“They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him. They wove thorn branches into a crown and put it on his head, and they placed a reed stick in his right hand as a scepter. Then they knelt before him in mockery and taunted, ‘Hail! King of the Jews!’ And they spit on him and grabbed the stick and struck him on the head with it.” (Matthew 27:28–30 NLT)

The list of assaults and indignities Jesus suffered after His arrest is long. A temple guard slapped Him during His trial before Annas (see John 18:22). Members of the Sanhedrin spit in His face, beat Him with their fists, and slapped Him for telling the truth about who He was, which they considered blasphemy (see Matthew 26:62–67).

Herod and his soldiers mocked and ridiculed Him (see Luke 23:11). Roman soldiers placed a crown made of thorn branches on His head, mocked Him, spit on Him, and hit Him in the head with a reed stick (see Matthew 27:27–30). Pilate had him flogged with a leather whip studded with shards of lead (see Matthew 27:26). Near death already from His beatings and torture, Jesus was forced to carry a heavy crossbeam to Golgotha, the site of His crucifixion (see John 19:17).

Jesus’ suffering fulfilled prophecies Isaiah had made hundreds of years earlier. “I offered my back to those who beat me and my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard. I did not hide my face from mockery and spitting” (Isaiah 50:6 NLT).

“But many were amazed when they saw him. His face was so disfigured he seemed hardly human, and from his appearance, one would scarcely know he was a man” (Isaiah 52:14 NLT).

With this Good Friday perspective in mind, let’s look at the words Jesus spoke to His disciples in Matthew 16:24. “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me” (NLT).

Some people will say, “That’s my cross to bear,” when they’re talking about a burden or an annoyance they must put up with. But that’s not what Jesus was talking about. To “take up your cross” is to be willing to sacrifice everything, even your life, to follow Him.

Jesus understood that not many people are willing to do that. During His earthly ministry, He drew crowds wherever He went. Some people liked what they heard and saw and followed Him. Some of them hoped that He would fulfill their expectations of the Messiah. Some wanted to see miracles. And some just wanted free food. They weren’t interested in taking up crosses.

Jesus’ command weeds out the pretenders. It also challenges those of us who are genuine in our desire to follow Him to examine our faith and ask some hard questions.

Would I be willing to sacrifice my reputation to follow Christ? Would I be willing to lose my job? My friends? My family? My life?

Reflection question: What does “taking up your cross” and following Jesus look like in your life?

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“‘Away with him,’ they yelled. ‘Away with him! Crucify him!’

‘What? Crucify your king?’ Pilate asked.

‘We have no king but Caesar,’ the leading priests shouted back.” (John 19:15 NLT)

In the hours after His arrest, Jesus faced several different trials before Jewish and Roman leaders. His accusers made false allegations against Him and twisted His words to make their accusations seem legitimate.

And through it all, Jesus remained silent. He refused to counter their claims or defend Himself against their lies. His silence was probably a welcome surprise to the people who had plotted against Him. Jesus had verbally sparred with the Jewish authorities several times during His ministry, and each time He exposed their hypocrisy and misunderstanding of God and His Word.

In fact, according to Matthew 22, a few days before Jesus was arrested, a group of Pharisees and a group of Sadducees tried to trap Jesus by asking Him some tricky theological questions. It didn’t go well for them. Jesus turned the tables and put them on the spot with questions of His own. The people who witnessed these encounters had one reaction. Verse 33 says, “When the crowds heard him, they were astounded at his teaching” (NLT).

The Pharisees and Sadducees who instigated the encounters had a different reaction. Verse 46 says, “No one could answer him. And after that, no one dared to ask him any more questions” (NLT).

Jesus’ silence during His trials was a strategic choice on His part. It worked to His enemies’ advantage, as He knew it would.

Remember, the crowds were on Jesus’ side at this point. He was still popular after His triumphant arrival on Palm Sunday. But with no pushback from Jesus’ side, His enemies were able to sway public opinion. They worked the crowds, spreading their lies and false accusations. They could point to Jesus and say, “He’s not even trying to deny the charges!”

