PART 20 B

TRIAL, BACK BEFORE PILATE

On that day Pilate and Herod became friends, but before then they were enemies. Pilate once again went before the chief Kohenim and leaders of the people and said, "You have brought this man to me, as one who corrupts the people. Take note of this! I have examined Him before you and have found this Man 'not guilty' concerning those things which you have accused Him. Nor has Herod. For I sent you all to Herod and look, nothing requiring death has been found against Him. Therefore, I will punish Him and release Him." At the Feast {of Pesach} the governor was willing to release to the people a prisoner they wanted freed. In custody was a famous prisoner, called Bar-Abba, who was bound in prison, along with others, for committing insurrection and murder. Pilate said to them, "Whom do you want me to release to you? Bar-Abba or Yeshua who is called Moshiach, the King of the Yehudim?" For Pilate knew that it was because of envy they had arrested Yeshua. When Pilate sat down on the judgment seat, his wife sent a message to him, saying, "Have nothing to do with that righteous man, for a dream I had today about Him has caused me great distress." But the chief Kohenim and Zakenim persuaded the crowd that they should ask for Bar-Abba and execute Yeshua. Then the governor asked them, "Which of the two do you want me to release to you?" The crowd said, "Away with this man! Release Bar-Abba to us." Pilate said to them, "Then what will I do with Yeshua, who is called Moshiach, the King of the Yehudim?" "Allow Him to be executed on the stake," they all answered. The governor asked, "Why, what evil has He done?" They shouted even more, "Allow Him to be executed on the stake." Then Pilate released Bar-Abba to them and had Yeshua scourged. Then the governor's soldiers took Yeshua to the common hall and the whole troop gathered around Him. They stripped Him and put a regal-purple robe on Him. They formed a crown from thorn branches and put it on His head. They put a rod in His right hand, then they bowed on their knee before Him and made fun of Him, saying, "Hail, King of the Yehudim!" They spat on Him, hit Him with their fists and took the rod and struck Him on the head. Pilate therefore went out to the crowd again and said, "Look! I bring Him out to you, so you will know that I find Him 'not guilty.'" Then Yeshua came out wearing the crown of thorns and the regal-purple robe and Pilate said, "Look at the man!" When the chief Kohanim and officers saw Him they shouted, "Execution on the stake! Execution on the stake!" Pilate said to them, "You take Him and execute Him on the stake, because I find Him, 'not guilty!'" The leaders of the Yehudim said, "We have a law and by our law He ought to die, because He made Himself out to be the Son of Elohim." When Pilate heard that saying, he was very afraid. So he went again into the judgment hall and said to Yeshua, "Where are you from?" But Yeshua gave no answer. Then Pilate said, "You do not speak to me? Don't you know I have the power to execute You on the stake or to release You?" "You would have no power against Me," said Yeshua, "unless it was given to you from above. Therefore the one who brought Me to you has sinned more." Pilate tried even harder to release Him, but then leaders of the people shouted, "If you let this man go, you are not Caesar's friend. Whoever makes himself a king speaks against Caesar." When Pilate heard that, he brought Yeshua out and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha. Pilate understood that he could not change their view and that a riot was in the making. So, he took some water and washed his hands in the sight of the mob. He said, "See this! I am innocent of the blood of this Righteous Person." Then the people answered, "His blood be on us and on our children." {So then, Yisrael in a type accepted His blood as a Pesach sprinkling.} It was about noon now on {the day of Pesach, 14 Abib,} a preparation for the Feast. Pilate says unto the Yehudim there, "Look! Here is your King!" They yelled, "Away, away, execute Him on the stake!" "Shall I crucify your King?" Pilate said. Chief Kohenim answered, "We have no king except Caesar!" Then Pilate turned Yeshua over to be executed on the stake. They took Yeshua out. After they mocked Him, they removed the robe from Him and put His garments on Him, then led Him away to be executed on the stake.

