“It would be well for us to spend a thoughtful hour each day in contemplation of the life of Christ. We should take it point by point, and let the imagination grasp each scene, especially the closing ones. As we thus dwell upon His great sacrifice for us, our confidence in Him will be more constant, our love will be quickened, and we shall be more deeply imbued with His spirit. If we would be saved, at last, we must learn the lesson of penitence and humiliation at the foot of the cross.” {DA 83.4}
Soon after partaking of the Passover meal with His disciples on Thursday evening, Jesus headed to the Garden of Gethsemane, one of His habitual places of prayer. Many times He had spent the entire night at that very spot, in deep communion with His Father. Now, at the end of His mission on behalf of sinners, Christ left the upper chamber and went to the garden located at the foot of Mount Olivet. With Him were His eleven disciples (Judas was absent—plotting the betrayal of his Master).
Before arriving there, Christ comforted His disciples with the promise of His second coming and of sending the Holy Spirit as His representative to assist them. Along the way, He saw a grapevine which He used as an illustration of the relationship that must be maintained between Him and His disciples. He made clear that our spiritual life, our victory over temptation and sin depend on a vital connection with Him. He also emphasized the need of brotherly love among His followers. “Love one another,” He repeated to His disciples. “A new commandment I give unto you, that ye also love one another.” And He gave them a pattern: “As I have loved you” (John 13:34).
Jesus dedicated time to stress the need of the Holy Spirit for all His followers. Like the Lord Jesus, the Holy Spirit who is the third Person of the Godhead and another Comforter, must be considered the “best Gift” sent by Heaven to all who believe in Christ as their Saviour and Lord.
Before reaching Gethsemane, Christ offered an earnest intercessory prayer on behalf of His disciples. He declared: “This is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent” (John 17:3). He had made clear that we cannot know the Father except by knowing the Son.
“The experimental knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ whom He has sent, transform man into the image of God. It gives to man the mastery of himself, bringing every impulse and passion of the lower nature under the control of the higher powers of the mind. It makes its possessor a son of God and heir of heaven. It brings him into communion with the mind of the Infinite, and opens to him the rich treasures of the universe.”1
In His prayer, Christ revealed His great desire that His disciples should be so united among themselves as He is united with the Father and the Holy Spirit.
“That they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us: that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me…I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that Thou hast sent Me, and hast loved them, as Thou hast loved Me” (John 17:21, 23).
After giving precious words of comfort and encouragement to His close followers, Christ arrived at the Garden of Gethsemane. As soon as He entered the garden, He felt deep anguish. At that moment, the sins of the entire world were imputed to Him. Although He had never committed a single sin, He took upon Himself the guilt of the whole of humanity—all your sins, and all my sins. “Surely He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed…. The Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:4–6).
Paul summarizes the essence of the gospel with the following words, explaining that “[God] hath made Him [Jesus] to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him [Jesus]” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
“He who through His own atonement provided for man an infinite fund of moral power, will not fail to employ this power in our behalf. We may take our sins and sorrows to His feet; for He loves us. His every look and word invites our confidence. He will shape and mold our characters according to His own will.”2
A deep anguish that we cannot imagine took possession of Christ. Because of our sins, He felt separated from His Father. Leaving eight of His disciples at a certain distance, the Lord invited Peter, James, and John to be closer to Him in His suffering. His human nature was being shaken before the terrible sacrifice. Then He prayed: “Father, if Thou be willing, remove this cup from Me: nevertheless, not My will, but Thine, be done” (Luke 22:42). He had told His disciples: “My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here and watch with me” (Matthew 26: 38).
Jesus felt the need of human support and sympathy, and so He returned to His disciples. But He found them asleep. He said to Peter—the same person who had promised to be with Him even unto death—“What, could ye not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation.” But the Lord tried to excuse His disciples, adding the words: “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:40, 41).
Then He prayed the second time, saying: “O My Father, if this cup may not pass away from Me, except I drink it, Thy will be done” (verse 42). He offered that prayer three times, but no favorable answer came from the Father.
In that critical hour, when the plan of salvation of humanity was at risk, Gabriel, the most powerful angel in heaven, came to support the Son of God. He did not come to remove the cup but to strengthen Him to drink it. Then he presented a panoramic view showing the millions of souls who would be saved by Christ’s sacrifice. Christ was comforted. Isaiah had foretold: “He shall see the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied: by His knowledge shall My righteous servant justify many; for He shall bear their iniquities” (Isaiah 53:11).
Paul, in his epistle to the Hebrew Christians, said: “Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith; Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame” (Hebrews 12:2).
“What sustained the Son of God during His life of toil and sacrifice? He saw the results of the travail of His soul and was satisfied. Looking into eternity, He beheld the happiness of those who through His humiliation had received pardon and everlasting life. His ear caught the shout of the redeemed. He heard the ransomed ones singing the song of Moses and the Lamb.”3
After this vision, Christ was comforted and encouraged to go ahead with a strong commitment to suffer all the physical, mental, and spiritual sacrifices necessary to save human beings from eternal ruin.
