comment applies to the believers, but when the outsiders look at this wound, it becomes the opposite meaning; the outsiders believe they won because the heart of outsiders is full of wickedness and murder in their souls; when they saw the beloved Son of God died on the cross, they believe it to be a trophy for themselves against His children. Therefore, the outsiders and the believers have opposite hearts in looking at the death of the beloved Son of God; if in your heart you have faith, you will see the love and mercy of the Father through the death of the beloved Son of God on the cross.
This verse also links to Revelation 1:7 and Psalm 22:16.
Revelation 1:7: “Behold, He comes with the clouds; and every eye will see Him, and they that pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth shall mourn over Him. Even so, Amen.” This verse in Revelation talks straight about the second return of the beloved Son of God; every eye that sees Him will also see the wounds of His body from all the torture He has received, and the last wound on His human body will still look fresh as it has just happened. Therefore, all human eyes that look upon the beloved Son of God and see His wounds will realize from the deepest of their soul that that wound is for them, and their sins have been upon the wound of the beloved Son of God's human body, just come to Him and admit your sins, and give thanks and glory to the beloved Son of God for receiving all these wounds for them as a payment to the Father.
Psalm 22:16: “For dogs have surrounded me, a company of evildoers have enclosed me; They pierced my hands and my feet.” “Dogs” here refers to the outsiders and those that consider themselves righteous by blaming the beloved Son of God that He has claimed Himself to be the Son of Man, and also to the people of God who have betrayed the God of their fathers and took side with the outside leaders and the power of humans and believe these have more power than the God of their forefathers.

When considering the meaning of the cross of the Lord Jesus, one might ask how to understand the existence of evil in the world and that a Holy God allowed evil to exist. When the Father has created all His angels, He also gives them a free choice: they can stay and be faithful to Him, or they can rebel against Him. We as humans have free choice as well. The Lord Jesus has free choice to do His will on earth, but He chose to do the Father’s will always, which is why He is the obedient Son of God. The Bible says that the beloved Son of God is the obedient Son, and that is why He could save humans (Hebrews 5:8). We all should take His example and obey God the Father by humbly coming at the foot of the cross and make peace with God in the name of His beloved Son, Jesus Christ.

Below, we highlight all the Gospel passages that relate to this theme. Through the hyperlinks provided, you will find more comments and explanations in our Bible Commentary Forever (BCF for short) work.

  • BCF Links in the Gospel of Matthew: Matthew 27:33-44 (The Lord Jesus is crucified between two robbers; the soldiers abuse the Lord Jesus, and the people mock deride Him).
  • BCF Links in the Gospel of Mark: Mark 15:22-32 (The Lord Jesus is crucified between two robbers; the soldiers abuse the Lord Jesus, and the people mock and deride Him).
  • BCF Links in the Gospel of Luke: Luke 23:26, 32-33, 35-39 (The Lord Jesus is led away to be crucified; they crucify Him between two criminals at the place called The Skull; the rulers scoff at Him, and one of the criminals rails on Him; the soldiers mock and abuse Him).
  • BCF Links in the Gospel of John: John 19:21-23 (The Lord Jesus is crucified; the soldiers divide His clothes); John 19:25 (The Lord Jesus is on the cross; the disciples and women stand by His cross).

3. Death and Burial

The Bible tells us that the Lord Jesus endured suffering and abuse until His last breath on the cross. The Lord Jesus obeyed the Father’s commandment until the end and fulfilled the Scripture in all things. The death of the Lord Jesus on the cross and His burial are fundamental to understanding God’s salvation plan and having a solid doctrinal faith in the deity and bodily resurrection of the Son of God, the Lord Jesus. To understand better the death of the Lord Jesus and how He fulfilled the Scripture as the Son of God, we will study the Gospel passage found in John 19:28-34, where we can follow the suffering that He endured on the cross until He yielded up His Spirit.

John 19:28: After this, Jesus knowing that all things now have been finished, so that the Scripture might be fulfilled, says, I thirst.

