On April 6th, 2012 many Christian’s will celebrate Good Friday, they commemorate the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ on the cross. Many today do not know the true story of The Crucifixion of Jesus Christ. This is the day in which those who celebrate may go to special church services, fast, or meditate to recognize the sufferings and agony that Jesus endured on that day for our sins. There is actually a week called the Holy Week, in which many different celebrations are held.
The Crucifixion
A group of Jewish leaders hated Jesus because He condemned their sins. They did not want to believe the truth He preached, as He urged them to repent and turn back to God. They became jealous for the great crowds that followed Jesus and believed in Him. They finally decided they needed to get rid of Him by having Him killed. Since the Jews did not have the right to have a man killed without the approval of the Roman governor, they had to take Jesus to Pilate. At the trial they had no evidence of wrong doing by Jesus, but put enough pressure on Pilate that he finally agreed to have the soldiers kill Jesus by crucifying Him.
They took Jesus outside of the city of Jerusalem on a small hill called Golgotha or the place of skulls, sometimes called Skull Mountain. He was nailed to the cross, left to suffer for crimes he did not commit. Even through all of the pain Jesus thought of others before Himself. His words were “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do”. Throughout the time he endured the agonizing pain, He preached. The two thieves that were crucified at the same time, on expressed faith in Jesus, and He answered “Today shalt thou be with me in paradise”. He also asked his beloved friend John to care for his mother, as he would parish soon. Jesus’ final words expressed his complete surrender to the will of God as He said, “It is finished; Father into Thy hands I commend my spirit”. He then bowed His head and died.
The shadow of the cross that was raised on Golgotha reaches across centuries to offer comfort, forgiveness, and hope to us today. The story of the crucifixion is almost unbelievable, for it is hard for us to imagine such love. “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son” is the message of the golden text of the Bible, John Chapter 3 verse 16. Jesus had to love us beyond measure to give Himself willingly to die for our sins. To complete the story we return the love by loving him and each other. Though there are many versions of this story. But it is what we take from it that is important. We as humans need to care for our fellow man more then we care for ourselves at times.
Everyday there are those that are crucified for what they believe in, or for crimes they did not commit. It is to our salvation and justice to help those in need. To understand why some people do the things they do, such as religious practices. The studying of different religions not only brings us knowledge, but can open our minds. Just because you study a religion does not necessarily mean you completely believe in it, you’ve just opened your mind and heart, welcoming others.
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