THE CRUCIFIXION

Caravaggio

From the Gospel according to St Matthew adapted and translated by George Manadis

The Triumphant Entry into Jerusalem

As they came near Jerusalem, at the towns of Beth phage and Bethany they came to the Mount of Olives. Jesus sent two of his disciples on ahead with these instructions,”Go to the village there ahead of you. As soon as you get there you will find a colt tied up that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. And if someone asks you why you are doing this, tell him. “The Master needs it and will send it back here at once”. This happened so that what the prophet had said would come true:

“Tell the city of Zion

Now your King is coming to you.

He is gentle and rides on a donkey

On a colt, the foal of a donkey”.

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So the disciples went ahead and did what Jesus had told them to do. They brought the donkey and the colt threw their cloaks over them, and Jesus got on. A great crowd of people spread their cloaks on the road, while other cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds walking in front and behind Jesus began to shout, “praise to David’s Son! God bless him who comes in the name of the Lord! Praise is to God!” When Jesus entered Jerusalem the whole city was thrown in an uproar. Who is he? The people asked. “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee,” the crowds answered.

Jesus Goes To The Temple

Jesus went into the temple and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple; he overturned the tables of the moneychangers and the stools of those who sold pigeons and said to them “ It is written in the scriptures that God said “My house will be called a house of prayer. But you are making it a hide out for thieves.” The blind and the crippled came to him in the temple and he healed them. The chief priests and the teachers of the law became angry when they saw the wonderful things he was doing, and the children shouting and crying in the temple “ Praise to David’s son”, so they said to Jesus “What right do you have to do these things?” Jesus answered them “I will ask you just one question, and if you give an answer I will tell you what right I have to do these things. Tell me where did John’s right to baptize come from: From God or from a men?” They started to argue among them “What shall we say? If we answer, “From God, he will say why then did you not believe in John.” So their answer to Jesus was “We don’t know.” Jesus said to them “Neither will I tell you then, by what right I do these things.”

The Plot Against Jesus

It was now two days before the feast of Passover and Unleavened Bread. The chief priests and the teachers of the law were looking for a way to arrest Jesus secretly and put him to death. “We must not do it during the Feast” they said “or the people might riot.”

Judas Agrees To Betray Jesus

Then Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve disciples, went off to the chief priests in order to hand Jesus over to them. They were greatly pleased to hear what he had to say, and promised to give him money. So Judas started looking for a good chance to betray Jesus.

Jesus Eats The Passover Meal With His Disciples

On the first day of the feast of unleavened Bread, the day the lambs for the Passover meal were killed, Jesus disciples asked him “Where do you want us to go and get our Passover meal ready?” Then Jesus sent two of them out with these instructions: “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him to the house he enters and say to the owners of the house: The teacher says where is my room where my disciples and I will eat the Passover meal? Then he will show you a large upstairs room, fixed up and furnished, where you will get everything ready for us. The disciples left, went to the city and found everything just as Jesus had told them, and they prepared the Passover Meal. When it was evening Jesus came with the twelve disciples while they were at the table eating. Jesus said “I tell you this. One of you will betray me. One who is eating with me.” The disciples were upset and began to ask him, one after the other “surely you don’t mean me, do you?” Jesus answered “ It will be one of you twelve, one who dips his bread to the dish with me. The Son of man will die as the scriptures say he will, but how terrible for that man who will betray the Son of Man! It will be better for that man if he had never been born.

Jesus Predicts Peter’s Denial

Jesus said to them “ All of you will run away and leave me because the scripture says God will kill the shepherd and the sheep will all be scattered. But after I am raised to life I will go to Galilee ahead of you. Peter answered, “I will never leave you even though all the rest do!” “ Remember this “ Jesus said to Peter “ Before the rooster crows two times tonight you will say three times that you don’t know me.” Peter answered even more strongly. “I will never say I don’t know you even if I have to die with you!” And all the disciples said the same thing.

Jesus Prays In Gethsemane

They came to a place called Gethsemane and Jesus said to his disciplines “Sit here while I pray”. Then he took Peter, James and John with him. He went a little farther on, threw himself on the ground and prayed that, if possible he might not have to go through the hour of suffering. “Father” he prayed “My Father! All, things are possible for you. Take this curse away from me. But not what I want but what you want. Then he returned and found the three disciples asleep and said to Peter “Simon, are you asleep? Weren’t you able to stay awake for one hour?” And he said to them “Keep watch and pray that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. When he came back the third time, he said to them “Are you still sleeping and resting? Enough! The hour has come! Look, the Son of Man is now handed over to the power of sinful men. Get up. Let us go. Look! Here is the man who is betraying me!

The Arrest of Jesus

Jesus was still speaking when Judas, one of the Twelve disciples, arrived. With him was a crowd carrying swords and clubs sent by the Chief Priests, the Teachers of the Law and The Elders. The traitor had given the crowd a signal: The man I kiss is the one you want. Arrest him and take him away under guard. As soon as Judas arrived he went up to Judas and said “Teacher” and kissed him. So they arrested Jesus and held him tight.