“After this, Jesus knowing that all things now have been finished.” The time for His departure has come, and the beloved Son of God has already seen the future regarding Himself. After He has given the duty to His disciple regarding His earthly mother, the beloved Son of God also knows that His duty towards His earthly family has also been fulfilled. When His disciple has agreed to take care of His earthly mother, the beloved Son of God also comes to the point that He Himself will also depart from the earth. His time to do the Father’s work as a human on earth has ended. He has fulfilled all the duties that He has received from the Father according to save all the chosen ones and also has taught the disciples how to worship the Father and to whom they can turn for help. When the beloved Son of God returns to the Father, the Holy Spirit will be the true Teacher for all the disciples’ questions; if they need help, they all know that the Holy Spirit will be with them and help them.
“So that the Scripture might be fulfilled, says, I thirst.” When the beloved Son of God said, “I thirst,” in His heart, He knew they would give Him the sour wine (vinegar) to drink. The sour wine from the grapefruit will be the last earthly thing that the beloved Son of God will take in His body because now He will return to heaven in His human body. The last thing His human body could take and have was the fruit of grape wine juice, which the beloved Son of God has done to fulfill the last duty of His human form by taking the sour wine in His human body with Him. This sour wine was made from grape juice, but it is not pure grape juice as it should be because it was also mixed with gall and spices, which changed the taste of the grape to be not only sour but bitter as well. So this was part of the torture that the beloved Son of God would take for the last thing as human.

John 19:29: There was set a vessel full of sour wine; therefore, having filled a sponge with sour wine, having put it on a stock of hyssop, they brought it to the mouth.

• Psalm 69:21 says, “They gave me also gall for my food; And in my thirst, they gave me vinegar to drink.” Give attention to the word gall; it is not food for humans or any human to eat; this verse tells the suffering of death the person will receive, alive but eat this food, the feeling of suffering will make the person wish they had never been born, it is the high point of suffering to eat this food. The vessel full of this sour wine had a mixture of this gall in it, which is why it was set close to the place to crucify the prisoners (See Comments Matthew 27:48-49, Mark 15:36).
Luke 23:36 says, “And the soldiers also mocked Him, coming near, offering Him sour wine.” The offering of this sour wine happened more times while Jesus was on the cross, which is part of the torture. When they crucified the beloved Son of God, their purpose was to torture Him as much as possible, and this drink was one of the torturing ways; they had offered to sip this drink more often, and the thirst that occurs after drinking this drink will be stronger than normal; the throat would be dry and hurtful, the part of gall and spices that was mixed into it will create the suffering time for those that drink, and they want this to happen with the beloved Son of God as well.
“There was set a vessel full of sour wine.” This sour wine is a grape juice mixture; the drink of this mixture will be for torture but not for helping with the thirsty feeling. No one will drink this mixture, but only the prisoners will take it; this had a name to call “the suffering juice” and was set up when they crucified any prisoner they had.
“Therefore, having filled a sponge with sour wine, having put it on a stock of hyssop, they brought it to the mouth.” This act is one of many times that they offered this drink to the prisoners that were crucified; when bleeding, the thirst would come, and this juice would make the prisoners have no peace to take a rest; the torturing will continue to do, even before the prisoner would die, and the beloved Son of God has received the human way of torture; other humans cannot understand, because this juice was given only to those that were sentenced to death, the rest of humans which were not punished to death would not taste this juice.

John 19:30 When Jesus therefore had received the sour wine, He said, It is finished. And having bowed the head, He yielded up the Spirit.

