Impact

Part IV: The Lord of the Scroll – The Death of the King

The Dark Archangel – Satan – had been defeated in his first confrontation with the King, who was fully God (but voluntarily not utilizing His abilities as God Philippians 2:5-8) and fully Man. Nevertheless, He was a man with the fullness of the power of God, the Holy Spirit in His life!  Satan knew that man must sin before He can be killed – for death is the minimum wage of sin (Romans 6:23). No sin, no death, and no elimination of this enemy!

Realizing that his rule over the world was now in jeopardy, Satan swiftly launched a relentless campaign to trap Him in sin so that He might be killed. This continued over the course of the next three years, with Satan stirring up people to attempt killing him on numerous occasions. (2) Not that they could (John 10:17,18) – but rather the situation might be extreme enough to elicit a sin response from Jesus. (Job 2:4) Then He could kill Him! However, Jesus either eluded or walked out of each of Satan’s traps.

Timeline of our Lord’s Passion Week, Passover, Feast of Unleavened Bread, and Firstfruits

Then, in what seemed to Satan an odd turn of events, Jesus walked right into Satan’s supreme trap by going to Jerusalem, knowing that they were plotting to take His life (Matthew 20:18). Satan, blinded by greed at this opportunity, enters Judas to ensure that the trap is set correctly to allow no escape for this King of the Jews (Luke 22:3-6).

Jesus is captured (1), falsely accused in an improper trial during the night, whipped and beaten until His body was NOT full of bruises and wounds but rather ONE massive bruise and wound from the crown of His head to the soles of His feet.

I gave My back to those who strike Me, And My cheeks to those who pluck out the beard; I did not hide My face from dishonor and spitting. (Isaiah 50:6 LSB)
Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged severely. (John 19:1 NET)

Three forms of corporal punishment were employed by the Romans, in increasing degree of severity: (1) fustigatio (beating), (2) flagellatio (flogging), and (3) verberatio (severe flogging, scourging). The first could be, on occasion, a punishment in itself, but the more severe forms were part of the capital sentence as a prelude to crucifixion. The most severe, verberatio, is what is indicated here by the Greek verb translated flogged severely (μαστιγόω, mastigoō). People died on occasion while being flogged this way; frequently, it was severe enough to rip a person’s body open or cut muscle and sinew to the bone. It was carried out with a whip with fragments of bone or pieces of metal bound into the tips. (14)

Pilate then grants permission for Jesus to be crucified at 6:00 AM (John 19:14) on Wednesday morning, the 14th of Nisan. Four Roman soldiers carry out the crucifixion order. (John 19:23)

He was then offered wine (1) mixed with myrrh to drink to ease His pain and suffering (Mathew 27:34. Mark 15:23. Psalms 69:21). However, Jesus refused it as He came to bear all of our pain and suffering (Isaiah 53:3,4). Jesus went all the way for us; have we gone all the way for Him? Selah.

He was crucified by being nailed to a wooden cross at 9:00 AM. (Mark 15:25 – the third hour of Jewish time). These nails represented our sin – our sin affixed Jesus to the cross! These nails pierced His body and would leave indelible scars that recorded our names on the palms of His hands in a manner of speaking. (Isaiah 49:16. John 20:25-27)

At 9:00 AM on the 14th of Nisan (Judean Time), the day of Passover (1), in the temple, a lamb was led up the ramp to the altar and bound there, killed, and offered as the daily morning burnt offering to the Lord (Numbers 28:3,4).

The King – Jesus – whose body was pierced by nails, nails which held him to a wooden cross, looked down upon those who had crucified Him (Psalms 88).

O Lord God who delivers me! By day I cry out and at night I pray before you. Listen to my prayer! Pay attention to my cry for help! For my life is filled with troubles and I am ready to enter Sheol. They treat me like those who descend into the grave. I am like a helpless man, adrift among the dead, like corpses lying in the grave, whom you remember no more, and who are cut off from your power. You place me in the lowest regions of the pit, in the dark places, in the watery depths. Your anger bears down on me, and you overwhelm me with all your waves. (Selah) You cause those who know me to keep their distance; you make me an appalling sight to them. I am trapped and cannot get free. My eyes grow weak because of oppression. I call out to you, O Lord, all day long; I spread out my hands in prayer to you. Do you accomplish amazing things for the dead? Do the departed spirits rise up and give you thanks? (Selah) Is your loyal love proclaimed in the grave, or your faithfulness in the place of the dead? Are your amazing deeds experienced in the dark region, or your deliverance in the land of oblivion? As for me, I cry out to you, O Lord; in the morning my prayer confronts you. O Lord, why do you reject me, and pay no attention to me? I am oppressed and have been on the verge of death since my youth. I have been subjected to your horrors and am numb with pain. Your anger overwhelms me; your terrors destroy me. They surround me like water all day long; they join forces and encircle me. You cause my friends and neighbors to keep their distance; those who know me leave me alone in the darkness. (Psalm 88:1–18 NET)

