The Story of Kings

The Story of Kings

Acknowledgements

To be clear, “Kings” refers to God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit (The Holy Trinity) as they are one in the same. The events described in the story are partly true and partly an imagined account of what was going on at the time. The story is based on the following passages of The Bible: Matthew 26:17 - 27:56, Mark 14:12 - 15:41, Luke 22:1 - 23:49, and John 16:29 - 19:37. Parts were also taken from the movie The Passion of the Christ.



The Story of Kings

Jesus sat at a table talking with his disciples. They had finally understood the divinity of the man they had been following, watching, and learning from for so long. Now that the disciples finally believed, Jesus decided to talk to His Father through three prayers. He first prayed for Himself, then for His disciples, and finally for all who believed in Him.

When He finished praying, Jesus went to an olive grove across the valley that they called Gethsemane, accompanied by His disciples. Judas was the only disciple who hadn’t joined the group. Judas went to Jerusalem to tell chief priests and others that wanted Jesus dead where to find Him in exchange for 30 silver coins. When Judas led a small group of soldiers to Gethsemane to retrieve Jesus, He kissed His cheek to show that He was the one they had come for. Jesus knew exactly what was about to happen but instead of arguing for Himself, He urged that the men leave the disciples unharmed. When Peter realized what was happening, he drew his sword and lunged for the soldier nearest him. In an attempt to evade Peter’s attack, the soldier’s ear came into the blade’s path. The soldier dropped to his knees, eyes tightly clenched shut, screaming in pain as blood spouting from the side of his head added to the distress of the very loud, very clear high-pitched ringing that was emanating through his brain.

Jesus, with a deep and powerful voice, quickly told Peter to sheath his sword. As Peter did so, Jesus picked up the soldier’s ear from where it had fallen to the ground. When He placed the ear against the soldier’s head, the pain and the ringing instantly ceased. The soldier opened his eyes to see the very person he had come to arrest showing him compassion and kindness. He slowly reached for the side of his head with his hand and jumped when he felt that it had been reconnected. He looked at his hand was shocked to not see blood or dirt. He looked up at Jesus in amazement and wonder. When their eyes met, questions started running through his mind. What just happened? Why has this man healed me? How did he even do it? Is this even real? Questions plagued his mind but none were able to make their way to his mouth. Instead, he stared at Jesus in bewilderment with his mouth agape.

He was paralyzed with emotion and a realization that was slowly making itself known. This man who his master wanted dead and who he had come to arrest and take to be executed was no ordinary person. No, this man was the light that fills the world and the water that all things depend on. This man was the Son of God. As Jesus allowed Himself to be taken away by the other soldiers, the soldier that He healed stared at the space previously occupied by Jesus as if waiting to be woken from some mid-night dream. His world had been going left but had suddenly swerved right and though he wasn’t quite sure how to feel about that, he certainly knew that he wasn’t mad about it.

As they walked back towards Jerusalem, the soldiers antagonized Jesus, hitting him and taunting him. By the time they arrived at the high priest and handed Him over, Jesus’ eye was swollen shut, his nose was bloody and his cheek-bone was broken. When they brought Jesus before the high priest, the priest tried to question Him but when Jesus told the priest to ask the people He had taught in synagogues or at the temple, the priest slapped Jesus’ broken cheek sending the feeling of shards of glass racing through his face. While the high priest was questioning Jesus, someone in the crowd asked Peter if he knew Jesus. Peter denied it and made his way toward the entrance of the courtyard where people were gathering to see the priest’s verdict concerning Jesus. On his way there, two more people asked and accused Peter of association with Jesus. These questions were drawing attention from the crowd so Peter loudly denied them, cursing as he exited.

When the chief priest brought Jesus out in front of the crowd and announced that they decided to put Him to death, Judas was overcome by remorse. He pleaded with the priests to take back the money they had given to him, but they sternly refused. Judas threw the silver coins at the priest and ran out of the city. His eyes were filled with tears and his heart was filled with pain, anger, and regret as he ran out of the courtyard and headed outside the city. He hated himself so much that he couldn’t bear being alive anymore. Judas threw a rope over it and hanged himself. The sun was a deep orange as it slowly ascended from the horizon.

