Just Because: The Story of Salvation for Children (21 page)

sacrifice and a new covenant. Satan was confused. He

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had been planning to kill Jesus, but it seemed Jesus

was planning to die. Satan wanted Jesus to die, but

first he wanted Jesus to sin. He had no idea that Jesus

dying would crush his head and destroy his power,

but he was worried that Jesus seemed to be planning

His own death.

I believe that Satan had a plan. What if he could

get Jesus to refuse to die and sin against His Father

and then kill Him after He sinned? This seemed like

an excellent plan to Satan, because Jesus would no

longer be perfect, and He would be disobeying God.

Satan silently entered Gethsemane. He remembered

another beautiful garden thousands of years before

when he had tempted a perfect man and woman.

Jesus was kneeling in prayer. Perhaps he whispered

something like this.

“You don’t want to die, Jesus. You don’t need

to die. Why should You die for these stupid people?

They deserve to die for their own sins. God can

find another way. There is no need for You to suffer

terrible pain for hours. God can just snap His fingers

and say they are forgiven.”

Satan was lying. He is the father of lies. But his

soft words tempted Jesus and Jesus asked the Father

if there was any other way than for Him to die on the

cross. Then He spoke words that made Satan furious.

He said, “Not My will but Yours, Father.” Jesus was

saying He would do exactly as His Father wanted, no

matter how hard it was for Him. Satan tried to tempt

Him again and again, and each time Jesus would

pray and ask the Father the same thing, but every

time Jesus said He would obey perfectly.

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Satan might have thought Jesus was tempted

because of the pain of the cross, but he was mostly

wrong. Jesus knew He would have great pain, but

worse than this He knew all the sins of every person

ever born would be put onto Him. Jesus had to take

our sins as though He did them Himself, so that we

could be forgiven. He took our sins onto the cross,

and that is why He died. He died the death we should

have died. He is perfect, He never sinned, He hates

sin, but He loves sinners.

Satan knew he had lost. He brought the soldiers,

and through Judas he led them to Gethsemane. Into

the garden they came, heaps of them with clubs and

swords, and with them the chief priests and big shots

from the temple. Then Peter drew his sword to stop

them and chopped off the ear of the high priest’s

servant who was standing there waving a club. But

Jesus grabbed his arm and said, “Peter, put away your

sword. I am not leading an army.” Then He picked up

the ear from the ground and put it back on the guy

again, and it healed up straightaway.

They grabbed Jesus and tied His hands. They

were going to take the disciples, but Jesus told them

to leave them alone. The disciples ran away, afraid

they would be taken as well. They took Jesus to a

place and had a trial, like when a criminal goes to

court. They wanted to find a reason to kill Jesus so

they were asking stupid questions and getting people

to say things that were not true. They wanted Jesus

to claim He was God so they could kill Him. In those

days to say that was not like today when people say

anything they like.

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So the high priest asked Jesus, “Are you God?

The Son of God?”

And Jesus replied that He was. The chief priest

and all of the leaders called Him names and yelled

that He must die. Then they spit on Him, punched

Him in the face and beat Him up. Jesus did not fight

back. He took their hatred and continued to love them.

The Romans were in control of Israel, and only the

Romans could kill a criminal, so the Jewish leaders

knew they would have to get the Roman governor

to sentence Jesus to death. None of these people

knew their evil ideas and plans were known by Jesus

Christ even before He created the world. And none of

them knew He was letting them do this so even they

could one day ask His forgiveness and be saved, Just

Because He wants all people to leave their sins and

to be His disciples, even though most people don’t

want to know Him.

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Chapter 36

k

The next morning the chief priests took Jesus to

the Roman governor whose name was Pontius

Pilate. When Judas saw Jesus coming out of the

temple, with his face covered in blood, he realised

they were going to kill Jesus. Judas felt so guilty

that he killed himself. Jesus would have forgiven

him, because there is no sin too bad for the Lord

to forgive, but Judas let Satan take over his life. As

Jesus was leaving He also saw Peter, and their eyes

met for a moment. Peter had been crying. During

the night people had said they knew he was Jesus’

disciple, and three times Peter had said, “No, I don’t

know Jesus.” And then the rooster had crowed, and

Peter remembered Jesus’ words.

They took Jesus to Pilate and told the Roman

governor that Jesus was a troublemaker who claimed

to be a king.

So Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the king of the

Jews?”

And Jesus replied, “It is as you say.”

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Pilate decided Jesus was just a bit of a dreamer

and not a real criminal. He thought that if Jesus were

whipped this would be enough to change His mind

about being a king. So the soldiers took Jesus out

into a big courtyard, and there they tied Him to a

whipping post. They lifted His arms up above His

head and tied them to the post so that His skin was

tight. Then they brought out the biggest, strongest,

meanest soldier they could find, and in his hand was

a whip called the cat-o’-nine-tails. The whip had nine

long straps of leather on it, and on the straps were

pieces of sharp metal and bone.

So the soldier walked up to Jesus, and bringing

back his hand he slashed the whip across Jesus’

back. The straps wrapped around the Lord’s body

and dug into His skin. Then the soldier twisted the

cat-o’-nine-tails and pul ed with al his might. As

the whip was pul ed from the Lord it took with it

long slices of His skin. The pain was terrible. They

hit Jesus thirty-nine times with the cat-o’-nine-tails.