Realize that when Jesus slumped down, the weight of His body would be placed on the nails in His hands (i.e., wrist area), causing excruciating pain to radiate throughout the nerves of his arms. When He would push up to exhale, it would temporarily relieve the pain in His arms but cause a similar fiery torment in His legs from the nail affixing His feet. Over time His arms would become exhausted, and their muscles would start to cramp, preventing Him from lifting Himself to exhale. However, carbon dioxide would build up in His bloodstream, causing the muscle cramps to partially subside. Then He could then lift Himself up to exhale until the muscle cramps returned, paralyzing His arms again. (3)

This cycle will repeat itself for the six hours Jesus hangs on the cross. Realize that Jesus has had no sleep for about 24 hours, no liquids or food, ruthlessly interrogated and severely beaten with His flesh shredded from the crown of His head to the souls of His feet before being crucified.

We tend to associate the horror of crucifixion with excruciating physical pain, thirst, hunger, emptiness, torment, confusion, and finally, even death itself. That was a major dimension, and it’s no accident that our English word excruciating is derived from crux, the Latin word for “cross.” Despite the unbearable physical agony, people in Roman times dreaded the shame associated with crucifixion even more. Since crucifixion was reserved for the dregs of society, outcasts, slaves, and common criminals, the fact that one was crucified defined him or her as a miserable, wretched being that did not deserve to exist. By pinning them up like insects, crucifixion was deliberately intended to display and humiliate its victims. It was always carried out in public, often at a prominent place such as a crossroads, outdoor theater, or hill. Crucifixion was a spectacle event, a grisly entertainment where passersby jeered and heaped ridicule upon the victim. The public mockery of Jesus during his crucifixion (Mark 15:29–32) was typical. The shame of the crucified was compounded by their complete nakedness and the fact that they were often denied burial and became food for vultures and other scavengers. Crucifixion, then, was deliberately designed to be loathsome, vulgar, revolting, and obscene. That is, in addition to excruciating pain, Jesus also suffered injustice, felt the shame of nakedness, was deprived of his rights, endured taunting, became the focus of the rage of others and was rejected and forsaken by all, including God His Father. (11)

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, we must get rid of every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and run with endurance the race set out for us, keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy set out for him he endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.Think of him who endured such opposition against himself by sinners, so that you may not grow weary in your souls and give up. You have not yet resisted to the point of bloodshed in your struggle against sin. (Hebrews 12:1–4 NET)

The cross tells us that God is one with us in our suffering; it also tells us that God uses suffering to redeem his fallen creation. God’s solution to the problem of suffering is not to eliminate it, nor to insulate himself from it, but to participate in it, and having participated in it, to transform it into his instrument for redeeming the world. (11)



I was livid with His apathy. Didn’t He know what His carelessness had done to us? [Allowing such pain and suffering in my life and the lives of others.] For the first time in my life, I dared to demand an explanation. When none came, I was angrier than I ever remember being. I turned my eyes on the plain wooden cross, and I remembered Calvary. I stood in the crowd which crucified him, hating and despising him. With my own hands, I drove the nails into his hands and his feet, and with bursting energy, I flogged him and reviled him and spat with nauseated loathing. Now He should know what it felt like—to live in the creation He had made. Every breath brought from me the words: “Now You know! Now You know!” And then I saw something which made my heart stand still. I saw His face, and on it twisted every familiar agony of my own soul. “Now You know” became an awed whisper as I, motionless, watched His agony.

“Yes, now I know,” was the passionate and pain-filled reply. “Why else should I come?”

Stunned, I watched His eyes search desperately for the tiniest flicker of love in mine, and as we faced one another in the bleak and the cold, forsaken by God, frightened and derelict, we loved one another, and our pain became silent in the calm. [From that moment, I was inseparably bound to Christ.] Nothing can bind us closer than common dereliction, for nowhere else is companionship so longed for.

(11)


Jesus’ Seven Statements from the Cross

Jesus made the following seven statements while hanging on the cross.

First statement: Then, pushing up to exhale and talk, Jesus says the first of seven statements from the cross. In three simple words, Jesus released the most powerful weapon in the arsenal of God:

But Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.” Then they threw dice to divide his clothes. (Luke 23:34 NET)

The soldier’s activity in stripping Jesus and dividing His clothes was part of the customary cruelty of those times. Clothes were handmade and therefore expensive in comparison with clothes today. The executioners received the pieces as their due. The seamless tunic (undergarment) may be significant as the type of garment that the high priest wore (1).

