Chapter 4 - Condemned by His Own

....Jesus is brought before the people, along with the rebel Barabbas. One of them will be released and Pilate hopes for justice, but the chief priests and scribes have incited the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to destroy Jesus. The same people who rejoiced at His entry a week ago will condemn Him today, and require His death. Pilate is amazed and pleads for Him, yet he is rejected three times. 1

..... "My soul, wait silently for God alone, for My expectation is from Him."

(Psalm 62:5)

.... Finally, the governor washes his hands in innocence. The people accept responsibility as Jesus is led away to be crucified between two thieves, who are condemned along with Him. 2

.

.... Pain wracks His body as He is pierced and lifted up before them. On the cross His enemies deride Him, and gamble for His clothing by casting lots. It is the third hour, and they settle to await the end. 3

.... "For dogs have surrounded Me; the congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and My feet; I can count all My bones. They look and stare at Me. They divide My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots."

(Psalm 22:16-18)

.... About the sixth hour, an unnatural darkness spread over the earth, and the sun became hidden from view. For three hours the brooding remained, and the crowd began to realize they had sinned. As Jesus had told them beforehand: 4

.... "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things."

(John 8:28)

....Through the deepening gloom, Jesus’ mother appears at the foot of His cross, along with one of His disciples, named John. Jesus has loved her to the end, and in a tender moment He entrusts her to John’s care for the rest of her days. 5

.

....As the end draws near, Jesus feels His life slipping away. At the ninth hour He cries out with a loud voice, saying, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" And the final pangs of death take hold of Him. "I thirst!" He cries; and in a final insult from this world, vinegar is given to Him in His thirst. 6

.... ‘My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and My tongue clings to My jaws; you have brought Me to the dust of death. They also gave Me gall for My food, and for My thirst they gave Me vinegar to drink.'

(Psalm 22:15; 69:21)

.... Jesus knows it is finished. "Father, into your hands I commit My spirit." He cries; and breathing His last, He gives up the ghost. 7

.

....Immediately the ground trembles and the rocks are split, and the veil of the temple is rent from top to bottom. The people who see it smote their breasts, and return. The soldiers are afraid, and glorify God. 8

.... "The pangs of death surrounded Me, and the floods of ungodliness made Me afraid. The sorrows of Sheol surrounded Me; the snares of death confronted Me. In My distress I called upon the LORD, and cried out to My God; He heard My voice from His temple, and My cry came before Him, even to His ears. Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations of the hills also quaked and were shaken, because He was angry."

(Psalm 18:4-7)

....Meanwhile, Jesus’ disciples are scattered and taken with fear as they mourn the bitterness of His death in seclusion. Yet a certain rich man, Joseph of Arimathea, who is secretly a disciple, takes courage in that hour. Coming to Pilate, he asks for Jesus’ body that he might bury Him in his own new tomb. The request is granted, and Jesus is taken down. A stone is rolled over the sepulcher and a guard is set in place. 9

.

(see the Scriptural references by clicking on the associated hyperlinks)

Incitement of the Crowd

.
....1. a Why do the nations rage, and the people plot a vain thing?

.
....2. a All who hate Me whisper
........together against Me;
....Against Me they devise My hurt.

....3. a For the leaders of this people

........cause them to err,
....b And those who are led by them
........are destroyed.

.
On Trial Before the People

.
....4. a He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

.
....5. a Without cause they have
........hidden their net for Me
........in a pit,
....Which they have dug without

........cause for My life.
....6. a My soul, wait silently for

........God alone,
....b For My expectation is from

........Him.

.
Pilate Pleads for Jesus

.
....7. a Open your mouth for the speechless, in the cause of all who are appointed to die.

....8. Open your mouth, a judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy.

.
....9. a "If you have understanding,
........hear this;
....Listen to the sound of my words:

....10. a Should one who hates
........justice govern?

....b Will you condemn Him who is
........most just?
....11. a Is it fitting to say to a king,
........‘You are worthless,’
....And to nobles, ‘You are
........wicked’?

.
Rejected by His Own

.
....12. a But you have cast off and abhorred, b you have been furious with your anointed.
....13. a You have renounced b the covenant of your servant; c you have profaned His crown by casting it to the ground.
....14. a You have broken down all His hedges; you have brought His strongholds to ruin.
....15. a All who pass by the way plunder Him; He is a reproach to His neighbors.
....16. a You have exalted the right hand of His adversaries; b you have made all His enemies rejoice.
....17. a You have also turned back the edge of His sword, and have not sustained Him in the battle.
....18. a You have made His glory cease, and cast His throne down to the ground.
....19. a The days of His youth you have shortened; b you have covered Him with shame. Selah.

.
....20. I have been afflicted
........a and ready to die b from My

........youth up.

.
Pilate Disavows the Verdict

.
....21. Wrath is cruel and anger a torrent, a but who is able to stand before jealousy?

.

....22. a I have not sat with
........idolatrous mortals,
....Nor will I go in with hypocrites.
....23. a I have hated the assembly of

........evildoers,
....And will not sit with the wicked.
....24. a I will wash my hands in
........innocence;
....b So I will go about Your altar,
........O LORD.
.

"His Blood Be on Us!"
.

....25. a He was taken from prison and from judgment, b and who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; c for the transgressions of My people He was stricken.

.
....26. a A fire was kindled against
........Jacob,
....And anger also came up against

........Israel,
....27. a Because they did not

........believe in God,
....And did not trust in His
........salvation.
....28. a But I am like a green olive
........tree in the house of God;
....I trust in the mercy of God
........forever and ever.

.
....29. a If the righteous will be recompensed on the earth, how much more the ungodly and the sinner?

