Holy Week; Good Friday

18 April

The Crucifixion

Arrest of JesusWhile we have some great articles on our site that talk about Easter and Holy Week, today I wanted to just point out the timeline of what took place and add a few items of interest that haven’t been touched upon in the other articles.

Let’s begin with a review –

The Passover Meal began immediately after sundown. Also look at yesterday’s post about Judas’ betrayal.

Upon the advent of Jesus’ arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane He is taken through six court hearings.  Three of those were held by Jewish leaders and three by the Romans.  Pilate’s compromise with the leaders led nowhere fast, thus his final decision to have the Lord crucified. See our article Final Week of Jesus

Jesus on CrossAfter the illegal hearings, they cart Him off and force Him to carry His cross to Golgotha, the place of the skulls. Upon His arrival He was crucified.  Remember, the Jewish 3rd hour is 9 a.m. by Roman standards.

Mark 15:25, 33, 37-38; “And it was the third hour, and they crucified him. 33 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? 37 And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost. 38 And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom.”

Luke 23:44-46; “And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour.45 And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst.46 ¶ And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.”

Once again another prophecy was fulfilled, this time through the mouth of Amos who lived in the 8th Century BC.

Amos 8:9; “And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord GOD, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day.”

I’d be remiss without mentioning one of my all time favorite chapters of the Bible; Isaiah 53;

“1 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?

2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.

3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

4 ¶ Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

5 But 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.

6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.

8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.

9 And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.

10 ¶ Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.

11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.

12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.”

The list of prophecies fulfilled can keep one busy for a great length of time and I don’t want to disparage what the Good Book says, but I also want us to examine some of the other interesting facts of Good Friday!

Shofar2Shofars (shophars) were the trumpets blown at the feasts and festivals God ordained. At the time the rams or lambs were slaughtered for sin (3 PM) on the most holy day of Passover, the trumpets or shofars would be blown during the entire ceremony.

At the same time this was taking place Jesus was being crucified! 2 Chronicles 29:22, 26-28;

“So they killed the bullocks, and the priests received the blood, and sprinkled it on the altar: likewise, when they had killed the rams, they sprinkled the blood upon the altar: they killed also the lambs, and they sprinkled the blood upon the altar. 26 And the Levites stood with the instruments of David, and the priests with the trumpets. 27 And Hezekiah commanded to offer the burnt offering upon the altar. And when the burnt offering began, the song of the LORD began also with the trumpets, and with the instruments ordained by David king of Israel. 28 And all the congregation worshipped, and the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded: and all this continued until the burnt offering was finished.”

Shofar1Psalm 81:3;

“Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day.”

Now let us remember our dear Lord’s words in John 19:30. The people considered the noise from the trumpets to be the voice and breath of God Himself. When the trumpets stopped at the end of the sacrifice at the temple, Jesus spoke the following words;

“When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.”

Temple VeilUpon the death of Jesus, the veil in the temple was rent in two from top to bottom; giving us direct access to God!  You’ll also take note that Jesus was sacrificed on the 6th day of the week which is the same day God created Adam.

Matthew 27:50-51; “Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. 51 And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent.”

I don’t know about you the reader, but I was born a Gentile. The thought of being so blessed to be adopted by God and considered one of His children is something I’m in awe of every day of my life! Not only did I worship other gods and idols in foreign temples, I was a Gentile and far removed from Him.

May we bow in humble adoration of what God has done for us! I can’t imagine the immense price God the Father paid, nor could I begin to imagine the physical and mental anguish this put upon our Savior. He became every single sin to give us life with Him and the Father.  Words escape my simple mind…

I remember the first year of my salvation and discovering some of the truths we’ve presented here this week. And now all these years later my heart still hurts for those who are unaware of what Jesus did, regardless of their ignorance about it.

My prayer each day is for the Mormon people to discover just one of these things for themselves this week, prompting them to dig deeper.  I’m confident you’ll pray with me!

With Love in Christ;

Michelle

Jude 1:24-25

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