EASTER WEEK THURSDAY: Why Did Jesus Allow Himself to be Unjustly Convicted, Tortured and Crucified?

Today begins the final hours of Jesus’ earthly life. He will be betrayed by Judas Iscariot, arrested, taken to the Jewish authorities who subject Him to a kangaroo court, then to Herod, who asks Him to perform a miracle, and finally to Pilate, the spineless Roman governor.

Pilate knows Roman law and he realizes soon into his interrogation of Jesus that Jesus is no criminal. Pilate also likely discerns the threat Jesus represents, not to Rome, but the Pharisees. Yet he finally succumbs to the demand, “Crucify! Crucify!”

Jesus is scourged in the horrendous way of the Romans, which leaves Him bloody, His flesh torn, ripped with pain and weakened. Then they drive nails into His wrists and feet, erect His cross and watch Him die.

Did Jesus know that this was going to happen? According to Mark 10:32-34, He knew it in great detail:

“And they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them. And they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. And taking the twelve again, he began to tell them what was to happen to him,  saying, ‘See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles. And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him. And after three days he will rise.’” Mark 10: 32-34

Why did Jesus allow this to happen? The simple answer is we humans need a savior. If you have ever sought revenge on a rival, said something you knew to be untrue or done something you don’t want anyone to know about, then you know why we need a savior:

“For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Mark 10:45.

And since so many HillFaith readers are lawyers and/or work for lawmakers on Capitol Hill, Paul’s more detailed explanation of why Jesus came to die for us is appropriate:

“But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it — the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. 

“For there is no distinction: For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,  whom God put forward as a propitiation by His blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in His divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.” Romans 3:21-25

In other words, Jesus died so that you and I can spend eternity with Him in Heaven. Paul also tells us how simple it really is: “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

And there’s the rub: If you believe that “God raised Him from the dead.” The resurrection, the empty tomb. Without the resurrection of Jesus from death to life, we have no assurance that we will also receive eternal life with Him. That is why each of us must come to a conclusion about why the women found His tomb empty on Easter Sunday morning:

Was it because of some nefarious plot among the disciples to steal His body and fool the world by claiming He was resurrected? Or maybe the disciples all, in their intense grief, hallucinated those multiple visitations of the risen Jesus?

Jim Daly, President of Focus on the Family, remembers Watergate conspirator Chuck Colson’s explanation for why he was convinced Jesus was in fact and in history resurrected:

“The late Chuck Colson, who mentored me in the last years of his life, once used a colorful illustration to explain why he was so certain Jesus came back to life:

“’I know the resurrection is a fact, and Watergate proved it to me. How? Because 12 men testified they had seen Jesus raised from the dead, then they proclaimed that truth for 40 years, never once denying it. Every one was beaten, tortured, stoned and put in prison. They would not have endured that if it weren’t true.

“‘Watergate embroiled 12 of the most powerful men in the world – and they couldn’t keep a lie for three weeks. You’re telling me 12 apostles could keep a lie for 40 years? Absolutely impossible.’

“Indeed, the empty tomb is the foundation upon which all of Christianity rests. In 1 Corinthians 15:17 the Apostle Paul said, ‘If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.’”

So, on this day before the Crucifixion on Friday, what is your explanation for the empty tomb of Jesus on Easter Sunday?


HillFaith Founder and Editor Mark Tapscott in a teaching moment.

Have questions? Want to talk, confidentially, about all this? Email me at

mark.tapscott@hillfaith.org with the subject line “Office Hours” and we’ll get together. I don’t have all the answers, but I do have a lot of them and I know where to get the rest. Trust me, I’ve been there, done that, so let’s talk. God bless!

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