23. Jesus' Passion

Jerusalem as the scene of the passion

To help us obtain a clear picture of Jesus' suffering we will first consider the principle scenes of the passion.

1. Room of the Last Supper
2. Place where the Kedron Valley was crossed. ( Jn 18:1)
3. Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus underwent His agony ) .
4. House of Caiaphas (where Jesus was tried unofficially and where he was kept during the night).
5. Hall of the Sanhedrin (where Jesus was officially condemned to death by the Jews at sunrise. (Mt 27:1; Lk 22:66).
6. Fortress of Antonia (where Pilate conducted the court case against Jesus).
7. Herod's Palace (to which Jesus was sent by Pilate during the court case).
8. Calvary (where Jesus was crucified).
9. Jesus' Tomb (in the garden of Joseph of Arimathea).
10. The "Field of Blood " (Haq, el-dama) associated with Judas' suicide. (Mt 27:310: Acts 1:18-19)

Distances: (approximately)

From the room of last supper to Gethsemane: 1600 m (1 mile)
From Fortress of Antonia to Calvary: 500 m (2.5 furlongs)

Time Scheme of the passion

See below: a time-scheme is given of Our Lord's passion. The actual sufferings of Our Lord began with His arrest on Thursday night (11.00 p.m.) and were over by Friday after noon (3.00 p.m.?) Jesus' opponents acted with terrible swiftness! Consider the following timetable:

11.00 p.m. Arrest
11.30 p.m. First interrogation before Annas.
12.00 First (unofficial) trial in Caiaphas' house before a select group of Pharisees.
2.00 a.m. Jesus remitted to custody.
6.00 a.m. A hurried session of the Sanhedrin to have Jesus officially condemned to death.
6.30 a.m. Jesus brought before Pilate. The Jewish leaders successfully oppose all Pilate's attempts to hold up the case ( including the visit to Herod ) . They force the issue until Pilate gives the order to crucify Jesus -11.00 a.m.? ).
12.30 a.m. Jesus is crucified.
3.00 p.m. Jesus died.

It is clear that the Pharisees wanted the whole thing over and done with before Jesus could get popular support. "It must not be during the festival", they had said, "or there may be rioting among the people". (Mt 26:5) Probably they had decided to kill Jesus on the day before the Pasch as people would be too busy with their preparations to take much interest. On the days of the festival (following on the Pasch) large crowds would be moving about! So they decided to kill Jesus quickly, and at all costs. They summoned false witnesses (Mt 26:50-60); they rushed an official trial in the Sanhedrin (Mt 27:1); which was probably invalid as Jesus was given no chance to call His own witnesses; they forced Pilate who plainly declared Jesus innocent on judicial grounds (Jn 19:4), to condemn Jesus for political reasons. (Jn 19:12-15) Jesus' condemnation to death was unjust from all points of view. But the Jewish leaders were blind, and our judgement about them should follow Jesus' prayer: "Father, forgive them; they do not know what they are doing". (Lk 23:34)

During the days preceding, His sufferings Jesus was preparing for the great sacrifice He was to bring about through His death. It was with this in mind that He had gone up to Jerusalem (cf. Lk 9:51, etc..) and three times on this journey He foretold His passion. When He raised Lazarus from the grave, He wished to announce by it His own resurrection.

On the Sunday before the Pasch Jesus spoke to the people at Bethany about His coming passion saying: "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. In truth, in very truth I tell you, a grain of wheat remains a solitary grain unless it falls into the ground and dies; but if it dies, it bears rich harvest ...I shall draw all men to Myself when I shall be lifted up". (Jn 12:23-24, 32)

On the Wednesday He said: `'You know that in two day's time it will be Passover, and the Son of Man is to be handed over for crucifixion". (Mt 26:2) On Thursday morning He sent two apostles to prepare for an early Pasch because "My appointed time is near". (Mt 26:18)

During the Last Supper Jesus frequently referred to His imminent death. He said that He was happy to have the meal before His death (Lk 22:15), because this was to be the last time for Him to drink wine until the Kingdom of God had come (Lk 22:18). He explained that He was going back to the Father who sent Him. (Jn 16:5-30) And when instituting the Blessed Eucharist, He anticipated His passion, bringing present 'His Body, to be sacrificed for you' and 'His Blood to be shed for you.' (Lk 22: 19-20; Mt 26:26-28)

In the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus feels all the anxiety and suffering of a human heart just before the terrible trial. He freely submits Himself to it in the spirit of sacrifice. (Mt 26:36-44,)

THE PASSION DID NOT COME AS A SURPRISE TO JESUS. As He had said earlier: "I lay down My life for the sheep...I am laying it down of My own free will..." (Jn 10:14-18).