Jesus Before the Council

Then they took Jesus to the High Priest’s house where all the Chief Priests, The Elders and the Teachers of the Law were gathering. Peter followed from a distance and went into the courtyard of the High Priest’s house. There he sat down with the guards, keeping himself warm by the fire. The chief priests and the whole council tried to find some evidence against Jesus, in order to put him to death, but they couldn’t find any. Many witnesses told lies against Jesus, but their stories didn’t agree. Then some men stood up and told this lie against Jesus “We heard him say “I will tear down this temple which man made, and after three days I will build one that is not made by men. Not even they, however, could make their stories agree. The High priest stood up in front of them all and questioned Jesus. “Have you no answer to the accusations they bring against you?” But Jesus kept quiet and would not say a word. Again the High priest questioned him “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed God?” “I am” answered Jesus, “and you will all see the Son of Man seated at the right side of the Almighty and coming with the clouds of Heaven. The High Priest tore his robes and said, “We don’t need any more witnesses! You heard his wicked words. What is your decision?” They all voted against him: he was guilty and should be put to death.

PETER DENIES JESUS

Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard when one of the High Priest’s servant girls came to him and said, “You too were with Jesus of Galilee. But he denied it in front of them all. I don’t know what you are talking about” he answered, and went on out to the entrance of the courtyard. Another servant girl saw him and said to the men there “He was with Jesus of Nazareth.” Again Peter denied it and answered, “I swear that I don’t know that man.” After a little while the men standing there came to Peter. “Of course you are one of them” they said. “After all, the way you speak gives you away.” Then Peter made a vow: “May God punish me if I am not telling the truth. I don’t know that man.” Just then a rooster crowed and Peter remembered what Jesus had told him “Before the rooster crows you will say three times that you don’t know me.” He went out and wept bitterly.

JESUS TAKEN TO PILATE

Early in the morning all the chief priests and the Jewish elders made their plan against Jesus to put him to death. They put him in chains, took him and handed him over to Pilate, the Roman governor.

THE DEATH OF JUDAS

When Judas the traitor saw that Jesus had been condemned he repented and took back the thirty silver coins to the chief priests and the elders. “I have sinned by betraying an innocent man to death,” he said. “What do we care about that?” they answered. That is your business. Judas threw the money into the sanctuary and left them, and then he went off and hanged himself.

PILATE QUESTIONS JESUS

Jesus stood before the governor who questioned him. “Are you the King of the Jews?” he asked. “So you say,” answered Jesus. He said nothing, however, to the accusations of the chief priests and the elders, so Pilate said to him “Don’t you hear all these things they accuse you of?” But Jesus refused to answer a single word so that the governor was really surprised.

JESUS SENTENCED TO DEATH

At every Passover Feast the governor was in the habit of setting free any prisoner the crowd asked for. At that time there were two prisoners, Jesus and Barabbas, so when the crowd gathered, Pilate asked them “Which one do you want me to free for you? Barabbas or Jesus called the King of the Jews?” The chief priests persuaded the crowd to ask Pilate to free Barabbas and have Jesus put to death. But the governor asked them directly “Which one do you want to free?” “Barabbas” they answered. “What then shall I do with the Jew called Christ?” Pilate asked them. “Nail him to the Cross” they all answered. But Pilate asked what crime has he committed? Then they started shouting at the top of their voices “Nail him to the Cross!” When Pilate saw it was no use going on, but that a riot might break out, he took some water and washed his hands in front of the crowd and said “I am not responsible for the death of this man! This is your doing” The whole crowd answered back “Let the punishment for his death fall on us and on our children.” Then Pilate set Barabbas free for them and he had Jesus whipped and handed over to be nailed to the cross.

The Soldiers make fun of Jesus

Then Pilate’s soldiers took Jesus to the governor’s palace and the whole company gathered around him. they stripped off his clothes and put a scarlet robe on him. Then they made a crown out of thorny branches and placed it on his head, and put a stick in his right hand. Then they knelt before him and made fun of him. “Long live the King of the Jews” they said. They spat on him and hit over the head. When they had finished making fun of him they led him out to nail him to the Cross.

Jesus Nailed to The Cross

As they were going out they met a man from Cyrene named Simon and they asked him to carry Jesus’ Cross. They came to a place called Golgotha, which means “The place of the Skull.” There they offered him wine to drink mixed with Gall, but he wouldn’t drink it. They nailed him to the cross then divided his clothes among them by throwing dice. After that they sat there and watched him. Above his head they put the written notice of the accusation against him: “This is Jesus, The King of the Jews.” Then they crucified two other bandits, one on his right and the other on his left.

The Death of Jesus

At noon the whole country was covered with darkness which lasted for three hours. At about three o’clock Jesus cried out with a loud shout “Eli, Eli, lema Sabacthani” which means “My God, why did you abandon me?” Some of the people standing there heard him and said “He is calling Elijah.” Then the curtain hanging in the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. When the army officers and the soldiers with him who were watching Jesus saw the earthquake and everything else that had happened they said “He really was the Son of God.”

George Manadis is a fourteen year old student at the Fourth Gymnasium in Katerini. He has many interests including History, Sports, English and Stamp collecting. He has been learning English for three years and is taking the Cambridge FCE examination in May. Good Luck!