Jesus Stays Silent While The World Shouts For Blood

A kiss becomes betrayal, a sword swing becomes a miracle, and a rooster crow becomes the sound of a friend falling apart. We trace the final hours of Jesus from the garden to the courtroom to the cross, following the details in Luke 22 and Matthew 26 to 27 and asking the question we can’t avoid: what did Jesus do to deserve any of this?

We talk through Peter’s denial by the fire, Judas’ devastating end, and the Sanhedrin’s scramble for false testimony. Then we step into the political pressure cooker with Pilate and the crowd, where an innocent man is traded for Barabbas and responsibility gets blurred until cruelty feels easy. Along the way, we reflect on why people join a mob, how fear changes our choices, and what it means when power tries to “wash its hands” of injustice.

From the Praetorium to Golgotha, we sit with the mocking, the thorns, the spit, and the suffering, and we slow down at the words that still shock us: “Father, forgive them.” We also remember the darkness, the torn temple veil, and the centurion’s confession, and we connect it all to the heart of Christian faith: sacrifice that opens the door to forgiveness and resurrection hope as Easter approaches.

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Transcript

Peter's Denial And The Rooster

Judas' End And A Midnight Trial

Pilate Faces Barabbas And The Crowd

SPEAKER_01 1:05

So again that Jesus is in the garden. A lot. A lot has happened. He's experiencing a lot of different conversations. He's praying for them. He's trying to to help them understand what's happening. And so the garden comes to an end and and we'll find ourselves in Luke. Jump around a little bit today, but find ourselves in Luke chapter 22, starting in verse 47. So Jesus is done praying. He's out of the garden. He's talking to his disciples and said while he was still speaking, a crowd came up. And the man who was called Judas, one of the twelve, was leading them. So Judas had Judas had already done what he had set out to do. He approached Jesus and he kissed him. And Jesus asked him, Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss? When Jesus' followers saw what was going to happen, they said, Lord, should we strike with our swords? And one of them struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear. And history tells us that that's Peter. Peter's a little overzealous. But Jesus answered, No more of this. And he touched the man's ear and he healed him. And then Jesus said to the chief priest, the officers of the temple guard and the elders who would come to him. Am I leading rebellion? You had come for him. I've come with swords and clubs. Every day I was with you in the temple courts, and you did not lay a hand on me, but this is your hour when darkness reigns. And seizing him, they led him away, and they took him into the house of the high priest, and Peter followed a distance. Peter sat down with them, and a servant girl saw him seated there in the firelight. She looked closely at him and said, This man was with him, but he denied it. Woman, I don't know him, he said. A little later, someone else saw him and said, You are also one of them. Man, I am not. Peter replied. About an hour later, Peter asserted, Certainly, this fellow was with him. And Peter replied, Man, I don't know what you're talking about. Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed. The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter, and Peter remembered the words the Lord had spoken to him. Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times. One outside and wept bitterly. The men who were guardians began mocking him and beating him, and they blindfolded him and they demanded, prophesy who hits you. And they said other and they said other many other insulting things to him. So Jesus has been arrested. Everything that he knew was coming came to pass. He told him, he said, listen, my hour had come. Go back to the we're gonna jump around a little bit, but if you go back to the gospel of Matthew chapter 27, you you realize that Judas takes his own life. He has this realization of what he has done. So Jesus has been arrested. Peter has denied him. Judas has killed himself. And so we find him standing in front of the Sanhedrin. Matthew 26, verse 57. But Peter followed him in a distance. Right up to the courtyard of the high priest. He entered and sat down with the guards to see the outcome. This is the part that Luke includes is Peter's interaction. But Matthew says Peter was there. He was watching as these things unfolded. The chief priest and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for false evidence against Jesus so they could put him to death. They were willing to lie just to find a reason to kill this man. He hadn't done anything wrong. Jesus even said it. What have I done wrong? I've been with you this whole time, and yet you've never found reason to arrest me until the dark of night. Matthew tells us they were trying to find evidence, but they did not find any. The many false witnesses came forward. Finally, two came forward and declared, This fellow said, I am able to destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days. Then the high priest stood up and said to Jesus, Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you? But Jesus remained silent. The high priest said to him, I charge you under oath by the living God, tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God. You have said so. Jesus replied. Look, now you have heard the blasphemy. What do you think? He is worthy of death. They answered. Then they spit in his face and they struck him with their fist. Others slapped him and said, Prophesy to us, Messiah, who he. Luke and Matthew capture the same details. He's being imprisoned and he's being spit on. He's being mocked. They found a reason to crucify. But the Jewish leaders couldn't crucify him on their own. Wasn't there right. The Romans were the ones who had to put him to death. They were still under their authority, still under their power. Peter denies him, Judas hangs himself. Matthew chapter 27, verse 11. It says, Meanwhile, Jesus stood before the governor. He's talking about Pilate. And he responded, You have said so. Jesus replied, When he was accused by the chief priests and the elders, he gave no answer. Then Pilate asked him, Don't you hear the testimony they are bringing against you? Jesus made no reply. Not even to a single charge. To the great amazement of the governor. Now it was the governor's custom at the festival to release a prisoner chosen by the crowd. And at that time they had a well-known prisoner whose name was Jesus Barabbas. Barabbas was a known insurrectionist. He had killed people. He was trying to overthrow the government. Barabbas was a bad man. So when the crowd had gathered, and Pilate asked them, which one do you want me to release to you? Pilate's trying to find a way to rid himself of this situation. He says, Who do you want me to release to? Jesus Barabbas or Jesus who's called the Messiah. This ungodly man, worldly man, knew that the Pharisees were just using this because they were selfish. There was no justification for this. So just surely they would not release Barabbas. Why would they do that? Pilate was sitting on the judge's seat. His wife sent him this message. It's always good to listen to your wife. But the chief priest and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and have Jesus executed. Which of the two do you want me to release to you? asked the government. What shall I do then with Jesus who's called the Messiah? Pilate asked.

