Jesus

There's Something About That Name

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From the Gospel of Mark, we read:

Now it was the custom at the Feast to release a prisoner whom the people requested. A man called Barabbas was in prison with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the uprising. The crowd came up and asked Pilate to do for them what he usually did. "Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?" asked Pilate, knowing it was out of envy that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him. But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have Pilate release Barabbas instead. "What shall I do, then, with the one you call the king of the Jews?" Pilate asked them. "Crucify him!" they shouted. "Why? What crime has he committed?" asked Pilate. But they shouted all the louder, "Crucify him!"

Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified. The soldiers led Jesus away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium) and called together the whole company of soldiers. They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him.

And they began to call out to him, "Hail, king of the Jews!" Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him. Falling on their knees, they paid homage to him. And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him.

Then they led him out to crucify him.

A certain man from Cyrene, Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing by on his way in from the country, and they forced him to carry the cross. They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means The Place of the Skull). Then they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. And they crucified him. Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots to see what each would get. It was the third hour when they crucified him.

The written notice of the charge against him read:

The King of The Jews

Mark 15:6-26 NIV

The Crucifixion
by Marcia G. Phyfer

It all happened about two thousand years ago, during the week of the Feast of the Passover. That's when our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, was nailed to a cross, and crucified, on a hill just outside the city of Jerusalem at a place called Golgotha (Place of the Skull) or Calvary.

The charge against Jesus was blasphemy, as He claimed to be the Son of God, the King of the Jews. For this offense, Jesus was spit upon, mocked, scorned, and brutally beaten. In order to further ridicule and torture Jesus of Nazareth, - "The King of the Jews" - the Roman soldiers had clothed Him in a purple robe and forced a crown of thorns down upon His head, causing the thorns to rip through His flesh, while they mockingly worshipped Him. After all of this abuse and mockery, Jesus was led out of Jerusalem to be nailed to a cross and crucified.

As He hung there on the cross, enduring a painfully slow and agonizing death, Jesus sought forgiveness for His persecutors, saying, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." His mother, along with the disciples and some other close followers, stood there in horror as they witnessed the cruel execution, the crucifixion. He suffered through the horrific pain of a death by crucifixion for you and for me. He paid the price for your sins and for mine, freeing us from the consequences of our own sinful acts. With the cross, Jesus bridged the gap that sin had made between God and man, as He became the ultimate sacrifice for all the sins of the world.

Jesus, The Lamb of God