EXECUTION ON THE STAKE

As Yeshua was going He was carrying His execution stake. {It was heavy and He was weak from His suffering,) so He fell under the weight of it. Therefore, they grabbed a man coming from the country named, Shimon of Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus. They laid the execution stake on him, to carry it behind Yeshua. Also, following Him was a great crowd of people and women who mourned and travailed for Him. Yeshua turned to them and said, "Daughters of Yerushalayim, do not shed tears for Me, but weep instead for yourselves and for your children. For watch! The days are coming in the which they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren and the wombs which never gave birth and the breasts which never nursed’. Then they will begin to say to the mountains, 'Fall on us!' and to the hills, 'Cover us.' Because, if they do these things to a green tree, what will be done to a dry one?" Also, there were two other criminals who were led with Him to be executed. When they came to the place call 'The Shull,' which is 'Golgatha' in Hebrew and 'Kalvari' in Latin, they proceeded with His execution on the stake. The two criminals were put on each side; one on the right hand and the other on the left. Someone offered Him wine mixed with bitter herbs to drink but, learning what it was, He would not drink it. {These were Pesach elements, which He said He would not take until the Kingdom comes.} Pilate had the accusation written and put on His stake which said, "Yeshua HaNatzeret, Melekh Yehudim." Many of the Yehudim read this title, for the place where Yeshua was executed on the stake was near to the city. It was written in Hebrew, Greek and Latin. Then the chief Kohanim said to Pilate, "Do not write, 'The King of the Yehudim,' but that 'he said, I am King of the Yehudim.'” Pilate answered, "What I have written I have written." Four soldiers stripped Yeshua and put Him on the stake. They took His clothes and made four parts. Every soldier got one part. But His tallit was without a seam, woven from the top to bottom. So they agreed together, "Let's not tear it, but rather let us throw the dice to see who gets it." In this way the scripture was fulfilled which says, "They divided my garments among them and they gambled for my tallit." Then Yeshua said, "Abba, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." The people stood there looking on. But rulers with them sneered at Him and said, "He healed others, now let Him heal Himself! That is, if he is Moshiach, the chosen of Elohim!" Some others passed by and said, "Ha! You who destroys the Mikdash and builds it again in three days. If You are Moshiach save Yourself and come down from the stake, if You are the Son of Elohim!" Chief Kohenim mocked along with some Soferim, "He saved others; He cannot save Himself. He is the King of Yisrael, the Moshiach, so let Him now come down from the stake and we will trust in Him when we see it. He trusts in Elohim, so let Him save Him now if He wants Him." The soldiers also jeered at Him, coming to Him, offering Him vinegar and saying, "If you are the King of the Yehudim, save yourself." One of the criminals who was hanging there blasphemed, saying, "If you are Moshiach, save Yourself and us." The other one rebuked him, saying, "Don't you fear Elohim? Don't you realize you are getting the same condemnation as Him? Yet, we are being treated with justice, for we are getting the due reward for our actions, but this man has not done anything wrong!" Then he said to Yeshua, "Adonai, be mindful of me when You come into Your Kingdom." Yeshua said to him, "Amen! I tell you; today you will be with Me in paradise." Standing there beside the stake of Yeshua was His mother, His mother's sister, Miryam the wife of Cleophas and Miryam of Migdal. When Yeshua saw His mother and the disciple standing by, whom {it was said} He loved, He said to His mother, "Woman, look! Here is your son!" Then He said to the disciple, "Look! Here is your mother!" From that time, that disciple took her in as part of his own household. From noon until three o'clock {p.m. for three hours} darkness was over all the land. The Sun did not shine. About three o'clock Yeshua yelled out {in Hebrew}, "Elohi, Elohi, l'mah sh'vaktani?" Which is, "My Elohim, My Elohim, why have You ceased being with Me?" Some of those who stood there said, "This one calls for Eliyahu {the Prophet}." Immediately, one of them ran and took a sponge, filled it with vinegar and put it on a branch and was going to give it to Him to drink. The others said, "Wait and let us see whether Eliyahu will come to save him." After this, Yeshua knew that all things {concerning His suffering} were now completed. So that the scripture might be fulfilled, He said, "I am thirsty." So they raised the sponge of vinegar, which was on a hyssop branch, to His mouth. When Yeshua had accepted the vinegar, He cried with a loud voice, "It is finished!" Then said, "Abba, into Your hands I commit My Spirit." Then He bowed His head and breathed His last. It was seen that the veil of the Mikdash was ripped in two from the top to the bottom. There was an earthquake and the rocks split. The tombs opened up (and many bodies of the holy ones who were asleep {dead} arose. They were seen out of the tombs after His resurrection as they went into the holy city and appeared to many). When the {Roman} centurion and those with him who were watching Yeshua, felt the earthquake and saw the events, they became frightened and said, "This was a Son of Elohim, a righteous man, absolutely!" When the great crowd of people who had gathered saw what had happened, they returned home beating their chests. Many of the women who followed Yeshua from the Galil and served His ministry, were watching from a distance. Also at the site were Miryam of Migdal, Miryam the mother of Ya'akov and Yosef {Yeshua's brothers}, the mother of Zavdai's children and Shalome. It was the preparation day {Pesach before Chag Matzah, the Feast of Unleavened Bread} and the bodies should not remain upon the stake on a Shabbat, for that Shabbat day was a high holy day {the first day of Chag Matzah starting that evening, 15 Abib}. Therefore, the leaders implored Pilate for their legs to be broken and the bodies carried away. Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first criminal and of the other who was executed with Him. Yet, when they came to Yeshua, they saw that He was already dead, so they did not break His legs. Instead, one of the soldiers with a spear pierced His side and immediately blood and water flowed out. He who saw this is recording it and his record is correct and he knows that what he says is correct, so you can trust it. For this was done that the scripture should be fulfilled, "A bone of Him will not be broken." Also, "They will look on Him whom they have pierced."

BURIAL OF YESHUA

After this, Yosef of Ramatayim, who though he was a secret disciple of Yeshua because he feared the leaders of Yehudah, boldly implored Pilate to let him take away the body of Yeshua. Pilate asked the centurion if Yeshua was already dead and was amazed to learn He was already dead. Pilate gave Yosef permission, so he came and took the body of Yeshua at evening just before the Feast's Shabbat. Yosef was a member of the religious council; a rich nobleman who was a good and righteous man and he did not consent to the council's deed {of condemning Yeshua}. Nicodemus, who from the start came to Yeshua by night, also came and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds. They took the body of Yeshua and wound it in linen cloth along with the spices, as is the burial practice of the Yehudim. In the place where Yeshua was executed there was a garden and in the garden was a new tomb which Yosef had hewn out of a rock and no one had ever been buried there. They laid Yeshua there on preparation day {on Pesach, just before the Chag Matzah Shabbat}, because the tomb was nearby. Then they rolled a large stone over the door to the tomb. Miryam of Migdal and Miryam the mother of Yosef watched where Yeshua was buried and they sat down close to the tomb. Then they returned home and prepared spices and ointments.

GUARDS PLACED AT TOMB

Now the next day following the day of the preparation {Pesach}, the chief Kohenim and some P'rushim came to Pilate and said, "Sir, we remember what that deceiver said while he was still living, 'After three days I will rise again.'" So they asked Pilate to, "Command that the tomb be made secure until the three days are up, in case His disciples come by night and steal His body, then tell the people, 'He is risen from the dead.' Then the last error will be worse than the first." Pilate said unto them, "Go ahead. You can set up a guard and make it as secure as you can." So they went and made the tomb secure, sealing the stone and setting up a guard.