Christmas Musicals for Church
Issue link: http://read.jwpepper.com/i/202296
67 Wednesday Wednesday will forever be stained by treachery, for it was on this fourth day of the week that Judas agreed to betray Jesus. Judas! One of Jesus' closest and most trusted disciples! Of all the wounds that Jesus su ered during his passion, this cut was among the deepest. No doubt his mind recalled the words of the heartbroken psalmist who wrote, "Even my close friend, whom I trusted, he who shared my bread, has li ed up his heel against me." (Psalm 41:9) "Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to be tray Jesus to them. They were delighted to hear this and promised to give him money. So he watched for an opportunity to hand him over." (Mark 14:10 11) Thursday was the Day of Prepara on for the Passover. For most people, this day was spent in joyous celebra on – an cipa ng the great feast and remembering God's salva on and deliverance. But a shadow fell over the table where Jesus and his friends gathered in an upper room. And an even darker shadow awaited him in a garden on the outskirts of the Holy City. By the day's end, the table would become a place for all to remember an other kind of salva on and deliverance. O nl y Thursday ew While they were ea ng, Jesus took the bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, "Take, eat; this is my body." Then he took the cup and gave thanks and o ered it to them, and they all drank from it. "This is my blood of the covenant which is poured out for many," he said to them. "Do this in remembrance of me." At daybreak on Friday, Jesus was led before a council of chief priests, eld ers and teachers who accused him, and found him guilty and deserving of death. They delivered him to Pilate so that he might carry out their wishes. But Pilate, recognizing the duplicity of the accusers, was reluctant to do so. However, he misjudged their in uence over the crowd and soon cries of "Crucify him!" were rising up all around. Giving in to the moun ng anger of the people, Pilate handed Jesus over to be cruci ed. rP re vi Friday Fo The soldiers clothed him in a purple robe and twisted together a crown of thorns for his head. They mocked him calling out, "Hail, king of the Jews!" They spit on him, slapped him in the face and struck him again and again on the head with a sta . Carrying his own cross, he was led out to the place of the Skull where they cruci ed him. Two criminals were cruci ed with him, one on his right, the other on his le . At the sixth hour, darkness descended over the whole land. Then, at the ninth hour, Jesus cried out, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" And with a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last. Saturday Saturday began at sundown, just three hours a er Jesus died. His limp body s ll hung there on the cross. But then, in the midst of the darkness, a ray of light appeared. A member of the Council that had condemned Jesus, a man named Joseph who had not consented to the sentence, came forward. Something had happened to Joseph as he stood in the presence of Jesus, and he was transformed from an accuser to a disciple. Determined to perform one nal act of kindness, Joseph asked for Jesus' body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him. Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and placed it in a tomb cut out of the rock. Then he rolled a large stone against the entrance to the tomb and went away.