THE LAST WEEK OF JESUS'S EARTH LIFE. IMPORTANT!!! READ, MY DEARS! DISCOVER THE WHOLE TOPIC. The events of the last week of the Savior's earthly life relate to the Passion of Christ, known in the presentation of the four canonical Gospels. Below is a list based on the description of the last days of Christ's earthly life in all four Gospels. The events of the Passion of Christ are remembered throughout Holy Week, gradually preparing believers for the Easter holiday. A special place among the Passion of Christ is occupied by the events that took place after the Last Supper: arrest, trial, scourging and execution. The crucifixion is the culmination of the Passion of Christ.
THE LORD'S ENTRANCE IN JERUSALEM
Before the Entry into Jerusalem, Christ declared himself as the Messiah to individuals, the time has come to do this publicly. This happened on the Sunday before Easter, when crowds of pilgrims flocked to Jerusalem. Jesus sends two disciples to fetch the donkey, mounts it, and enters the city. He is greeted with singing by the people, who have learned about the entry of Christ, and they take up the hosanna to the son of David, which the apostles proclaimed. This great event serves as a threshold of the sufferings of Christ, borne "for us for the sake of man and ours for the sake of salvation." EVENING IN BITHANIA / WASHING THE FEET OF JESUS WITH A SINNER
According to Mark and Matthew, in Bethany, where Jesus and his disciples were invited to the house of Simon the leper, the woman performed the anointing, which symbolized the subsequent suffering and death of Christ. Church tradition distinguishes this anointing from the anointing performed by Mary, the sister of the resurrected Lazarus, six days before Easter and even before the Lord's entry into Jerusalem. The woman who approached the Lord in order to anoint him with precious ointment was a repentant sinner. FEET WASHING FOR STUDENTS
On Thursday morning, the disciples asked Jesus where he would eat the Passover. He said that at the Jerusalem gates they would meet a servant with a jug of water, he would lead them to the house, whose owner had to be informed that he would have Passover Jesus and his disciples. Arriving at this house for the supper, everyone took off their shoes according to custom. There were no slaves to wash the guests' feet, and Jesus himself did it. In embarrassment, the disciples were silent, only Peter allowed himself to be surprised. Jesus explained that this was a lesson in humility and that they should also relate to one another, as their Master showed. St. Luke reports that at the supper there was a dispute between the disciples as to which of them is greater. Probably, this dispute was the reason to show the students a clear example of humility and mutual love by washing their feet. THE LAST SUPPER
At the supper, Christ repeated that one of the disciples would betray him. With fear, everyone asked him: "Is it not me, Lord?" He asked in order to divert suspicions from himself, and Judas heard in response: "You said." Soon Judas leaves the supper. Jesus reminded the disciples that where he would soon follow, they could not go. Peter objected to the teacher that "he would lay down his life for Him." However, Christ predicted that he would deny him before the cock crows. As a consolation for his disciples, saddened by his imminent departure, Christ established the Eucharist - the main sacrament of the Christian faith. THE WAY TO THE GARDEN OF GATHSEEMANE AND THE PREDICTION OF THE FUTURE RENEWAL OF THE DISCIPLES
After the supper, Christ and his disciples went out of the city. Through the hollow of the Kidron Stream, they came to the Garden of Gethsemane. PRAYER FOR THE BOWL
At the entrance to the garden, Jesus left his disciples. Taking with him only three chosen ones: James, John and Peter, he went to the Mount of Olives. Having told them not to sleep, he withdrew to pray. The foreboding of doom filled the soul of Jesus, doubts took possession of him. He, succumbing to his human nature, asked God the Father to carry by the cup of Passion, but humbly accepted His will. THE KISS OF JUDAS AND THE ARREST OF JESUS
Late on Thursday evening, Jesus, having descended from the mountain, wakes up the apostles and tells them that the one who betrayed him is already approaching. Armed temple attendants and Roman soldiers appear. Judas pointed out to them the place where Jesus could be found. Judas comes out of the crowd and kisses Jesus, giving the guards a conventional sign.
They grab Jesus, when the apostles tried to prevent the guards, Malchus, the servant of the high priest, was wounded. Jesus asks to release the apostles, they run away, only Peter and John secretly follow the guards who take their teacher away. JESUS BEFORE THE SYNEDRION (HIGH PRIEST)
On the night of Holy Thursday, Jesus was brought to the Sanhedrin. Christ appeared before Anna. He began to ask Christ about his teaching and his followers. Jesus refused to answer, he claimed that he had always preached openly, did not spread any secret teaching and offered to listen to the witnesses of his sermons. Anna had no power to pass judgment and sent Christ to Caiaphas. Jesus remained silent. The Sanhedrin, gathered at Caiaphas, condemns Christ to death. THE APOSTLE PETER'S DENIAL
Peter, who followed Jesus until the Sanhedrin, was not allowed into the house. In the hallway, he went to the hearth to warm up. The servants, one of whom was a relative of Malchus, recognized the disciple of Christ and began to question him. Peter denies the teacher three times, before the cock crows. JESUS BEFORE PONTIUM PILATE
On the morning of Good Friday, Jesus was taken to the Praetorium, which was located in the former palace of Herod at the Anthony Tower. It was necessary to obtain approval of the death sentence from Pilate. Pilate was dissatisfied with being involved in this matter. He retires with Jesus to the Praetorium and discusses with him in private. After a conversation with the condemned, Pilate decided on the occasion of the holiday to invite the people to release Jesus. However, the crowd, incited by the high priests, demands to release not Jesus Christ, but Barabbas. Pilate hesitates, but ultimately condemns Christ, however, he does not use the wording of the high priests. Pilate washing his hands is a sign that he does not want to interfere with what is happening. THE WHIPPING OF CHRIST
Pilate ordered the scourging of Jesus (usually scourging preceded the crucifixion). CHALLENGE AND CROWN WITH THURN CROWN
The time is late Good Friday morning. The scene is a palace in Jerusalem near the tower of Anthony's castle. To ridicule Jesus, “the King of the Jews,” they put on him a red hair shirt, a crown of thorns and give him a rod. In this form, he is taken out to the people. Seeing Christ with a purple robe and a crown, Pilate, according to the testimony of John and the forecasters, says: "Behold a man." Matthew combines this scene with the "washing of hands." ROAD OF THE CROSS (CARRIAGE OF THE CROSS)
Jesus is sentenced to a shameful execution by crucifixion along with two robbers. The place of execution was Golgotha, located outside the city. Time is around noon of Good Friday. The scene of action is the ascent to Golgotha. The condemned had to carry the cross himself to the place of execution. Forecasters point out that weeping women and Simon of Cyrene followed Christ: since Christ fell under the weight of the cross, the soldiers forced Simon to help him. RIPPING THE CLOTHES OF CHRIST AND THEIR SOLDIERS PLAYED IN THE BONE The soldiers cast lots to share the clothes of Christ. GOLGOF - CRUCIFIXION OF THE CROSS
According to Jewish custom, wine was offered to those condemned to execution. Jesus took a sip of it and refused the drink. On both sides of Christ, two robbers were crucified. Above the head of Jesus, a tablet was attached to the cross with the inscription in the Hebrew, Greek and Latin languages: "King of the Jews." After a while, the crucified man, tormented by thirst, asked for a drink. One of the soldiers guarding Christ dipped it into a sponge in a mixture of water and vinegar and raised it to his lips on a cane. REMOVAL FROM THE CROSS
To hasten the death of the crucified (it was the eve of Easter Saturday, which was not supposed to be darkened by executions), the high priests ordered to break their legs. However, Jesus was already dead. One of the soldiers (in some sources - Longinus) strikes Jesus in the ribs with a spear - blood mixed with water flowed from the wound. Joseph of Arimathea, a member of the Council of Elders, went to the procurator and asked him for the body of Jesus. Pilate ordered that the body be handed over to Joseph. Another Jesus worshiper, Nicodemus, helped to remove the body from the cross. POSITION IN THE Coffin
Jesus' preaching in Galilee lasted, probably, for about a year, after which, about 30 A.D., he and his disciples went to Jerusalem on the eve of the Passover.In the proper sense of the word, Christ's path on Passion begins upon His return from Judea to Galilee. The high priests, scribes and Pharisees did not accept the teachings of Christ and, envying His miracles and success, looked for opportunities to kill.
After the resurrection of the four-day Lazarus by the Savior, six days before Easter, Jesus Christ, surrounded by the people, triumphantly, like the son of David and the king of Israel, entered Jerusalem. The people gave Him royal honor. Jesus Christ expelled all merchants from the temple and taught the people in the temple for several days. The Sadducees and some of the Pharisees, worried about his behavior, rumors about his messianic claims, the popularity that Jesus won among the people, finally, fearing popular unrest and their inevitable consequence - repression by the Roman authorities - took decisive action and achieved his arrest.
On Wednesday, one of His twelve disciples, Judas Iscariot, invited the members of the Sanhedrin to secretly betray their Master for thirty pieces of silver.
On Thursday, Jesus Christ, wishing to celebrate Easter with His disciples, left Bethany for Jerusalem, where His disciples Peter and John prepared a large room for Him. Appearing here in the evening, Jesus Christ showed His disciples the greatest example of humility by washing their feet, which the servants of the Jews used to do. Then, lying down with them, He celebrated the Old Testament Passover. After the supper, He established the New Testament Passover - the sacrament of the Eucharist, or Communion. During the Passover meal preceding the arrest, or, as it is customary to call it in the Christian tradition, the Last Supper, “Jesus took bread, blessed it, broke it, gave it [to the disciples] and said: accept, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup and gave thanks and gave it to them: and they all drank from it. And he said to them: This is my blood of the New Testament, which is shed out for many "(Gospel of Mark 14:22).
The words spoken by Jesus over bread and wine formed the basis of one of the Christian sacraments - the Eucharist (Greek. Thanksgiving), or Communion. Most Christian denominations teach that in the process of performing this sacrament, bread and wine are transubstantiated (transformed) into the body and blood of Christ.
After that, Jesus Christ spoke for the last time with His disciples about the Kingdom of God. Then He went to the countryside Garden of Gethsemane and, accompanied by three disciples - Peter, James and John, went into the depths of the garden and, thrown down to the ground, prayed to His Father until bloody sweat that the cup of suffering that lay before Him would pass.
At this time, a crowd of armed servants of the high priest, led by Judas, burst into the garden. Judas gave away his Master with a kiss. While the high priest Caiaphas summoned the members of the Sanhedrin, the soldiers took Jesus to the palace of Anna (Anan); from here He was led to Caiaphas, where, late at night, His trial took place. Although many false witnesses were summoned, no one could point to a crime for which Jesus Christ could be sentenced to death. However, the death sentence took place only after Jesus Christ recognized himself as the Son of God and the Messiah. For this, Christ was formally accused of blasphemy, for which, according to the law, the death penalty followed.
To confirm the verdict on Friday morning, the high priest went with the members of the Sanhedrin to the Roman prefect of Judea and Samaria, Pontius Pilate, who held this position from 26 to 36 years. Pilate, according to the testimony of Philo of Alexandria, was famous for his cruelty and carried out many "executions of persons who were not condemned by any court."
But Pilate at first did not agree to do this, not seeing in Jesus the guilt worthy of death. Then the Jews began to threaten Pilate with denunciation of him to Rome, and Pilate approved the death sentence. Jesus Christ was given to the Roman soldiers. At about 12 noon, together with two robbers, Jesus was taken to Golgotha - a small hill on the western side of the Jerusalem wall - and there he was crucified on a cross, on which a plaque was nailed with the accusation on which he was executed. On the icons and paintings you can see this tablet with the inscription: "INCI", which means "Jesus the Nazarene (or Nazarene) king of the Jews." In Latin, the tablet looks like "INRI", that is, "Iesus Nazarenus, rex Iudorum". According to the Gospel of Luke, Jesus, being mocked on the cross, said: “Father! Forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing ”(23:34).
He meekly accepted this execution. It was noon. Suddenly the sun darkened, and darkness spread over the earth for a full three hours. After that, Jesus Christ loudly cried out to the Father: "My God, My God, why did you forsake Me!" Then, seeing that everything was fulfilled according to the Old Testament prophecies, He exclaimed: “It is finished! My Father, into Thy hands I commit My spirit! " and bowing his head, he gave up the ghost. Terrible signs followed: the curtain in the temple was torn in two, the earth shook, the stones disintegrated. Seeing this, even the pagan - the Roman centurion - exclaimed: "Indeed, He was the Son of God."
No one doubted the death of Jesus Christ. Two members of the Sanhedrin, Joseph and Nicodemus, secret disciples of Jesus Christ, received permission from Pilate to remove His body from the cross and buried it in Joseph's tomb near Calvary, in the garden. The members of the Sanhedrin made sure that the body of Jesus Christ was not stolen by His disciples: they sealed the entrance and set up guards. Everything was done hastily, since the Easter holiday began in the evening of that day.
On Sunday (probably April 8th), the third day after His death on the cross, Jesus Christ rose from the dead and left the tomb. After that, an Angel who came down from heaven rolled the stone away from the door of the tomb. The first witnesses of this event were the soldiers guarding the tomb of Christ. Although the soldiers did not see Jesus Christ resurrected from the dead, they were eyewitnesses to the fact that when the Angel rolled away the stone, the tomb was already empty. Frightened by the Angel, the soldiers fled. Mary Magdalene and other myrrh-bearers who went to the sepulcher
Jesus Christ even before dawn, in order to anoint the body of their Lord and Teacher, found the tomb empty and were honored to see the Risen One Himself and hear from Him the greeting: "Rejoice!" Besides Mary Magdalene, Jesus Christ appeared to many of His disciples at different times. Some of them even deserved to touch His body and make sure that He is not a ghost. Over the course of forty days, Jesus Christ spoke with His disciples several times, giving them final instructions.
On the fortieth day, Jesus Christ, in full view of all His disciples, ascended to heaven from the Mount of Olives. As Christians believe, Jesus Christ sits at the right hand of God the Father, that is, he has one authority with Him.
Secondly, He will come to earth before the end of the world to judge the living and the dead, after which His glorious and eternal Kingdom will begin, in which the righteous will shine like the sun.
Belief in the resurrection of Jesus is attested in the earliest New Testament texts - the Epistles of the Apostle Paul, written two to three decades after Jesus' execution.
Passion of Christ
The totality of events that brought physical and spiritual suffering to Jesus Christ in the last days and hours of his earthly life is called Passion of Christ.
Gospel(Greek "good news") - the biography of Jesus Christ; which tells about the divine nature of Jesus Christ, his birth, life, miracles, death, resurrection and ascension. According to the creed
Most Christian churches, Jesus Christ combines the divine and human nature, being not an intermediate being below God and above man, but is God and man in essence. Incarnate in a man, He, through the sufferings of God in Himself, healed human nature, damaged by sin, then resurrected and ascended to the Kingdom of Heaven.
Sunday
Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem
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And when they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them: go to the village that is right in front of you; and immediately you will find a donkey tied and a young donkey with her; untied, bring to me; and if anyone tells you something, answer that the Lord needs them; and immediately he will send them. Yet this was, so that what was spoken through the prophet might come true, who says: Tell the daughter of Zion: behold, your King is coming to you, meek, sitting on a donkey and a young donkey, the son of a jerk. The disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them: they brought a donkey and a young donkey and put their clothes on them, and He sat on top of them. And a great multitude of people spread their clothes on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them along the way: the people. the one preceding and accompanying, exclaimed: Hosanna to the Son of David! blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest! "
The people, knowing about the miraculous resurrection of Lazarus, first solemnly greet Jesus as the coming King. 
Wednesday
The Supper at Bethany
But Christ did not immediately enter the Holy City. For some time He stayed in Bethany. This village was located not far from Jerusalem, on one of the slopes of the Mount of Olives.
A pious family lived there, which the Savior gladly visited when he was in Bethany.
Lazarus and his two sisters, Martha and Mary, each time lovingly met the Divine Guest in their home.
Both sisters tried to show respect to the distinguished Guest. Martha, who was distinguished by her lively and active disposition, immediately began to take care of the preparation of the meal.
Her sister Maria, a quiet and contemplative person, also cared about a worthy reception of the Divine Teacher. But Mary showed Him her love and reverence in a different way. She sat down in deep humility at the feet of the Savior and listened to His words.
