The

Easter Story

(Part Two)

By

Abp. Leslie "Mary" Trombly

Copyright (c)2003

border="0">

There we were standing in a crowd just outside the Eastern gate of Jerusalem. There was great Joy among the crowd, but the face of Judas had an evil scowl on it. The reason for their great joy was that Jesus was coming into Jerusalem for the passover and he was riding a donkey. The people were singing loud Hosannas' and praising Him. Meanwhile the scribe and Pharisees stood on the temple steps fuming and very annoyed at a simple man being given such accolation. They reasoned that they deserved such accolations far more than this man, this rebel, who had become such a thorn in their sides. One of them was so infuriated by it that he stomped down the temple steps and over to where Jesus was and demanded of Him to silence the people. Jesus answered and said," I tell you that if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.(Luke 19:40) The temple priest stomped off even more angry and vengeful than he was when he approached Jesus.

This was passover and Jesus had already instructed the disciples to go and make preparations for the feast. Little did they realize at the time that they would be sharing one last meal with their Lord and Savior. Over at the temple the Scribes and Pharisees were plotting Jesus' demise. They saw Him as a hinderence to their power and control over the people and their standing with the Roman government and they just couldn't stand for that. One disciple, Judas Iscariot, was a malcontent. He believed that Jesus should have been King of the Jews and overthrown the Roman government. He had no real understanding of Jesus at all. He perceived Jesus to be just another Zealot who should gather a great army and do away with the present government. He equated him with Barrabas and when Barrabas failed to accomplish the task he looked to Jesus to do it. When Jesus didn't do what Judas expected Him to do; he became angry and sought to also put Jesus away. Jesus knew this from the very beginning and when the disciples gathered for the Passover meal, things would from that point on seem to go in fast forward.

As the disciples and Jesus gathered to celebrate the Feast of Passover; the mood at first was of merriment until Jesus Spoke. As they did eat, he said, Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me. And they were exceeding sorrowful, and began every one of them to say unto him, Lord, is it I? And he answered and said, He that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the same shall betray me. The Son of man goeth as it is written of him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good for that man if he had not been born. Then Judas, which betrayed him, answered and said, Master, is it I? He said unto him, Thou hast said. And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, "Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom. And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives. (Matthew 26:21-30)

You could see the fear in the eyes of the disciples and the sadness in the eyes of the Lord. Not because of His impending death but because the disciples couldn't comprehend what He had just told them. As they were walking they discussed among themselves what Jesus had said at the Passover Feast. Who would want to kill Him? Why? What would they do without Him to lead them? I asked the Lord why they didn't understand what you were telling them and He replied, "Because they are fearful and do not completely believe I am who I said I am; but they soon will." I pondered this as we walked towards the Garden of Gethsemane.

Then Jesus said to them, All you shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad. But after I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee. Peter answered and said unto him, Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended. Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. Peter said unto him, Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee. Likewise also said all the disciples. (Matthew 26:31-35)

It seemed funny to be walking with Jesus and seeing him at the same time as he was when He walked the earth as a man. Jesus knew what I was thinking and laughed. I continued to watch and when we arrived at the Garden of Gesthemane. Jesus said to the disciples, "Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder. And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me. And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt. And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done. And he came and found them asleep again: for their eyes were heavy. And he left them, and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words. Then cometh he to his disciples, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest: behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going: behold, he is at hand that doth betray me. (Matthew 26:36-45)

I couldn't understand how they could sleep knowing what was rapidly approaching; but Jesus said that it was the way that it was supposed to be according the His father's will. He was going through a time when He needed to communicate with his father on a solitary level and without hinderance to prepare Him for the rest of what was to come. I saw an angel attend to Him while He prayed. As I was watching all this I heard approaching footsteps of many people and soon saw the lights of torches. As Jesus was speaking to the disciples, Judas, one of the twelve, came, and with him a great multitude with swords and staves, from the chief priests and elders of the people. Then he that betrayed him gave them a sign, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he: hold him fast. He came to Jesus, and said, Hail, master; and kissed him. Jesus said to him, "Friend, wherefore art thou come?" Then came they, and laid hands on Jesus and took him.

From this point on Jesus wanted me to tell what I had seen in my own words and to my understanding. When I started to consider this I never perceived that I would feel all that He felt and all that the Father in Heaven felt. It was complete and total agony. After they bounced Jesus from the temple elders to Pontius Pilate to King Herod and finally back to Pontius Pilate. Pilate still found no sin in Jesus. To please or should I say, in the hopes of pacifying the temple elders, Pilate ordered Jesus to be whipped. The centurions dragged Jesus out to the courtyard of Pilate's palace and ripped his clothes off His back. They took what appeared to be leather straps and tied him to a pole in the center of the courtyard. Then they mocked him so cruelly as they whipped Him with a whip that had many leather straps with metal like balls all through each of the of the straps.