“When Jesus therefore had received the sour wine, He said, It is finished.” When the beloved Son of God received the last torture from human hands, this also showed that He had completed the work for the Father; He had come on earth to save humans, but in return, He has received from humans that He came to save the last torture of His human breath on earth. The beloved Son of God has come down to save humans, and through His death on the cross, it is the only true saving way for all humans in every generation. The only way the Father will listen to humans is through the voice of the beloved Son begging for mercy for the soul that has come to accept that the beloved Son of God has been sacrificed for their own sins; the beloved Son of God has fulfilled the work on earth to keep those that believe in Him from the eternal punishment from the Father.
“And having bowed the head, He yielded up the Spirit.” When the beloved Son of God has bowed His head to accept the death in the human body and has yielded up His Spirit back to the Father, right away at that moment the Father has received the Spirit of Christ into His bosom, the Father also has felt the pain that the beloved Son has endured while on the cross; when the beloved Son of God has yielded up His Spirit to the Father, in that moment the Father’s heart also was broken, the beloved Son of God in human form has died in humans’ hands that He has come to save, it is the most sad thing for heaven.
• During the Lord Jesus’ life on earth, He was one hundred percent human; the body, the soul, and the spirit of the Lord Jesus cannot be separated; they are one as a unity because He is human. Now, the Lord Jesus is in heaven in His bodily form, but now, with the power of the Father, the beloved Son’s Spirit can separate and come on earth for work; the Spirit of Christ is on earth according to the Father’s will Himself as well. In the same way, as the Holy Spirit, which is the Spirit of the Father, works on earth, the beloved Son of God’s Spirit works on earth as well, and this shows the true God and human features that the beloved Son of God has. (See also Comments Luke 23:46, Matthew 27:50, Mark 15:37.)

John 19:31: The Jews therefore, because it was the day before the Sabbath, so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that day before the Sabbath was ending), asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and they might be taken away.

This verse tells all readers about the old law the Father gave to His people. But, still, they also have to think as well that when someone has been punished in this way (by hanging on a tree), that person must sin against God, and then that rule must be fulfilled; as the next verse tells, they broke the legs of the prisoners to make sure that in case of not completely dead yet, their body might not be able to get up, for the law of the Father must be fulfilled, the person must be completely dead before the big day of the worship festival; they broke the leg bones to induce further pain, and so that their body would not get up; if it is as in human term would say shocking them; when you break the legs it will create that shock and make the body respond, but if the body has completely died already will not react to that shock, and that is the reason they have asked to break the legs of prisoners.
Deuteronomy 21:22-23 says, "And if a man has committed a sin worthy of death, and he be put to death, and you hang him on a tree; his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall surely bury him the same day; for he that is hanged is accursed of God; that you defile not your land which Jehovah Thy God gives you for an inheritance."
The majority do understand that Deuteronomy 21:22-23 relates to this verse in John, but the Deuteronomy verses, in reality, do not apply to the Lord Jesus because the beloved Son of God did not commit the sin worthy of death, which is why the verses do not apply to Him. But His people have applied this old law by breaking the legs of the prisoners. Still, when they came to the beloved Son of God, His face had already shown that He had lost all the blood from the body and had no human life left in Him, so the procedure to deal with the body of the beloved Son of God will be different than others. The internal blood will still be there, but the flowing blood of the body has already flown out.
Galatian 3:13 says, "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us; for it is written, Cursed is every one that is hanged on a tree."
The beloved Son of God has taken all the punishment for humans, and the curse of the Father’s law has fallen upon Him as well; for that reason, the beloved Son of God has become the only way for humans to be set free from the punishment of the Father when the beloved Son of God has redeemed that person from the punishment because the beloved Son of God has received the punishment of that curse upon Himself already.

John 19:32: The soldiers therefore came, and broke indeed the legs of the first, and of the other who was crucified with Him,

John 19:33: and having come to Jesus, when they saw Him having been dead already, they did not break His legs:

When they looked upon the face of the beloved Son of God, His face did not show signs of pain or any reaction of hurt. The face of the beloved Son of God was as of a man falling asleep, but the soldiers also gave attention to the color of the skin, and they saw His face without blood, and also on the ground, they saw the blood of the beloved Son of God all over around the cross. Therefore, they were confident that the beloved Son of God truly died already; the prisoners on the cross, if not dead, their face would always show no peace but pain. But the beloved Son of God’s face had not shown the pain of suffering, so the conclusion has been made that He has died already, and they did not need to break His legs.