But when Martha was preparing the meal, it seemed to her that Mary was "idly" sitting at the feet of Christ, and all the household chores lay down on her alone.“Lord, or is there no need for you that my sister left me to serve alone? Tell her to help me "
There was a reproach in her words. However, instead of fulfilling Martha's request, Jesus says:“Martha, Martha, you care and fuss about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary chose the good part, which will not be taken away from her "
The Washing of Jesus by a Sinner
Jesus spent Wednesday night in Bethany. Here, in the house of Simon the leper, at a time when the council of high priests, scribes and elders had already decided to take Jesus Christ by cunning and kill Him, a certain “sinner” wife poured precious ointment on the head of the Savior and thus prepared Him for burial, as He judged Himself He's about her act.
« When Jesus was in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, a woman came to Him with an alabaster vessel of precious peace and poured it on the head of Him reclining. Seeing this, His disciples were indignant and said: Why such a waste? For this myrrh could be sold for a great price and given to the poor. But Jesus, realizing this, said to them: Why confuse the woman? she has done a good deed for me: for you always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me; having poured this ointment on my body, she prepared me for burial; Truly I say to you: wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, it will be said in her memory and what she did».
Maundy Thursday
Washing the feet of the students
“Before the Easter holiday, Jesus, knowing that His hour had come to pass from this world to the Father, showed by deed that, having loved His who are in the world, He loved them to the end.” This love was especially manifested in the fact that the Lord personally fulfilled the custom that existed among the Jews. Before evenings, they were supposed to wash their feet. This was usually done by the servant, going around all the guests with a washbasin and a towel.
“And during the supper, when the devil had already put in the heart of Judas Simon Iscariot to betray Him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given everything into His hands, and that He had gone out from God and was going to God, got up from the supper, took off His outer garment and, taking a towel, girded himself. Then he poured water into the laver and began to wash the students' feet and wipe them off with a towel with which he was girded. He approached Simon Peter, and he said to him: Lord! Should you wash my feet? Jesus answered him: what I am doing, now you do not know, but you will understand afterwards. Peter saith to him: Thou shalt not wash my feet for ever. Jesus answered him: if I do not wash you, you have no part with me. Simon Peter says to Him: Lord! not only my feet, but also my hands and my head. Jesus says to him: He who has been washed needs only to wash his feet, because he is all clean; and you are clean, but not all. For he knew his betrayer, therefore he said: you are not all clean. "
The last supper
On the eve of the suffering and death of the Cross, the Lord Jesus Christ served with His disciples His last meal - the Last Supper. In Jerusalem, in the upper room of Zion, the Savior and the apostles celebrated the Old Testament Jewish Passover, established in memory of the miraculous deliverance of the Jewish people from Egyptian slavery.
According to the Old Testament tradition, on this day it was supposed to kill and eat the Passover lamb. The Lamb was a type of the incarnate Son of God, who was slain on the Cross for the sins of the whole world. 
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When evening came, He lay down with the twelve disciples; and as they ate, he said:
I tell you truly, that one of you will betray Me. They were greatly grieved, and began to say to Him, each one of them, Is it not me? God? He answered and said: He who dipped his hand with Me into the dish, this one will betray Me; however. The Son of Man walks as it is written about Him, but woe to that man to whom the Son of Man is betrayed: it would have been better for this man not to be born. And Judas, who betrayed Him, also said: Is it not I, Rabbi? Jesus says to him: you said. And when they ate, Jesus took the bread and, having blessed it, broke it and, distributing it to the disciples, said: take, eat: this is my body. And taking the cup and giving thanks, he gave it to them and said: Drink from it all, for this is My Blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. I tell you that from now on I will not drink of this fruit of the grape until the day when I will drink new wine with you in the Kingdom of My Father.»
The Apostle John, Christ's beloved disciple, reclining at the Passover meal next to Him, quietly asked: "Lord! Who is this?" The answer was : "The one to whom I, having dipped a piece of bread, will serve." And, having dipped a piece of bread in salt (a special sauce of dates and figs), Christ served it to Judas.
Usually, at Easter supper, the head of the family distributed pieces of bread as a sign of special benevolence. In doing so, Christ wanted to awaken in Judas a sense of repentance. But the opposite happened. As the Evangelist John testifies, "after this piece Satan entered into him"
So Christ establishes the Sacrament of Holy Communion in the upper room of Zion in Jerusalem. This is the main ceremony in which Christians partake of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ the Redeemer and thus unite with God. Communion is necessary for every Christian for salvation:
"But Jesus said to them: truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you will not have life in you."
The path to the Garden of Gethsemane and arrest
P After the Last Supper, His last meal, at which the Lord established the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, He went with the Apostles to the Mount of Olives. Descending into the hollow of the Kidron Stream, the Savior entered the Garden of Gethsemane with them. He loved this place and often gathered here to talk with his students.
Jesus desired solitude so that He could pour out His heart in prayer to His Heavenly Father. Leaving most of the disciples at the entrance to the garden, three of them - Peter, James and John - Christ took with Him.
“Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to his disciples: sit here while I go and pray there. And taking Peter and the two sons of Zebedee with Him, he began to grieve and grieve. Then Jesus saith unto them: My soul is sorrowful unto death; stay here and watch with Me. "
Praying for the cup
« And, moving away a little, fell on His face, prayed and said: My Father! if possible, let this cup pass from me; however, not as I want, but as You. And he comes to the disciples and finds them asleep, and says to Peter: Could you not have watched with Me one hour? watch and pray, lest you fall into temptation: the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. Still, going away a second time, he prayed, saying: My Father! If this cup cannot pass from Me, so that I do not drink it, Thy will be done. And when he came, he found them sleeping again, for their eyes were heavy. And leaving them, he went away again and prayed a third time, having said the same word. Then he comes to his disciples and says to them: Are you still sleeping and resting? behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners; Get up, let's go: behold, the one who betrays Me has drawn near».
Having risen from prayer, the Lord returned to His three disciples. He wanted to find comfort for Himself in their willingness to watch with Him, in their sympathy and devotion to Him. But the disciples were asleep ...
Twice more the Lord departed from the disciples into the depths of the garden and repeated the same prayer.
The sorrow of Christ was so great, and the prayer was so intense, that drops of bloody sweat fell from His face to the ground ...
In these difficult moments, as the Gospel narrates, "an angel appeared to him from Heaven and strengthened Him" Praying for the cup with a request to avert imminent death - one of the proofs of the union in Christ of two natures, Divine and human: When the human will refused to accept death, and the Divine will allowed this to happen.
Judas kiss and arrest
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And while He was still speaking, behold, Judas, one of the twelve, came, and with him a multitude of people with swords and stakes, from the chief priests and elders of the people. But the one who betrayed Him gave them a sign, saying: Whom I kiss, He is, take Him. And immediately going up to Jesus, he said: Hail, Rabbi. And he kissed Him. Jesus said to him: Friend, why have you come? "
“Then they came and laid hands on Jesus, and took Him. And so, one of those who were with Jesus, stretched out his hand, drew his sword and, striking the servant of the high priest, cut off his ear. Then Jesus says to him: Return your sword to its place, for all who take the sword by the sword will perish; Or do you think that I cannot now beg My Father, and He will present to Me more than twelve legions of Angels? how
the Scriptures will come true, why should it be? At that hour Jesus said to the people: as if you went out against a robber with swords and stakes to take Me; every day I sat with you, teaching in the temple, and you did not take me. All this was done, that the writings of the prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples, leaving Him, fled»
Good Friday
Jesus before the Sanhedrin (high priests)
Sanhedrin(the highest religious institution, as well as the highest judicial body in every Jewish city, consisting of 23 people), headed by the high priests Anna and Caiaphas, condemned Jesus Christ to death.
“And those who took Jesus took Him to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and elders were gathered. But Peter followed Him from afar, to the court of the high priest; and going inside, sat down with the attendants to see the end. The chief priests and elders and the entire Sanhedrin sought perjury against Jesus,
To put Him to death, and they did not find; and, although many false witnesses came, they did not find it. But at last two false witnesses came and said: He said: I can destroy the temple of God and build it in three days. And, getting up, the high priest said to him: why don't you answer anything? what do they testify against you? Jesus was silent. And the high priest said to him: I conjure you by the living God, tell us. Are you the Christ, the Son of God? Jesus tells him; you said, I even say to you: from now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power and coming in the clouds of heaven. Then the high priest tore his clothes and said: He is blaspheming! What else do we need witnesses for? behold, now you have heard His blasphemy! what do you think? They answered and said: I am guilty of death. "
The Sanhedrin recognized Jesus as a false prophet based on the words of Deuteronomy: "But the prophet who dares to speak in my name that which I have not commanded him to speak, and who will speak in the name of other gods, put such a prophet to death."
Those. Jesus Christ was condemned to death for calling Himself the Son of God. 
The Jewish high priests, having condemned Jesus Christ to death at the Sanhedrin, could not themselves carry out the sentence without the approval of the Roman governor. After unsuccessful attempts by the high priests to accuse Jesus of a formal violation of Jewish law), Jesus was handed over to the Roman procurator of Judea, Pontius Pilate (25-36).
« From Caiaphas they took Jesus to the Praetorium. It was morning; and they did not enter the praetorium, lest they be defiled, but that the passover might be eaten. Pilate went out to them and said: what do you accuse this man of?»
At the trial, the procurator asked: « Are you the King of the Jews?»
... This question was due to the fact that the claim to power as King of the Jews, according to Roman law, was qualified as a dangerous crime against the Roman Empire. The answer to this question was the words of Christ: « You say that I am the King. For this I was born and for this I came into the world to testify to the truth»
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Pilate, finding no fault in Jesus, inclined to let him go and said to the chief priests: « I find no fault in this man»
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Pontius Pilate's decision caused a stir among the Jewish crowd, led by the elders and high priests. Trying to prevent riots, Pilate addressed the crowd with a proposal to release Christ, following the long-standing custom of releasing one of the criminals on Easter:
"Behold the man (Ecce homo)"
But the crowd shouted: "May it be crucified"... Seeing this, Pilate passed the death sentence - he sentenced Jesus to crucifixion, and « I washed my hands before the people, and said: I am innocent of the blood of this Righteous One.»
... To which the people exclaimed: « His blood is on us and on our children»
“From that time on, Pilate sought to release Him. And the Jews cried out: If you let him go, you are not Caesar's friend; everyone who makes himself king is an adversary to Caesar. Pilate, hearing this word, took Jesus out and sat down at the judgment seat, in a place called Lyphostroton, or in Hebrew Gavvaf. Then it was Friday before Easter, and the sixth hour. And Pilate said to the Jews: Behold, your King! But they cried out: Take, take, crucify Him! Pilate says to them: Will I crucify your king? The chief priests answered: We have no king but Caesar. Then at last he delivered Him to them to be crucified "
The end of the traitor Judas Iscariot
When Judas the traitor found out about the death sentence, he understood the horror of his insane act. Blinded by the love of money, he did not think about what his betrayal would lead to. An agonizing remorse took possession of him
soul. But this repentance was combined in him with despair, and not with hope for the mercy and forgiveness of God.
Judas went to the chief priests and elders and returned them thirty pieces of silver, which he received from them for betraying the Son of God. They reacted coldly and mockingly to Judas. "What do we care about," they said
they, - answer for your own deeds. ”Torment of conscience without hope for God's forgiveness and faith in His love
turned out to be sterile. Judas could not correct what he had done with his human strength. Unable to find the strength to fight the mental anguish, he hanged himself that very night.
The chief priests decided to buy, with the money returned by Judas, a piece of land for the burial of the strangers.
“Then Judas, who betrayed Him, seeing that He was condemned, and repenting, returned thirty
of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying: I have sinned, I have given innocent blood. But they said to him: what do we care about? take a look yourself. And, having thrown the pieces of silver in the temple, he went out, went and hanged himself. "
Denial of the apostle Peter
“And Peter remembered the word that Jesus had spoken to him: Before the cock crows, you will deny Me three times. And when he went out, he cried bitterly. "
It was deep night. Armed soldiers and temple guards brought the bound Savior to trial before the high priests: the aged Anna and his son-in-law, the acting high priest Caiaphas.
The Apostle John, familiar to the high priest, entered the courtyard, and then brought in Peter. Seeing Peter, the maid standing at the door asked him:
"and are you not one of this man's disciples?" Peter answered, "No."
The night was cold. The ministers lit a fire in the courtyard and warmed themselves. Together with them stood by the fire and Peter. Suddenly, another maid again, pointing at Peter, said to the attendants: "and this one was with Jesus of Nazareth"... But Peter again denied, saying that he did not know this Man.
Dawn was approaching, and the ministers standing in the courtyard again began to say to Peter: "as surely you were with Him: for your speech convicts you: you are a Galerian".
A relative of the same Malchus, whom Peter cut off his ear, immediately approached and said that he saw Peter with Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane. Then Peter began to swear and swear: "I do not know this Man of whom you speak"
At this time the cock crowed. And Peter remembered the words of the Savior, spoken by Him at the Last Supper: "Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times."
At that very moment, Jesus, who was taken out of the house, looked at Peter. The Savior's gaze penetrated into the very heart of the disciple. Shame and burning remorse gripped his soul. The apostle left the high priest's court and wept bitterly over his sin.
“Taking him, they led him and brought him into the house of the high priest. Peter followed from afar. When they made a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat down between them. One maid, seeing him sitting by the fire, and looking at him, said: this one was with him too. But he denied Him, saying to the woman: I do not know Him.
Soon afterwards, another, seeing him, said: You too are one of them. But Peter said to this man: no! An hour passed, and someone insistently said: as if this one was with Him, for he is a Galilean. But Peter said to that man: I don’t know what you are talking about. And immediately, while he was still speaking, the cock crowed. Then the Lord, turning, looked at Peter, and Peter remembered the word of the Lord, as He said to him: before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times. And, going out, he wept bitterly. "
The Flagellation of Christ
"Then Pilate took Jesus and ordered him to be beaten."
Desecration and crowning with thorns
“And the soldiers took him inside the court, that is, to the praetorium, and gathered the whole regiment, and clothed him in a purple robe, and, having plaited a crown of thorns, put it on him; and they began to salute Him: Hail, King of the Jews! And they beat Him on the head with a reed, and spat on Him, and, kneeling down, bowed to Him. "
After the trial, the Savior was handed over to the Roman soldiers. The soldiers stripped Him and clothed Him in a purple robe. This red military cloak was supposed to depict the royal purple of the King of the Jews. The soldiers weaved a crown of thorns and placed it on the Savior's head, gave Him a cane in His right hand and, kneeling before Him, mocked Him, saying: "Hail, King of the Jews." ... They spat on Him and, taking a cane, beat Him on the head.
And when they mocked Him, they took off the purple robe from Him, clothed Him in their own clothes and took Him to crucifixion.
Vestment in the purple robe, the laying on of the crown of thorns and the conversion " Rejoice, King of the Jews!"Parody an appeal to the emperor and are an outrage against the royal dignity of Christ (Son of David)
Way of the cross
Those sentenced to crucifixion were supposed to carry their own cross to the place of execution. Therefore, the soldiers, placing the Cross on the shoulders of the Savior, led Him to the hill, which was called Golgotha, or Execution Ground. According to legend, this
the place was buried the progenitor of the human race, Adam. Golgotha was located to the west of Jerusalem, not far from the city gates, called the Judgment.
A great crowd of people followed Jesus. The very personality of the Prisoner and all the circumstances of his trial excited the whole city with its many pilgrims. The road was rocky. The Lord was tormented by terrible tortures. He barely walked, falling under the weight of the Cross.
"And, carrying His cross, He went out to the place called Skull, in Hebrew Golgotha".
« And a great multitude of people and women followed Him, who wept and wept for Him. Jesus,
turning to them, he said: Daughters of Jerusalem! do not weep for Me, but weep for yourself and for your children "
Stripping the clothes off Christ and the soldiers playing them dice
Meanwhile, the soldiers who crucified Jesus divided His garments among themselves. They tore the outer garment into four parts. And the lower one - the chiton - was not sewn, but solid-woven. Therefore, the warriors cast lots about him - to whom
will get it. According to legend, this tunic was woven by the Most Pure Mother of the Savior.
Calvary - Crucifixion of Christ
Execution by crucifixion was in the East the most shameful, most painful and most cruel. So in ancient times, only notorious villains were executed: robbers, murderers, rebels and criminal slaves. Besides
of unbearable pain and suffocation, the crucified one experienced a terrible thirst and deadly mental anguish.
