Witnesses in Jesus’ trial & crucifixion


Mark Chapter 15

Other than the Apostles there were some characters who bore the witness of the Trial, Crucifixion and Death of Jesus Christ.

1️⃣ PILATE : The man who satisfies many people
He was a complex character ; he openly declared that Jesus was innocent, yet he permitted Him to be beaten and condemned Him to die. Pilate knew what was right but refused to do anything about it. He had to satisfy :
✅ The Jews
✅ The Roman Emperor
✅ His wife
✅ His own consciousness.
📌 There is danger if we devote ourselves in satisfying the people rather than to stand for the truth

💞 Beloved Church , “Do not compromise.. His truth will set you free “

2️⃣ SIMON OF CYRENE : The man who carried the Cross of Jesus .
He had come to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover, and now he was on the way to his country. As Jesus was so weakend by flogging , the Roman soldiers forced him to carry the cross of Jesus. The changes came in , and Simon was not the same person now :
✅ It is believed that Simon was converted on the way to Calvary
✅ He was among the leaders in Antioch ( Acts 13:1 )
✅ His sons , Alexander and Rufus were well known in Roman church ( Rom 16:13 )

📌 Simon of Cyrene came to Jerusalem to sacrifice his passover lamb , but he met the Lamb of God who was sacrificed for him.

3️⃣ JOSEPH OF ARIMATHEA – The man who gave his tomb to bury the body of Jesus .
✅ He was a wealthy man , a member of Jewish Council but he did not support the Sanhedrin’s decision to condemned Jesus to be crucified ( Luke 23: 50-51 )
✅ He was waiting for the coming of God’s Kindom
✅ He was a secret disciple ( Jn 19:38 ) yet he had the courage to go to Pilate for permission to have the body of Jesus for burial .
✅ He has already prepared a new tomb in a garden near Golgotha .
✅ Nicodemus , his friend , helped him to get His body down from the cross and in the burial of the body.

💞 Beloved Church, give Him what you have and what you can.

Glory to God 🙏
✍🏽 Mark Boje, ArP 🇮🇳

Lockdown Reflections… 📝
Food from my Host’s Kitchen Table 🍽️🍯🥛🍴
Take a Break with Jesus in the Lockdown 🍞☕
Day 219, 270 Days Bible Reading, Thursday, 18.2.21.

In this Lockdown remember you are not locked out from God’s Presence because the veil has been torn for us… Mark 15:38

💫We are going to read about some treasured reactions to the death of Jesus in the Lent season, which started yesterday for those who use this time, in repentance, fasting and prayer, to be able to hear God’s voice, to walk in purity and holiness and not just as a ritual. I am going through my second Lent season in this lockdown and using this time to have a deep cleansing by the water of the Word of God, Ephesians 5:26. The bride of Christ is a disciple who is always learning.

💫Mark Chapter 15 is all about Jesus Who was up all night, went through six unjust trials, accused, beaten up, mocked, scourged and tortured, and butchered like the animal for the zebach sh’lamim (peace offering) a foreshadow of the Jesus’ gruesome death to obtain our peace, Isaiah 53:5. He was led to the cross. He already demonstrated He could stop this process if He chose to. His spoken word caused soldiers to fall to the ground, John 18:6.But this is all God’s plan to accomplish our salvation.

💫A radical event took place at the time Jesus died, a curtain was suddenly sliced in two from top-to-bottom, Mark 15:38. The Jewish-Roman historian Josephus describes this curtain as a Babylonian curtain; embroidered with blue, and fine linen, and scarlet, and purple, and of a contexture that was truly wonderful. This mixture of colors was a kind of image of the universe – scarlet = fire; flax = earth; blue = air, purple = the sea. The thickness of the curtain corresponded to its size–most believe this drapery was six inches thick. We read in Mark 15:38, that all at once, at 3pm this mighty curtain was torn in two from top to bottom, and the two pieces fell apart and exposed the inner Holy of Holies to plain sight for all to see

💫Child of God, Remember this, God was making His presence known at the death of Jesus. The tearing was not from natural wear. It was not caused by the earthquake which would have damaged the temple and shredded the curtain. It was simply, an act of intentional surgical procedure “from top, where God is, to bottom, where man is

💫What a sight it would have caused for the priests who were busy with the Passover sacrifices, to see the sudden ripping of the curtain exposing that which previously had never been seen by anyone except by the High Priest. They must have been shaken to the core. This was the most important curtain, because it separated the Holy of Holies from the Holy Place. The Holy of Holies was the place no one could go but the High Priest once a year, to sprinkle blood on the Mercy Seat on the Ark of the Covenant, to make atonement for the nation on the Day of Atonement. The perfect sacrifice and final Passover lamb, Jesus Christ, died for our salvation, and paid the penalty in full for all who would ever believe and giving us access to enter His Presence boldly, Hebrew 4:16.

In this lockdown remember that we can approach the throne room 24/7 bringing all our challenges and circumstances to God personally as He made way by tearing down the curtain and we can now go beyond the veil…Amen🙏

anniekoshy@God’s Thirstydeer🦌 Breaking the Chain with you…⛓️