.
Jesus Led to Be Crucified

.
....30. He poured out His soul unto death, a and He was numbered with the transgressors, b and He bore the sin of many, c and made intercession for the transgressors.

.

....31. You know a My reproach,
........b My shame, and c My dis-

........honor;
....d My adversaries are all before

........You.
....32. a Reproach has broken My

........heart,
....And I am full of heaviness;

....b I looked for someone to take

........pity, but there was none;

....And for comforters, but I found

........none.
....33. a They also gave Me gall for
........My food,
....And for My thirst they gave Me

........vinegar to drink.
.

The King on a Cross

.
....34. a Many bulls have sur-
........rounded Me;
....Strong bulls of Bashan have
........encircled Me.
....35. a They gape at Me with their

........mouths,
....Like a raging and roaring lion.
....36. a I am poured out like water,

....And all My bones are out of

........joint;
....b My heart is like wax; it has
........melted within Me.
....37. a My strength is dried up like
........a potsherd,
....b And My tongue clings to My
........jaws;
....You have brought Me to the dust

........of death.
....38. a For dogs have surrounded

........Me;
....b The congregation of the wicked

........has enclosed Me.
....c They pierced My hands and My

........feet;
....39. a I can count all My bones.
........They look and stare at Me.

....40. a They divide My garments

........among them,
....And for My clothing they cast

........lots.
..

Mocked by His Enemies

.
....41. I am a worm, and no man;
....a A reproach of men, and de-
........spised of the people.
....42. a All those who see Me laugh
........Me to scorn;
....They shoot out the lip, b they
........shake the head, saying,
....43. a "He trusted in the LORD, let

........Him rescue Him;
....Let Him deliver Him, since He
........delights in Him!"
....44. My tears have been My food
........day and night,
....a While they continually say to
........Me,
...."Where is Your God?"
....45. When I remember these

........things,

....I pour out My soul within Me.

....a For I used to go with the multi-

........tude;
....b I went with them to the house

........of God,
....c With the voice of joy and

........praise,
....d With a multitude that kept a
........pilgrim feast.
.

Darkness Over the Earth
.

....46. "And it shall come to pass in that day," says the Lord GOD, "That a I will make the sun go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in broad daylight;
....47. I will turn your a feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; b I will bring sackcloth on every waist, and baldness on every head; I will make it like mourning for an only son, and its end like a bitter day."

.
....48. Justice is far from us, nor
........does righteousness
........overtake us;
....a We look for light, but there is

........darkness!
....For brightness, but we walk in

........blackness!
....49. We grope for the wall like
........the blind,
....And we grope as if we had no

........eyes;
....a We stumble at noonday as at

........twilight;
....b We are as dead men in desolate

........places.
....50. We all growl like bears, and
........moan sadly like doves;
....We look for justice, a but there is
........none;
....For salvation, b but it is far from

........us.
....51. a For our transgressions are

........multiplied before You,

....And our sins testify against us;

....For our transgressions are with
........us,
....And as for our iniquities, b we
........know them.
.

Behold Your Mother!
.

....52. a Let not those who wait for

........You, O Lord GOD of hosts,

........be ashamed because of Me;

....Let not those who seek You be

........confounded because of Me,

....O God of Israel.
....53. Because a for Your sake I

........have borne reproach;
....b Shame has covered My face.

....54. a I have become a stranger to

........My brothers,
....And an alien to b My mother’s
........children.
.

Jesus Dies on the Cross

.
....55. And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; a then they will look on Me whom they have pierced; b they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.

.
....56. a My God, My God, why
........have You forsaken Me?
....Why are You so far from helping
........Me,
....And from the words of My

........groaning?
....57. a I will say to God My Rock,

...."Why have You forgotten
........Me?
....Why do I go mourning because
........of the oppression of the
........enemy?"
....58. As with a breaking of My
........bones,
....My enemies reproach Me,
....a While they say to Me all day
........long,
...."Where is Your God?"
....59. a Then I said, ‘I have labored

........in vain,
....I have spent My strength for
........nothing and in vain;
....Yet surely My just reward is
........with the LORD,
....And My work with My God.’
....60. I am weary with My crying;
........a My throat is dry;
....My eyes fail while I wait for My
........God.

....61. I am poor and needy,
....a And My heart is wounded
........within Me.
....62. a The pangs of death
........surrounded Me,
....And the floods of ungodliness
........made Me afraid.
....63. a The sorrows of Sheol
........surrounded Me;
....The snares of death confronted
........Me.
....64. a In My distress I called upon
........the LORD,
....And cried out to My God;

....b He heard My voice from His

........temple,
....And My cry came before Him,
........even to His ears:
.

....65. a Into Your hand I commit

........My spirit;
....You have redeemed Me,
........O LORD God of truth.
.

....66. a Then the earth shook and

........trembled;
....The foundations of the hills

........also quaked and were

........shaken,
....Because He was angry.
....67. a Let all the earth fear the
........LORD;
....Let all the inhabitants of the
........world stand in awe of
........Him.
.

....68. a "In that day there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning at Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo.
....69. "And the land shall mourn, a every family by itself: the family of the house of David by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of Nathan by itself, and their wives by themselves;
....70. "the family of the house of Levi by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of Shimei by itself, and their wives by themselves;
....71. "all the families that remain, every family by itself, a and their wives by themselves."

.

Jesus Buried in Joseph’s Tomb
.

....72. a And they made His grave with the wicked – b but with the rich at His death, c because He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth.
....73. a Yet He shall be brought to the grave, b and a vigil kept over the tomb.

.

(see the Scriptural references by clicking on the associated hyperlinks)

To view Chapter 5, The Death and Resurrection of Christ, please scroll down or click HERE.