By the verdict of the Sanhedrin, approved by the Roman procurator of Judea, Pontius Pilate, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was condemned to be crucified. By the verdict of Pontius Pilate, Jesus was crucified on Calvary, where, according to the Gospel story, he himself carried his cross.
Death came into the world with the sin of Adam. Christ the Savior had no sin, but took upon himself the sins of all mankind. To save people from death and hell, Jesus Christ went to death voluntarily.
They took off Christ's clothes, and the most terrible moment of execution followed - nailing to the Cross. When the soldiers raised the Cross, then at this terrible moment the voice of the Savior sounded with a prayer for His ruthless killers: "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing".
“It was three o'clock and they crucified Him. And there was an inscription of His guilt: King of the Jews. With Him they crucified two robbers, one on His right and the other on His left. And the word of Scripture came true: and numbered among the evildoers»
Together with him, two robbers were crucified: Dismas and Gestas nicknamed Prudent and Mad robbers.
“Lead two villains with Him to death. And when they came to the place called Execution, they crucified Him and the villains, one on the right and the other on the left ... One of the hanged villains reviled Him and said: "If you are the Christ, save yourself and us." The other, on the contrary, calmed him down and said: “Or are you not afraid of God, when you yourself are condemned to the same? and we were justly condemned, because we received what was worthy according to our deeds, but He did nothing wrong. " And he said to Jesus: remember me, Lord, when you come into your kingdom! And Jesus said to him, truly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise "
And the repentant robber was nicknamed in the Christian tradition “ Reasonable”And, according to legend, was the first to enter paradise. This is interpreted by the church as God's willingness to grant forgiveness to a dying person even at the very last moment.
When Jesus Christ was brought to the place of execution, to Golgotha, the Roman soldiers, executors of the execution, gave Him vinegar mixed with bile to drink. This drink dulled the feeling of pain and somewhat reduced the excruciating
the suffering of the crucified. But Jesus refused. He wanted to drink the whole cup of suffering in full consciousness.
Near the Cross were not only the enemies of Christ. Here stood His Most Pure Mother, the Apostle John, Mary Magdalene and several other women. They looked with horror and compassion at the torment of the Crucified Savior.
«
Jesus, seeing the Mother and the disciple standing here, whom he loved, says to His Mother: Wife! behold, Thy son. Then he speaks to the student; behold, thy Mother! And from that time on, this disciple took her to him. After that, Jesus, knowing that everything was already finished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, says: I thirst. There was a jar full of vinegar. The soldiers, having drunk a sponge with vinegar and laid it on the hyssop, brought it to His mouth. When Jesus had tasted the vinegar, he said: It is finished! And, bowing his head, he betrayed the spirit. "
Beginning at the sixth hour, the sun was darkened, and darkness enveloped the whole earth.
At about nine o'clock Jewish time, that is, at three o'clock in the afternoon, Jesus loudly exclaimed: “ My God, My God! Why did you leave me? ”This experience of being forsaken by God was the most terrible torment for the Son of God.
«
Thirst »
- said the Savior. Then one of the soldiers filled a sponge with vinegar, put it on a cane and brought it to the withered lips of Christ.
«
When Jesus had tasted the vinegar, he said: It is finished!»
... The promise of God has been fulfilled. The salvation of the human race has been accomplished.
Following this, the Savior exclaimed: «
Father, into Thy hands I commit My spirit", - and, «
bowed his head, gave up the ghost»
The Son of God died on the Cross. And the earth shook. The curtain in the temple, which covered the Holy of Holies, was torn in two, thereby opening the entrance for people to the Kingdom of Heaven, which had been closed until then.
Spear of Longinus (Spear of Destiny, Spear of Christ)
- the peak that the Roman soldier Longinus plunged into the hypochondrium of Jesus Christ crucified on the Cross. Like all the Instruments of the Passion, the spear is considered one of the greatest relics of Christianity, voluntarily accepting suffering, crucifixion and death on the Cross, the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished the salvation of the human race from sin and eternal death.
The crucifixion took place on Friday, on the eve of the great Jewish holiday of Passover. In order not to leave the bodies of those executed on the crosses, the Jews asked Pilate to hasten their death. Pilate agreed. The soldiers who came broke the legs of two robbers: after that, the crucified man died almost instantly. But, approaching Jesus and making sure that He had already died, the soldiers did not break His legs. So that there would be no doubt about the death of Jesus Christ, one of the soldiers centurion Longinus pierced Him in the ribs with a spear. From the wound immediately bleed and water... This was clear evidence of death.
« But since [then] it was Friday, the Jews, so as not to leave the bodies on the cross on Saturday, - for that Saturday was a great day, - asked Pilate to break their legs and take them off. So the soldiers came, and they broke the legs of the first, and of the other, who was crucified with Him. But when they came to Jesus, as they saw Him already dead, they did not break His legs, but one of the soldiers pierced His ribs with a spear, and immediately blood and water flowed out.
»
Water and blood - symbols of the Sacraments of Baptism and Holy Communion, indicated the divine origin of Jesus Christ.
According to legend, the Roman centurion Gaius Cassius Longinus suffered from cataracts. During the execution of Christ, blood splattered on his eyes, and Cassius is healed. From that moment on, he himself becomes a Christian ascetic. As a Christian martyr, he patronizes all those suffering from eye diseases.
Longinus went to preach to his homeland, to Cappadocia (two other soldiers went with him). Tradition says that Pilate, according to the conviction of the Jewish elders, sent soldiers to Cappadocia with the aim of killing Longinus and his companions. They were beheaded, the bodies were buried in the native village of Longinus, and the heads were sent to Pilate, who ordered them to be thrown into a garbage dump. The Orthodox Church venerates Longinus as a martyr
Descent from the cross
“Joseph of Arimathea is a disciple of Jesus, but secret out of fear from the Jews, - asked Pilate to remove the body of Jesus; and Pilate allowed. He went and took off the body of Jesus. "
On the same evening, one of the members of the Sanhedrin, a secret disciple of Jesus Christ, Joseph of Arimathea, came to Pilate. He was a man of a righteous life and did not participate in the condemnation of the Savior. Joseph asked Pilate for permission to remove the body of Jesus from the Cross and bury Him. Having received permission, he bought a tissue for burial - the shroud - and went to Golgotha. Nicodemus also came there. Joseph and Nicodemus removed the body of Jesus from the Cross, anointed Him with incense and wrapped it in a shroud.
«
After this, Joseph and Arimathea, a disciple of Jesus, but secret out of fear from the Jews, asked
Pilate to remove the body of Jesus; and Pilate allowed. He went and took off the body of Jesus. Nicodemus also came - who had come to Jesus at night before - and brought a composition of myrrh and aloe, about a hundred liter. So they took the body of Jesus and wrapped it in swaddling clothes with incense, as they usually bury
Jews. In the place where He was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden there was a new tomb, in which no one had yet been laid. They put Jesus there for the sake of Jewish Friday, because the tomb was close. "
The position in the coffin
"... wrapped a shroud and laid him in a coffin hewn [in the rock], where no one had yet been laid".
Near Golgotha there was a garden that belonged to Joseph. There, in a stone rock, he carved a new burial cave for himself. In it, the disciples reverently placed the body of the Lord Jesus Christ and rolled a large stone against the door of the tomb.
The burial of the Savior was watched by women who stood at His Cross. Among them were the Mother of Jesus, Mary Magdalene and Mary of Josieva. The sun was setting. On the eve of the coming Saturday, the great day of rest,
all left the burial place of Christ. Returning home, the women bought precious myrrh. After the Sabbath, they wanted to come back to the tomb and anoint the Savior's body with ointment in order to worthily complete the burial.
Meanwhile, the chief priests and Pharisees came to Pilate and said to him: «
Master! We remembered that the deceiver, while still alive, said: after three days I will rise again. "Therefore, command to guard the tomb for three days," so that His disciples, coming at night, would not steal Him and say to the people: He rose from the dead; and the last deception will be worse than the first "
They called the "first deception" what Jesus Christ taught about Himself as the Son of God, about the Messiah. And the last - a sermon about His Resurrection from the dead and His victory over hell.
Pilate answered them: «
You have a guard; go guard as you know ".
Having received this permission, the chief priests with the Pharisees went to the tomb of Jesus Christ. Having carefully examined the burial place, they set up a guard of Roman soldiers who were at their disposal during the holidays. Then they put the seal of the Sanhedrin on the stone that closed the entrance to the cave and left, leaving the body of the Savior under guard.
Saturday
Descent to Hell
In the New Testament, this is reported only by the Apostle Peter: "Christ, in order to bring us to God, once suffered for our sins ... being put to death according to the flesh, but was made alive by the spirit, which He also came down to preach to those in prison."
When the body of Christ lay in the grave, with His soul He descended into hell, preaching to the dead the victory over sin and death. For all the Old Testament righteous, all who were waiting for the coming of the Savior, the Lord opened the Kingdom of Heaven and brought their souls out of Hell.
From that moment on, the Kingdom of God is open to all believers in Christ and fulfilling His commandments. Hell is defeated
by the power of the crucified Son of God, and together with the apostle we can say: "Death! where is your sting? hell! where is your victory? "
Sunday
Resurrection of Jesus Christ
The rest of Great Saturday was the beginning of the transition from death to life.
After the Sabbath, at night, on the third day after His suffering and death, Jesus Christ revived by the power of His Divinity. He rose from the dead. His human body was transformed. The Savior came out of the coffin without rolling off the stone that covered the burial cave. He did not break the seal of the Sanhedrin and was invisible to the guards, who from that moment guarded the empty coffin.
Suddenly there was a great earthquake. An Angel of the Lord came down from heaven. He rolled away the stone from the empty coffin and sat down on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The warriors who stood guard at the coffin were in awe and became like the dead, and then, waking up, scattered in fear.
Meanwhile, the women who were at Calvary and at the burial of Christ, hastened to the tomb of the Savior. It was very early. Dawn has not yet come. Taking with them the precious ointment, the women went to fulfill the last duty of love in relation to their Teacher and Lord: to anoint His body with peace. These were Mary Magdalene, Mary of Jacob, John, Salome and some other women. Orthodox Church calls them myrrh-bearing wives.
Not knowing that a guard had been assigned to the Savior's tomb, they asked each other : "Who will roll us the stone from the door of the sepulcher?" ... The stone was very large, and they were weak.
“After the Sabbath, Mary Magdalene and Mary of Jacob and Salome bought perfumes to go to anoint Him. And very early, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb at the rising of the sun, and they said among themselves: Who will roll us the stone from the door of the tomb? And, looking, they see that the stone has been rolled away; and he was very great. And entering the coffin, they saw a young man sitting on right side clothed in white clothes; and were horrified. But he says to them: do not be dismayed. You are looking for Jesus, the Nazarene crucified; He is risen, He is not here. This is the place where He was laid. But go tell His disciples and Peter that He comes before you in Galilee; there you will see him, as he told you. And leaving, they ran away from the grave; trembling and horror seized them, and they did not say anything to anyone, because they were afraid.»
Before the rest of the women, Mary Magdalene was the first
came to the coffin. She saw that the stone had been rolled away from the door, and the coffin was empty.
“And behold, there was a great earthquake, for the Angel of the Lord, who came down from heaven, came and rolled a stone from the door of the tomb and sat on it ... turning to the women, he said: do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus crucified; He is not here - He is resurrected, as He said. "
With this news, she ran to Christ's disciples Peter and John. Hearing her words, the apostles hurried to the tomb. Mary Magdalene followed them.
Soon after, Peter and John ran to the Lord's tomb. John was young, so he ran faster than Peter and was the first to be at the tomb. Bending down, he saw the burial shroud of Jesus, but, being afraid, did not go inside the cave. Peter entered the coffin. He also saw the swaddling clothes and the sir lying separately - the bandage that was on the head of Jesus Christ. He saw - and believed in the Resurrection of the Lord.
«
And Maria stood at the coffin and cried. And when she was crying, she bent down into the grave and saw two Angels sitting in a white robe, one at the head of the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus lay. And they say to her: wife! Why are you crying? He said to them: They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.
The angels tell her:
“What are you looking for alive between the dead? He is not here: He is risen; remember how He told you when he was still in Galilee, saying that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful people, and be crucified, and rise again on the third day. "
Mary Magdalene stood in front of the cave entrance and wept. Her soul was in confusion. The woman thought that someone had taken away the body of her beloved Teacher and Lord. Looking back, Magdalene saw Christ, but did not recognize Him, and
thought it was the gardener. With tears she turned to Him: "
Master! if you took it out, tell me where you put it and i will take it"
... Then Jesus said to her: "
Maria! "
At this moment, spiritual eyes were opened
"
Teacher! "
- she exclaimed and in indescribable joy threw herself at the feet of Christ. But the Lord forbade her to touch Him: "Sir, if you have carried Him out, tell me where you put Him, and I will take Him.".
Then Jesus said to her: "
Mary! "At this moment, the spiritual eyes were opened
Magdalene - she recognized the Savior. "
Teacher! "
- she exclaimed and in indescribable joy threw herself at the feet of Christ. But the Lord forbade her to touch Him, and ordered her to go and tell all the disciples about what she had seen.
Meanwhile, the soldiers guarding the tomb came to the leaders of the Jews and announced to them everything that had happened in Joseph's garden. Not wanting to believe in the Resurrection of Christ, the Pharisees and high priests bribed the soldiers, saying:
"Say that His disciples came by night and stole Him while we were asleep."
The soldiers, taking the money, did as they had been taught. And Christ's disciples scattered all over the world preaching about the Risen Savior. This main message, proclaimed by the Christian faith, is at the very center
sermons, worship and spiritual life of the Church. Christ is Risen!
The apparitions of the risen Jesus Christ
On the third day after the death of the Cross, Jesus Christ rose from the dead. And for forty days, right up to His glorious Ascension to heaven, He appeared to His disciples.
After that, Jesus appeared separately to Peter and assured him of His Resurrection. On the same day, two of Christ's disciples, Luke and Cleopas, were walking from Jerusalem to Emmaus, a village located not far from the city. Dear they
talked about the events of the last days - the suffering and death of the Savior on the Cross.
And now the Lord Jesus Christ Himself approached them. But they, like Magdalene, did not recognize the Savior, but thought that this was one of the pilgrims who came to the holy city for the feast.
Luke and Cleopa shared with the unfamiliar Companion their sadness, bewilderment and, as it seemed to them, the unfulfilled hopes that they had pinned on their Teacher. "However," they said, "some of our women say He lives and they saw Him." Then Jesus began to explain to them all the Old Testament prophecies of the Holy Scriptures about His sufferings on the Cross and the glorious Resurrection. The disciples were amazed. Everything became clear to them. They begged their Companion not to leave, but to stay in Emmaus and share the evening meal with them. When He was reclining at the table with them, He took the bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were "opened" and they recognized the Lord Jesus Christ, but He became invisible to them. Luke and Cleopa immediately got up and went back to Jerusalem to announce to Christ's disciples about the Resurrection of the Savior.
Late in the evening of the same day, ten of the Lord's closest disciples gathered together. Only Thomas was not there. The doors of the house where they were were were locked out of fear of the Jews. And suddenly Jesus Christ Himself stood in the midst of them and said: "
Peace to you! "
They got scared, thinking it was a ghost. The disciples did not yet know that the transformed body of the Lord had acquired new, wonderful properties. No walls and closed doors could no longer be an obstacle for him. To strengthen the disciples in faith, the Savior showed them His hands and feet, pierced by nails. But the apostles still doubted. Then, in order to finally eradicate their unbelief, the Lord eats before them the portion of baked fish and honey remaining from their evening meal. The disciples' doubts were dispelled. An extraordinary joy filled them.
Holy Week
The central event in the history of mankind is the coming into the world of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the most important thing is His voluntary suffering and death on the cross, culminating in the glorious Resurrection from the dead.
The services of Passion Week are intended to revive in the consciousness of pilgrims the meaning of Christ's feat of the Cross, so that we feel more deeply the greatness of His love for us and, in turn, try harder to love Him. Therefore, everything that in the Old Testament only prejudges, and in the New Testament directly refers to the feat of the Savior on the Cross, the Holy Church reveals to the spiritual gaze of those praying in the touching divine services of the pre-Easter week, which is also called Passionate because of the suffering of the Savior. Each service of this week is unique in its Gospel memories, in its melodies, prayers and sacred rites. And here the Church introduces believers to great spiritual wealth, not only in its internal content, but also in its external design. These services have been created and improved over the centuries by the work of many talented church writers, poets and composers.