They are dividing up my clothes among themselves; they are rolling dice for my garments. (Psalm 22:18 NET)

John saw the significance in the fulfillment of Psalm 22:18, in which the poetic parallelism in that verse was fulfilled in two separate acts: (a) They divided My garments and (b) they cast lots for My clothing. That Jesus died naked was part of the shame that He bore for our sins. At the same time, He is the last Adam who provides clothes of righteousness for sinners. (62)

Second statement: Jesus tells the believing thief that “today” they would be in Paradise together (Luke 23:39-43).

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us (because it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”) (Galatians 3:13 NET)

Jesus is made sin for us, and all the curses, including all the plagues, come upon Him.

Darkness, the Ninth Plague upon Egypt (Exodus 10:21-23), descends upon Jesus (Yeshua). At noon, darkness covers the land until 3:00 PM (Matthew 27:45. Mark 15:33. Luke 23:44 – sixth to the ninth hour of Jewish time).

In that day,” says the sovereign Lord, “I will make the sun set at noon, and make the earth dark in the middle of the day. (Amos 8:9 NET)
the sun will be changed to darkness... (Acts 2:20 a NET)

Satan unleashes the fullness of his evil demons and fallen angels (Psalms 22:12,13,16,20,21), the fullness of sin, and its consequences upon Jesus. He who has never sinned takes the judgment for our sin.

All of us had wandered off like sheep; each of us had strayed off on his own path, but the Lord caused the sin of all of us to attack him. (Isaiah 53:6 NET)
He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we may cease from sinning and live for righteousness. By his wounds you were healed. For you were going astray like sheep but now you have turned back to the shepherd and guardian of your souls. (1 Peter 2:24–25 NET)
The Lamb becomes a Snake for Humanity

That is, Jesus, who never had before experienced sin, becomes one with our sin (2 Corinthians 5:21), and in a manner of speaking – the lamb becomes a serpent so that we serpents (John 8:44) can become His lambs (1). This is so that all who will look to His bearing away our sin will be saved (John 1:29. Numbers 21:9. John 3:14,15. 1 Peter 2:24. Hebrews 9:26-28).

Recall the staff of Moses becoming a serpent and then swallowing up the serpents of the Egyptian magicians as a parallel. (Exodus 7:10-13)

Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” (John 3:14,15 NET)

No wonder Jesus asked God, His Father, in the Orchard of the Olive Press (i.e., Gethsemane), three times if there was some other way than entering into the covenant of death and becoming sin (Matthew 26:39,42,44) (4). No, this was not the action of an insane person – merely the act of someone who was consumed by love for the race of man that He had created (John 3:16. Romans 5:8).

Third statement: In stark contrast with the cruelty and indifference of the soldiers, a group of four women watched with love and grief. The anguish of Jesus’ mother fulfilled a prophecy of Simeon: “A sword will pierce your own soul too” (Luke 2:35). (62) In the final moments, while Jesus was hanging on the cross, He stopped to ensure His mother would be cared for after His death, burial, resurrection, and ascension.

So when Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing there, he said to his mother, "Woman, look, here is your son!" He then said to his disciple, "Look, here is your mother!" From that very time the disciple took her into his own home.  (John 19:26-27 NET)

Seeing her sorrow, Jesus honored His mother by consigning her to the care of John, the beloved disciple. His brothers and sisters in Galilee were not able to care for or comfort her. (62) He calls her a polite term for a female but not the customary greeting for a mother. However, He uses “mother” for her new relationship with John the Apostle. As the eldest son, it was Jesus’ duty to ensure she would be provided for in his absence. (12) Consequently, Jesus pauses the plan of salvation long enough to ensure His mother would be cared for by John the Apostle He loved (John 13:34).  

Fourth statement: Jesus cries out with a loud voice – My God, My God, why have you forsaken me? (cf. Psalms 22:1) (Matthew 27:46. Mark 15:34).

My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? I groan in prayer, but help seems far away. (Psalm 22:1 NET)

Jesus is quoting Psalms 22, but Satan does not realize this then. (5) This is the cue for the Holy Spirit that came upon Jesus at His water baptism (1) to now leave Him. (Mark 1:9-11. Luke 3:21. John 1:32)

All who see me taunt me; they mock me and shake their heads. They say, “Commit yourself to the Lord! Let the Lord rescue him! Let the Lord deliver him, for he delights in him.” (Psalm 22:7–8 NET)
In the same way even the chief priests—together with the experts in the law and elders—were mocking him:“ He saved others, but he cannot save himself! He is the king of Israel! If he comes down now from the cross, we will believe in him! He trusts in God—let God, if he wants to, deliver him now because he said, ‘I am God’s Son’!” (Matthew 27:41–43 NET)

Fifth statement: Jesus, to fulfill the scripture, cries out that He thirsts (John 19:28. Psalms 22:15;69:21).