The priests turned Jesus over to the governor, Pilate, along with their verdict. It was a custom for Pilate to release one prisoner back to the public around the time of the Jewish Passover so he presented the crowd with two choices. Option one was Jesus. Option two was a well-known murderer and public enemy named Barabbas. The priests immediately yelled for Barabbas to be released and crowd followed suit. Barabbas was surprised by the decision and was overjoyed as he made his way out of the courtyard. When Pilate asked what they would have him do with Jesus, the priests and crowd all shouted for Him to be crucified. Instead, Pilate had Jesus flogged.

The flogging began within minutes. Three men whipped Him with a cat-o-nine tails countless times. Barbs latched onto His skin and took pieces of flesh and blood with them as they were ruthlessly yanked out. The pain felt like thousands of knives and needles stabbing and raking across His back. When Jesus’ back was decorated in red gashes, the men turned Him over and repeated the process. Barbs sharply impacted His skull and cheeks. The side of his neck burned as sweat dripped into the fresh wounds. His ribs were screaming agony as their skin left them and they were exposed to the open air. No part of Jesus’ body was spared from the wrath of the barbs. When the flogging was finished, Jesus was dragged to a holding cell, leaking blood from every part of Him. There the soldiers again taunted Him, forcing a makeshift crown of thorns on his already bleeding head, spitting on Him, and placing a purple robe around Him before mockingly hailing Him as “King of the Jews.” The thorns dug into His skin and scraped against His skull but Jesus was already too worn out to react to this pain. When they were finished, they led Him to Pilate who again asked the crowd what they would have him do with Jesus. Again, the crowd yelled for a crucifixion, so Pilate finally handed Jesus over to be crucified.

They forced Jesus to carry the cross He was to be crucified on to Golgotha where He was to be crucified along with two other criminals. The cross was made completely of wood and was easily twice His size. He struggled to carry the cross, letting the end drag on the ground and dropping it several times and being struck or whipped as a consequence. When Jesus could no longer pick the cross up under his own strength, the soldiers chose a man from the many bystanders named Simon who was on his way back to town from the country and made him help Jesus carry the heavy wooden cross. When the spikes pierced His hands, Jesus’ arms went numb. When the soldiers drove a spike through his feet, tears of pain began streaming from His eyes as His flesh was torn and His veins were severed. Before the cross was stood up, and a sign was nailed above His head that read: “Jesus, King of the Jews.”

Clouds blocked out the sun, casting a darkness over Golgotha and Jerusalem for three hours. The wind was starting to pick up when Jesus looked toward Heaven and cried out to God asking why God had forsaken Him. An indescribable weight of sin was crashing down on Jesus. His human side cried because of the pain His body was being put through. His Godly side wept under the weight of the sin He carried for those that He loved so much even though they refused to acknowledge Him. His mother and Mary Magdalene wept at the foot of the cross. This was the last thing they ever wanted to happen to their beloved savior. For them, no pain could be greater.

As Jesus dropped his head, He said His last three words. As the words “it is finished” passed over his lips, a very deep, very powerful calm settled itself over Jesus as He felt the life in His limited human body coming to an end. The pain fled His body when a hole opened in the clouds and God called Jesus’ spirit back to Heaven. As Jesus exhaled His final breath, a single drop of sweat fell from His chin. When the drop of sweat impacted the ground, the earth immediately began shaking and the “holy” cloth at the temple in Jerusalem tore in two. Rocks split in two and buildings fell to rubble as Jesus’ soul returned to the Father. He had payed the ultimate price for those that loved Him and those that scorned and hated Him. So would be the legacy of the Son of God, the one who gave himself so that we might join Him and His Father in Heaven. So would be the legacy of the Christ.
 
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