In this brochure, we will tell you about the events of the last days of the earthly life of the Lord Jesus Christ, explain the main moments of the Passionate Divine Services and give the texts of some hymns with a parallel translation into Russian.
The last days of the Savior's earthly life
Having celebrated the Last Supper and having communed His disciples, the Lord Jesus Christ went with them to the Garden of Gethsemane. It was Thursday night, the day before the Jewish holiday of Passover. The cozy Garden of Gethsemane, densely planted with olive trees, once belonged to the forefather of the Savior, King David. Located on the western slope of the Mount of Olives, the garden towered over Jerusalem, offering a picturesque view of the Temple and the magnificent buildings surrounding it. When the Lord visited Jerusalem, He invariably met with His disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane. Knowing this, Judas, one of the apostles (who left the Last Supper to betray the Savior) decided to bring the guards here so that they could arrest Christ here.
Knowing about the approach of the soldiers, the Lord began to prepare for the upcoming judgment by the high priests and for His death on the cross. Sensing the need for prayer at this crucial moment, the Lord told the apostles: "Sit here while I pray." Having walked a short distance, the Lord began to grieve and yearn. "My soul is mortal sorrowful," He said to the apostles Peter, James and John who were not far off. "Stay here and watch with Me." Then, moving away a little, He fell on His face and began to pray: "My Father! If possible, let this cup pass from Me. However, not as I want, but as You." This prayer was so intense that according to the description of the evangelists, sweat, like drops of blood, flowed from His face to the ground. At this time of incredible inner struggle, an Angel from Heaven appeared to Jesus and began to strengthen Him.
No one can comprehend the full weight of the Savior's sorrows when He was preparing for the sufferings of the Cross for the redemption of sinful humanity. There is no need to deny the natural fear of death, because He, as a man, was aware of the usual human hardships and diseases. It is natural for ordinary people to die, but for Him, as completely sinless, death was an unnatural state.
At the same time, the inner sufferings of Christ were especially unbearable because at this time the Lord took upon Himself all the unbearable burden of the sins of mankind. The world evil with all its unbearable weight, as it were, crushed the Savior and filled His soul with unbearable sorrow. He, as a morally perfect, was alien and disgusting even the slightest evil. Taking upon Himself human sins, the Lord, together with them, took upon Himself the guilt for them. Thus, what each of the people had to endure for their crimes was now centered on Him alone. Obviously, the sorrow of Christ was intensified by the realization of how bitter most people were. Many of them not only will not appreciate His endless love and the greatest feat, but will laugh at Him and angrily reject the righteous path offered to them. They will prefer sin to a righteous way of life, and they will persecute and kill people who yearn for salvation.
Experiencing this, the Lord prayed three times. The first time He asked the Father to remove the cup of suffering from Him; the second time He showed willingness to follow the will of the Father; after the third prayer, the Savior said: "Thy will be done!"
From a theological point of view, the internal struggle that the Lord Jesus Christ endured in the Garden of Gethsemane clearly reveals two independent and integral essences in Him: the Divine and the human. His Divine will was in everything agreed with the will of His Heavenly Father, who wants to save people by His sufferings, and His human will naturally turned away from death as from the lot of sinners and wanted to find another way to save people. Ultimately, strengthened by diligent prayer, His human will obeyed His divine will.
Having risen from prayer, the Lord approached the apostles to warn them about the approach of a traitor. Having made them asleep, He meekly rebukes them: "Are you still sleeping and resting? Now the hour has approached and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Watch and pray lest you fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak" (Mark 14:38 ). How could it happen that the disciples fell asleep at such a crucial moment? This was evidently out of excessive sadness. They vaguely understood that some terrible tragedy was about to happen, and did not know how to turn it away. It is known that strong experiences can deplete the nervous system so much that a person loses the will to resist and tries to forget about sleep.
However, the Lord convinces His disciples, and in their person and all Christians, not to despair under any difficult circumstances, but to watch and pray diligently. God, seeing the faith of man, will not allow the one who trusts in Him to fall into temptation beyond his strength, but will certainly help him.
Taking Jesus Christ into custody
At this time, the silence of the garden was deafened by the noise of the crowd rushing into it. A detachment of Roman soldiers arrived, led by Jewish leaders and commissioners from the high priests. With them turned out to be a multitude of all kinds of people, thirsty for spectacles. The crowd was led by Judas, one of the twelve apostles who became a traitor. For his betrayal, he received 30 silver coins from the high priests - a relatively small amount: for this price it was possible to buy a slave in the market.
Although the moon was full, the crowd came with torches, suggesting that the Lord would try to hide in the secret places of the garden. Waiting for resistance, the warriors came with swords, and the servants with sticks. The chief priests, fearing popular outrage, told Judas to be careful when arresting Jesus. The crowd that came with Judas did not know exactly who would be arrested. It was only ordered that it is necessary to take the One whom Judas will point to. Judas, keeping in secret the commission given to him, limited himself to the following instruction: "Whom I kiss, He is, for Whom we follow" (Mark 14:44).
It can be assumed that Judas intended, after separating from the detachment and running ahead, to approach Jesus with the usual greeting, kiss Him, and then step aside and pretend that he did not understand what was happening. But he did not succeed. When he approached Jesus and muttered in bewilderment: "Teacher, teacher," Jesus asked him point-blank: "Friend, why did you come?" Not knowing what to answer, Judas, embarrassed, said: "Hail, Master," and kissed Him. The Lord rebuked Judas for this heinous kiss, saying: "Do you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?"
As the crowd approached, the Lord asked, "Whom are you looking for?" The Jewish leaders, who knew who the detachment was sent for, answered: "Jesus of Nazareth." - "This is me!" - Christ answered loudly. Those who came were inspired that they would have to take Jesus carefully, since He has adherents who can intercede for Him. And suddenly He openly and without fear, declares: "It is I!" The Lord said this with such authority that His enemies retreated from surprise and fell to the ground. When they recovered somewhat and stood up, the Lord asked a second time: "Whom are you looking for?" They repeated: "Jesus of Nazareth." The Lord says to them then, tempering his Divine power: "I told you that it is I. So, if you are looking for Me, leave them [the apostles], let them go." This concern of the Lord for His disciples is touching. From the first day of the calling of the apostles, the Savior protected them from dangers, as is evident from His high priestly prayer to God the Father: "Of those whom You gave Me, I did not destroy anyone."
Addressing the Jewish leaders, Christ said: "As if you went out against a robber with swords and stakes. But now is your time and the power of darkness." After that, the disciples, leaving Him, scattered. Only the apostles Peter and John remained, who from afar followed the retreating detachment leading Jesus. So they reached Jerusalem.
Judgment of the Lord by the High Priests
The bound Savior was led into the house of the high priests in Zion, the wealthy region of upper Jerusalem. (Zion is the area to the south-west of the temple, where the palace of King David once stood. At the time of the Savior, Jewish leaders and nobles lived in Zion. There was also a house with a spacious upper room, where the Lord performed the Last Supper. The house was spacious, with many rooms located on the periphery of a vast courtyard. The reigning high priest was Caiaphas, and Anna was his father-in-law. (Caiaphas is a nickname. His real name is Joseph. He reigned as high priest from 18th to 35th year after Christ. In 1993 In the family tomb of the high priests, half a kilometer south of the temple, archaeologists found an exquisitely carved sarcophagus with human bones and the name of Caiaphas written on the outside of the sarcophagus. however, he continued to live in the high priestly house, and everyone took into account his opinion, as with the opinion of an older and more experienced high priest. The preliminary interrogation of the Lord was done by Anna, after which Kai afa headed the formal court.
The sly Anna began to ask Christ what He taught and who His disciples were. By this, he set the criminal tone for the further court case, throwing suspicion on Jesus as the head of some conspiracy, with secret teachings and secret goals. The Lord immediately removed the possibility of such accusations from Himself, pointing out to Anna: "I spoke openly to the world. I always taught in the synagogue and in the temple, and did not secretly say anything," and to prove this, he suggested asking the witnesses who had constantly heard Him. Despite the fact that there was nothing offensive in such an answer, one of the servants, obviously wanting to please the high priest, struck the Lord with his hand on the cheek, saying: "Is this how you answer the high priest?" To admonish the servant, the Lord meekly advised him: "If I said bad, show that it is bad; but if it is good, why are you hitting Me?" - that is, if you can prove that I taught the people something bad, then prove it, and do not hit it without reason.
Having finished the preliminary interrogation, Anna sent the bound Jesus to the high priest Caiaphas. Meanwhile, Caiaphas gathered the elders, scribes, eminent Pharisees and almost the entire Sanhedrin. Despite the late hour, they was in a hurry to gather evidence against Jesus in order to prepare everything necessary for another, full morning session of the Sanhedrin, at which they could formally pronounce on him the death sentence. To collect accusations, they invited false witnesses, who began to accuse Christ of various violations of the law (for example, violation of the Sabbath rest). Finally, two false witnesses came, who pointed to the words spoken by the Lord when the merchants were driven out of the temple. At the same time, they maliciously altered the words of Christ, putting in them a different meaning. The Lord said: "Destroy this temple [my body], and in three days I will raise [raise] it" (John 2:19). He did not say that he himself would destroy the temple in order to build it up later - as the false witnesses claimed at the trial.
But even such boastfulness attributed to Christ was not sufficient for a serious punishment. Jesus did not try to refute these ridiculous and confusing accusations. The silence of Christ irritated Caiaphas, and he decided to compel the Lord to confess that would give him a reason to condemn Him to death as a blasphemer. According to the judicial customs of that time, he turned to the Lord with a formally posed question: "I conjure you by the living God, tell us, are you the Christ - the Son of God?" This judicial formula of the spell required that the accused must answer the real truth, calling God as a witness. To such a directly posed question, and even under a curse, the Lord could not help but answer. No longer hiding His Messianic and Divine dignity, Christ answered: "You said!" that is: "Yes, you rightly said that I am the promised Messiah, and added:" From now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven. "Here is a reference to the 109th psalm and to the vision of the prophet Daniel. The Psalm depicts the Messiah sitting at the right hand of God, while the Prophet Daniel saw the Messiah in the form of the "Son of Man" coming in the clouds of heaven. I will put Thy enemies at Thy footstool ... out of the womb before the day is like dew, Thy birth. " And to Him was given power, glory and kingdom, so that all nations, tribes and tongues would serve Him. His dominion is eternal, which will not pass away, and His kingdom will not be destroyed "(Dan. 7: 13-14).
With these references to Holy Scripture, the Lord confirmed that He is the Messiah and the Son of God promised by the prophets. Then the high priest tore his clothes and exclaimed: "He is blaspheming." The ripping of the clothes of the Jews expressed intense grief or indignation. The high priest was forbidden to rip his clothes. With this dramatic gesture, Caiaphas wanted to emphasize that he was so outraged by Christ's statement that he even forgot about the existing prohibition.
"What is your opinion?" - asks Caiaphas present, and receives the desired answer: "He is guilty of death!" Having passed such a sentence, the judges who had previously been sitting decorously turned into a brutal crowd and pounced on Christ.
No longer hiding their hatred, they began to mock Him and spit in His face. Others hit Him in the face and head, asking with a sneer: "Prophesy to us, Christ, who hit You?" By their behavior, they discovered that their entire judgment was only a crude hypocrisy, under which their personal malice against Christ was hidden. They are no longer the keepers of the Law of God, but the rabble blinded by envy.
The Apostle John, as a fisherman, was familiar to the family of the high priest, and he was freely allowed into the courtyard. John took Peter with him. Since it was cold, a fire was made in the courtyard, around which the guards and servants sat. Obviously, the Apostle Peter from time to time went to the fire to warm himself. It was then that some of the servants recognized Peter and began to accuse him of being a disciple of Christ, and Peter began to assure them that he never knew "This Man." Then someone again accused Peter of being a disciple of Christ. For the third time, already in the morning, when several servants with great persistence began again to accuse Peter of being a disciple of Christ, he was greatly frightened and began to assure with oaths that he had never known Him. At this time the cock crowed. Then Peter remembered the Savior's prediction about the rooster and, ashamed of his cowardice, went out into the street and wept bitterly.
Sanhedrin verdict
The first meeting of the Sanhedrin, which began at Caiaphas' house on Thursday night, ended early Friday morning. A second meeting was called a few hours later in the magnificent building of the Sanhedrin, just south of the temple. The Talmud, where ancient Jewish laws are collected, says that in criminal cases the final sentencing should follow no earlier than the day after the start of the trial. But neither Caiaphas nor the members of the Sanhedrin wanted to drag out the case. To keep at least the form of a secondary court, the Sanhedrin met the next morning - already in full force. To this second meeting, the guards brought the bound Jesus Christ, who spent those hours between meetings in the high priest’s court, being mocked by the guards and servants.
The Lord Jesus Christ was brought into the meeting of the Sanhedrin and again asked: "Are you the Christ?" It was important that the new members of the Sanhedrin personally hear Jesus' confession that He considers Himself the promised Messiah by the prophets. Knowing that the court was called only to observe formalities and that His fate was already predetermined, the Lord replied: "If I tell you, you will not believe, if I ask you, you will not answer Me and will not let me go." - "So, are you the Son of God?" - asked the judges, and the Lord, as if reluctantly, confirmed: "You say that I." This was the formal consent of the accused - exactly what the prosecutors wanted to hear. Satisfied with the answer, the members of the Sanhedrin declare it unnecessary to further investigate the case and pass a sentence on the surrender of the Lord Jesus Christ to the Roman authorities - to the Pontic Pilate - for the execution of the death penalty over Him.
The Lord Jesus Christ at Pilate's Trial
After the verdict, the Jewish leaders hastened to lead the Lord Jesus Christ to Pontius Pilate. Since the submission of Judea to the Romans, the Sanhedrin was deprived of the right to punish criminals with death. Therefore, it was necessary that the Roman ruler should carry out the decree just passed.
Pontius, nicknamed Pilate, was the fifth ruler (procurator) of Judea. He was appointed to this position in the 26th year after R. Chr. from the Roman emperor Tiberius. A haughty and cruel man, but at the same time cowardly, he despised the Jews and, in turn, was hated by them. The residence of the procurators was in Caesarea (on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, 80 kilometers north of Jerusalem). Only on major holidays did the procurators come to Jerusalem to monitor order.
The Jews took Jesus to the praetorium, that is, the court of justice of the Roman ruler, which was located in the Anthony fortress, adjacent to the temple on the northwest side. The Roman garrison was located here. Touching something pagan among the Jews was considered a desecration, therefore the Jewish leaders did not enter the courtyard of the fortress, so as not to lose the right to celebrate Passover, which began in the evening of the same day.
Pilate, making a concession to Jewish customs (for the Romans spared the customs of the conquered peoples, so as not to agitate them against themselves), he himself went to them on the lifostroton (from the Greek lifos - stone), an open stone platform in front of the procurator's dwelling, and asked: "Where are you blame this person? " - "If He had not been a villain, we would not have betrayed Him to you," answered the leaders. They did not want a new trial of the Savior's case and hoped that Pilate would immediately confirm their sentence. Pilate, sensing that his power was being infringed upon, immediately put the accusers in their place in relation to himself, as a representative of the emperor: "If I do not know what the accusation is, then you take Him and judge according to your law." Realizing that their situation is hopeless, the Jews quickly change their proud tone to submissive: "We are not allowed to put anyone to death."
Further, the leaders were forced to state their accusations against Christ: "We found that He corrupts the people and forbids giving tribute to Caesar (the emperor), calling Himself Christ the King" (Luke 23: 2. of a political nature in order to more easily achieve the approval of the death sentence. ”To this accusation, Pilate, in private inside the praetorium, asked Jesus:“ Are you the King of the Jews? ”-“ Are you saying this on your own, or did others tell you about Me? ”- The Lord asked Pilate again. know the origin of this question. If Pilate himself came to him, then it was necessary to answer "no," because Christ never declared Himself an earthly king. is the King as the Son of God.
Pilate's answer breathes with contempt for Judaism: "Am I a Jew? Your people and the chief priests gave You to me. What have You done?" He does not admit any royal dignity in Christ, but only wants to know what His guilt is. Jesus reassures Pilate that he does not need to fear Him as a pretender to earthly power, because "My kingdom is not of this world." Expressing doubts about the possibility of the existence of some other unearthly kingdom, Pilate asked: "So, You are the King?" Then the Lord explains that He is the King of the spiritual kingdom and came to earth in order to bear witness to the Truth - to reveal the highest spiritual principles to people. His subjects are those who listen to heavenly teachings. Pilate, like a rude pagan, did not believe in the existence of objective truths or unconditional values. "What is truth?" - he dismissively threw and walked away, not wanting to continue the conversation on a topic that was useless, as it seemed to him. However, Pilate realized that Jesus did not threaten Roman rule in any way, and therefore, going out to the Jews, he announced to them that he did not find any fault in Him.
