Just as Jesus received the peace and strength from God that He needed to continue the betrayer Judas, leading a large crowd of Jewish leaders and Roman soldiers through the Garden of Gethsemane, approached Jesus and arrested Him. Jesus withstood six trials before Jewish and Roman leaders throughout the night and early morning, all a travesty of justice. Three Jewish trials were held during the night while still dark; at the break of day three Roman trials began continuing until He was crucified around 9:00 am. During the trials both Jews and Romans repeatedly tortured Jesus beating Him in the face and body, spitting on Him, and pulling out His beard. He was mocked and ridiculed, flogged, and forced to wear a crown of thorns jammed into His head. Jesus was barely alive when made to carry the heavy beam the half mile to Golgotha. His death on the cross took six hours. During the first three hours, the words He spoke were directed to the benefit of others, asking the Father to forgive the soldiers for unknowingly crucifying Him, to the criminal next to Him stating that the thief would also be with Him in Paradise this very day, and to His mother and John, giving John charge of His mother's care. In the last three hours of His crucifixion, from noon to three o'clock, darkness fell over all the land, an indication of God's judgment against sin in the person of His Son. Jesus now bore the full weight of our sin and endured the wrath of the just God. He spoke to the Father four times towards the end, just before He died. His final two comments, "It is finished" and "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit" show the completeness of His sacrifice and its acceptance by God. He paid the debt for our sin, we are now set free. Thank you Jesus...Glory to God!