John 19:34: but one of the soldiers with a spear pierced His side, and immediately came out blood and water.

“But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced His side.” Give attention to what the verse tells; the beloved Son of God, even though they have seen He was already dead, they still pierced Him with the weapon. The heavy sins of the world have come upon the beloved Son of God to carry them with Him; even after He has already given the last breath of life, they still wanted to make sure that He will not be able to survive by any chance if they take Him down from the cross, the shock of the body will not occur on Him. The injury of His body in this time also has told the whole world that by His own crucified body, all the sins of the world will also enter into the last wound humans gave Him. This action of this soldier has occurred to make sure that all spiritual meaning of the wounds that the beloved Son of God has received will pay for all the sins that will occur after His death as well. The wounds from the nails spiritually represent the sins until the time of His death, but the last piercing wound spiritually represents the sins of the future, which will be washed away through the beloved Son of God’s shed blood and water. The suffering of the Lord Jesus on the cross paid for all the sins of the world, past, present, and future. However, only the believers coming after the Lord Jesus’ death on the cross will be baptized in His shed blood and water from His wounds.
“And immediately came out blood and water.” The pouring of blood and water is the confirmation of the blood to wash the sins away and that the water from the beloved Son of God’s body also has covered everyone that comes to take water baptism in the name of the Trinity of God. Still, this baptism must be done in the name of the Father, of the Son Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Spirit; in order to be a complete water baptism, the baptism must also say out loud specifically the Trinity of God. The last blood from inside the beloved Son of God, when it has poured out to the earth, has received the sins of the earth for all that have accepted His blood for cleansing, deep from the soul until outside, and the water from inside the beloved Son of God will be in all the water baptism of the believers to cleanse the outside as well. The blood of the Lord Jesus will clean within, and the water will clean the outside, so let all readers remember as well that the beloved Son of God received this death from the human hands for our souls so that we can be in front of the Father to receive the Father’s mercy. To cleanse within means cleansing of the soul, and to cleanse outside means cleansing of the human flesh.
See also Comments Mark 16:12-13 and Comments Matthew 26:27-28.

After the Lord Jesus yielded up His Spirit on the cross, His earthly body was taken down and placed in a new tomb, which was sealed with a large rock and guarded with a guard (Matthew 27:66). The Gospel of John 19:38-42 reveals the events that took place after the Lord Jesus yielded up His Spirit, from the taking down of His body from the cross until His burial in the new tomb. We now comment on these verses in John and their significance for the death and burial of the Lord Jesus.

John 19:38: Then after these things, Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, however, hiding for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus; and Pilate gave permission. Therefore, he came and took away His body.