This statement deeply hurt the pride of the members of the Sanhedrin, and they, interrupting each other, began to accuse the Lord in many ways, wanting at all costs to achieve His condemnation. At this time, the Lord remained completely silent, "so that the ruler was greatly amazed." Finally, the Jews began to accuse Jesus of angering the people by teaching throughout the country. Hearing that Christ had come from Galilee, Pilate sent Jesus to King Herod, who had also arrived in Jerusalem on the occasion of the feast.
It was that Herod, nicknamed Antipas, who beheaded the prophet John the Baptist. Perhaps Pilate hoped to get more definite information from Herod about the Accused. Most likely, he wanted to shift onto the shoulders of Herod an unpleasant legal case for him. Herod, flattered by Pilate's recognition of his royal power, from that time became friends with him.
Knowing about the miracles of Christ, and thinking that He was the resurrected John the Baptist, Herod hoped to see some miracle from the Lord in order to amuse himself on the holidays. So, seeing Jesus, Herod rejoiced and began to ask Christ many questions. He hoped to hear something interesting from Christ, but the Lord remained completely silent on all his questions. Meanwhile, the chief priests and scribes incessantly accused the Lord, proving that His preaching was as dangerous for Herod as it was for the Roman emperor.
Herod did not take seriously the accusations of the Jewish leaders and, having outraged Christ, clothed Him in a white robe and sent him back to Pilate. According to the custom of the Romans, candidates for any commanding or honorary position were clothed in white clothes (the word candidate, from the Latin candidus, means white, light). Herod thus wanted to show that he looks at Jesus only as a miserable fanatic who does not threaten anyone with anything.
This is how Pilate understood it. Referring to the fact that Herod did not find anything worthy of death in Jesus, Pilate invites the rulers, having punished Christ, to let Him go. By this, Pilate hoped to satisfy their anger. They strongly rejected his offer. Then Pilate remembered that the Jews had a custom before Easter to ask the governor to release one of those sentenced to death. Realizing that the leaders betrayed Christ out of envy and hoping to find support from common people, Pilate asked the people who surrounded the lifostroton: "Whom do you want me to release to you: Barabbas or Jesus, who is called Christ?"
While people began to consult among themselves for whom to ask, another circumstance happened that influenced Pilate in a direction favorable to the Lord Jesus Christ. While he was sitting in his seat of judgment, a messenger from his wife appeared to him, asking him to say to him: "Do not do anything bad to that Righteous One, because I have suffered a lot for Him today in a dream." Ancient Christian writers call her Claudia Proskula and claim that she professed the Jewish faith, and then became a Christian. Probably, in a dream she saw Jesus Christ as an innocently tortured Righteous One, and was tormented by the thought that her own husband would become His executioner.
But while the messenger was communicating his wife's request to Pilate, the Jewish leaders hastened to persuade the people to ask for Barabbas. When Pilate asked a second time: "Which of the two do you want me to release to you?" - people in one voice said: "Barabbas." "What then will I do to Jesus called Christ?" Pilate asked then. To this they shouted: "May he be crucified!" Then Pilate, interceding for Christ, asked: "What a crime He did." But the crowd, having nothing to say, screamed even more: "May he be crucified!"
Thus, the people, corrupted by their religious leaders, preferred the robber Barabbas to their Savior, who taught love and performed countless healings among them. Barabbas was a famous robber who, with his gang, carried out robberies and murders in the city.
Deafened by a furious cry, Pilate was at a loss. He did not want to allow unrest among the people, which would have to be pacified by armed force. He was afraid that the embittered high priests would report to Caesar that he himself had caused unrest by defending the state criminal as they made the Lord appear. Pilate tried to calm their thirst for blood by sending the Innocent to be scourged. For the scourging, the soldiers took Jesus to the praetorium (the judgment seat inside the courtyard), where there was a lot of space, and gathered the whole regiment against Him. They stripped Jesus and began to scourge Him. Such scourging was prescribed by the Romans for serious crimes, and, moreover, for slaves. The whips were made of belts, and sharp bone and metal sticks were inserted into their ends. The scourge was tied to a post in an inclined position, and then the soldiers beat him on his bare back. At the same time, the body was torn from the very first blows and blood flowed profusely from the wounds. The torture was so painful that some died under the blows. Pilate subjected to such a terrible punishment the One in Whom he did not find any guilt, but he did it to please the bloodthirsty crowd.
Having finished the scourging, the soldiers began to inhumanely mock the Sufferer. They put a purple robe on Him, i.e. a red military cloak, similar to the cloaks of the highest military leaders. Such cloaks did not have sleeves and were thrown over so that the right hand remained free. The scarlet, worn on Christ, ironically depicted the purple of the Jewish king.
A crown made of thorny thorns was placed on the head of the Lord, and a cane, representing the royal scepter, was placed in his hands. Having done this, some of the soldiers began to bow their knees before the Divine Sufferer and, cursing Him, greeted: "Hail, King of the Jews." Others hit Him on the cheeks, spat on Him and hit Him on the head with a cane, from which the needles dug even deeper into His forehead.
With this exclamation, Pilate was addressing the judgment of their conscience. Look how he would speak - here is a lonely, humiliated, tormented Man. Does He really look like some kind of dangerous rebel; Doesn't He arouse more regret than fear by His sight alone? At the same time, Pilate involuntarily told the true truth: the Lord, even in His humiliation, more than in glory and royal splendor, manifested all the spiritual greatness and moral beauty of a true Man, as he should be according to the Creator's plan. For Christians, Pilate's words mean: this is the model of a Man to whom everyone should strive.
But the Jewish leaders and the crowd did not care. As soon as they saw the tortured Christ, they cried out even louder: "Crucify, crucify Him!" Such blind hatred annoyed Pilate and made him say harshly: "Take him and crucify him: for I find no fault in him." - If you are so persistent, then crucify Him yourself on your own responsibility, and I, as a representative of justice, cannot take part in such an unworthy act. But apart from indignation, these words of Pilate did not express anything, and therefore the enemies of Christ continued to seek Pilate's consent to the death sentence, laying down a new accusation: "We have the law, and according to our law He must die, because he made himself the Son of God" (John 19 : 5-8).
Hearing this, Pilate was frightened. Of course, the expression "Son of God" he could understand only in the pagan sense, in the sense of the demigods-heroes, which are full of pagan mythology, but this was enough to embarrass him, taking into account the warning of his wife, who had some mysterious dream about this mysterious Man. And so Pilate takes Jesus with him to the Praetorium and in private asks Him: "Where are you from?" Are You Really the Son of God? But Jesus did not answer him. It was useless to answer this question. When earlier the Lord wanted to explain to Pilate the purpose of His coming, this only made him smile skeptically.
Overcoming his fear, Pilate wanted to remind Christ of his great position, and thus dispose Him to answer: "Do you not answer me? Do you know that I have the power to crucify You and have the power to let You go?" The Lord responds to these proud words with Divine wisdom: "You would not have had any power over Me, if it had not been given to you from above. Therefore, more sin is on the one who betrayed Me to you." In other words, the fact that I am in your hands is by the permission of God. By placing the Jewish people under Roman rule, God thereby gave you power over Me as a Man. However, you too will be guilty of My crucifixion, for you condemn against your conscience; but a great responsibility rests with those who have achieved this unlawful sentence - with the Jewish leaders. The wise words of the Lord stirred up his best feelings in Pilate, and he even more persistently began to look for opportunities to let Him go.
Then the enemies of Christ went over to an extreme measure: to the threat to accuse the procurator himself of treason to the Roman emperor: "If you let Him go, you are not a friend of Caesar." This frightened Pilate, for the emperor then was the suspicious and cruel Tiberius, who willingly accepted denunciations. With this threat, the Jewish leaders decided the matter. Pilate sincerely wanted to save Christ from crucifixion, but not at the cost of his career. Then, having sat down in the judge's seat, he formally ends the judgment. It was the Friday before Easter, about "six o'clock," - according to our account, about 12 o'clock in the afternoon. (The Evangelist Mark says: "It was the third hour and they crucified Him" (15:25), and from the sixth to the ninth hour there was darkness throughout the whole earth (Matt. 27:45). The day was divided into four parts, three hours each. The Covenant mentions hours 1, 3, 6 and 9. The sixth hour is the time period between 9 am and noon.
Taking revenge on the Jews for the forced sentence, Pilate says to them with irritation: "Behold, your King!" By this he throws a cruel reproach and, as it were, tells them: you dream of regaining your independence, of some kind of high rank among the peoples of the world. No one is able to fulfill this task so successfully as this Man, who calls Himself the spiritual King of Israel. How is it that you, instead of bowing to Him, demand that I, the Roman ruler you hate, take away from you your Tsar, who can fulfill your cherished dreams?
Apparently, this is how the accusers understood these words, because they cried out with fury: "Take, take, crucify Him. Death, death to Him!" It was a cry from a wound he had inflicted on the most sensitive spot. But Pilate, before finally giving in, once again wants to hurt them and with irony asks: "Will I crucify your king?" To this, the leaders, in their blinding malice, uttered the fatal words that decided the subsequent fate of the Jewish people: "We have no king but Caesar!" Earlier, the Jews said: "We have no other King but God." Now, only in order to achieve the crucifixion of Christ, they renounced everything, declaring that they did not want to have another king except the Roman emperor. Only then did Pilate decide to satisfy their desire and delivered Jesus to them to be crucified.
Taking water and washing his hands, Pilate declared before everyone: "I am innocent in the blood of this Righteous One, you see" (Matt. 27:24). The Jews had a custom to wash their hands as a sign that the one who washed considers himself innocent in shedding the blood of the accused (Deut. 21: 6-8).
Pilate took advantage of this custom to emphasize to everyone that he relinquishes responsibility for the execution of Jesus, whom he considered innocent and Righteous. "See you," that is, you yourself will be responsible for the consequences of this unjust murder. If only to force the procurator to agree to approve the death sentence, the Jews agree to everything, without thinking about any consequences. "His blood be on us and on our children," the Jews cried. If this is a crime, then let God's punishment befall us and our posterity.
St. John Chrysostom says on this occasion: "Such is the reckless rage, such is the evil passion! Let it be so that you cursed yourself. But why bring curses on children?" This curse, which the Jews themselves had brought upon themselves, was soon fulfilled. In the 70th year after R. Chr. during the siege of Jerusalem, the Romans crucified a huge number of Jews on crosses around the city. It was also fulfilled in the further history of the Jews, scattered since then in many countries - in the countless "pogroms" to which they were subjected, in fulfillment of the prophecy of Moses in Deuteronomy (Ch. 28: 49-57; 64-67).
"Then Pilate released Barrabas for them. Jesus, having beaten him, delivered him up to be crucified." In other words, having confirmed the verdict of the Sanhedrin, Pilate gave them soldiers to carry out the death penalty by crucifixion over the Lord Jesus Christ.
Having washed his hands, Pilate, of course, could not absolve himself of responsibility either before the impartial opinion of mankind, or before the judgment of God. The expression "wash your hands" has since become a proverb. More than a year later, the punishment of God befell Pilate for the cowardice and unrighteous condemnation of the One whom he himself called the Righteous. He was sent into exile in Gaul and there, two years later, exhausted by melancholy, tormented by remorse and despair, he ended his life by suicide. (In 1961, on the site of ancient Caesarea, a slab was found with the name of Pilate, carved in Latin: "Caesarianis Tiberium Pontius Pilatus Prefectus Iudaeae debit," that is: Pontius Pilate, prefect of Judea, presented this theater to the inhabitants of Caesarea [Tiberium] [Tiberium] Pilate is here called "prefect," which means military ruler. The title of procurator was applied to civil rulers. Perhaps Pilate combined both positions.
Way of the Cross of the Lord
After being beaten and mocked, the soldiers took off the purple robe from Jesus Christ, dressed Him in ordinary clothes and took Him to crucifixion. When they were going to Golgotha, they met a certain Simon, called the Cyrenean, who was returning from the field to the city, and forced him to carry the cross of Christ to the place of execution. It was customary for those condemned to be crucified to carry their own cross. But the Lord was so exhausted both by the Gethsemane inner struggle, and by spending the night without sleep, and by inhuman torture, that he was unable to carry His cross further. Not out of compassion, of course, but out of a desire to complete the work begun as soon as possible, the enemies forced Simon to bear the cross of the Lord. (Simon was an immigrant from Cyrene (a city in Libya, on the northern coast of Africa.) His sons, Alexander and Ruth, were known to Christians, and the Apostle Paul mentions them in the letter to the Romans.
Jesus Christ was followed by a great multitude of godly men and women who wept for Him. The compassion they expressed was so deep and sincere that the Lord saw fit to address them with consolation. This happened, probably, during a halt at the laying of the cross of Christ on Simon of Cyrene. "Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for Me, but weep for yourself and for your children" (Luke 23:28). Here the Lord, forgetting about his own sufferings, turns His spiritual gaze to the future of the Jewish people - to the punishment that will befall him for the terrible oath that the Jews themselves so frivolously drew upon themselves, shouting: "His blood be on us and on our children." For the days are coming when the blessing of childbearing will turn into grief, and the childless will be considered blessed. "Then they will begin to say to the mountains: Fall on us." - so great will be the calamities. Here again we are talking about the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus in 70 AD. "For if they do this to a green tree, what will happen to a dry one?" This is apparently a popular saying. By a "green tree" full of life, the Lord means Himself, and by a "dry tree" - the Jewish people. If He, the Innocent One, was not given mercy, then what will happen to the guilty people? "The fire goes on Judea, - prophet Ezekiel predicted, - if a green tree is burnt, then with what force will it destroy the dry one?" (Ezek. 20:47).
Crucifixion
The Lord was brought to a place called Golgotha, which means "the place of execution," and there they crucified Him in the midst of two robbers who were brought along with Him. Calvary was a small hill that was at that time outside the city walls of Jerusalem to the northwest. It is believed that this hill had the name "place of execution" because at its foot often lay the skulls of those executed. The Apostle Paul in the Epistle to Hebrews (13: 11-12) points out the special meaning that "Jesus suffered outside the gate." When Jesus was brought to Golgotha, they gave Him wine with myrrh (or vinegar mixed with bile) to drink. It was wine, to which myrrh (one of the types of resin) was added to darken the consciousness of the condemned person and thus relieve his torment. The Romans called this wine sleepy. Smyrna gave the wine a bitter taste, which is why Saint Mark calls it bile, and wine, probably already sour, is vinegar. “And having tasted the vinegar, Jesus did not want to drink,” - wanting to endure His cup of suffering in full consciousness to the end.
Then "it was the third hour," and the sixth hour was just beginning (in the sense of the second quarter of the day). (Day and night, each was divided into four guards. If we assume that Pilate's verdict was pronounced at about the third hour (in our opinion, 9 o'clock in the morning), then the Apostle John could well say that Christ was crucified at the sixth hour. Thus, there is no contradiction in the testimony of the Evangelists. "And they crucified Him." They crucified in different ways: sometimes they nailed him to a cross lying on the ground, after which the cross was raised and erected in the ground vertically; sometimes they first hoisted the cross, and then they lifted the condemned man and nailed him or tied him with ropes Sometimes they crucified upside down (this is how the Apostle Peter was crucified of his own free will.) Hands and feet were sometimes nailed down, sometimes they were tied. The body of the crucified person hung helplessly. unbearable thirst due to the heat, excited by wounds and loss of blood.The suffering of the crucified was so great and painful, and besides flax (sometimes crucified ones hung on crosses without dying for three days or more) that this execution was applied only to the most dangerous criminals. She was considered the most terrible and shameful of all types of execution. So that the hands did not break prematurely from wounds, a support-crossbar was sometimes nailed under the feet, on which the crucified could stand. A plaque with an indication of guilt was nailed over the head of the crucified.