Their efforts were successful. When the Roman governor Pilate presented Jesus to the crowd, the people shouted for His execution. It didn’t matter that neither the Jewish nor the Roman authorities had found any legitimate reason to execute Him. They were okay with Jesus’ blood being on their hands.

For Jesus, this was just another in a long line of rejections. He was rejected by His hometown of Nazareth (see Mark 6:1–6). He was rejected by a Samaritan village (see Luke 9:51–56). He was even rejected by His disciples (see John 6:60–66).

In being rejected, Jesus fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah 53:3: “He was despised and rejected—a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care” (NLT).

We could marvel at the short-sightedness and hard-heartedness that caused the people outside Pilate’s residence to reject Jesus so cruelly. But let’s marvel instead at the amazing love that caused Jesus to give His life for those who were calling for His death so that they might live forever. And let’s remind ourselves that there are people who reject Him today who need to hear about His amazing love.

Reflection question: Why do people reject Jesus today?

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“The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death, but they did not find any.” (Mark 14:55 NIV)

The prosecution of Jesus offers a case study in injustice, hypocrisy, and evil. After He was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus was taken to the house of Annas, a former high priest. Annas interrogated Him briefly and then sent Him to the house of Caiaphas, the current high priest.

Caiaphas had assembled the Sanhedrin, the ruling religious body in Israel, to hear testimony. He had hoped to include the testimonies of false witnesses who were willing to lie about Jesus, but none of them could get their stories straight.

Instead, he used testimony from two men who said, “This man said, ‘I am able to destroy the Temple of God and rebuild it in three days’” (Matthew 26:61 NLT). The high priest demanded that Jesus tell them if He was the Messiah.

“Jesus replied, ‘You have said it. And in the future you will see the Son of Man seated in the place of power at God’s right hand and coming on the clouds of heaven’” (verse 64 NLT). He gave His enemies all they needed to convict Him of blasphemy. It didn’t matter to them that He spoke the truth.

“‘Guilty!’ they shouted. ‘He deserves to die!’” (verse 66 NLT).

The Sanhedrin made its verdict official a short time later. But it didn’t have the authority to carry out the death sentence. Only Roman authorities could do that. So the Jewish leaders sent Jesus to the Roman governor, Pilate.

Pilate could find no reason to execute Him. When he learned that Jesus had started His ministry in Galilee, Pilate sent Him to Herod, the ruler of Galilee, who happened to be in Jerusalem at that time.

Herod asked a lot of questions, and then ridiculed and mocked Jesus, but could find no reason to pass judgment on Him. So he sent him back to Pilate.

Meanwhile, the Jewish leaders had organized a mob to demand that Jesus be crucified. Pilate tried to explain that he could find no guilt in Jesus. He had Jesus flogged to try to satisfy the mob’s bloodlust. But it didn’t work.

Through it all, Jesus used an unorthodox but highly effective legal strategy—effective, that is, if your aim is to be found guilty and put to death. He remained silent. Aside from a few sentences, He refused to engage His accusers or answer their charges, even though almost every part of His trial was illegal and unjust.

In doing so, He fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah 53:7: “He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth” (NIV).

In terms of human justice, Jesus’ trials were a farce. But He was interested in justice of another kind. Jesus did exactly what He needed to do to ensure that God’s justice was satisfied. Because of our sins, the only way for it to be satisfied was for an innocent person to endure God’s wrath. And He was the only innocent person.

Jesus was still in complete control. He had outsmarted and outmaneuvered the religious leaders at every turn in His ministry. He could have shamed His accusers and exposed the hypocrisy of His judges. And that’s why He remained silent. He was forcing their hand. He was giving them no choice but to crucify Him.

A key takeaway from this epic miscarriage of justice is that one day the Defendant will be the Judge. One day all of us will stand before the Lord to give an account of our lives. And our eternal fate will be determined by a single question: Who do you say He is?

Reflection question: How can we respond to people who try to discredit Jesus?

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