“Therefore, he came and took away His body.” Now, we all can notice someone else with a heart of concern regarding leaving the body of the beloved Son of God on the cross for people to see the rotten body of the beloved Son of God because he did not know that the Lord would rise up from the dead. By taking the beloved Son’s body away from the cross, Joseph himself has done a good job for all humans because when he put the Lord Jesus’ body in the tomb, nobody needed to see what could happen; the Holy Bible also does not give details of how His body rose up and what had truly happened with the wounds. When the human body rose up with those wounds, it would need the work of the Father regarding rising up the beloved Son of God and taking Him back to heaven where He belongs (See Comments Matthew 28:2-7).
The Lord Jesus predicted that He would rise from the dead after three days (Matthew 12:40, John 2:19-21). The body of the Lord Jesus had to be taken away from the cross and be placed in a tomb because the Lord Jesus must rise in the human body first; if He were to rise from the dead in the human body while nailed to the cross, He would feel pain again and suffer the second time on the cross again, and that cannot happen again, since He already made the full payment for the sins of the world on the cross and suffered and died. He was the perfect sacrifice, and the pain of the nails on the cross cannot happen again after His resurrection. For this, think as well how the human body can come down from the cross; Jesus’ body must remain as the human body; if the beloved Son of God is still on the cross to rise up from the dead, His human body will be transformed, and that cannot happen; because the beloved Son of God must rise up in the human body first and cannot be in the heavenly body to rise up. The heavenly body, when transformed, will create many things that happen. However, if that body were to be nailed on the cross, it would create limitations for that human body even if that body itself is the body of the beloved Son of God in human form because He is in human form, the way to rise up from the dead still has to be in the body that is completely attached, all parts one to another; if the beloved Son of God was still on the cross when He would rise up from the dead, His human body will be damaged further and create further pain and that it cannot be as well. To take down the human body of the Lord Jesus from the cross without the proper way could create damage, and tearing the Lord Jesus’ body was not an option; the body of the beloved Son of God cannot have more wounds than how He received until this point, there were enough wounds for the body already, His suffering was completed.
There is no such thing as God the Father being unable to touch the cross and take His Son out of the cross, but the beloved Son in heavenly form cannot have the nails pierced through; He must be off the cross before rising up. When Joseph took down the body of the beloved Son of God, many people at that time also saw that He was truly a human and died. So also, when Joseph took the body to bury Him, every heart came to the same point that the beloved Son of God was truly dead now on earth; however, when He rose up and came out from the cave after being buried, every heart had a different impact on it.
The Lord Jesus’ body must remain as a human body on the cross in order to complete the suffering and carry the sins of the world. People, not just then but now as well, if the beloved Son of God had risen on the cross, everyone would think there was no pain for Him to be crucified on the cross. Still, the truth is that when the nails pierced through His skin, the pain that He endured was more than the criminals beside Him had endured; the criminals carried their own actions, but the beloved Son of God carried the sins of the world on those wounds. Hence, the torture feeling for Him was greater than a normal human would have.
In conclusion, the Lord Jesus’ human body had to be taken down from the cross first, and then that body would rise and be covered by His heavenly body because His human body must be taken to heaven as a human body (See Comments Mark 16:12-13). Being in the tomb, the Lord Jesus rose in the palm of the Father (See Comments Matthew 28:2-7). When the Father came, He came in a different dimension; with the Father, nothing can block His hand.

John 19:39: And also came Nicodemus, who at first came to Him by night, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred litras.

Nicodemus was not the one to be put up front in doing the burial, he came as a helper only.
“Bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred litras.” He will use this mixture only for wrapping the body outside; before wrapping the body with a linen cloth, the spices will be put against the body, but nothing has been put inside the body. This is a traditional mixture they have used for burial. However, Mary did the true anointing of the Lord Jesus’ body for burial (John 12:2-3). The beloved Son of God also said that what Mary did was considered preparing His body for burial. But we must see the difference. She did put on Him perfume but not burial spices; this was a perfume of love and respect that the beloved Son of God has received in order to prepare His body for burial, but at Mary’s time, the beloved Son of God was still alive on earth, so this perfume has become the perfume of love and respect towards the beloved Son of God.

John 19:40: Then, they took the body of Jesus, and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as the custom of the Jews is to prepare for burial.

When they took the body of the beloved Son of God down from the cross, they also had their own way of preparing His body; they must wrap around the body with spices, and after that, use linen cloths to hold the spices in place; this was the custom of the people in that time regarding the burial; otherwise, the body will have the smell of decay occur. However, these spices will help the odor not be that strong, but they did not touch the body of the beloved Son of God in another way; His body did not receive any cuts to open it as normally would be done for a complete procedure; by the custom, they would cut open a body and stuff the spices inside, but with the beloved Son of God, they had not enough time to do that, so they only wrapped around the body as the custom was without stuffing anything inside (See Comments John 12:2).
Furthermore, in Matthew 27:59, the verse says, “And Joseph took the body, and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth.” Therefore, as the Bible tells us, Joseph just wrapped the body of the Lord Jesus in a cloth, and he did not do any special burial or ceremony. At that time, the body had to be prepared for burial, and it was a long and costly preparation. However, he had no time to do it, so he just wrapped the Lord Jesus’ body and had to place the body in the tomb before the Preparation Day ended (before the Sabbath started). The first day of the Passover feast was Preparation Day; the Jews used this day to prepare a place to host the Passover. When the Passover is finished, the rest is the preparation for cleaning; what belongs to the Passover cannot be further used, and everything must be cleaned. Many traditions apply to this, and if you are not a Jew, you will never understand the traditions. All the things used for the Passover must be put away separately because, according to Jewish tradition, all the things belonging to Passover are not to be used in daily life. (Note that there is a difference between the Passover itself, eaten on Thursday at twilight, and the Passover feast held on the Sabbath).

