Written by Ben Cox – Each week in this space we normally run the recurring feature “Portraits of the Pulpit,” showcasing a local church and its pastor. The history of that congregation, that preachers trail to where they are now, and other things that give a glimpse in the doors of the church are all featured.
We thought that since today is Good Friday, we would do something different. We would like to share the story of the man the preachers we feature are all talking about.
So, this week, we present Portraits of the Pulpit: Jesus of Nazareth.
The man we know as the Savior, the Son of God, Prince of Peace and many other names was born to a humble carpenter and his young wife. Mary, His mother, was still a virgin when she became pregnant with Jesus and was not yet married to Joseph.
Joseph and Mary were both visited by angels and told of the great things this child would grow to do, and they raised Him in the Jewish faith of their families. Not a lot is known about Jesus’ time as a boy, but it is known that His parents always took Him to Temple for the Feast of Passover. One year during the feast, when He was 12 years old, Jesus was sitting with teachers in the Temple listening to them and asking questions.
When asked why He was there, Jesus replied to his parents that He was about His Father’s business, and that was where He should be. This is most of what is known about His formative years, before He began His ministry.
Jesus was baptized by his cousin, John around the age of 30, and when he was praying, the sky opened and the Holy Spirit came down from Heaven onto Him, and a voice was heard saying “You are my Son, chosen and marked by my love, pride of my life.”
After His baptism, Jesus went into the wilderness for 40 days to be tested by the Devil. After successfully avoiding the temptations put before Him during that time, Jesus returned to the area of Galilee (close to modern day Lebanon) to begin His work.
His teachings drew people near from all parts of that land, and through his works, 12 men joined his ministry. The men were disciples, or students of the teacher as they knew Him at the time. Word was beginning to spread that there was something special about this man, and more people wanted to hear Him.
This angered the religious leaders of the area, who taught the ancient Laws of Moses. Jesus taught instead of trying to blindly follow laws which no person could hope to perfectly follow, all they had to do was believe in Him and they would be saved from their wrong doings, or sins.
Jesus worked miracles, healing the sick, restoring sight to the blind, and even raising people from the dead. Often, Jesus would tell the person He healed to not speak of what had happened, but true to human nature the word would spread despite his admonition.
After a while, the leaders, or Pharisees, became tired and angry over the preachings of what they thought was a simple Rabbi. They plotted to have Him arrested and killed. The contacted one of His own trusted 12 men, Judas, and paid him a small fortune to betray Him.
After He and His disciples had celebrated the passover meal, often referred to as The Last Supper, Jesus told them that He was going to be betrayed, and even knew that the man who was going to do it was at that very table.
After dinner, He went to pray in a garden nearby, and asked His friends to keep watch. He knew His time was short and that His betrayer was coming.
During this time, Jesus asked God to let the burden of the suffering He was destined for pass from Him, but He knew that there was only one way for the deliverance of all people to come about. And the sacrifice of His life was the way.
After finishing His prayers, Jesus returned to His friends to find them asleep, and Roman guards along with Judas coming for Him. The signal for the guards was a kiss from Judas to identify Jesus, as they did not know what He looked like.
Jesus was taken into custody, and during a brief struggle one of His friends swung a sword at one of the guards, cutting off his ear. Jesus healed the man, and told His friends not to fight, because this had to happen.
They scattered. Some claimed to not know Him and others ran.
Jesus was abandoned.
He was taken before the local court and the prefect in charge, Pontius Pilate, sent them away when he realized that Jesus was from Galilee and not in his district. Herod, who was the man who was responsible for the territory Jesus was from, was in town and Jesus was taken before him.
After Jesus refused to answer a single question asked by Herod, He was returned to Pilate for sentencing on made up charges designed to rid the Pharisees of Him.
Finding no fault in Him, Pilate asked the mob that had assembled by that time what they wanted. They screamed for His death, and even chose to have another prisoner freed instead when they called for the other man.
Pilate famously washed his hands and said that anything that happened to Jesus from that point on was not his fault, and gave Him to the crowd.
He was beaten.
Tortured.
Whipped.
Mocked.
Made to carry the instrument of His own death up a hill.
The mob drug Him to the place in town where criminals were executed, and crucified Him. (Crucifixion was the standard method of execution at the time, and involved hanging someone from crossed beams with their arms outstretched.)
Hanging between two common thieves, Jesus prayed for His father to forgive the people that were killing Him, because they didn’t know what they were doing.
One of the criminals hanging next to Him asked Jesus why He didn’t simply save all three of them from their fate, and the other answered that while they deserved to be there, Jesus did not.
Dying on that cross on a Friday (which we celebrate this very day as Good Friday), and buried in a tomb that had been meant for someone else, Jesus was laid to rest hastily, because Jewish law said it was illegal to work on the Sabbath, which was Saturday, the next day.
Sunday morning saw two women who had been at the execution of Jesus bringing burial spices to the tomb, as was customary treatment of the dead in that time. When they got there, they saw that the large rock that had been pushed in front of the tomb opening (which was very much like a cave) had been moved and Jesus body was nowhere to be found.
The women were greeted by angels who said Jesus had risen from the grave and was no longer dead. The women ran back to the 11 remaining disciples (Judas had committed suicide shortly after the betrayal) and told them what had happened. The men ran to the tomb and saw it was empty.
Jesus later appeared to them and told them He was risen, and going to be with His father and prepare a place for them in Heaven.
The story of Jesus birth, death and resurrection is the entire story of Christianity. It is commonly referred to as The Gospel, or The Good News.
How is this Good News? Why do we call it Good Friday? How can the horrible torture and death of Jesus be something to celebrate?
It is celebrated because it is the story of a loving God, who sent His son to earth to live among us and show us The Way, and deliver us from evil.
In the times of the Bible, you will often read of sacrifices being made to God to show the love and respect given to Him by the people of Earth. The sacrifice was a way to make everything right with the world, to allow us to “pay for our crimes” as it were.
Jesus was the sacrifice given by God, for His people, to pardon them for any wrong doings. Because, we are human and that means we are not perfect. But God is perfect, so how can we hope to be worthy of going to be with Him when we die?
The point is, we can’t.
That is why Jesus was sent. Because he was perfect, and died in our place, we are forgiven from anything we have ever done wrong to God.
All we have to do is ask Him to forgive us, and follow His examples the best way we know how.