I watched in horror as each strike against his flesh tore his back open. With each strike that hit his back, I felt the enormous pain that went with it. The tears were streaming down my face with eash stroke of the whip. The tears were not for me and what I was feeling; but for Him who was innocent of any wrongdoing. He never let out a single cry, although I am sure that He was in total emotional and physical agony. When they had finished their whipping of Him they released Him and he fell to the ground. I counted 39 whip marks on his back and sides that had become open gashes and He was covered with blood. Earlier the temple elders had accused Him of Blasphemy when He admitted to being the Son of God. The elders tore their clothes and one elder had grabbed Jesus' beard and tore it out of his face after he has slapped Him. I was so angry and I wanted to be able to tell that elder off and to say, "leave my Jesus alone!" Jesus knew what I was feeling and said, "Anger solves nothing. Things had to be this way as they were predestined and prophesized to be so." It still hurt, nonetheless.

After they had released Jesus from the whipping post, they made a crown of thorns and found a robe and a reed stick for a scepter and placed them on Him and proceeded to mock Him and spit on Him. I could only watch this in silence and with tears in my eyes for all that He was forced to endure and that was not the end of it. When they were through with their mocking of Him they took the robe off Him and the "scepter" out of His hand and dressed Him in His own garments again. They left the crown of thorns on His head and brought Him back to Pilate. By this time, I was trembling and the tears were still flowing. Pilate wanted to let Him go; but the temple elders wouldn't hear of it. They made the suggestion that since it was the custom of Passover to release one prisoner to the people, that that would be a way to resolve it. Barrabas was already a prisoner and using Jesus as the other choice of a prisoner to release - the elders were confident that it wouldn't be Jesus that was freed but Barrabas and they would soon be prove right.

On the palace balcony Pontius Pilate, the palace guards, Barabbas and Jesus stood. A crowd had gathered below in great numbers. Pilate told them of the Passover custom and asked which one of then they wanted to be released. Some said Jesus, but the elders persuaded the majority of the crowd to ask for Barrabas. Barrabas was released and then Pilate asked, "What shall I do with Jesus?" The crowd again with the persuasion of the elders began Yelling, "Crucify Him! Crucify Him!" That tore the very heart out of me and I was devastated by the callousness and coldness of putting to death an innocent man. Yet, I knew it was what had to be done in order to fulfill the prophecy of the old Testament prophets. Still, I was hurt and angry and feeling totally helpless to prevent it. I was only an observer to all of this that had occured over 2,000 years ago. Pilate washed his hand in a bowl of water, declaring that He was innocent of Jesus blood and that His death would be upon their heads. The worst was yet to come.

Pilate gave Jesus over to the people and after they had sourged Him some more they placed a heavy wooden cross on His shoulder and forced Him to walk the distance between the palace of Pontius Pilate and the hill of Golgotha (Place of the Skull) . At that moment I wished that I could have carried it for Him. I would have willingly. Jesus kept tripping and falling under the weight of the cross and finally one of the centurions grabbed a man, whose name was Simon,from Cyrene and told Him to carry Jesus's cross. There were some women mourners along the way and when Jesus paused for a moment to tell them not to weep for Him but for their children; a woman wiped His brow and I saw tremendous pain and sorrow in His eyes. He knew that His death would not mean the slightest thing to some and that many of His father's children would be forever lost because of the hardness of their hearts. I followed Him all the way to that lonely hill of death watching Him struggle to put one foot in front of the other and seeing the enormous amount of pain on His face, but He said not a word and didn't even cry out. The tears were still streaming down my face in agony of watching the Lord and Savior that I loved, suffering so much for us sinners. That is unconditional Love,put to the ultimate test.

As I looked to the Hill there were two crosses already there with a man on each one of them. In the middle of the two crosses was a space where I knew that this was where they were going to crucify an innocent man. The centurions mocked and cursed Jesus all the way to that Hill and would kick Him and shove him. When they reached the Hill they laid the "cross" on the ground and then pushed Jesus to the ground as well.They laid him on the cross and proceeded to put nails in His hands and feet. With each strike of the hammer against the nails going into the wrists of His hands and feet, I felt the pain and cried; yet Jesus didn't let out so much as a whimper, but inside you could hear Him screaming in agony. I was trembling so bad that Jesus put His arms around me to comfort me. Imagine that! Having to re-live his own life to make a point of His Father's great love for us must have been hard for Him and yet He was comforting me! I turned to Him and said,"Lord it is I who should be comforting you." He smiled and it was a smile so full of Love that there are not enough words to describe it