After this Jesus, realizing that by this time everything was completed, said (in order to fulfill the scripture), “I am thirsty!” (John 19:28 NET)

The wording in John 19:28 indicated that Jesus was fully conscious and was aware of fulfilling the details of prophecies (Psalms 42:1,2;63:1). (62) Jesus, the one that had previously offered living water to the thirsty (John 4:14) via the Holy Spirit (John 7:38,39), is now thirsty. This indicates the Holy Spirit had previously left Jesus at His fourth statement, and He is indeed, and intentionally, forsaken by God as He previously declared.

The soldiers give him plain vinegar on a sponge via a hyssop plant stalk which He drank (Matthew 27:48. Mark 15:36. Luke 23:36. John 19:28-30). Putting the vinegar-soaked sponge on the end of a hyssop plant stalk is another indication that Jesus died as the true Lamb at Passover, for hyssop was used in the Passover ceremonies (cf. Exodus 12:22). (62)

Jesus symbolically drank the cup of God’s wrath for us sinners. Again, He had entered into our covenant with death that Adam made with Satan in the garden of Eden, thus becoming our sin (2 Corinthians 5:21), our representative or mediator in this covenant of death to take all of our punishment.

Satan’s ears perked up. Has He finally broken under the weight of the suffering? Could this one have sinned, and God has abandoned Him? (Isaiah 53:4) Satan knew God does not forsake the righteous (Psalms 37:25), yet He says He has been forsaken! Blinded by greed at the thought of eliminating his most deadly foe, Satan moves in for the kill!

Death of the First Born, the Tenth Plague upon Egypt, descends upon Yeshua (Jesus). (Exodus 11:4,5)

Since the pharaoh of Egypt was worshipped as a god, his firstborn son, a god’s son, died from the tenth plague.

For this is the way God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16 NET)

At 12:30 PM, instead of 3:00 PM due to it being the day before the High Sabbath of the Unleavened Bread, in the temple, a lamb was led up the ramp to the altar and bound there, killed, and offered as the daily afternoon burnt offering to the Lord (Numbers 28:3,4). (7)

Sixth statement: Jesus, with a loud voice like a trumpet blast, says, “It is finished” (6) (John 19:30. Psalms 22:31. Revelation 1:10).

When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. (John 19:30 ESV)
Posterity shall serve him; it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation; they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn, that he has done it. (Psalm 22:30–31 ESV)

At 3:00 PM on the 14th of Nisan, the Day of Passover (Numbers 28:16), in the temple, the Passover lamb was led up the ramp to the altar and bound there and killed. At the same time, the priest declares, “Father, into your hands, I commit my spirit.” The paschal lamb is then offered as the Passover offering by the High Priest, who then declares to the people, “It is finished,” followed by a threefold trumpet blast. (7) (13)

As the Sabbath approached (in this case, the High Sabbath of Unleavened Bread), its commencement was announced by threefold blasts from the priests’ trumpets. The first three blasts were sounded when ‘one-third of the evening sacrifice service was over. When the priests sounded these three blasts of their trumpets for the first time, all business was to cease, and every kind of work stopped. (13)

The sixth word or saying that Jesus spoke from the cross was the single Greek word tetelestai which means It is finished. Papyri receipts for taxes have been recovered with the word tetelestai written across them, meaning “paid in full.” This word on Jesus’ lips was significant. When He said, “It is finished” (not “I am finished”), He meant His redemptive work was completed. He had been made sin for people (2 Corinthians 5:21) and had suffered the penalty of God’s justice, which sin deserved. Even in the moment of His death, Jesus remained the One who gave up His life (cf. John 10:11,14,17,18). (62)

Seventh statement: Jesus commits His Spirit to God (Luke 23:46. Psalms 31:5), bows His head, and breathes out His last breath (Matthew 27:50. Mark 15:37. Luke 23:46), thus laying down His life (John 15:13) by dying of a broken heart (Psalms 22:14). He bowed His head and then dismissed His spirit. (62) The mentioning of Jesus bowing His head means that He hung on the cross with His head held high up until the moment of death. This differs from the normal process of death by crucifixion in which the living spirit would ebb away, and then the head would slump forward. (62) That is, Jesus gave His life for us at the Cross. There, His blood was poured out on our behalf. When Jesus was crucified, they pierced Him in the side, and out flowed blood and water. The water mixed with blood from His pierced side would prove that His heart had ruptured.