When they were finished Jesus had almost no skin

left on His back and chest.

Now you would think this would have been

enough. But, no, these soldiers didn’t like Jewish

people, and they were probably thinking, “This guy

thinks He’s a king, does He? A king needs a crown,

so let’s make Him a crown.” One of them put on his

gloves and went to a bush with big long thorns and

made Jesus a crown out of its branches. They pushed

it onto His head, and the thorns dug into Him like

many long needles. Then they found an old sweaty

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horse blanket and threw it over Him and laughed at

Him, saying, “Hail to the king of the Jews.”

Then they began to punch Him. They put their

gloves on, of course, as they didn’t want thorns in

their hands, and when He fell down they kicked Him.

After this they dragged Him to Pilate again. The

Jewish leaders were there, and they told Pilate they

wanted Him to be killed.

“But He has done nothing to deserve to die,” said

Pilate.

“He said He is God,” the Pharisees replied. “And

He claims to be the king of the Jews, but Caesar is

our king.”

Pilate didn’t want to crucify Jesus so he decided to

let the people make a choice. Every year at Passover,

if there were two prisoners, Pilate would let one

prisoner go free. There was another prisoner called

Barabbas, and he was a murderer. Pilate ordered the

people to come to a place where he could speak to a

big crowd. Pilate stood in the center on a high plat-

form, and he had Jesus and Barabbas on each side of

him. Now the Jews had gone around and told people

they must call for Barabbas to be freed, and people

were afraid of them.

Pilate called out to the crowd. “Today you can

choose who may go free. What do you say for

Barabbas?”

“Free him! Free him!” they yelled.

“But he is a murderer, and Jesus has done nothing

wrong,” said Pilate, raising his hand to silence the

crowd.

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“And what should I do with Jesus?” Pilate asked

the people.

“Crucify him! Crucify him!” they yelled.

Again Pilate told them Jesus was not guilty, but

they kept yelling, “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!”

Now Pilate was shocked to hear their decision

and see their hatred for Jesus. He turned to the crowd

and silenced them again.

“I have no part in this killing,” he said. “It is your

responsibility.”

“Yes!” they yelled. “It is our decision. Crucify

him!”

And so they led Him away to be crucified.

They made Him carry His cross on His bleeding

back. They dressed Him in His own robe and told

Him to walk out of the city to the place where they

crucified the prisoners. As He was walking He fell

because the cross was so heavy, and He was weak

from bleeding so much. The soldiers whipped and

kicked Him, yel ing at Him to get up and move, but

He was too injured and weak to carry it any further.

So a man stepped out from the crowd and carried the

cross for him. As Jesus stumbled down the streets

of Jerusalem people on each side watched. Some

yel ed bad things at Him, and some had tears in their

eyes. Some loved Him, and others hated him, just as

it is today.

Satan was watching everything. “At last,” he

thought. “I’ve got Him! God’s only Son. I never

got Him to sin, but who cares? He’ll soon be dead,

and then there’ll be no one to stop me. I’ll wipe out

all memories of Him. No one will even know He is

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God’s Son and that He created me and all the world.

He’s finished.”

But the devil was in for a big shock. He didn’t

realise Jesus would not stay dead. He thought His

body would just rot away to dust like all sinners who

had died up until then. But he was so wrong. Jesus

had a big surprise for him.

When Jesus reached the place called Golgotha

they took off His robe and threw Him on top of the

cross. Then they stretched out His arms and nailed

Him with long metal spikes to the cross. Then they

put one of His feet on top of the other and hammered

a long spike through His feet. They did exactly what

King David had written a thousand years before

in Psalm 22. Then they lifted Him up and dropped

the end of the cross into a hole. The pain was more

than we can ever imagine. Jesus looked down at the

soldiers and the crowd and prayed for them.

“Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what

they are doing.”

Above His head they put a sign which read, “This

is Jesus, the King of the Jews.”

Jesus was crucified with two thieves. One of

them yelled bad things at Him. The other believed in

Him, and Jesus promised him that he was saved from

his sins. All the words Isaiah the prophet wrote about

Jesus came true.

Darkness came in the middle of the day. For the

three hours the Son of God was upon the cross, it

was almost dark. And then God put all the sins of the

world upon His precious Son. Every crime and sin

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people have ever done, and will ever do, was placed

on Jesus.

The Father could not stand anymore to see His

Son, covered in the sins of you and me, and the

Father turned His face away from Jesus. Jesus cried

out, “My God, My God, why have You left me?”

Jesus never cal ed out once when they whipped

and crucified Him, but when He was separated from

His Father it was the worst pain of al . Then Jesus died.

He gave His human spirit into the hands of God.

At that very moment there was a great earthquake,

and people were afraid. And in the great temple the

curtain that hid the Most Secret Place was torn apart.

God would no longer live in that temple, because the

old way was finished and the new way had come.

Satan thought he had won a great victory, but he

was wrong. Satan had only two days, and then the

mighty Son of God would rise from death and crush

his head. And now the way to heaven had been made.

Now the perfect man had taken the punishment for

every person’s sins. Those who trust in Him as their

Lord and Saviour will be saved and live forever with

Him in heaven. But those who refuse will feel the

pain Jesus felt when He was separated from God on

the cross, Just Because there is no place in heaven for