JOHN 18:28-40...28/ Then they brought Jesus from Caiaphas to the praetorium. It was morning. And they themselves did not enter the praetorium, in order not to be defiled so that they could eat the Passover.
29/ So Pilate came out to them and said, "What charge do you bring (against) this man?"
30/ They answered and said to him, "If he were not a criminal, we would not have handed him over to you."
31/ At this, Pilate said to them, "Take him yourselves, and judge him according to your law." The Jews answered him, "We do not have the right to execute anyone,"
32/ in order that the word of Jesus might be fulfilled that he said indicating the kind of death he would die.
33/ So Pilate went back into the praetorium and summoned Jesus and said to him, "Are you the King of the Jews?"
34/ Jesus answered, "Do you say this on your own or have others told you about me?"
35/ Pilate answered, "I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests handed you over to me. What have you done?"
36/ Jesus answered, "My kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom did belong to this world, my attendants (would) be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not here."
37/ So Pilate said to him, "Then you are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say I am a king. For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice."
38/ Pilate said to him, "What is truth?" When he had said this, he again went out to the Jews and said to them, "I find no guilt in him.
39/ But you have a custom that I release one prisoner to you at Passover. Do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?"
40/ They cried out again, "Not this one but Barabbas!" Now Barabbas was a revolutionary.
MATTHEW 27...
1/ When it was morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death.
2/ They bound him, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate, the governor.
3/ Then Judas, his betrayer, seeing that Jesus had been condemned, deeply regretted what he had done. He returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders,
4/ saying, "I have sinned in betraying innocent blood." They said, "What is that to us? Look to it yourself."
5/ Flinging the money into the temple, he departed and went off and hanged himself.
6/ The chief priests gathered up the money, but said, "It is not lawful to deposit this in the temple treasury, for it is the price of blood."
7/ After consultation, they used it to buy the potter's field as a burial place for foreigners.
8/ That is why that field even today is called the Field of Blood.
9/ Then was fulfilled what had been said through Jeremiah the prophet, "And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the value of a man with a price on his head, a price set by some of the Israelites,
10/ and they paid it out for the potter's field just as the Lord had commanded me."
11/ Now Jesus stood before the governor, and he questioned him, "Are you the king of the Jews?" Jesus said, "You say so."
12/ And when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he made no answer.
13/ Then Pilate said to him, "Do you not hear how many things they are testifying against you?"
14/ But he did not answer him one word, so that the governor was greatly amazed.
15/ Now on the occasion of the feast the governor was accustomed to release to the crowd one prisoner whom they wished.
16/ And at that time they had a notorious prisoner called (Jesus) Barabbas.
17/ So when they had assembled, Pilate said to them, "Which one do you want me to release to you, (Jesus) Barabbas, or Jesus called Messiah?"
18/ For he knew that it was out of envy that they had handed him over.
19/ While he was still seated on the bench, his wife sent him a message, "Have nothing to do with that righteous man. I suffered much in a dream today because of him."
20/ The chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas but to destroy Jesus.
21/ The governor said to them in reply, "Which of the two do you want me to release to you?" They answered, "Barabbas!"
22/ Pilate said to them, "Then what shall I do with Jesus called Messiah?" They all said, "Let him be crucified!"
23/ But he said, "Why? What evil has he done?" They only shouted the louder, "Let him be crucified!"
24/ When Pilate saw that he was not succeeding at all, but that a riot was breaking out instead, he took water and washed his hands in the sight of the crowd, saying, "I am innocent of this man's blood. Look to it yourselves."
25/ And the whole people said in reply, "His blood be upon us and upon our children."
26/ Then he released Barabbas to them, but after he had Jesus scourged, he handed him over to be crucified.
27/ Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus inside the praetorium and gathered the whole cohort around him.
28/ They stripped off his clothes and threw a scarlet military cloak about him.
29/ Weaving a crown out of thorns, they placed it on his head, and a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!"
30/ They spat upon him and took the reed and kept striking him on the head.
31/ And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the cloak, dressed him in his own clothes, and led him off to crucify him.
32/ As they were going out, they met a Cyrenian named Simon; this man they pressed into service to carry his cross.
33/ And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of the Skull),
34/ they gave Jesus wine to drink mixed with gall. But when he had tasted it, he refused to drink.
35/ After they had crucified him, they divided his garments by casting lots;
36/ then they sat down and kept watch over him there.
37/ And they placed over his head the written charge against him: This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.
38/ Two revolutionaries were crucified with him, one on his right and the other on his left.
39/ Those passing by reviled him, shaking their heads
40/ and saying, "You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself, if you are the Son of God, (and) come down from the cross!"
41/ Likewise the chief priests with the scribes and elders mocked him and said,
42/ "He saved others; he cannot save himself. So he is the king of Israel! Let him come down from the cross now, and we will believe in him.
