Jesus' Final Hours

In the first sermons Jesus preached to the Jews, who were His own people, He spoke of the same God they worshipped in the mosaic faith, whose Son He said He was. The Gospel He preached was a great source of light to those who lived in darkness. Many rejected His Gospel as it was not harmony with the Masonic faith they followed. They disbelieved that He was the Son of God and failed to see in Him the divine character He truly had. To them He was an ordinary human being not deserving of the recognition His faithful followers gave Him.

At that time, Jesus knew that He had come to the most critical and crucial phase of His life. His earthly life, besides His mission, was of no importance to Him, as He did not have a yearning to adapt Himself to worldly delight. But He was content that He had the desire to accomplish His divine mission during His lifetime which He expected to be short. He predicted His own death several times, as He was certain that He had to offer His life as a worthy ransom to save humans from sin. As time passed, He could only imagine that He was getting closer to a dreadful climax in His life. In that foreboding, a premonition of death unceasingly haunted His mind.

By then Jesus had a large following but His enemies were greater in strength. They made several attempts to kill Him, but He escaped deaths. Later it was the priests of the Masonic faith and the leaders of His community who plotted to have Him put to death. They decided that He should be taken by surprise after the Passover which was approaching so that they could have Him killed within the law, without causing an uproar among the people when it was done.

The day Jesus dreaded had come but not yet gone. When it was evening, He sat at table with His twelve Apostles for the Passover meal, as prearranged in a house in Jerusalem. While they were eating, He said "Truly, I say to you; one of you will betray me." They were deeply saddened and each of them asked Him in turn "You do not mean me, do you, Lord?" Replying only to Judas, He said, "You have said it." Judas then left the room in guilt. Offering them bread and wine eerie setting. In that part of the Garden, He was in the company of His chosen Apostles, Peter, James and John. As His safety was imperilled, He said in fear and grief "My soul is filled with sorrow even to death. Remain here and stay awake with Me", hoping that their presence would mitigate His anguish. But the trauma of the cruelties that would be imposed on Him by His enemies, ending with death, crossed His mind, making Him feel helpless and miserable. Moving a little away from them, He fell on His face and prayed to His Father to ease His suffering if it was His will, while not compromising on His obligation to save mankind. In His state of unbearable fear, large drops of blood formed like sweat and fell to the ground.

Just then, Judas arrived in the Garden with a group of men who were armed with swords and staves in search of Jesus. On seeing Him with His Apostles, he greeted Him with a kiss to reflect on His identity. The men quickly seized Him and led Him away to the Jewish authorities to face legal procedures.

The Jewish authorities falsely convicted Jesus of blasphemy for calling Himself the Son of God and also of being a rebel against the Roman State for saying that He was the King of the Jews. The following morning, Governor Pilate to whom He was taken, had Him scourged by his soldiers. The lethal whips they used made a stinging impact on His body which caused severe bleeding and weakened Him. In their prejudice, they crowned Him with thorns and showed no restraint in ridiculing and hurting Him. After they had dealt with Him, they took Him away to Mount Calvary where they crucified Him. Blood flowed profusely from His pierced hands and feet. The chief priests and scribes mocking at Him asked Him to come down from the cross and save Himself if He was the Son of God.

Jesus died a few hours later. Jesus' Mother, Apostle John and Mary Magdalene stood at the foot of the cross. To His Mother, it was the death of a loving Son. To Apostle John, it was the death of a beloved Master. To Mary Magdalene, it was the death of a gracious Man who saved her from death by stoning.

Total darkness prevailes over the region from midday lasting three hours, caused by an unusual opacity of the sun. It was not a natural ecliptic phenomenon. The earth shook with a rumbling noise for a short duration. Weird sounds were heard as rocks around cracked. The priests in the Temple were shocked to see the torn curtain in the Temple. These were heavenly responses to the death of the Son of God which, at that moment, opened the way for humans to a relationship with God.

The Captain in charge of the crucifixion said in fear and wonder, "Truly He was a Son of God"