Jesus arrested
Soon after His prayer, Jesus led His disciples to meet their enemies. All that was done to the Lord that night was completely illegal. Before being judged, He was arrested and abused. Judas had agreed with the chief priests and the mob that made up the group that he would kiss Jesus to identify Him to His persecutors. Christ received the kiss from His betrayer and uttered just a few words: “Judas, are you betraying the Son of God with a kiss?” But the conscience of Judas was gone. He was under the direct control of the prince of darkness. Seeing that Christ didn’t resist Judas, the mob became bolder to arrest the Saviour.
At the beginning of the arrest, Peter tried to defend his Lord with a sword. The zealous disciple tried to behead one of the criminals, but he was only successful in cutting one ear off his target. Even at the arrest, Christ performed a miracle, restoring to the unhappy man his ear. After that, all the disciples ran away, leaving their Master at the hands of those “wolves” who were so thirsty for the blood of the Saviour.
A mere pretense of justice
Before arriving at the palace of the high priest—Caiaphas—Christ was led to the house of Annas, Caiaphas' father-in-law. Jesus was to be examined by that experienced and cunning fox. Annas was already retired but still highly respected among the Sanhedrin and was judged to be able to destroy anyone who, it was supposed, was undermining the leadership of that council. Annas would examine Christ before the “trial” before Caiaphas, who was a less experienced man than his father-in-law. Annas tried to trap Jesus with questions about His teachings and His disciples.
His intention was to insinuate that Christ had held secret meetings and teachings that could be used to instigate an insurrection against the Roman government. He hoped to find some ground on which to accuse Jesus before the authorities as a leader of a subversive movement against Rome. Christ’s answer to Annas made clear that His work and teachings were known by the public and that He had nothing to hide. Everything in Christ’s work was fully transparent and nothing had been taught in secret.
The same priests had previously sent spies to follow Jesus step by step to find ground for accusation and condemnation. Christ’s answer silenced Annas. His words also had greater meaning, for they condemned Annas for trying to condemn Jesus in a secretive way.
The so-called “judgment” of Christ was totally illegal because:
1. The Sanhedrin was not authorized to meet at night. Their meetings could only be held during the hours of the day;
2. All the members of the Council were required to be present;
3. The one who would be judged had the right to defend himself;
4. He couldn’t be arrested before being legally accused on the basis of strong evidence and testimony from credible witnesses.
All of these basic rules were disrespected. Christ had been arrested before the trial, at night, and mistreated before, during, and after His condemnation.
As a nation under the control of Rome, the Jews had no right to condemn anyone to death without the approval of the Romans. Their decision needed to be approved by the Roman government in order to be valid.
Since the Sanhedrin didn’t find any valid accusation against Christ, the innocent Victim was taken to Caiaphas, the high priest. It was a last attempt to condemn Jesus, and He was questioned about His relationship with the Father: “I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God.” Until now, Christ had kept silence before Caiaphas in spite of all the false accusations against Him, but now He had to answer: “Thou hast said: nevertheless, I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven” (Matthew 26:62, 63). Caiaphas lost his temper. Being a Sadducee, he didn’t believe in the resurrection and hoped that all his own crimes would be buried by his death. He rent his sacred garment and accused Jesus of blasphemy. The Jews understood the expression “Son of God” as a clear statement meaning that Christ was a divine Being. Because of His identification with Divinity, Jesus was condemned to death. The action of Caiaphas of rending his garment was contrary to God’s commandment, and he revealed a burst of human passion that demonstrated that he was not worthy of being a high priest.
Peter denies Jesus
Peter was one of the most faithful disciples of Jesus and was among the three disciples closest to the Master. He was willing to do whatever was necessary to fulfill Christ’s instruction. Before going to Gethsemane, the Lord had foretold that all His disciples would forsake Him during the soon-coming crisis. Peter had responded with the declaration that even if all would leave the Master, he would follow Jesus even to death. Peter was very sincere in his words and desires, but there was a very serious problem with this disciple. He trusted in himself and didn’t know his own character. Jesus revealed that unknown character to Peter by mentioning that before the rooster would crow two times, the disciple would deny Jesus three times.
When Christ faced the most hostile environment in the palace of Caiaphas, Peter tried to follow the Master at a comfortable distance. Then, a young lady asked him if he was a follower of Christ. Peter denied the Master for the first time. Again Peter was asked about his relationship with Jesus, and again he denied the Master. Finally, for the third time, Peter was questioned about being part of the small group of Jesus’ followers, and this time he used hard words to assert his ignorance about Christ. Peter looked to Christ, and the Master looked to him. In the look of Jesus, Peter saw only love and forgiveness.
Peter was devastated when he remembered the words of Christ. He realized that Jesus knew him very well, while he didn’t know himself. From that place, Peter went to Gethsemane, where he wept bitterly. He sincerely repented of his wicked action against the Master. Christ had said to him ahead of time: “When you are converted, confirm your brothers.”
1 Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 114.
2 Ibid., p. 157.
3 The Acts of the Apostles, p. 601.