They lifted the cross up and placed it into a hole in the ground and placed rocks around the bottom to secure it.Then they placed a placard above His head that said: " Jesus of Nazareth - KING of the Jews" in Hebrew. Instead of it being the ultimate insult it was actually an admittance as to who He really was. They didn't think so, because they thought they were mocking Him. The centurions gathered at the bottom of Jesus' cross and gambled for his rainment. a bit further back from the cross stood some of the disciples, Jesus' Mother, Mary Magdalene and some of the followers of Jesus. They were all weeping; but the most heart-wrenching of all was to see Jesus' mother. The pain and sorrow in her face was unbelievable. I wanted to reach out to her and comfort her, but again I couldn't. Seeing an innocent man die for a crime he did not commit was bad enough; but to see the Son of God die in such a manner was the worse thing possible.

As Jesus was hanging on the cross the Scribes and Pharisees and other mockers walked by and laughed at Jesus, saying: "And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads, And saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross. Likewise also the chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders, said, He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him. He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God." (Matthew 27:39-43)

Gall was vinegar wine and it taste was bitter and it caused a greater thirst. When the sixth hour approached which was about noontime to our understanding, darkness came over the land and stayed there until the ninth hour (about 3pm.) When the ninth hour approached Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? That means, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Some of the people that stood there, when they heard that, said, This man calleth for Elias. And straightway one of them ran, and took a spunge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink. The rest said, Let be, let us see whether Elias will come to save him. Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, his spirit left Him.

Suddenly the earth began to tremble beneath my feet. The cross where Jesus was began to vibrate and waver. The rocks that laid loosely on the ground on the hillside shook and fell to the ground below. The veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; The graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many. Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God. They finally realized that they had crucified God's beloved Son. The question in my head was, "How long was the realization really going to last with them?" From what I have seen of my own time, fo most it never even made an impression on them.

When the evening of passover came, Joseph of Arimathaea, named who also himself was Jesus' disciple went to Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be delivered. When Joseph had taken Jesus' body, and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth. then he laid Jesus in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock: and he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre, and left.. Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary, sitting over against the sepulchre. The next day, that followed the day of the preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate, saying, "Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again. Command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night, and steal him away, and say unto the people, He is risen from the dead: so the last error shall be worse than the first."

Pilate, by now was already annoyed with them,said to them, "You have a watch: go your way, make it as secure as you can." So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch with some of the centurions.It was the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre. There was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow: The centurions were in fear of him and shake, and became as dead men. The angel answered and said to the women, Fear not you: for I know that you seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. Go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goes before you into Galilee; there will you see him: as I have told you. They departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word. After they left I went to the sepulchre and peered inside. there on the place where Jesus had lain, laid His shroud, neatly folded and no sign of Him. I was overjoyed! He has truly risen from the dead and I was seeing it all! The tears I had cried in agony over what they had done to the Lord now turned to tears of utter joy! I was estatic!

I followed them, as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him. Then Jesus said to them, Be not afraid: go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me. while they were going to Galilee, some of the centurions on the Sepulchre watch came into the city, and told the chief priests all the things that were done. When they were assembled with the elders, and had taken counsel, they gave large money unto the soldiers, telling them, "Say, His disciples came by night, and stole him away while we slept.If this come to the governor's ears, we will persuade him, and secure you."

They took the money, and did as they were taught: and this is commonly reported among the Jews until this day. Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. When they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted. Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. I watched Jesus ascend into heaven and there was a great Light about Him and The peace and joy I felt in my heart transcended all that pain and sorrow that I had witnessed and endured along with Jesus. Now I fully understood completely and fully all that He had suffered for us, so that we may have an opportunity for Salvation from our sinful lives and the promise of eternal life. He endured all that to pay the ultimate price for our sin and He faced the wrath of His Father in order to take on all our sin on the cross and pay it's ultimate price. He is my Lord and Your Lord if you choose Him to be. I hope that this doesn't sound too corny but He is also My Hero. He saved my life and He can save yours from eternal Damnation. This is the message that He wanted me to deliver to you this Easter.

I am back in my own time and Jesus has departed leaving me with these words: "Tell them I love them and My father Loves them. Tell them, I am waiting patiently for them. Tell them, time is short and I will return and I do not want to leave any of my children behind to face what is to come after I gather my children unto myself. Tell them" I promised that I would.

To View "Beloved Savior"

Click On The Arrow On The Media Player

Christian

Directory

Please Click On The Icon

To Go To The Website

Note: If any of the pictures on display here belong to anyone, please let me know. I had these donated to me over the years and do not know the artist(s). Some of the graphics, however are mine. Thank you. At the bottom you will find an e-mail button. Click on it and you can send me an e-mail

Thanks to Duncan Long for allowing me to use His art for God. Please Visit his site at: http://duncanlong.com/