But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and blood and water flowed out immediately. And the person who saw it has testified (and his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth), so that you also may believe. For these things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled, “Not a bone of his will be broken.”And again another scripture says, “They will look on the one whom they have pierced.” (John 19:34–37 NET) 

Almost all things under the law were cleansed by blood (Hebrews 9:22); however, some were cleansed by water (Leviticus 14:8,9), and some by water and blood (Leviticus 14:17). Fitting that our Savior who loved the world would die of a broken heart for you and me! (Luke 19:41-44. John 3:16. Romans 5:8). Note that blood is mentioned first and then water. Recall, that when the Nile was cursed, water turned to blood (1), and it became death to the Egyptians due to a lack of potable water. Similarly, in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus’ sweat, His water, became blood as Jesus entered into our curse for us. (Luke 22:44) At the cross, blood became water because Jesus had born the curse for us and all of its effects! (Galatians 3:13)

The blood represents a life given, while the water represents a life received. (10)

Recall that since Jesus had never sinned, He could not be killed; however, He could voluntarily lay down His life. (John 10:17,18) Jesus always had authority over His life (John 10:15,17,18, John 15:13). However, He chose to be obedient to our Heavenly Father by voluntarily releasing His spirit and dying on the Cross (Luke 23:46). That is, Jesus was not obedient to death but rather to the point of death.

Our Passover Lamb (1) has been sacrificed.

The sound of Jesus’ voice is so powerful that it causes the temple curtain to be torn in two from the top down and an earthquake!

Then Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and gave up his spirit. Just then the temple curtain was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks were split apart. (Matthew 27:50–51 NET)
Now when the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and what took place, they were extremely terrified and said, “Truly this one was God’s Son!” (Matthew 27:54 NET)
The Lord’s shout is heard over the water; the majestic God thunders, the Lord appears over the surging water. The Lord’s shout is powerful, the Lord’s shout is majestic. The Lord’s shout breaks the cedars, the Lord shatters the cedars of Lebanon. He makes Lebanon skip like a calf and Sirion like a young ox. The Lord’s shout strikes with flaming fire. The Lord’s shout shakes the wilderness, the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh. The Lord’s shout bends the large trees and strips the leaves from the forests. Everyone in his temple says, “Majestic!” (Psalm 29:3–9 NET)
Why do you skip like rams, O mountains, like lambs, O hills? Tremble, O earth, before the Lord— before the God of Jacob, (Psalm 114:6–7 NET)

Again, Jesus’ voice results in the temple’s four-inch-thick veil that separated the Most Holy Place from the Holy Place, being torn in two, starting at the top and going to the bottom. Thus, indicating that the way to God that was blocked by a Cherubim (1) in the Garden of Eden has now been re-opened by God and not by man!

According to the Jerusalem and Babylonian Talmuds, the very heavy Gold plated doors separating the Holy Place from the Outer Court also opened when Jesus died. (8)

Herod’s Temple

According to the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, the heavy brass Gate of Nicanor opened on its own accord. This occurred on the eighth of Nisan, before Passover, at the ninth hour of the night. However, the year is not specified. (9)

The tearing of the veil, the opening of the Golden Doors, and the opening of the gates of brass typologically opened the way for all to enter God’s presence.

However, the rabbis saw this as a sign that the Temple was going to be destroyed by fire as God’s judgment for their ungodliness. This was based on their understanding of this verse:

Open your gates, Lebanon, so that the fire may consume your cedars. (Zechariah 11:1 NET)

Thinking Jesus had sinned, Satan took Jesus’ Spirit to the lowest part of Hades – the Abyss from which no one or thing had ever escaped.

or “Who will descend into the abyss?” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). (Romans 10:7 NET)
But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah was in the belly of the huge fish for three days and three nights, so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights. (Matthew 12:39–40 NET)

An angel of God escorts the believing thief to another chamber in Hades called Abraham’s Bosom or Paradise (1) (Compare Luke 16:22).

In Paradise, the thief relates to those there (e.g., Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, King David, etc.) the events that have just taken place on Earth at Calvary – the place of the crucifixion. Even as Lazarus had, a short time earlier, relayed that the King was on Earth when he spent four days in Paradise – until King Jesus’ voice had brought him back up to Earth! (John 11) The occupants of Paradise observed the promised one descend into the Abyss (the Abyss is the barrier or void that separated Paradise from Hell, Luke 16:26).

Jesus, God Himself, descends into the void bearing with Him our sin – justice has been served in full on the Cross of Calvary for man’s rebellion (Isaiah 53:5-11).

What hope is there now left for humanity with their champion no longer living on Earth and confined to the Abyss? Satan must have exclaimed that he has stopped the one to break His lordship over the World (Genesis 3:15)! Can anyone stop him now?