Jesus in the House of Caiaphas

After Jesus had been arrested in the garden of Gethsemane, "He was led off to the house of Caiaphas the High Priest". Where was this house? What did it look like? We cannot determine its exact location or its shape to the last detail. But to some extent the house can be reconstructed. For the gospels contain quite a few elements of description and we know fairly well from archaeology what houses of important people looked like in Jesus' time.

GATE : One entered the house by a gate, usually built into a little porch. The gate was watched by a gate-keeper or, at times, by a watch-dog. Caiaphas' house had a maid-servant as gate-keeper, and she had been told apparently to keep disciples of Jesus out of the house:

"Jesus was followed by Simon Peter and another disciple This disciple, who was acquainted with the High priest, went with Jesus into the High Priest's courtyard, but Peter halted at the gate outside. So the other disciple, the High Priest's acquaintance, went out again and spoke to the woman at the door, and brought Peter in. The maid on duty at the door said to Peter: "Are you one of this man's disciples ( Jn.18:15-17)

PORCH : The gate-keeper's question causes Peter to deny Christ for the first time. St Mark mentions also that Peter denied Christ when 'he went outside into the porch' (Mk 14:69): obviously he also means the same portal or porch into which the Gate is set.

COURTYARD : Having gone through the gate one came out into a courtyard . The courtyard was surrounded by galleries or porticoes. The Gospel accounts tell us that there was

FIRE : "fire in the middle of the courtyard" where the servants and soldiers were warming themselves. Peter joined the group and faced more troubles. They accused him of being Jesus' disciple: One man thought he had seen Peter in the Garden of Gethsemane. (Jn 18:26) Others noticed that Peter was a Galilean from his accent. (Mt 16:73) Peter denied Our Lord three times. (Mt 26:69-75; Mk 14:66-72; Lk 22:55-61)

COCK: In such an open courtyard chickens used to scramble around during day-time: Perhaps, they were kept in a corner during the night and the cock that crowed belonged with them.

ANNAS' ROOM : Jesus was taken first to Annas for a private interview. We may well imagine that this first investigation took place in a kind of parlour at the entrance of the house, or, perhaps, in the living quarters of the Highpriest's family. We know how Annas tried, without success, to intimidate Jesus. (Jn 18:12, 19-23)

COUNCIL ROOM : In the centre of the house there was an official hall for functions such as dinners and meetings. The Romans called it triclinium (or atrium if it were used for everyday business). There need not be the least doubt about the fact that Caiaphas had gathered some chosen members of the Sanhedrin in his hall for their first attempt to find an accusation against Jesus. (cf. Mt 26:57)This was not an official court case, since these might only be held after sunrise. It was only a preliminary investigation held in order to be able to expedite the session in the morning. We know that the persons must have sat in the way customary at the time: in a half circle with the High Priest in the middle. Jesus stood opposite the High Priest. This explains a touching passage in Luke's Gospel:

" ( Peter denied Jesus ). At that moment, while he was still speaking, a cock crew; and the Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. And Peter remembered the Lord's words..." (Lk 22: 61). "He went outside and wept bitterly..."

By turning around Jesus could look into the courtyard.