SPEAKER_02 10:50

And I'm not going to shout. The crowd shouted, Crucify. Why? Why?

SPEAKER_01 10:59

What crime has he committed? But they shouted all the louder, crucify him. Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but then said an uproar was starting. He took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. I am innocent of this man's blood, he said. It is your responsibility. All the people answered, his blood and on us and on all of our children. What a weird statement. They didn't understand how true this statement was. Not even Pilate understood that his blood was also. Jesus was going to die for him. He didn't quite grasp this shit. So Pilate releases Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged and handed him over to be crucified.

SPEAKER_02 12:04

Pilate didn't want to want to deal with the crowd.

Thorns Spit And A Fake Crown

SPEAKER_01 12:07

He didn't want an uproar to start. He just wanted this to quietly go away. So he gave them what they won. And the governor's soldiers took Jesus to the Praetorium. They gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him and then twisted together a crown of thorns and they set it on his head. And they put a staff in his right hand. Then they knelt in front of him and mocked him. Hail, King of the Jews. They said. They spit on him and they took the staff and they struck him on the head again and again. After they had mocked him, they took him, they took off his robe and they put on his clothes on him. And they uh they led him away to crucify. These men were spitting on him. And and and mocking him they they were making fun of him and and bowing down to him and then and they were calling him names. Why why why would they do such a thing? What what had Jesus done that deserved any of this? Even Pilate knew that he was innocent. Pilate, Pilate understood. And yet Jesus, this entire time, all he did was stay calm. Look at the all the different gospels, we started to piece together this understanding that the crowds were just angry. We've done a ton of research that shows that if you can convince people and if you can remove people of responsibility, it's easy for them to just go along with it. So the crowds are calling out for the crucifixion of Jesus. Pilate's trying to save him, but but it's not gonna work.

SPEAKER_02 14:47

So they beat him, they torture him, they spit on him, they mocked him.

Crucified Between Two Criminals

SPEAKER_01 14:54

And then they take him out to be crucified. And they forced him to carry the cross. They came to a place called Gogatha, which means the place of the skull, and there they offered Jesus wine to drink, mixed with gall, but after tasting it, he refused to drink it. When they had crucified him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots and sitting down, they kept watch over him there. Above his head, they place a written charge against him. This is Jesus, the King of the Jews. Two rebels were crucified, and one on his right and one on his left, two men who deserve to die for their crimes. Those who passed by hurled insulted him, shaking their heads, saying, You are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days. Save yourself. Come down from the cross. If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross. In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law, and the elders mocked him. He saved others, they said, but but he can't save himself. He is the king of Israel. Let him come now. Down from the cross. We will believe in him. He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him. For he said, I am the Son of God. The same way the rebels who were crucified with him also heap insults on him. So not only is his body broken, broken, he's feeling the weight of the nails, the thorns, the flogging, but everyone is mocking and spinning on him, making fun of him.

SPEAKER_02 16:45

I can't even imagine the the weight of that moment.

SPEAKER_01 16:55

This is this is what he what he was praying for in the garden. This is this is the moment that he said, My my hour has come. He knew he knew the cross was the only way. He knew that he would be tortured. He knew that he would be beaten. He just he he understood that this had to happen. So when you go back to the garden and you see how intense his prayer is, it it puts it into perspective, God, if you can take this cup from me.

SPEAKER_02 17:46

But not my will.

Forgiveness From The Cross

SPEAKER_01 17:56

And then we come on the cross and is about to give up his life. And Jesus does a couple things in this moment. He gives his mother to his brethren to take care of her. I can't even imagine the weight of that. I mean, imagine having perfect union with God for your entire life. And in this moment there's a separation away from that.

SPEAKER_02 18:34

All of this is happening.

SPEAKER_01 18:58

What a weird prayer. What a what a weird thought. You're hanging on the cross.

SPEAKER_02 19:26

You ask for my forgiveness. You ask God to forgive me.

