The Story

In telling the story of the Lord's trial and crucifixion to little children, it is best not to pause in a sad place in the story, but to go through to the gladness of the Easter morning. In pausing where we do in this lesson, give at least a suggestion of the gladness that is coming.

If we had followed the Lord from the room of the Last Supper, we should have gone with Him to the garden of Gethsemane. Then we should have followed up into Jerusalem, when Judas and the soldiers with him led the Lord, still in the night, to the high priest's palace. There we should have seen the priests who were enemies of the Lord gathered to decide what charge they could bring to Pilate the governor, asking that the Lord should be crucified. They would say that He claimed to be a King and so was dangerous to the Roman rulers. In the early morning they led the Lord to the house of Pilate the governor. Pilate questioned the Lord and knew that His kingdom was not of this world; he found no fault in Him. As the Lord stood before them, wearing a crown of thorns and a purple robe which the soldiers had put upon him, Pilate said, "Behold your King!" But Pilate feared the priests and weakly yielded to their will. He commanded' that the Lord should be scourged and crucified. Again we follow the Lord, still early Friday morning, through the city street and out by the northern gate of the city to a low rounded hill called Golgotha. There the Lord was crucified, and two thieves were crucified with Him. And Pilate wrote a sign in Hebrew and Greek and Latin, which was fastened to the cross: "JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS."

Some of the priests were there who hated the Lord, who objected to the writing and who spoke scornful words. Roman soldiers were there, who stood by as guards and divided among them the Lord's garments, but the inner garment was woven without seam; they cast lots for it and did not tear it. Others were there, who were ready when the Lord said, "I thirst," to fill a sponge with the common sour wine and to put it on a bunch of hyssop and lift it to His mouth. And there were there some of those who loved the Lord: the mother Mary and her sister, and two other Marys, and the disciple John. Read the loving words which the Lord spoke to the mother Mary and John. (Verses 26, 27)

"It is finished," the Lord said, and bowed His head. It was now three o'clock. All trials were over; His work was done; a great peace had come. Before the sunset, when the Sabbath day would begin, two friends, a man named Joseph and Nicodemus, with permission from Pilate, took down the body of the Lord from the cross. They wrapped it in linen clothes, with ointments that Nicodemus brought, and laid it in a new sepulchre cut in the rock, which belonged to Joseph, in a garden near at hand. The sepulchre, like the grave of Lazarus, was closed by a rolling stone. How quickly the great sadness had come to those who loved the Lord! But a glad surprise would meet them when they came to the sepulchre Easter morning.

The story of the rejection of the Lord of infinite love and mercy by evil men is the saddest of all stories, yet it is not all sadness. It is at the same time the story of His last and greatest victory over the powers of evil. We will remember the story in four scenes. First, in the garden of Gethsemane on the lower slope of the Mount of Olives, where the Lord prayed so earnestly and where Judas and the band of men made the Lord a prisoner. (John 18:1-12) Second, in the high priest's palace in Jerusalem (after a brief stay at the palace of Annas), where the priests in an informal meeting in the night and in a more formal meeting in the early morning decided upon a charge against the Lord which they would present to the governor. Here also Peter, with the servants about the fire, three times denied the Lord. (John 18:13-27) Third, in the morning at Pilate's palace the priests gathered before the door, as they would think themselves defiled by going into the house of a heathen; and the next day was the Sabbath of the Passover week, a very holy day. "Crucify Him," was their angry cry. Pilate went in to question Jesus in the judgment hall, and came out again before the people. He found no fault in the Lord, but he weakly yielded to the priests. The Lord, silent to some of Pilate's questions, calm and self-controlled, conquering the evil spirits who were making the mob their slaves, was the one strong majestic figure. "Behold the man," we believe are the Lord's own words. "Behold your King," are Pilate's words. (John 18:28 to 19:6) Fourth, at the hill Golgotha outside the northern gate. From it one looks upon the city and up to the Mount of Olives. John tells of the title which Pilate wrote in three languages, that it might be read by all.

