Jesus' Death & Its Provision for Mankind

Just before Jesus died on the cross, one guilty man who was being crucified beside Him placed his faith in Jesus and was granted the gift of life in a paradise beyond the grave.

The day innocent Jesus was crucified between two deserving criminals, one of them mocked Him. “You aren’t much of a Messiah! Come down from there! Save us, too!”

The other criminal scolded his colleague. “You still don’t fear God, do you? We’re hanging here—both of us—receiving punishment we deserve. This man is suffering the same as we are without having done any wrong.” Then he pleaded, “Jesus, remember me when you enter your kingdom.”

Jesus replied, “Oh, I will. Today, you join Me in paradise.”

How could this be? A sinful, evil man utters a simple expression of faith as he is dying for his just punishment, and he gets to go to paradise? New Testament writers, looking back on this event, wrote, “God proved His love for us, sinful, useless people, by sacrificing His Son . . . God put all of our wrongdoings on Him—the One who never did anything wrong—so we could have a right relationship with God . . . He carried our sins to death on that cross, taking sin out of the way so we could live proper lives. He healed us with His wounds. He brought us to God by making sure the payment for sin was cared for; the innocent paying the guilty ones’ punishment.”

At noon, darkness settled over everything until about 3:00 p.m. The sun appeared to burn out. Jesus’ voice could be heard groaning deeply and crying out loudly, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” (“My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me?”)

All this happened on a hill outside the city. In town, many people still went about their normal day. People did their regular feast day preparations and activities. Priests were at work in the temple. A thick curtain hung in the temple prohibiting entrance into the Holy of Holies. The curtain was God’s way of protecting men from certain death—the sentence for a sinful man entering the presence of the Holy God. At this point, that thick, tall curtain tore from top to bottom, ripped into two pieces! The earth seemed to tremble under an oppressive, invisible weight; rocks split in two. Tombs opened up, and many believers, dead and buried, rose from the dead.

Then, Jesus called loudly, “Father, I give You my life!” and breathed no more.

The captain of the guard—everyone there—observed the earthquake and all the events surrounding Jesus’ death. They were amazed. The captain exclaimed, “This must be the Son of God!”

Joseph from the town of Arimathea was a good man with a servant’s heart who lived expectantly, watching for God’s kingdom. Although he was a member of the Sanhedrin, he had not agreed with the council in killing Jesus. Joseph went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. He took Jesus’ body down from the cross, wrapped it in a linen shroud, and buried it in a brand-new tomb carved out of solid rock.

The Sabbath (resting day) was about to begin, so some women who were companions of Jesus noted where the body was placed and went home to prepare spices and perfumes for Jesus’ burial. Then, during the Sabbath, they faithfully rested and waited. They waited until Sunday to treat the body for its final burial.