John 19:41: Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new tomb in which was no one yet laid.

This verse clearly tells that in this garden, there was a new tomb that no one had laid there yet because this is truly Joseph’s tomb itself, which he prepared for himself for burial. So, Joseph gave up this new tomb so that the beloved Son of God’s body could rise out of that tomb.
As the verse tells, in the place where the beloved Son of God was crucified, there was a garden, and in this garden, there was a new tomb that the owner had made and left it there without using. So, we can use the term that this was an abandoned new tomb left there without use, but the beloved Son of God has been crucified close by, so they laid His body in this new tomb. However, because another Gospel tells us that this is Joseph’s tomb, which he had prepared, and because he was still alive, the tomb has not been used. The beloved Son of God has been crucified close by, as the Bible has told, so Joseph has given up his new tomb for the Lord, and that is the place where the beloved Son of God’s body has been buried.

John 19:42: In that place therefore, on account of the day before the Sabbath of the Jews, because the tomb was near, they laid Jesus.

The beloved Son of God, the Holy Lamb of the Lord, has been crucified as an offering to the Father; the Sabbath has come, and the Holy Lamb of God has been crucified as an offering to glorify the Father in heaven, the tomb is close by, and the Holy Lamb of God has been laid to rest in that tomb.

After the Lord Jesus’ body had been laid in the tomb, the Sabbath passed, and the events of the resurrection morning began. So, in Matthew 28:1, Mark 16:1-2, and Luke 24:1, we are told that after the Sabbath, some women came to the tomb of the Lord Jesus to anoint His body, following the Jewish tradition. However, the Lord Jesus rose early in the morning before they arrived at the tomb. The Father knows all things, and the body of the beloved Son of God was already anointed at Bethany for burial by Mary, the sister of Lazarus (John 12:2). This event is important in itself as the body of the Lord Jesus could not be cut for any type of embalmment. The Lord Jesus’ body could not be anointed during the Passover festival; the anointing cannot be done during the Passover time. During that time, to prepare the body, they must cut open the body to remove the internals. However, those things cannot be done for the beloved Son of God’s body because He will have risen in that body. Therefore, the marks on His body have only the nails pierced and the chest pierced by the soldier’s spear; His body has not been opened up for treatment. By tradition, at that time, they stuffed the body with spices, but for the beloved Son of God, His body must be clean, so no one did any tradition (cutting) on His body; they only wrapped it in a linen cloth (Matthew 27:58-60) with spices on the body but not inside the body (John 19:38-42).

Cutting the body for embalmment requires more extended time, but the Lord’s body was not prepared that way. The spices were put only outside the body; they did not put spices inside the body of the Lord. Therefore, the Lord’s body has not been touched that way. The faithful one (Joseph of Arimathea) only wrapped His body in cloth and did not have much time to prepare it internally.

Mary, the blessed woman, prepared the beloved Son of God’s body by anointing Him with costly perfume. That is the thing the beloved Son of God has the pleasure of receiving from a human’s hand, and Mary was the tool the Father used in anointing the beloved Son of God. Moreover, the anointing she has done is considered a burial preparation for the beloved Son of God (John 12:7). For the time when the beloved Son of God departs from the earth, the Father has appointed already what can be done and what cannot upon the heart of the person that the Father will work with, and the beloved Son of God followed; no preparation has been done. Mary had a loving heart toward the beloved Son of God, and the Father used her to anoint the beloved Son of God’s body before His burial. There was no special reason to make the anointing before or later; it is just upon the heart of people, the right time, and the right person with whom the Father chooses to work.