So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the two men who had been crucified with Jesus, first the one and then the other. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and blood and water flowed out immediately. And the person who saw it has testified (and his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth), so that you also may believe. For these things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled, “Not a bone of his will be broken. ”And again another scripture says, “They will look on the one whom they have pierced.” (John 19:32–37 NET)

It is a little after 3:00 PM at Calvary, with the Jewish day being over at Sunset, which is at approximately 6:30 PM. The body of Jesus is taken down quickly to not remain on the cross on the upcoming High Sabbath of the Feast of Unleavened Bread (1) (John 19:31. Exodus 34:25).

He protects all his bones; not one of them is broken. (Psalm 34:20 NET)

While His body was bruised and lacerated beyond recognition, not one bone of His body was broken, which was required of the Passover Lamb. (1)

Clean out the old yeast so that you may be a new batch of dough—you are, in fact, without yeast. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. (1 Corinthians 5:7 NET)

In Paradise, the believing thief recalled what Jesus had said to him while on the cross – “Today” (i.e., before 6:30 PM, Luke 23:43). He would join him in Paradise. How can this be since Jesus is in the Abyss? But then again, he thought, while his eyes darted back to the Abyss, Jesus never lies…

Wednesday, Nisan 14, 31 A.D. (April 25, 31 AD) Lunar Eclipse (59)(60)

The Hebrew Calendar (1) is based on the Moon. Each month begins at the New Moon with calendars adjusted using “Leap Months,” specifically for Passover to occur during the month of Spring. We have learned that this “month of Spring” is then referred to as Nisan. (Deuteronomy 16:1 ) Again, Passover corresponds to the 14th day of Nisan. (Exodus 12:2) which places Passover at the full moon following the Spring Equinox. (59)

An Eclipse occurs when the Sun, Moon, and Earth are in line. A Lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth is in the middle, and its shadow blocks out the Sun’s rays to the full Moon. (59) The part of the moon that has the Sun’s rays blocked turns slightly red, slightly “blood-colored.”

The sun will be changed to darkness and the moon to blood before the great and glorious day of the Lord comes. And then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’(Acts 2:20,21 NET)

As the eclipse started after Astronomical twilight, there would have been a significant loss of light even though only a quarter of the Moon was totally immersed in the earth’s shadow. This on the night after our Jesus, our Lord’s body was placed in the tomb, and the moon turned to blood (at least a part of it did). (59)

EventTime
Moonrise 6:15 PM
Sunset6:31 PM
Penumbral Phase Started  8:02 PM
Partial Phase Start   9:17 PM
Maximum Eclipse 10:17 PM
Partial Phase End11:18 PM
Penumbral Phase End 12:32 AM
(59)
(60)(61)

His-Story (History) Series:



Shalom
(Security, Wholeness, Success)
Peace

Dear friend, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, just as it is well with your soul. 
(3 John 1:2 NET)


(1) Select the link to open another article with additional information in a new tab.

(2)

In addition, Matthew tells us that Satan advised Jesus to tempt God (1) by jumping off the pinnacle of the Temple (Matthew 4:5-6). This was before Jesus even began His ministry. Jesus would have died prematurely and failed to accomplish the purpose for which He was born. Although Satan failed in this attempt, he did not give up on his relentless attacks against Jesus.

Additional Satanic attempts on Jesus’ life:

Matthew 12:14, Mark 3:6 – Pharisees held a council with the Herodians to discuss destroying Jesus because He healed a man on the Sabbath day.

Luke 4:28-30 – Jews attempted to throw Him off the hill because of His first sermon in His hometown of Nazareth.

John 5:16 – The Jews persecuted Jesus and sought to kill Him for healing the impotent man on the Sabbath day.

John 5:18 – Jews sought to kill Jesus because He claimed equality with God.

John 7:30-32 – The Jewish plot to arrest Jesus with intent to kill Him for claiming He was from God.

John 7:25 – It was common knowledge that the Jews sought to kill Jesus.

John 7:40-44 – Some people desired to arrest Jesus with the intent to kill Him.

John 8:59 – Jews attempted to kill Jesus by stoning Him for claiming that He was God.

John 10:31 – The Jews again attempt to kill Jesus by stoning Him for claiming His Deity.

John 10:39 – The Jews sought to take Jesus for proving His Deity.

John 11:47 – The chief priests and Pharisees plot against Jesus.

John 11:53-54 – The Jews make a determined effort to kill Jesus.

John 11:55-57 – The Jews sought Jesus even at the Passover Feast.

John 12:9-11 – The Jews even desire to kill Lazarus because of their hatred for Jesus.

John 18:3,10,12 – Jesus was arrested by Jewish soldiers.

John 18:13-14 – Jesus was tried by Jewish leaders who had already decided on his guilt.