In the midst of indescribable suffering, the Lord did not remain completely silent. The first words of the Lord were a prayer for those who crucified Him: "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing." None of the crucifying soldiers knew that He was the Son of God. "For if they had known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory" (1 Cor. 2: 8), says the Apostle Paul, and even to the Jews he says during the healing of a lame man: "You did it out of ignorance" (Acts 3:17). However, such ignorance of the Jews does not justify their crimes, for they had the opportunity and the means to find out who He is. The Lord's Prayer testifies to the greatness of His spirit and serves as an example for us, so that we too should not take revenge on our enemies, but pray for them.
By order of Pilate, a plaque was nailed to the cross indicating the guilt of the Lord. Wanting to hurt the members of the Sanhedrin once again, Pilate ordered to write: "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews." - The Jewish King was crucified at the request of the representatives of the Jewish people. The inscription was made in three languages: Hebrew - the local, Greek - common and Roman - the language of the winners. Pilate wanted everyone to know why the leaders condemned Christ. But at the same time, Pilate unwittingly fulfilled the highest goal: at the moment of His most extreme humiliation, the Lord Jesus Christ was declared King to the whole world. The Lord's accusers took this inscription as an evil mockery, and demanded that Pilate change it, but the proud Roman refused them sharply, reminding them that he was the boss.
“Those who crucified Him, divided His garments, casting lots, to whom what to take ...” The Roman law gave the belongings of the executed to the property of the soldiers who carried out the execution. There were four crucifixes. The outer clothing, having torn into four parts, the soldiers divided among themselves, and the lower clothing (chiton) was self-woven entirely from top to bottom and without seams. If you break such a tunic, then its parts will lose all value. Therefore, the soldiers by lot decided the question of who would get the tunic. By this they unconsciously fulfilled the ancient prophecy of David about the crucifixion of the Messiah: "They divided my garments and cast lots for my clothes" (the entire 21st psalm is dedicated to the sufferings of the crucified Lord).
Having achieved the crucifixion of the Lord, the chief priests with the scribes and Pharisees could not calm down in any way and continued to mock Him. Mocking Jesus, they ridiculed everything He ever did and said. For example, remembering how He had saved others before, they reproached Him for his present helplessness and mockingly invited him to come down from the cross, hypocritically promising in this case to believe in Him. They even reproached Him for always hoping in God: "May God save Him if He is pleasing to Him."
At first, the robbers who hung on the sides of the Savior, hearing how the surrounding rulers reviled the Lord, joined them and also blasphemed the Lord. Moreover, one of them, suffering, became more and more embittered and more and more bitterly reviled Christ. Then his friend, who, obviously, had not completely extinguished the spark of goodness, began to reproach his comrade, saying: “Or are you not afraid of God, when you yourself are condemned to the same? and He did nothing wrong. " Obviously, he was impressed by the reproaches of the leaders that Christ had previously saved others, as well as the fact that Christ meekly prayed for His crucifixes and turned to God as His Father. One way or another, but his conscience spoke strongly, and amid the blasphemy and ridicule of the crowd, he openly spoke out in defense of the Lord. Such a decisive turning point took place in his soul that, believing in the crucified Jesus as the Messiah, he turned to Him with repentant words: "Remember me, Lord, when you come into your kingdom!" When you come to the Father in Your Kingdom of glory, then remember me, the unfortunate one, who shared this terrible torment with You.
The robber did not ask for a reward or glory, but only prayed for mercy in the world where he was going to go soon. From that time on, the repentance of the prudent thief became an example for all believers in Christ. His faith must have been great too. He recognized the suffering, exhausted, dying as the King, who returns to His Heavenly Kingdom. This is such a confession that was beyond the power of even the closest disciples of the Lord, who could not contain the thought of the suffering Messiah. Undoubtedly, there is also a special action of the grace of God, which illuminated the robber, in order to make him an example for all sinners. This confession of his deserved a great reward, greater than the robber dared expect. “Today you will be with Me in Paradise,” the Lord said to him. Thus, the prudent robber was the first to be saved.
When the enemies began to gradually disperse, the Most Holy Theotokos, Mary of Cleopas, Mary Magdalene and "the disciple whom Jesus loved" (as John the Theologian calls himself), who were standing at a distance, approached the cross. With the departure of Christ from this world, His Most Pure Mother remained alone, and there was no one to take care of Her, and therefore with the words addressed to the Virgin Mary: "Woman, this is Thy son," - and to the Apostle John: "Behold thy mother," - the Lord entrusts Her Most Pure Mother to Her beloved disciple. "And from that time on, this disciple took her to him," taking care of her, like a loving son. (This event is important in the following way. Sectarians who do not believe in the virginity of the Mother of God say that after Jesus Christ She had other children born naturally from Joseph and that these were the "brothers of the Lord," which are mentioned in the Gospel But the question is: if the Mother of God still had children of her own, why was it necessary to entrust Her to St. John the Theologian?).
Death of Christ
The death of the Lord was preceded by darkness that covered the earth. "From the sixth hour the darkness was over the whole earth until the ninth hour," that is, according to our time - from noon to three o'clock in the afternoon, the sun darkened. This could not be an ordinary solar eclipse, since on the Jewish Passover on the 14th of the month of Nisan there is always a full moon, and a solar eclipse occurs only at a new moon. It was a miraculous eclipse, which testified to an extraordinary event - the death of the beloved Son of God. This unexpected eclipse of the sun, in which even the stars were visible, is evidenced by the Roman astronomer Phlegont, as well as the Greek historian Phallus. Deonisy the Areopagite also remembers him in his letters. Apparently, the darkness that followed the mockery and mockery of the Lord stopped this mockery and caused the people to regret what had happened: "And all the people who came to this spectacle, seeing what was happening, returned, beating themselves in the chest" (Luke 23:48).
"At the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice: My God, My God! Why did You forsake Me?" The word "God," in Aramaic is pronounced "Eloi," or "Or," as the evangelists put it. This cry was an expression of the deepest sorrow of the God-man. In order for the atoning sacrifice to take place, it was necessary for the God-man to drink to the end the whole cup of human suffering. This required that the crucified Jesus for a time ceased to feel the joy of His union with God the Father. All the wrath of God, which was to be poured out on sinful humanity, is now focused on Christ alone, and God the Father, as it were, forsaken His beloved Son. Among the most grievous bodily and mental suffering, this abandonment was the most painful, which is why this painful exclamation was expelled from the lips of Jesus.
When Jesus groaned "thirst," one of the soldiers immediately took a sponge, filled it with vinegar and, putting it on a reed, gave Him a drink. The warrior put a sponge on the cane, since those hanging on the cross were quite high from the ground. The psalmist in Psalm 68 v. 22 Foretelling the suffering of the Messiah, he speaks on His behalf: "In My thirst they gave Me vinegar to drink." Having tasted the vinegar, the Lord exclaimed: "It is finished," that is, My work is completed, predetermined in the Council of the Holy Trinity and foretold by the prophets - the reconciliation of the human race with God through My death has been accomplished. Following this, the Lord exclaimed: "Father, into Thy hands I commend my spirit," and, bowing his head, gave up the spirit.
At that moment, the curtain that separated the Sanctuary from the Holy of Holies in the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. Since this was the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice (our time is 3 pm), the priests could not help but see this event. It symbolized the end of the Old and the beginning of the New Testament.
At this time, an earthquake struck, so that the rocks on the neighboring hills were split and burial caves were opened. Having crucified the Son of God, people committed such a terrible crime that even soulless nature shuddered. After that, as a sign of the Lord's victory over death, "many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised" and on the third day after the Lord's resurrection appeared in Jerusalem to those who knew them. These miraculous signs produced such a tremendous effect on the Roman centurion that he exclaimed: "Indeed, He was the son of God!" According to legend, this centurion, named Longinus, became a Christian and later suffered as a martyr for Christ. All the people who remained on Calvary until now were shocked, they "returned, beating themselves in the chest." Such abrupt transitions from one mood to another are natural in an excited crowd.
The death of the Lord and all the events were witnessed by many women who followed Jesus from Galilee. Among them were: Mary Magdalene, Mary (mother of James and Josiah) and Salome, mother of the sons of Zebedee (the apostles James and John). Since it was Friday - in Greek "paraskevi," which means cooking, i.e. the day before Saturday, and Saturday that was "a great day," since it coincided with the first day of Easter, then, in order not to leave the bodies of the crucified on the crosses, the members of the Sanhedrin asked Pilate to "break their legs" (bone below the knee).
Of all the executions, crucifixion was the most painful. The crucified could not die right away, but for many days they suffered, pulling themselves up on their punctured arms and legs to breathe in air. In the end, as a rule, they died of suffocation, having no more strength to pull themselves up on the cross. To hasten the death of the crucified, the legs were broken. Having received Pilate's permission, the soldiers broke the legs of the robbers who were still alive. "But when they came to Jesus, as they saw Him already dead, they did not break His legs, but one of the soldiers pierced His ribs with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out."
Obviously, this effusion of blood with water was caused by the feverish condition experienced by those dying through crucifixion. Nevertheless, in this event the Apostle John sees a miraculous phenomenon, emphasizing that "he who has seen has borne witness, and his testimony is true" (John 19:35). The purest body of the God-man was not subjected to the law of decomposition of an ordinary human body. From the very minute of death, it began to enter the state that ended with His Resurrection in a new, glorified, spiritualized form. The Holy Fathers explain that the outflow of blood and water symbolically means the renewal of believers in the sacraments of baptism and the Eucharist: "We are born with water, but we feed on blood and body" (Apostle John reminds of this in his letter: "This is Jesus Christ, who came by water and blood and by the Spirit ... Three testify on earth: spirit, water and blood "(1 John 5: 6-8).
In the fact that the soldiers did not break the legs of Jesus, the Apostle John sees the fulfillment of the command of Scripture regarding the slaughter of the Passover lamb: "Let not his bone be broken" (Exodus 12:46). The Passover lamb, which typified the Lord Jesus, was to be devoured without breaking bones, and everything that remained was to be set on fire. The apostle also cites the prophecy of Zechariah regarding the perforation of the Savior's ribs: "They will look upon the One who was pierced" (Zechariah 12:10). At this point, Jehovah the Messiah appears to be the pierced Jewish people. The people will then bring repentance before the Pierced One with weeping and sobbing. These words were fulfilled at the moment of Christ's death and will be fulfilled a second time before the end of the world, when many Jews will turn to Christ. (See the prediction of the apostle Paul in Romans 11: 25-26).
Burial of the Lord Jesus Christ
The burial of the body of Christ took place in the early evening, before the beginning of the Easter holiday. Joseph came to Pilate from Arimathea (a city near Jerusalem), a member of the Sanhedrin, a pious man, a secret disciple of Christ, who did not participate in the condemnation of the Lord. He asked Pilate for the body of Jesus for burial. According to the custom of the Romans, the bodies of the crucified remained on the crosses and became the prey of birds. Pilate was surprised that Jesus had already died, because the crucified were sometimes hung for several days, but after checking through the centurion, who certified the death of Jesus, he commanded that the body be given to Joseph. Nicodemus also came for burial, who had once visited Jesus at night. He brought with him about 100 pounds of myrrh and aloe composition. Joseph also bought a shroud - a long and expensive canvas. Joseph and Nicodemus took off the Body, anointed it with incense as usual, wrapped it in a shroud and laid it in a new burial cave in Joseph's garden, not far from Golgotha.
The sun was already leaning towards the west, and everything was done, although diligently, but very hastily. They rolled the stone to the door of the coffin and departed. All this was watched by the women who had previously stood on Calvary.
Divine services of Holy Week
The forty-day fast has ended. The sounds of crying about their sins are silenced in order to make way for another sorrow - the remembrance of the redemptive sufferings of the God-man for us sinners. The Church does not miss a single moment in the successive development of the sacred events of the last days of the Lord's earthly life. She leads us in His footsteps from Bethany (the place of the resurrection of Lazarus) to Jerusalem, to the Mount of Olives, to the Upper Room of Zion (where the Last Supper was performed), to Gethsemane, to the courtyard of the high priest and to Pilate's praetorium, to the Place of execution (Calvary) and, finally , to the burial cave of the righteous Joseph of Arimathea.
In the first three days of Holy Week before the minds of the pilgrims are the deeds of the Savior, His conversations, parables and admonitions that took place from the time the Lord entered Jerusalem until the Last Supper. The Church makes sure that the pilgrims feel the salvation of Christ's suffering and His infinite compassion for man.
The services of these three days consist of Matins, Hours and Vespers, combined with the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts. At the beginning of Matins, the following troparion is sung, based on the parable of the Ten Virgins (Matt. 25: 1-13):
After the canon, the luminary (or "exapostillarius") is sung, based on the parable of the wedding feast (Matt. 22: 1-14).
Great Monday... On this day, the Church invites believers to accompany Christ, for His sake, as it were, to die for the pleasures of life, in order to come to life with Him in spirit. By bringing the events of the Old and New Testaments closer together, the Church shows believers the suffering of the Savior in the Old Testament prototype of the righteous Joseph, who was innocently sold and humiliated by the envy of his brothers, but later restored by God in great glory (Genesis, chapters 37-41). On this day, the story of the barren fig tree and the parable of the evil winegrowers are read from the Gospel. The barren fig tree, cursed by the Lord, depicts the Jewish people who only looked pious, but inside they were callous and unspiritual. By evil tenants are meant the Jewish rulers, who only for personal gain use the property of God and destroy the prophets sent by Him (Matt. 21: 18-43; Mat. 21: 3-35).
Great Tuesday in the Gospel readings, the Savior's talks about the resurrection of the dead and the Second Coming, parables about the ten virgins, about talents and the Last Judgment are given (Matt. 22:15; 23:39; Mat. 24:36; 26: 2).
Great Wednesday. The Lord spent Wednesday night in Bethany (Matt. 26: 6-17). Here, in the house of Simon the Leper, a certain woman poured precious ointment on the head of the Savior and thus prepared Him for burial. In liturgical prayers, the unselfish act of a woman is contrasted with the ingratitude of Judas, who planned to betray Christ to the Jewish leaders for money. The morning Gospel contains the prediction of the Savior about his impending death on the cross and about the founding of the Church among the Gentiles (John 12: 17-50). On Great Wednesday, the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is served for the last time and the repentance prayer of Saint Ephraim the Syrian "Lord and Master of my life ..." is read for the last time.
Maundy Thursday
The chants of Maundy Thursday are full of deep feelings and thoughts in connection with a number of Gospel events of this day. Here is admiration for the Savior's humility, which manifested itself in washing the feet of the disciples; reverence for the mystery of the Body and Blood of Christ; glorification of the endless self-denial of Christ; sorrow for His suffering; indignation against the bitterness of the Jews and the treachery of the traitor Judas.
At the beginning of Matins (which is served on Wednesday evening), the troparion is sung about how Judas, blinded by the love of money, left the Last Supper.
| When I am enlightened to the glory of a disciple at the Supper, then Judas, the evil-minded with love of money, became ill, darkened, and to the lawless judges, The Righteous Judge betrays the Righteous Judge. See the estates for the zealot, which you have used for the sake of strangling. Run, unfulfilled soul, to the Teacher such daring. Alike all the good, Lord, glory to Thee. | When the glorious disciples were enlightened at the Last Supper with the washing of [feet], then wicked Judas, possessed by a love of money, was darkened, and You, the Righteous Judge, handed over You, the Righteous Judge, to the wicked judges. Behold, the collector of wealth, at the one who hanged himself on account of him. Avoid greed: this is what she dared to do with the Master. Merciful to all, Lord, glory to Thee. |
In the canon of Matins, beginning with the words "The Red Sea is cut by the cut," the Red Sea is cut with a chiseled rod, the meaning of the Last Supper is explained and the spiritual union of the Lord Jesus Christ with His disciples is depicted.
Thursday morning is committed Liturgy of Basil the Great, preceded by the evening. The Gospel reading tells of the Last Supper, washing of the feet and prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane. Instead of the Cherubic one, it is sung:
Instead of It is Worthy to Eat, the 9th Irmos of the Canon is sung:
On this day, when the Savior established the sacrament of Communion and with His own hands gave the Holy Communion to the apostles, one should approach the Chalice with a special trembling feeling, reflecting on the greatness of Christ's love and one's own unworthiness.