JESUS' PRISON : After the preliminary trial Jesus was kept in custody. Probably He was tied to some pillar in one of the servants' quarters . We know how He suffered from the insults and beatings the guards and the members of the Sanhedrin inflicted on Him. (Mt 26:67-68; Lk 22:63-65)

Jesus in Pilate's Civil Court

In the early morning the Sanhedrin met officially to decide on Jesus' death. (Mt 27:1) They may have held this meeting in the official hall next to the Temple. For it was there that such meetings had to be held. As far as we can find out from the evidence, they took two decisions: (a) Jesus should be killed; (b) He should be accused of rebellion against Rome and therefore be executed by the Romans. They "met in conference to plan the death of Jesus", as the Gospel says. (Mt 27:1)

The Jewish leaders took Jesus immediately to Pilate's palace in the fortress of Antonia. Having passed through the main gates they stood on a little square, called 'paved stones" (lithostrotos). Archaeological excavation have identified the locality beyond any doubt . On this square there was a tribunal with a special place for the judgment seat (Jn 19:13). It would seem that Pilate would normally have heard the accusations inside, but the Jews refused to go inside the house of a pagan; having done so they would have been defiled for the rest of the day and then they could not eat the Pasch! (Jn 18:28) It was a typical pharisaical attitude of worrying about an external defilement and heedless about the far more serious sin of having an innocent man condemned to death!

The Jews had decided to accuse Jesus of political rebellion. Of course, they added all kinds of other accusations (see Jn 18:2932; Mk 15:4-5), but these were only added to make things look worse. They concentrated mainly on presenting Jesus as a political revolutionary: - "We found this man subverting our nation, opposing the payment of taxes to the Roman Emperor, and claiming to be Messiah, a king.." (Lk. 23:2)

A. Pilate knew that this accusation was false

i) Pilate had his own information service. He was responsible for the political tranquillity in the country and he had surely gathered information about Jesus as soon as Jesus grew popular.

— He must have known about Jesus' respect for authority, also for Roman authority. For, contrary to what nationalists would do, Jesus made friends with the Roman tax collectors ( Matthew, Zaccheus ) and with the Roman officer at Capharnaum!

— When asked about taxes Jesus had officially stated that one should give to the Roman Emperor what belongs to the Roman Emperor! (Mt 22:15-22) Surely this statement had been widely spread.

— He must have received proof of Jesus' refusal to he taken for a political Messiah. By this time Jesus had convincingly demonstrated the spiritual and religious nature of His mission.

In other words: Pilate knew already that Jesus was not that type of political rebel.

(ii) Jesus did not reply to any of the accusations, but Pilate had a personal talk with Jesus at various stages of the case.

— Jesus did not want to discuss any particular accusation ("Do you not hear all this evidence?" but He refused to reply) The reason was that Pilate knew the truth himself. (Mt 27:11-14)

— As to the fundamental question whether Jesus made a claim to political 'kingship', Jesus explained that His Kingdom 'is not of this world'. He admitted that Pilate had received his authority from God. (Jn 18:33-38; cf. v.19:10) From his discussion with Jesus, Pilate found that his information had been correct. Jesus proved to be a deeply spiritual man, a person of an extremely strong character who was ready to die for his convictions, but who had no political interests.

(iii) Pilate also realised from the beginning that the accusation was false, because the Jews would never have handed over one of their real political leaders to the Romans!

— "He knew that it was out of spite that they had brought Jesus before him". (Mt 27:18)
— "Shall I crucify your king?" (Jn 19:15) In other words: your accusation is ridiculous!
— Finally the Jews admit the real reason of their opposition: "We have a law; and by that law He ought to die, because He has claimed to be the Son of God!" (Jn 19:7)

Pilate knew, therefore, that the Jewish priests wanted Jesus killed purely for religious reasons, and that the accusation of rebellion was merely a pretext.

B. Pilate declared Jesus to be innocent

All through the trial, from beginning to end, Pilate repeated that this was his firm conviction:

— "You brought this man before me on a charge of subversion. But, as you see, I have myself examined him in your presence and found nothing in him to support your charges... Clearly he has done nothing to deserve death". (Lk 22:14-16)
— "I am bringing Him out to let you know that I find no case against Him!" (Jn 18:38, 19:4)
— "Why should I crucify Him? What harm has he done?"(Mk 15:14)

Pilate tried in many ways to prevent Jesus' death:

a) He sent Jesus to Herod who could have summoned Jesus to Galilee (Lk 23:6-12).
b) He proposed Jesus as the prisoner to be released for Passover, hoping that the people would go against the priests. (Lk 23:13-16)
c) He had Jesus scourged and humiliated (Mt 27:26-30), hoping that the people would have compassion on Jesus when they saw Him in that state. (Jn 19:4-7)