John 18:36 – Jesus acknowledges that it was the Jews who would kill Him.

John 18:38-40;19:1-7;12-15 – The Jews are adamant in their desire to kill Jesus.

John 19:11 – Jesus acknowledges a lesser and a greater sin in those who condemned Him to death.

John 19:16-18 – The Jews led Jesus away to be crucified.

Finally, Satan found a willing vessel in Judas, who betrayed Jesus to the Romans (Matthew 26:47-56). While Pilate had Jesus executed, Jesus made it clear that God allowed Pilate to make this decision (John 19:11).

(3) The Passion of Christ from a Medical Point of View by C. Truman Davis, M.D., M.S. The Passion is the Christian theological term used for the events and suffering (spiritual, soulish, and physical) of Jesus in the hours before and including his trial and execution by crucifixion.

(4) “Our Lord prayed to be saved from the Cross if there was such a possibility and it was within the will of God. Not that He was unwilling to suffer for lost sinners, but His holy soul shrank very properly and naturally from the terrible ordeal of being made sin and of having His Father turn away His face. It was the revulsion of His holy soul from that awful thing called sin and the natural yearning of His heart for unbroken fellowship with the Father that wrung from His lips that prayer. There in Gethsemane, He prayed to be saved from all of this.” Wuest, K. S. (1997). Wuest’s word studies from the Greek New Testament: for the English reader (Vol. 17, pp. 30–31). Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

(5) “It is believed, and with good reason, that our Lord uttered the entire twenty-second Psalm while hanging on the Cross. It is His own description of what took place there. Verses 1–13 speak of His heart sufferings; those due to His abandonment by God in verses 1–6, those due to the fact that mankind spurned Him in verses 7–13. His physical sufferings are described in verses 14–18. His prayer for the resurrection is recorded in verses 19–21, and His thanksgiving for answered prayer in verses 22–31.”  Wuest, K. S. (1997). Wuest’s word studies from the Greek New Testament: for the English reader (Vol. 10, p. 100). Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

(6) “It is finished or completed” is the translation of the Greek word tetelestai, which only appears twice in the Bible (John 19:28,30).  Jesus says tetelestai here in the perfect tense, which is rare in the New Testament and has no English equivalent. The perfect tense is a combination of two Greek tenses: the Present tense and the Aorist tense. The Aorist tense is punctiliar: meaning something that happens at a specific point in time; a moment. The Present tense is linear: meaning something that continues into the future and has ongoing results/implications. The combination of these two tenses in the perfect tense is used in John 19:30 is of overwhelming significance to the Christian. When Jesus says “It is finished” (or completed), what He is actually saying is, “It is finished and will continue to be finished.” The first element of the perfect tense: the Aorist, punctiliar, point in time statement “It is finished” is powerful. Mathew Henry describes all that is finished at that exact moment in time: “It is finished; that is, the counsels of the Father concerning his sufferings were now fulfilled. It is finished; all the types and prophecies of the Old Testament, which pointed at the sufferings of the Messiah, were accomplished. It is finished; the ceremonial law is abolished; the substance has now come, and all the shadows are done away. It is finished; an end is made of transgression by bringing in everlasting righteousness. His sufferings were now finished, both those of his soul and those of his body. It is finished; the work of man’s redemption and salvation is now completed.” The Aorist tense is only half of the perfect tense! The second element of Jesus’ statement is equally important: the Present, ongoing, linear “and will continue to be finished” component of the perfect tense. This indicates the ongoing nature of our salvation. This is so important because it indicates a condition, a state of being, a resting place. In conclusion, in Jesus’ statement “It is finished,” we have a declaration of salvation that is both momentary and eternal, Aorist and Present, linear and punctiliar. We are saved at a specific point in time, “it is finished,” our debt is paid, we are ransomed from the kingdom of darkness, and then we confidently rest in the reality that “it will continue to be finished” because we are in a position of grace and stand justified for all time before God. One Greek word, tetelestai, spoken in the perfect tense by Jesus on the cross, and it was finished at that moment and for all time.

http://www.ciu.edu/content/it-finished-look-greek/

(7) 5:1 A The daily whole offering [of the afternoon] [generally] was slaughtered at half after the eighth hour [after dawn, about 2:30 P.M.] and offered up at half after the ninth hour [about 3:30 P.M.].

B On the eve of Passover, [the daily whole offering] was slaughtered at half after the seventh hour and offered up at half after the eighth hour.

C whether on an ordinary day or on the Sabbath.

D [If, however,] the eve of Passover coincided with the eve of the Sabbath [Friday], it was slaughtered at half after the sixth hour [12:30 P.M.] and offered up at half after the seventh hour [1:30 P.M.],

E and [then] the Passover offering [was slaughtered] after it.