We encourage all readers to meditate day and night on the Word of God with the help of the Holy Spirit, stay firm in their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and not let the dark put any stain on the Lord Jesus’s burial and bodily resurrection.

Below, we highlight all the Gospel passages that relate to this theme. Through the hyperlinks provided, you will find more comments and explanations in our Bible Commentary Forever (BCF for short) work.

  • BCF Links in the Gospel of Matthew: Matthew 27:57-66 (Joseph of Arimathea buries the Lord Jesus in his own new tomb and rolls a great stone at the entrance; the Jews make the tomb secure by sealing the stone and putting a guard of soldiers there); Matthew 28:11-15 (The lie of the betrayers about the body of the Lord Jesus).
  • BCF Links in the Gospel of Mark: Mark 15:42-47 (Joseph of Arimathea buries the Lord Jesus in his own new tomb and rolls a great stone at the entrance; some women beheld where He was laid).
  • BCF Links in the Gospel of Luke: Luke 23:50-56 (Joseph of Arimathea buries the Lord Jesus in his own new tomb; some women see the tomb and how His body was laid and go and prepare spices and ointments for Him).
  • BCF Links in the Gospel of John: John 19:38-42 (Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus bind the body of the Lord Jesus in linen cloth and spices and place Him in a new tomb).

Conclusions

In conclusion, we present the main topic of “Teachings About the Cross of the Lord Jesus: Persecution, Betrayal, Trial, Suffering, Crucifixion, Death, and Burial,” which we divided into three themes. Each theme presents an essential aspect of the main topic. The events covering this topic are spread throughout the four Gospels and seem difficult for the human mind to understand, as well as to have a clear picture of all that happened at the trial and the cross of the Lord Jesus. As followers of the Lord Jesus, we are responsible for meditating on the entire Bible and believe that the Bible, in its original writing, is dictated by the Holy Spirit word by word, and there are no errors in the Bible. We must look to the Bible from the position that the Bible is the true Holy Word of God, and we should not try to find mistakes in the Bible but rather try to understand the Bible and try to make everything fit spiritually by praying to the Lord for understanding. Also, passages that seem difficult to understand or seem to have contradictions, we must treat with humble hearts and pray for deeper understanding; we must know that the Lord wants us to meditate on His Word and ask His mercy to reveal to us the meaning; but we always need to go to Him in faith and with a humble heart, not with a critical judging heart.

The Bible is from the Father; what the Father has seen has not happened yet; when the Father gives the words to write down in the Bible, it will link from all directions, sometimes the things in the future will be put first, and when talking about the present will refer to both the past and the future. Still, for humans to understand, everyone must read the Bible, meditate, and ask for understanding. The Father will give the Holy Spirit to help and guide the person’s heart and receive understanding when that person meditates. Therefore, the Bible cannot be understood by scholarly study and research but by meditation and the Holy Spirit’s guidance. For God, there is no time; all things happened already before His eyes, so the order of the events doesn’t matter; they all happened already. That is why when the Father gives the Bible to the writers, many events are not placed in their timely order as fitting for the human mind but in the order of His will; the Bible has told us that He does what He pleases.

In this study, in addition to presenting general comments related to the persecution, betrayal, trial, suffering, crucifixion, death, and burial of the Lord Jesus, we also provide, based on our understanding, an orderly account of the events related to the trial of the Lord Jesus and the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus by placing them in a human-time manner so it is easier for the human mind to relate what happened with the Lord Jesus from the moment of His capture until His body was put in the tomb.

We encourage everyone to stay firm on the deity of the Lord Jesus and uphold His death in the human body and His bodily resurrection as presented by the Holy Word of God. The Lord Jesus is the Son of God and the Son of Man, and God of the Trinity, and He came to earth to fulfill the Father’s will for humans, and He will return on the clouds with great power and glory (Matthew 24:30).

Meditation Tasks:

  1. Meditate on the cross of the Lord Jesus and its significance for our salvation.

All meditation blog posts

Bible Commentary Forever Ministries