Service of the 12 Gospels
In the evening of the same day, Good Friday Matins, or service of the 12 Gospels, as this service is usually called. All this service is dedicated to the reverent remembrance of the saving suffering and death of the God-man on the cross. Every hour of this day there is a new deed of the Savior, and an echo of these deeds is heard in every word of the divine service. In it, the Church reveals to the believers the full picture of the suffering of the Lord, from the bloody sweat in the Garden of Gethsemane to the crucifixion of Calvary. Carrying us mentally through the past centuries, the Church, as it were, brings us to the very foot of the cross of Christ and makes us anxious spectators of all the torments of the Savior. Believers listen to the Gospel stories with lighted candles in their hands, and after each reading through the lips of the singers they thank the Lord with the words: " Glory to Thy longsuffering, O Lord!"After each reading of the Gospel, the bell is struck accordingly.
Passionate Gospels:
1) John 13: 31-18: 1 (Farewell conversation of the Savior with the disciples and His prayer at the Last Supper).
2) John 18: 1-28 (The taking into custody of the Savior in the Garden of Gethsemane and His suffering at the high priest Anna).
3) Matthew 26: 57-75 (The suffering of the Savior at the high priest Caiaphas and the denial of Peter).
4) John 18: 28-40, 19: 1-16 (The suffering of the Lord at the trial of Pilate).
5) Matthew 27: 3-32 (Despair of Judas, new sufferings of the Lord by Pilate and condemnation to be crucified).
6) Mark 15: 16-32 (The Lord's Way to Golgotha and His sufferings on the Cross).
7) Matthew 27: 34-54 (On the sufferings of the Lord on the Cross; miraculous signs that accompanied His death).
8) Luke 23: 23-49 (The Savior's prayer for the enemies and the repentance of the prudent thief).
9) John 19: 25-37 (Words of the Savior from the cross to the Mother of God and the Apostle John, death and perforation of the rib).
10) Mark 15: 43-47 (The removal of the body of the Lord from the cross).
11) 19: 38-42 (Nicodemus and Joseph bury Christ).
12) Matthew 27: 62-66 (Assigning guards to the Savior's tomb).
In the intervals between the Gospels, antiphons are sung, which express indignation at the betrayal of Judas, the lawlessness of the Jewish leaders and the spiritual blindness of the crowd. “What reason made you, Judas, a betrayer of the Savior?” It says here. “Did He excommunicate you from the apostolic face? Or did He deprive you of the gift of healings? ? Oh, how many blessings you, ungrateful, have received. " And then, as if on behalf of the Lord, the chorus turns to the ancient Jews: "My people, what have I done to you or what have I offended you? I have opened your sight to your blind, cleansed the lepers, raised a man on a bed. My people, what have I created for you and that you have been for Me? They rewarded: for manna - bile, for water [in the wilderness] - vinegar, instead of love for Me, they nailed Me to the cross; I will no longer tolerate you, I will call upon My peoples, and they will glorify Me with the Father and the Spirit, and I will give them eternal life . "
After the sixth Gospel and the reading of the "blessed" with the troparions, the canon of the triodes follows, conveying in a condensed form the last hours of the Savior's stay with the apostles, the denial of Peter and the torment of the Lord, and is sung three times by the luminaries. We present here the irmosi of this canon.
Song one:
Song Eight:
Song nine:
After the canon, the choir sings a touching eszapostilarium, in which the repentance of the robber is recalled.
On Every breath of the stichera:
Before the end of the service (dismissal), the choir sings the troparion:
Thou hast redeemed us from the lawful oath (You delivered us from the curses of the [Old Testament] law) with Thy honest blood on the cross, having prided myself on the cross, and made my way with a spear; immortality you have exuded as a man, our Savior, glory to Thee.
There is an ancient custom after the last Gospel not to extinguish your candle, but to bring it home burning and with its flame make small crosses at the top of each door of the house (to save the house from all evil, Ex. 12:22). The same candle is used to light a lamp in front of the icons.
Good friday
On Good Friday, on the very day of the Savior's death, as a sign of special sorrow Liturgy is not celebrated... Instead, the Royal Hours are served, which are completely dedicated to the events of this day.
At about three o'clock in the afternoon, Vespers with the removal of the shroud(image of the Savior taken from the cross). At the beginning of Vespers, after the 103rd Psalm, the stichera are sung on "Lord I have cried":
During the entrance with the censer, the choir sings:
| A terrible, and glorious sacrament is seen today in action: The intangible is held; fits Allow Adam from the oath; Test hearts and wombs are tested unrighteously; in the dungeon it is shut up, And shutting the abyss; Pilate is ahead, but Heavenly powers are awaiting him; the Creator is choking himself with the hand of creation; condemned on the tree Judge the living and the dead; The Destroyer of Hell is in the coffin. | Today we contemplate a terrible and glorious mystery: the Intangible is taken; bound is the One who freed Adam from the oath; He who penetrates the hearts and minds of people is subjected to unrighteous interrogation; He who shackled the abyss is thrown into dungeon; He, to whom angels stand in awe, stands before Pilate; The Creator strikes with the hand of the creature. He who judges the living and the dead is condemned to the cross. Destroyer of hell, is in the coffin. |
After entering, three pairs are read. The first of them tells about the manifestation of the glory of God to the prophet Moses (Ex. 33: 11-23). Moses, who prayed for the sinned Jewish people, served as a type of the worldwide Intercessor of Calvary, Jesus Christ. The second paremia tells how God blessed Job for his patient enduring suffering (Job 42: 12-16). Job served as a type of the innocent Divine Sufferer Jesus Christ, who returned the blessing of the Heavenly Father to people. The third chapter contains the prophecy of Isaiah about the redemptive sufferings of the Savior (Isa. 53: 1-12).
The reading of the Apostle speaks of the Divine Wisdom revealed in the Cross of the Lord (1 Cor. 1: 18-2: 2). Gospel reading, composed of several Gospels, narrates in sequential order the events in connection with the crucifixion and death of the Lord Jesus Christ. After the litanies, the choir sings stichera on verse... During the last stichera, given below, the priest censes the shroud on the throne three times.
| For you, clothed with light like a robe, take Joseph off the tree with Nicodemus, and Vadev is dead, naked, unburied, we perceive merciful weeping, weeping the verb: alas for me, Sweetest Jesus, but the sun on the cross of Visim was shaken, and the earth was shaken by darkness , and the church veil is rent; but behold, now I see Thee, for the sake of my will lifting death. How will I bury Thee, my God, or what kind of shroud I will wrap; Which hand will I touch your incorruptible body? or I will sing the cue of the song to Thy exodus, Generous; I magnify Thy passions, I sing hymns and Thy burial with the Resurrection, the call: Lord, glory to Thee. | You, clothed with light as a robe, Joseph and Nicodemus were taken [from the cross]; and seeing you dead, naked and unburied, in his compassionate sorrow he wept, saying: Alas, dear Jesus! The sun recently saw You hanging, it was covered with darkness, and the earth shook, and the church veil was torn. But I see You willingly accepted death for me. How will I bury You, my God, or with what veil I will, with what hands I will touch Your incorruptible body, or what songs will I sing about Your exodus, Generous. I magnify Thy sufferings, I sing Thy burial and Resurrection, crying out: Lord, glory to Thee. |
After "Now let go" and "Our Father", the clergy perform removal of the shroud from the altar, symbolizing by this the burial of the Savior. They lift the shroud from the throne and carry it through the northern gates to the middle of the temple. The ministers walk in front with candles, the deacon with a censer, and the worshipers meet the shroud with lighted candles in their hands. The shroud is placed on a special "tomb" in the middle of the temple and decorated with white flowers. At this time, the choir sings in a special chant the funeral troparion:
"Good-looking (noble) Joseph from the tree we will sleep Thy Most Pure Body, wrapped in a clean shroud, and with stench (fragrances) in a new tomb, covering it, put it."
"An angel appeared to the myrrh-bearers at the grave, crying out (cried out): the essence of peace is decent for the dead, Christ is alien to corruption" (they smear the dead with fragrant ointments, Christ is completely inaccessible to corruption).
After burning the shroud everybody kneel and they kiss the image of the wounds on the body of the Savior, thanking Him for His infinite love and longsuffering. At this time, the priest reads the canon "Lament of the Virgin." The holy shroud is left in the middle of the church for three incomplete days, recalling the three-day stay in the tomb of the body of Christ. From this time, the bell ringing stops until the beginning of the Easter service for the sake of observing reverent silence, while the Body of the Savior rests in the tomb. On this day, the Church prescribes complete abstinence from food.
In the evening of this day it is served Matins of Great Saturday with the rite of burial of the Savior and a procession of the cross around the church... At the beginning of the service, while the troparion "Good-looking Joseph" is chanted, the believers light candles, and the clergy from the altar go to the shroud and burn the shroud and the entire temple. The burial rite is performed in the middle of the temple. The singers sing verses from the 118th psalm, and the next priest reads the troparion after each verse. The troparia of the burial rite reveal the spiritual essence of the redemptive feat of the God-man, remember the grief of the Most Pure Mother of God and profess faith in the Savior of mankind. The rite of singing the 118th psalm with funeral troparions is divided into three parts, called articles. Small litanies are inserted between the articles.
After the third movement, anticipating the upcoming resurrection of the Savior, the choir sings "The Cathedral of the Angels will be surprised ..." - a chant that is sung at all-night vigils on Sunday.
The choir sings irmosy of the canon "By the Wave of the Sea", in which the horror of all creation is depicted at the sight of the Creator in the grave. This canon constitutes one of the most perfect creations of Church Christian poetry. At the end of the brochure there is a Russian translation of this canon. The ninth irmos "Do not weep for Me, Mati" ends the funeral hymn.
At the end of the Great Doxology, the shroud, while singing "Holy God," accompanied by lamps, banners, and incense rises from the tomb and reverently, with rare strikes of the bell, is carried around the temple in remembrance of the burial of Jesus Christ. At the same time, it also depicts the descent of Jesus Christ into hell and the victory of Christ over hell and death: Through His Suffering and Death, the Savior again opened the doors of paradise for us, and the shroud, after bringing it into the temple, is brought to the Royal Doors. After the priest's exclamation, "Forgive wisdom" (forgive - just stand, straight), the singers sing the troparion "Good-looking Joseph," and the shroud again rests on the tomb in the middle of the temple. Before the shroud are read paremia, the apostle and the gospel... Paremia contains Ezekiel's prophetic vision of the revitalization of dry bones (Ezek. 37: 1-14). The apostolic reading calls to celebrate Passover "not in the old brew of malice and deceit, but in the absence of purity and truth" (1 Cor. 5: 6-8; 3: 13-14). The Brief Gospel speaks of the imposition of seals on the Savior's tomb and the imposition of guards (Matt. 27: 62-66).
Great Saturday
Christ is in the grave. Together with Him, the disciples seemed to have buried their hope and faith. They did not want to part with their dreams of a glorious earthly kingdom to the end. But Christ not only did not establish this kingdom, but himself perished like a criminal. Even if He turned out to be powerless, then evil is obviously the most powerful? Saturday is a day of rest. In this forced inaction, the horror of what had happened became even clearer: "But we thought He was the One." How hurried they were to divide places and thrones! The evangelists are silent about what the disciples experienced and changed their minds on that Easter Saturday. But their very silence is more eloquent than any words.
Night falls. The guards doze at the sealed coffin. Suddenly, an underground blow shakes the hill. A stone falls off with a crash. A blaze like lightning throws the warriors to the ground. The coffin is empty. The guards flee in terror. Christ who descended into the darkness of the underworld proved to be stronger than death.
In ancient times Liturgy of Great Saturday Like other Lenten Liturgy, it was celebrated at the end of the day, and therefore it begins with Vespers. Since the evening service always refers to the next day, and the next day is Easter, the Great Saturday Liturgy combines two moments: on the one hand, it completes the passionate services, and on the other, it begins the Easter celebration. These opposite traits - sorrow and joy, tears and bright exultation - are miraculously combined in the course of the divine service. In the middle of the temple there is still an image of the buried Savior, and the choir is already singing His victory over death.
At the beginning of the service, after the singing of the stichera on "Lord I have cried" and the small entrance, 15 paremias are read in front of the shroud. In ancient times, on Great Saturday, the baptism of the "catechumens" was performed - persons prepared for the adoption of Christianity. Prolonged reading of the paremias gave time to perform the sacrament of baptism for many of the catechumens.
Paremia. 1) Gen. 1: 1-13 (creation of the world) 2) Is. 60: 1-16 (New Testament Church). 3) Ref. 12: 1-11 (establishment of Passover). 4) John ch. 1-4 (story of the prophet John). 5) Josh. Nav. 5: 10-15 (Passover celebration under Jesus Nun). 6) Ref. 13: 20-14: 32 (crossing the Red Sea). At the end of the paremia, the choir sings many times: "Gloriously, you will become famous." 7) Sof. 3: 8-15 (calling the Gentiles to the Church). 8) 3 Kings 17: 8-23 (the prophet Elijah resurrects the young man). 9) Is. 61: 10-11, 62:15 (New Testament Church). 10) Gen. 22: 1-18 (the sacrifice of Isaac). 11) Is. 61: 1-9 (preaching the Messiah). 12) 4 Kings 4: 8-37 (the prophet Elisha resurrects the young man). 13) Is. 63: 11-64: 5 (prayer of repentance). 14) Jeremiah. 31: 31-34 (conclusion of the New Testament). 15) Dan. 3: 1-51 (saving the three youths from the Babylonian oven). At the end of the paremia, the choir sings many times: "Sing to the Lord and exalt for all eternity."
For the newly baptized, now standing in the church in white shirts and with candles in their hands, the choir sings instead of the Trisagion "Elitsy were baptized into Christ, put on Christ" (All of you who were baptized into Christ, put on Christ, Gal. 3:27). After this chant Vespers passes into Liturgy.
Apostolic reading(Rom. 6: 3-11) encourages Christians to die to sin in order to live with Jesus Christ. Here comes the turning point from the passionate to the Easter service: the altar is closed and all the vestments in the temple are changed from dark to white. "Rise, God, judge the earth, as you will inherit in all the tongues" (Rise, God, judge the earth, because you will inherit all nations, Ps. 81: 8). - the choir sings many times with a solemn melody. By the beginning of the reading of the Gospel, which heralds the resurrection of the Savior (Matt. 28: 1-20), the temple takes on a bright, Easter look. After the reading of the Gospel continues Liturgy of Basil the Great the usual way
Instead of the Cherubic one, it is sung:
Instead of Worthy, the choir sings the irmos of the 9th canon of Matins:
The Divine Service of Great Saturday serves as a transition to the coming day, which is considered the Feast of Holidays - the Resurrection of Christ. To strengthen their strength, at the end of the service, the believers are handed out consecrated bread soaked in wine.
In addition to strict fasting, spending the day of Great Saturday in ancient times was distinguished by a special inner concentration and solemn silence in church life. “What is this?” Says Saint Epiphanius in his conversation on Great Saturday. “Today great silence and peace reign on the earth. God died in the flesh, and hell trembles. God rested for a short time to awaken those in hell. "
Conclusion
So, Passion Week is a significant time of the year, uplifting the soul of a Christian and attuning it to accepting the most lofty thoughts and impressions - a time that provides abundant food for religious Christian thought and heavenly delight for a believing heart. Passionate divine services familiarize believers with the blessed fruits of redemption, make them feel more deeply the power of His infinite love of compassion for people. St. John Chrysostom summarizes the meaning of Christ's feat of the cross: “On the cross, the ancient tyranny of the devil was destroyed, the strong one was tied up and his weapons were plundered, sin was blotted out, death was trampled upon and the oath was removed from people, the barrier of separation was taken away and heaven was opened, Heaven became accessible and people became close to angels; God reconciled the heavenly and the earthly. "
A living feeling of the love of Christ should help us understand how dear we are to God. This awareness will help us to perk up our spirit so that we do not become discouraged because of all everyday sorrows. Here is our edification: If Christ died for us sinners, then we must be ready to "lay down our souls" for our neighbors. At the same time, one must courageously resist temptations and not be afraid of feats. The Apostle Peter instructs: "As Christ suffered in the flesh for us, then you will arm yourself with the same thought: for he who suffers in the flesh ceases to sin, so that the rest of the time in the flesh may no longer live according to human lusts, but according to the will of God" (1 Pet. 4: one). May the almighty Lord help us all in this! Amen.
Appendix
Canon of Holy Saturday Matins
(translated into Russian)
(The same canon is read before the Easter religious procession)
Song 1
Irmos: He who once buried the pursuing tyrant [Pharaoh] under the waves of the sea, is now Himself buried in the earth by the descendants of the saved [from Egypt]. But we, as then young virgins, will sing to the Lord, for He was gloriously glorified (Exodus 13-15 chap.).