SPEAKER_01 19:56

And I remember I was sitting in an Easter service one time and and I you know I had done Easter services before. We didn't really go to church when I was younger, but we definitely like we were like Easter people sometimes, or like we would go on Christmas occasionally. You know, people do that, right? Like you go to church twice a year, you're good. You don't have to worry about it. God like has a little punch card and like yeah, good for you, right? Like listen, I'm not trying to mock you or mock people to do that, but I'm telling you, if that's all you do, you're missing it. You are missing so much of what it means to be part of a church in a community, right? But I remember when I was 15 years old and I was sitting through an Easter message and I uh this is pretty close to before I gave my life to Christ. And I was hanging out at this church and told you guys about this. My friend Ryan, his dad was preaching, and he was talking about Easter, and they were talking about the crucifixion of Jesus. And there was something in my mind at 15 years old that it just kind of stuck with me. And I remember when we were talking about the crucifixion of Jesus, and listen, I'm trying to pay attention as much as I can for being a 15-year-old. Like my brain wasn't all like developed, but but I'm like trying to pay attention. So I'm kind of listening, and he's telling this story of Jesus at the cross, and he's talking about Barabbas, and he's talking about the the the criminals on the side of him, and he gets to this moment, and it was the craziest thing because I feel like I feel like Ryan's dad's name was Russ. I called him Pastor Russ. I feel like he looked at me. Now, mind you, there's like 400 people in this church. So statistically, the chances that he looked at me is probably not gonna happen, right? There's a better chance that I'm gonna look at you, right, Dottie? Like you can see my eye line right here. Like I could just stare at Dottie all day long if I wanted to. But I'm sitting in this church, and I swear to you, this man looked at me. He said, as Jesus hung on the cross, he asked God to forgive the crowd for what they were doing. Because in that moment he knew the only way you could be forgiven was if he died the way that he did. And I remember that because when he I'm telling you, he looked at me, he said the only way you could be forgiven.

SPEAKER_00 22:39

And I was like Me.

SPEAKER_01 22:46

And then I processed it, right? I I sat there. I don't remember much of that message, the rest of it. But I remember he said the only way that you could be forgiven was if Jesus died. on this cross. He prayed for the forgiveness of the crowd because they didn't know what they were doing. God forgive them. They they haven't quite figured it out.

SPEAKER_02 23:32

But they'll understand eventually.

SPEAKER_01 23:38

They they don't understand that I had to die.

SPEAKER_02 23:52

God forgive them. God why have you forsaken me?

SPEAKER_01 24:03

Matthew twenty seven seven says from noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land. About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice Eli Eli Lama Sabakatabani. Which means my God my God why have you forsaken me? If some of those standing there heard this they said he's calling Elijah. Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge and he filled it with wine vinegar and he put it on a staff and offered it to Jesus to drink. And the rest said now leave him alone let's see if Elijah comes to save him to save him and when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice he gave up a spear and at that moment the curtains of the temple was torn to from top to bottom the earth shook the rocks split and the tombs broke open the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life that came out of the tombs after Jesus' resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people. When the centurion and those with him regarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened they were terrified and exclaimed surely he was the Son of God I I guarantee that in all of their crucifixions never once did they see those events happen. The veil torn the ground shook the dead rose they they had this realization that we What did we just do?

SPEAKER_02 25:47

This clearly wasn't just another man Father forgive them I do not understand following Jesus as a sacrifice.

SPEAKER_01 26:24

How is it camp yesterday with fourth, fifth and sixth graders and we were talking about this this idea of being bold bold and we talked about Shadrach, Meshach and Abinago and if you're familiar with Nathan and David, Nathan's an old testament prophet and had to go and tell King David that he had screwed up screwed up and so we're talking to these kids about what it means to be bold and all I could think about especially as we get closer to Easter is boldness often requires sacrifice. He had to do something he he had to fix what was broken. So he did so we did this innocent man who had done nothing wrong took the beatings took the spinning took the mocking took the being stabbed in the side he took all of it all of it he he he he and at the end he he had this moment where he was separated from God which he had never experienced before he sacrificed everything everything. They set Barabbas free free this this criminal criminal he watched as Peter denied of me he was there when Judas kissed him and and that sacrifice was was everything because with without Jesus dying there there's no resurrection there's no empty tomb. Listen I I understand Palm Sunday is important. But without the cross there's no hope Palm Sunday was was the day that Jesus turned toward Jerusalem and he came into the city and he spent the week teaching eating getting ready for the hour to come and then he was arrested beaten spit on mocked crucified How do you get people to understand how important that is how do you how do you how do you tell the world that that this perfect innocent man died for that how how do you look at people in the eye and and say Jesus did this for you for you 15 years old and when I realized how much Jesus had done for me like really done for me not not just reading it but like it it hit me harder than it ever had when I realized how much he had sacrificed for me this 15 year old dunk of a kid the only proper response was for me to give my life that's it and I have spent every day since praying and seeking opportunities just to sit down with someone and let them know that Jesus died for you Jesus sacrificed his life for you Jesus gave everything for you and as he's dying he asks God to forgive us there's no greater love than this there's no greater hope than the cross there everything else in this world that I could ever gain every amount of money the biggest house nicest cars I could be super popular. I could be known all over the world and none of that will ever even come close to the fact that I'm known and loved by a man who is willing to die for me Easter's coming the tomb's gonna be empty we know that we know that today let's sit with the sacrifice the sacrifice that God made Jesus was willing to die for me the only proper response is that I live forever