There was a custom when one was crucified, that a writing should be nailed to the cross above the head telling of the crime for which the man was put to death. What Pilate wrote for the Lord's accusation was, "JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS." He wrote it in three languages; Hebrew for the Jews to read, Greek for the strangers, and Latin for the Romans. This did not please the chief priests, who wanted him to change it to, "He said I am King of the Jews." But Pilate answered them, "What I have written I have written." So this was the accusation which was placed above His head upon the cross where all could see it.

A guard of four soldiers and an officer, a centurion, was placed at the cross, and to these four soldiers belonged the clothes of the one who was crucified. So the guard divided the Lord's garments between them; but when they came to the inner garment, the long shirt or tunic, they found that it had no seam, but was woven in one piece from the top to the bottom; and not wishing to divide it they cast lots for it. The garment of the Lord seems such a precious thing. While He wore it His power was in it, for as many as touched its hem were made whole of whatsoever disease they had. Find in Psalm 22 mention of the garments, and other incidents of the crucifixion.

Besides His enemies, and the passers-by, and the guard, there was a group of those who most tenderly loved the Lord and who were grieving and sorrowing on account of His suffering, and that He must leave them. There stood by the cross of Jesus, His mother and her sister, and Mary Magdalene, and the disciple whom Jesus loved (the John who wrote this Gospel). When He saw His mother and the disciple He said, "Woman, behold thy son!" and to the disciple, "Behold thy mother!" And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home.

The vinegar which was given to the Lord in His thirst was the common sour wine; the hyssop was a little plant, a stalk or bunch of which was used in raising the sponge to His lips.

"It is finished," the Lord said, and bowed His head. It was now three o'clock. The Jews would have the bodies removed before sunset, when the Sabbath would begin. The breaking of the legs with a heavy mallet was a cruel practice, yet perhaps intended to hasten death. Jesus was already dead, yet a soldier with a spear pierced_-His side. More is told us of the two thieves in Luke 23:39-43. As we read verse 35 we remember that John was standing with the mother Mary near the cross.

The enemies of the Lord had done all they could, and now kind friends came and begged his body and took gentle and reverent care of it - Joseph of Arimathaea, and Nicodemus who you remember came to the Lord once by night to ask Him questions. These two men were both among the rulers and had not dared to follow the Lord openly. Now they came to do this last loving service, Joseph bringing fine linen clothes to wrap thee body in, and Nicodemus spices "one hundred pound weight," to be wrapped with the clothes, as was the custom of the Jews. Then they laid the body in a new tomb that Joseph had that was hewn out of the rock in a garden near by.

All this had to be done quickly, for it must be finished by sunset when the Sabbath would begin. A great stone was rolled across the opening of the sepulchre, and as the chief priests were afraid that the body would be stolen away by the Lord's disciples, they sealed the stone, and placed a guard to watch.

1. What words do all the Gospels say were written upon the cross? In what languages was the title written?

2. What was done to the Lord's garments? What has been told before about His garments?

3. What did the Lord say to Mary? What did He say to John? What did John do?

4. In what way did Joseph and Nicodemus show their love for the Lord?

5. What do other Gospels tell about this Joseph? What two things have we already learned about Nicodemus?

Spiritual Study

It will help us to realize the victory of the crucifixion to notice the tone of victory in the later verses of Psalm 22 and of Isaiah 53. "He will swallow up death in victory." (Isaiah 25:8) The Lord does not ask our pity, but a deeper appreciation of His saving love and a deeper loyalty to Him.

When we put something in writing, we regard it as fixed and not liable to change. So the Commandments were written on stone to show that they are unchanging laws, and that they ought to be made enduring in the heart and life. When Pilate wrote the title which was fastened upon the cross, it meant that however they might deny it, it was the eternal truth, that Jesus was King. The priests protested, but Pilate answered, "What I have written I have written." "King of the Jews" means spiritually the guide and protector of all states of heavenly love and usefulness, for these are what the Jews represent.

"Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews." Jesus is the name of love, and nothing brings the Lord's love more near to human needs than the name of Nazareth. He was King, for He lived the truth, and truth is the kingly element in life. "Thou sayest that I am a King. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth." The title on the cross meant that so men were rejecting the Divine truth and love. (T. 114; E. 31) The writing was in three languages, Hebrew and Greek and Latin, so that all could read it. The appeal is to all, to acknowledge the Lord as King. The appeal to each one is three-fold, to acknowledge Him in affection, in thought, and in life. The ancient, childlike Hebrew is the appeal to the affections, the Greek, the language of philosophers, is the appeal to understanding; and the Latin, the language of Roman soldiers' and rulers, is the appeal to life. Is it still rejected, as by the priests who would have the title changed? (A. 8620, 9416; R. 473)

There were at the cross the soldiers who divided the Lord's garments. They represent those who should have been the Lord's defenders, but who instead perverted and destroyed His truth, for garments represent the expressions, especially the words, which clothe the deeper life.

The parting of the Lord's garments by the soldiers reminds us of other things that have been said about His garments in the Gospels. Mary wrapped the infant Lord in swaddling clothes. The sick were healed as they touched His garment's hem. On the mountain of transfiguration His garments shone with a Divine brightness. Garments do not represent the most interior things of life but the outward things of thought and expression which clothe the deeper and more living things of affection. The Divine thought and words that gave expression to the Lord's love were represented by His garments. They were so simple that children could hear them; they were full of Divine healing for the spiritually sick; they were shining with Divine radiance to angels and to men who had eyes to see it. The whole Word is the Lord's garment. The parting of the garments by the soldiers represented the denial and rending of the Lord's Word by the Jews and by all who fight against Him. Yet there was an inner garment woven without seam, which the soldiers did not rend. So there is in the Lord's words and in all the Scriptures a deeper meaning, continuous throughout, which those who pervert the letter cannot hurt. (A. 4677, 9942)

Another soldier pierced His side and there came forth blood and water. It is a picture of more utter denial of the Lord and more utter destruction of the truth, spiritual and natural, of His Word, represented by the blood and water. (E. 38; R. 26)

The preservation of the bones unbroken may represent the scrupulous care of the Jews to preserve the written Scriptures, and to observe the ceremonies of the law. (A. 8005; E. 329)

The "wine mingled with myrrh" that the Lord would not take, was a stupefying drink given, it is said, to deaden pain. The "vinegar" that He took was probably the sour wine of the soldiers. Good wine represents pure heavenly truth. The wine mingled with myrrh represented the Divine truth as it was falsified and perverted by evil among the Jews. The vinegar represented falsity as it was held by Gentiles who were ignorant but well disposed. With such falsity of ignorance there may be much that is good and acceptable to the Lord. The hyssop was used in cleansing (Psalm 51:7), and its association with the vinegar which the Lord received suggests that with the falsity or imperfect truth there was an effort for repentance and good life. (E. 519)

There was by the cross the group of those who loved the Lord: the mother and the other Marys and the disciple John. The Lord's words to the mother Mary and to John are a beautiful evidence of His self-forgetfulness and His thought for others even in the extremity of His trial. There was also a deeper meaning in this committing of the mother Mary to the care of John. The Lord had once said, "My mother and my brethren are these which hear the word of God, and do it." (Luke 8:21) They are all those who love and cherish the truth and life which are His and from Him. The mother Mary was a type of all those who form the Lord's church. John we know was a type of love for the Lord, not as a mere sentiment, but love in act. Where this is, the church is and abides. (M. 119; E. 821; N. 122)

What Joseph and Nicodemus did for the body of the Lord expressed the loving remembrance in which they held His life. But more than this, the wrapping of the body with preserving spices represented the truth that the Lord could not die, and the sepulchre meant resurrection.

The ointments and wrappings of the dead were in very ancient days emblems of faith in the eternal life. Myrrh was the lowest of the series of aromatics used in embalming, and expresses faith that not only higher qualities but even the lowest qualities of life are preserved for the life of heaven. In the anointing of the Lord the aloes and myrrh expressed the faith that the lowest elements of life in Him were glorified, were made Divine. (A. 10252)

How much meaning there is in the words, "It is finished," as the Lord spoke them on the cross! Not only the trial of that day, but all the conflicts with evil, and all the saving work which He came into the world to do, were ended. It is restful to feel that a day's work is done. A greater peace comes at the close of earthly life. What Divine peace was with the Lord when He could say, "It is finished," "Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit!"

To Next Chapter