Pilate finally gave in when the Jews threatened with political pressure saying that they would denounce Pilate to the Emperor. (Jn 19:19-15) Pilate acted against his conviction in this way. But whilst permitting Jesus to be crucified, he repeated once more that he himself was convinced of Jesus' innocence. HE WASHED HIS HANDS IN PUBLIC saying:

"My hands are clean of this man's blood. See to that yourselves". And the priest made the people shout: "His blood be on us and on our children!" (Mt 27:25) It was the Jewish religious leaders who forced Jesus' condemnation through, making use of Pilate's fear of political trouble.

The Crucifixion

Crucifixion was a punishment which the Romans inflicted only on non-Romans or slaves. It was considered the most cruel and barbarous death possible. Only some major crimes were punished with this form of execution: murder, robbery, betrayal and rebellion. Since the official sentence under which Jesus was condemned concerned 'rebellion', 'political insurrection,' the punishment inflicted was crucifixion.

Crucifixion was, therefore, a very unexpected way of killing Jesus. Many of the Jews knew that the High priests wanted to kill Jesus and they must have thought that this would be brought about by having Jesus stoned through a popular turmoil, such as happened to Stephen. For the punishment for 'blasphemy', the crime of which Jesus was accused most often, or for violating the Sabbath, another crime imputed to Him, was precisely 'stoning to death.' the disciples must have been surprised, therefore, when Jesus repeatedly foretold that He was to be handed over to the foreign power (Romans) to be crucified'. (Mt 20:19) John especially points to this fact:

— Jesus replied (in Bethany)... 'I shall draw all men to Myself, when I am lifted up from the earth.' This He said to indicate the kind of death He was to die'. (Jn 12:32-33)

— "Pilate said (during the trial): Take Him away and try Him by your own law. The Jews answered: 'We are not allowed to put any man to death.' Thus they ensured the fulfilment of the words by which Jesus had indicated the manner of His death." (Jn 18:31-32)

— By choosing the death of the cross as the providential means of saving mankind, Jesus made it the symbol of a person's sacrifice:

"If anyone wants to be a follower of Mine, he must leave self behind; he must take up his cross and come with Me." (Mt 16:24)

Some particulars about the crucifixion

CROSS-BEAM. The cross consisted of a vertical pole and a crossbeam. It was this cross-beam which the condemned person was to carry himself to the place of execution.

ERECTING THE CROSS. There were two ways of fixing someone to the cross: the person was stretched out on the two beams as they were flat on the ground, his hands and feet were nailed to it and then the whole cross was raised; or the vertical pole was first erected, the person's hands nailed to the crossbeam and the cross-beam was then pulled up against the pole.

JEWISH PRIVILEGES. Although the crucifixion was done by the Romans, there were a few special practices in Palestine. One was the offerings of 'drugged wine' (to mitigate the pain) by some good people. ( Mk15:23) Another one was that the person was not left naked, but was allowed to wear a loin-cloth.

PUBLICITY. The execution was a public one. Therefore it was carried out on a small hillock on the side of a busy road. The name of the hillock was 'Calvary' or 'Golgotha'. (Mt 27:33-34 etc.) There was also a public inscription in three languages proclaiming the reason for the execution. Pilate had written about Jesus: "Jesus of Nazareth, the king of the Jews" and he refused to change it to anything else. (Jn 19:19-22)

CERTITUDE OF DEATH. Once the order for execution had been given, the Procurator was responsible for carrying it out. He was not allowed to let the person escape. That is why there were soldiers on guard near the cross. They broke the legs of the other two persons crucified with Jesus, but opened Jesus' heart with a spear to make sure He was dead. (Jn 19:31-37) Before Pilate released the body to Joseph of Arimathea, he summoned the centurion for an official report on Jesus' death. (Mk 15:42-54), Jesus' death on the cross was an event of significance for the whole world. Through it He 'gave His body in sacrifice' and 'poured His Blood as a sign of the New Covenant'. In our Creed we proclaim it as a salvific fact: He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified..."