43/ He trusted in God; let him deliver him now if he wants him. For he said, 'I am the Son of God.'"
44/ The revolutionaries who were crucified with him also kept abusing him in the same way.
45/ From noon onward, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon.
46/ And about three o'clock Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?" which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
47/ Some of the bystanders who heard it said, "This one is calling for Elijah."
48/ Immediately one of them ran to get a sponge; he soaked it in wine, and putting it on a reed, gave it to him to drink.
49/ But the rest said, "Wait, let us see if Elijah comes to save him."
50/ But Jesus cried out again in a loud voice, and gave up his spirit.
51/ And behold, the veil of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth quaked, rocks were split,
52/ tombs were opened, and the bodies of many saints who had fallen asleep were raised.
53/ And coming forth from their tombs after his resurrection, they entered the holy city and appeared to many.
54/ The centurion and the men with him who were keeping watch over Jesus feared greatly when they saw the earthquake and all that was happening, and they said, "Truly, this was the Son of God!"
55/ There were many women there, looking on from a distance, who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to him.
56/ Among them were Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.
57/ When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea named Joseph, who was himself a disciple of Jesus.
58/ He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus; then Pilate ordered it to be handed over.
59/ Taking the body, Joseph wrapped it (in) clean linen
60/ and laid it in his new tomb that he had hewn in the rock. Then he rolled a huge stone across the entrance to the tomb and departed.
61/ But Mary Magdalene and the other Mary remained sitting there, facing the tomb.
62/ The next day, the one following the day of preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate
63/ and said, "Sir, we remember that this impostor while still alive said, 'After three days I will be raised up.'
64/ Give orders, then, that the grave be secured until the third day, lest his disciples come and steal him and say to the people, 'He has been raised from the dead.' This last imposture would be worse than the first."
65/ Pilate said to them, "The guard is yours; go secure it as best you can."
66/ So they went and secured the tomb by fixing a seal to the stone and setting the guard.
For the LOVE of Mankind, CHRIST endured the unthinkable, in anguish, and, painful suffering; HIMSELF, NEVER wavering, never sinning, never becoming corrupted by this world, even though, fully experiencing what we are up against! NEVER has such a GIFT of LOVE been bestowed upon humanity, and, never will it be embraced in the immenseness of it's intentions!!!
While it IS one of the most heart wrenching moments in the history of Mankind, it is ALSO, one of the most optimizing! We ARE free IN HIS name, and, GLORY, by HIS SACRED SACRIFICE, if we remain IN HIM! The bonds which Satan has placed upon us, are without weight, without substance, without use, for CHRIST JESUS HAS OVERCOME THE WORLD!!!
CHRIST came to fulfill the WILL of *GOD*, IN HIS LOVE, and, the empowerment of that LOVE, for us! HE LIVED, while, retaining that LOVE, despite the opposition against HIM, despite the denial of HIS role in the DIVINE PLAN to salvage us from this world, despite the envy, and, the disdain for HIS HOLINESS; no, HIS LOVE never waned, never failed, instead, increased, as HE experienced from the stance of a Man, this life, and, it's many woes!!!
HE gave us 2 Commandments; that we should LOVE the LORD, our *GOD*, with our whole beings, and, we should, in that LOVE, LOVE one another! HE brought forth the whole of LOVE in HIS teachings, and, provided us with THE WAY! Incomparable IS HE, and, AWESOME is HIS nature, thus, the least we can do, from this day, forward, is to learn, understand, embrace, and, utilize THE WAY, which, IS LOVE, in ALL regards, for this IS the reality of CREATION; POSITIVE, SURE, TRUE, ENABLING, ENRICHING, EMPOWERING, ENDOWING, ENLIGHTENING, ENCOURAGING, JUST, RIGHTEOUS, and, BENEVOLENT FOR ALL, and, EVERYTHING IN EXISTENCE! LOVE IS ALL, for *GOD* IS ALL, forever, and, forevermore!!!
Let us revere HIS GIFT(S), and, pray! Let us REJOICE IN HIS name! Let us PRAISE, and, WORSHIP HIM! Let us, through thought, action, and, reaction, GLORIFY HIM, always, and, forever! Let us, now, and, evermore, BE THE TRUTH of what we are, the REFLECTION OF HIM, TO pierce, then, diminish, the darkness of the deception, of the egocentric mind, which holds TOO many, prisoner! Let us HONOUR HIM, IN voice, action, and, deed, and, let us NEVER FORGET the price HE paid, SO LOVINGLY, for our sinful natures! YES, let us EXALT, and, EXTOL HIM, that, HIS ASCENSION screams of it's TRUTH! THANK YOU, LORD, CHRIST JESUS, BLESSED ARE THEE, and, SO worthy of our efforts! AMEN!!!
REV. LWINSOR © 2012
BIBLICAL, and/or, other references marked BOLDLY IN COLOURS
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