Neusner, J. (1988). The Mishnah : A new translation (pp. 236–237). New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

(8) 4. I:4: It has been taught: Forty years before the destruction of the Temple the western light went out, the crimson thread remained crimson, and the lot for the Lord always came up in the left hand. They would close the gates of the Temple by night and get up in the morning and find them wide open. Said [to the Temple] Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai, “O Temple, why do you frighten us? We know that you will end up destroyed. “For it has been said, ‘Open your doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour your cedars!’ ” (Zech. 11:1).

Neusner, J. (2008). The Jerusalem Talmud: A Translation and Commentary. Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers.

II.5 A. Our rabbis have taught on Tannaite authority:

B. Forty years before the destruction of the sanctuary, the lot did not come up in the right hand, and the thread of crimson never turned white, and the westernmost light never shone, and the doors of the courtyard would open by themselves,

C. until Rabban Yohanan b. Zakkai rebuked them. He said, “Temple, Temple, why will you yourself give the alarm [that you are going to be destroyed? You don’t have to, because] I know that in the end you are destined to be destroyed. For Zechariah b. EIdo has already prophesied concerning you: ‘Open your doors, Lebanon, that fire may devour your cedars’ (Zechariah 11:1).”

Neusner, J. (2011). The Babylonian Talmud: A Translation and Commentary (Vol. 5a, p. 142). Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers.

(9) (290) Thus also, before the Jews’ rebellion, and before those commotions which preceded the war, when the people were come in great crowds to the feast of unleavened bread, on the eighth day of the month Xanthicus [Nisan], and at the ninth hour of the night, so great a light shone around the altar and the holy house, that it appeared to be bright day time; which light lasted for half an hour. (291) This light seemed to be a good sign to the unskillful but was so interpreted by the sacred scribes to portend those events that followed immediately upon it. (292) At the same festival also, a heifer, as she was led by the high priest to be sacrificed, brought forth a lamb in the midst of the temple. (293) Moreover, the eastern gate of the inner [court of the] temple, which was of brass, and vastly heavy, and had been with difficulty shut by twenty men, and rested upon a basis armed with iron, and had bolts fastened very deep into the firm floor, which was there made of one entire stone, was seen to be opened of its own accord about the sixth hour of the night

(10) Booker, R. (2017). The miracle of the scarlet thread expanded edition: revealing the power of the blood of jesus from genesis to revelation. Shippensburg, PA: Destiny Image.

(11) Seamands, S. (2012). Give Them Christ: Preaching His Incarnation, Crucifixion, Resurrection, Ascension and Return (pp. 57, 69-71). Downers Grove, IL: IVP Books: An imprint of InterVarsity Press.

(12) Since Mary’s Father Heli had no sons (6) and Joseph most likely having died by this time, Jesus needed to ensure someone took over the elder son’s role of ensuring his mother Mary was cared for in His absence. In addition, through this action, Jesus was in compliance with the 5th commandment (Exodus 20:12. Ephesians 6:2). Why not his other brothers? Well, they did not believe in him yet (John 7:4,5. Psalms 69:8), and there is no mention in the Bible of them being present at Jesus’ crucifixion. Jesus later appeared to James (1 Corinthians 15:7), and subsequently, he becomes a pillar or leader of the church in Jerusalem (Galatians 2:9) and writes a letter in the New Testament that bears his name (James 1:1). Judas or Jude His brother also writes a letter bearing his name (Jude 1:1).

(13) Edersheim, A. (1959). The Temple, its ministry and services as they were at the time of Jesus Christ. (pp. 180,222). London: James Clarke & Co.

(14) Biblical Studies Press. (2005). The NET Bible First Edition; Bible. English. NET Bible.; The NET Bible. Biblical Studies Press.

(59) http://navsoft.com/html/___death_of_jesus.html

(60) https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/LEcat5/LE0001-0100.html

(61) https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/5MCLEmap/0001-0100/LE0031-04-25P.gif

(62) Edwin A. Blum, “John,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 340.

Hal has taught the Bible for over three decades. Through an interdenominational ministry dedicated to helping the local church build men for Jesus, Hal trained men, the leaders of men’s ministries, and provided pulpit supply. Before that, he was a Men’s Ministry Leader and an Adult Bible Fellowship teacher of a seventy-five-member class at a denominational megachurch. Presently, Hal desires to honor Jesus Christ through this Internet teaching ministry, thereby glorifying the Heavenly Father in the power and presence of the Holy Spirit. He believes, second to cultivating his relationship with God that raising his family unto the Lord is the most significant task for him while on Earth. Furthermore, Hal believes that being a successful leader in the church or workplace is no substitute for failing to be a successful leader at home. 
DOULOS HAL'S TOPICAL INDEX