Before each troparion, say: Glory to Thee, our God, glory to Thee.
All heavenly and distant beings wavered at Your death, seeing You, my Savior, sorrow on the throne and down in the grave. For incomprehensibly you were found dead, the Ruler of life.
In order to fill everything with Your glory, You descended into the underworld of the earth. For my being, inherited from Adam, was not hidden from You. Being buried, You, Humanitarian, renew me corrupted.
Song 3
Irmos: Seeing you hanging on the frontal place, Who hung the whole earth without support in space, the creature trembled in great horror, exclaiming: "There is no Holy One but You, Lord!"
Having stretched out your hands, You united the divided from the beginning, and having put on the shroud, You, the Savior, freed those who were shackled by the grave. Therefore, there is no saint but You, Lord.
You, incapable, voluntarily concluded Yourself in a sealed coffin. But by divine power You have shown your omnipotence to those who chant: There is no saint but You, Lord, Human-loving.
Song 4
Irmos: Habakkuk, foreseeing Your divine humiliation on the cross, exclaimed in amazement: "You, the Good One, being omnipotent, overthrew the power of the mighty and preached to those in hell" (Hab. 2 ch.).
Now You are sanctifying the seventh day, which You blessed in the beginning with Your rest from labors. For you, my Savior, restore and renew everything and, resting, set an example yourself.
You conquered with Your excellent strength: for although Your soul was parted from the body, yet by Your omnipotence, You, God the Word, broke the bonds of death and hell.
Song 5
Irmos: Isaiah, being awake at night, saw, Christ, the unfading light of your coming of God out of compassion for us. And then he exclaimed: "The dead will be raised, and those lying in the tombs will rise, and all that dwell on the earth will rejoice" (Isa. 26:19).
Becoming corporeal, You, the Creator, renew the earthly ones. The Shroud and the tomb indicate, to the Word, the mystery that exists in You. For the noble counselor [Joseph of Arimathea] does the will of Your Parent, who renews me by You.
By death you change the mortal and by burial - the perishable. Divine power You renew the nature perceived by You, making it immortal. For Thy flesh, O Lord, has not seen corruption, and Thy soul has not been miraculously left in hell.
Song 6
Irmos: Jonah was swallowed by a whale, but not kept in its bowels. For, being a type of Thee, suffering and buried, he came out of the beast as from the bridal chamber, and said to the guard of Thy tomb: "You who guard in vain and in vain have forgotten His mercy" (Jonah, chapter 2).
The fall of Adam was fatal for people, but not for God. For, although Your human nature suffered, the Divine remained impassive. You have transformed your perishable nature into imperishable, and by your resurrection, you have opened the source of imperishable life.
Hell reigns, but not forever, over the human race. For, being buried, You, the almighty Savior, with your life-giving right hand tore the shackles of death, becoming the firstborn from the dead, and announced complete deliverance to those who were there from ancient times.
Canto 7
Irmos: An inexplicable miracle! Having saved the pious youths from the flames of the furnace, He Himself descends into the grave of the dead and breathless to save us singing: "Blessed are You, God, Redeemer!" (Dan. 3 chap.).
The coffin is rich, accepting You, as it were, asleep, the Creator. He became the source of divine life, to the salvation of us singing: Blessed are You God-Savior.
The life of all, obeying the law of mortals, is put into the grave and makes it a source of resurrection, to the salvation of us singing: Blessed are You, God the Redeemer.
And in hell, and in the tomb, and in Eden, the Deity of Christ remained inseparable from the Father and the Spirit, who sing to the salvation of us: Blessed are you, God the Redeemer.
Canto 8
Irmos: Shudder with horror, heaven, and let the foundations of the earth shake, for here he is numbered among the dead Who lives in Heaven, and is put as a wanderer in a cramped coffin. Priests, chant; people, exalt Him forever!
Destroyed the most pure temple, but restores the fallen tabernacle. For the second Adam, dwelling in heaven, descended even to the depths of hell to the first [Adam]. Children bless Him, praise the priests, exalt people for ever.
O extraordinary miracles! Oh goodness! O unspeakable patience! He who dwells in the highest is voluntarily sealed underground, and God is slandered as a deceiver. Children bless Him, praise the priests, exalt people forever.
Canto 9
Irmos: Do not weep for Me, Mother, seeing in the grave the Son whom You conceived in the womb without a seed. For I will arise and glorify Myself as God, and I will exalt in glory those who always praise You with faith and love.
Oh My beginningless Son! Supernaturally avoiding disease, I was glorified in Thy wondrous birth. Now, seeing You, my God, lifeless as a dead man, I am cruelly pierced by the sword of sorrow. But rise again, so that I may be exalted.
May the creature rejoice, may all earthlings rejoice, for a hostile hell has been plundered. Meet Me, wives, with aromas. I will deliver Adam and Eve with all their offspring, and on the third day I will rise.
Mission Sheet 59
Holy Trinity Orthodox Mission
Copyright © 2001, Holy Trinity Orthodox Mission
Editor: Bishop Alexander (Mileant)
The events of the last week of the Savior's earthly life relate to the Passion of Christ, known in the presentation of the four canonical Gospels. Below is a list based on the description of the last days of Christ's earthly life in all four Gospels.
The events of the Passion of Christ are remembered throughout Holy Week, gradually preparing believers for the Easter holiday. A special place among the Passion of Christ is occupied by the events that took place after the Last Supper: arrest, trial, scourging and execution. The crucifixion is the culmination of the Passion of Christ.
| Matthew | Mark | Luke | John | |
| Sunday(Palm Sunday) | ||||
| The solemn entry of Jesus into Jerusalem | 21:1-9 | 11:1-10 | 19:28-44 | 12:12-19 |
| Jesus Visits the Temple and Returns to Bethany | 21:10-17 | 11:11 | 19:45-46 | |
| Monday | ||||
| Jesus Curses the Barren Fig Tree | 21:18-19 | 11:12-14 | ||
| Jesus expels the merchants from the Temple | 11:15-19 | 19:45-48 | ||
| Tuesday | ||||
| Jesus explains the curse of the fig tree | 21:20-22 | 11:20-26 | ||
| Jesus Is Asked About His Authority | 21:23-27 | 11:27-33 | 20:1-8 | |
| Jesus Teaches in the Temple | 21:28 - 22:45 | 12:1-37 | 20:9-44 | |
| Jesus Condemns the Scribes and Pharisees | 23:1-36 | 12:37-40 | 20:45-47 | |
| Jesus talks about the gift of a widow | 12:41-44 | 21:1-4 | ||
| Jesus predicts the destruction of the Temple and the end of the world | 24:1-44 | 13:1-37 | 21:5-36 | |
| Wednesday | ||||
| Jewish leaders plot against Jesus | 26:1-5 | 14:1-2 | 22:1-2 | |
| Jesus' anointing at Bethany | 26:6-13 | 14:3-9 | ||
| Judas agrees to betray Jesus | 26:14-16 | 14:10-11 | 22:2-6 | |
| Thursday | ||||
| Jesus prepares for Easter | 26:17-19 | 14:12-16 | 22:7-13 | |
| The last supper | 26:20-29 | 14:17-25 | 22:14-38 | 13:1-38 |
| Jesus Goes with His Disciples to Gethsemane | 26:30-46 | 14:26-42 | 22:39-46 | 18:1 |
| Jesus betrayed and captured | 26:47-56 | 14:43-52 | 22:47-53 | 18:2-12 |
| Jesus before Anna | 18:12-14; 19-23 | |||
| Jesus before Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin; denial of Peter | 26:57-75 | 14:53-72 | 22:54-71 | 18:15-18; 24-27 |
| Friday(Good Friday) | ||||
| Jesus before Pilate; suicide of Judas | 27:1-10 | 15:1-5 | 23:1-5 | 18:28-38 |
| Jesus is referred to Herod | 23:6-16 | |||
| Pilate pronounces death sentence | 27:15-26 | 15:6-15 | 23:17-25 | 18:39 - 19:16 |
| Jesus is scourged and taken to Calvary | 27:27-32 | 15:15-21 | 19:16-17 | |
| The crucifixion and death of Jesus | 27:33-56 | 15:22-41 | 23:33-49 | 19:18-30 |
| Burial of Jesus | 27:57-61 | 15:42-47 | 23:50-56 | 19:31-42 |
| Saturday | ||||
| Guards posted at the tomb | 27:62-66 | |||
| Sunday(Easter) | ||||
| Empty tomb and risen Christ | 28:1-20 | 16:1-8 | 24:1-53 | 20:1 - 21:25 |
Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem
Before the Entry into Jerusalem, Christ declared himself as the Messiah to individuals, the time has come to do this publicly. This happened on the Sunday before Easter, when crowds of pilgrims flocked to Jerusalem. Jesus sends two disciples to fetch the donkey, mounts it, and enters the city. He is greeted with singing by the people, who have learned about the entry of Christ, and they take up the hosanna to the son of David, which the apostles proclaimed. This great event serves as a threshold of the sufferings of Christ, borne "for us for the sake of man and ours for the sake of salvation."
The Supper at Bethany / Washing the Feet of Jesus by the Sinner
According to Mark and Matthew, in Bethany, where Jesus and his disciples were invited to the house of Simon the leper, the woman performed the anointing, which symbolized the subsequent suffering and death of Christ. Church tradition distinguishes this anointing from the anointing performed by Mary, the sister of the resurrected Lazarus, six days before Easter and even before the Lord's entry into Jerusalem. The woman who approached the Lord in order to anoint him with precious ointment was a repentant sinner.
Washing the feet of the students
On Thursday morning, the disciples asked Jesus where he would eat the Passover. He said that at the Jerusalem gates they would meet a servant with a jug of water, he would lead them to the house, whose owner had to be informed that he would have Passover Jesus and his disciples. Arriving at this house for the supper, everyone took off their shoes according to custom. There were no slaves to wash the guests' feet, and Jesus himself did it. In embarrassment, the disciples were silent, only Peter allowed himself to be surprised. Jesus explained that this was a lesson in humility and that they should also relate to one another, as their Master showed. St. Luke reports that at the supper there was a dispute between the disciples as to which of them is greater. Probably, this dispute was the reason to show the students a clear example of humility and mutual love by washing their feet.
At the supper, Christ repeated that one of the disciples would betray him. With fear, everyone asked him: "Aren't I, Lord?"... He asked to divert suspicion from himself, and Judas and heard in response: "You said"... Soon Judas leaves the supper. Jesus reminded the disciples that where he would soon follow, they could not go. Peter objected to the teacher that "he would lay down his life for Him." However, Christ predicted that he would deny him before the cock crows. As a consolation for his disciples, saddened by his imminent departure, Christ established the Eucharist - the main sacrament of the Christian faith.
The path to the Garden of Gethsemane and the prediction of the impending renunciation of the disciples
After the supper, Christ and his disciples went out of the city. Through the hollow of the Kidron Stream, they came to the Garden of Gethsemane.
Praying for the cup
At the entrance to the garden, Jesus left his disciples. Taking with him only three chosen ones: James, John and Peter, he went to the Mount of Olives. Having told them not to sleep, he withdrew to pray. The foreboding of doom filled the soul of Jesus, doubts took possession of him. He, succumbing to his human nature, asked God the Father to carry by the cup of Passion, but humbly accepted His will.
The Kiss of Judas and the Arrest of Jesus
Late on Thursday evening, Jesus, having descended from the mountain, wakes up the apostles and tells them that the one who betrayed him is already approaching. Armed temple attendants and Roman soldiers appear. Judas pointed out to them the place where Jesus could be found. Judas comes out of the crowd and kisses Jesus, giving the guards a conventional sign.
They grab Jesus, when the apostles tried to prevent the guards, Malchus, the servant of the high priest, was wounded. Jesus asks to release the apostles, they run away, only Peter and John secretly follow the guards who take their teacher away.
Jesus before the Sanhedrin (high priests)
On the night of Holy Thursday, Jesus was brought to the Sanhedrin. Christ appeared before Anna. He began to ask Christ about his teaching and his followers. Jesus refused to answer, he claimed that he had always preached openly, did not spread any secret teaching and offered to listen to the witnesses of his sermons. Anna had no power to pass judgment and sent Christ to Caiaphas. Jesus remained silent. The Sanhedrin, gathered at Caiaphas, condemns Christ to death.
Denial of the apostle Peter
Peter, who followed Jesus until the Sanhedrin, was not allowed into the house. In the hallway, he went to the hearth to warm up. The servants, one of whom was a relative of Malchus, recognized the disciple of Christ and began to question him. Peter denies the teacher three times, before the cock crows.
Jesus before Pontius Pilate
On the morning of Good Friday, Jesus was taken to the Praetorium, which was located in the former palace of Herod at the Anthony Tower. It was necessary to obtain approval of the death sentence from Pilate. Pilate was dissatisfied with being involved in this matter. He retires with Jesus to the Praetorium and discusses with him in private. After a conversation with the condemned, Pilate decided on the occasion of the holiday to invite the people to release Jesus. However, the crowd, incited by the high priests, demands to release not Jesus Christ, but Barabbas. Pilate hesitates, but ultimately condemns Christ, however, he does not use the wording of the high priests. Pilate washing his hands is a sign that he does not want to interfere with what is happening.
The Flagellation of Christ
Pilate ordered the scourging of Jesus (usually scourging preceded the crucifixion).
Desecration and crowning with thorns
The time is late Good Friday morning. The scene is a palace in Jerusalem near the tower of Anthony's castle. To ridicule Jesus, “the King of the Jews,” they put on him a red hair shirt, a crown of thorns and give him a rod. In this form, he is taken out to the people. Seeing Christ with a purple robe and a crown, Pilate, according to the testimony of John and the forecasters, says: "Behold a man." Matthew combines this scene with the "washing of hands."
Way of the Cross (Carrying the Cross)
Jesus is sentenced to a shameful execution by crucifixion along with two robbers. The place of execution was Golgotha, located outside the city. Time is around noon of Good Friday. The scene of action is the ascent to Golgotha. The condemned had to carry the cross himself to the place of execution. Forecasters point out that weeping women and Simon of Cyrene followed Christ: since Christ fell under the weight of the cross, the soldiers forced Simon to help him.
Stripping the clothes off Christ and the soldiers playing them dice
The soldiers cast lots to divide the clothes of Christ.
Calvary - Crucifixion of Christ
According to Jewish custom, wine was offered to those condemned to execution. Jesus took a sip of it and refused the drink. On both sides of Christ, two robbers were crucified. Above the head of Jesus, a tablet was attached to the cross with the inscription in the Hebrew, Greek and Latin languages: "King of the Jews." After a while, the crucified man, tormented by thirst, asked for a drink. One of the soldiers guarding Christ dipped it into a sponge in a mixture of water and vinegar and raised it to his lips on a cane.
Descent from the cross
To hasten the death of the crucified (it was the eve of Easter Saturday, which was not supposed to be darkened by executions), the high priests ordered to break their legs. However, Jesus was already dead. One of the soldiers (in some sources - Longinus) strikes Jesus in the ribs with a spear - blood mixed with water flowed from the wound. Joseph of Arimathea, a member of the Council of Elders, went to the procurator and asked him for the body of Jesus. Pilate ordered that the body be handed over to Joseph. Another Jesus worshiper, Nicodemus, helped to remove the body from the cross.
The position in the coffin
Nicodemus brought scents. Together with Joseph, he prepared the body of Jesus for burial, wrapping it in a shroud of myrrh and aloe. At the same time, the Galilean wives were present, who mourned Christ.
Descent to Hell
In the New Testament this is reported only by the Apostle Peter: Christ, in order to bring us to God, once suffered for our sins ... being put to death in the flesh, but revived by the spirit that He and the spirits in prison came down to preach. (1 Peter 3: 18-19).
Resurrection of Jesus Christ
On the first day after Saturday, in the morning, women came to the tomb of the risen Jesus in peace to anoint his body. Shortly before their appearance, an earthquake occurs, and an angel descends from heaven. He rolls the stone from the tomb of Christ to show them that it is empty. The angel tells the wives that Christ is risen, "... the inaccessible to any sight and incomprehensible has been accomplished."
In fact, the Passion of Christ ends with His death and the subsequent mourning and burial of the body of Jesus. In itself, the Resurrection of Jesus Christ is the next cycle of the story of Jesus, also consisting of several episodes. However, there is still an opinion that "the descent into hell represents the limit of the humiliation of Christ and at the same time the beginning of His glory."
