King of the Jews

The inscription on Jesus' cross read, "JESUS OF NAZARETH, KING OF THE JEWS" in Greek, Latin and Hebrew. It was one of the darkest days, both literally and figuratively, in history, as Christ gave His life to save us.

King of the Jews
Steven Sauke
Illustration

I made this a few years ago to commemorate Good Friday. I put the text of the inscription in Latin, Greek and English for the purposes of this graphic. Jesus was crucified between two thieves on Golgotha, the Place of the Skull. The sky turned dark in the afternoon.

When we lived in the Philippines, it was normal for people to be crucified on Good Friday every year, through a misunderstanding of the point of Christ's sacrifice. Most of the time, they nailed a sign to the cross that read "INRI" — an acronym for Iesus Nazarenus, Rex Iudaeorum, Latin for "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews."

Thankfully, His death was not the end of the story. I made some adjustments to this illustration for Easter. That version is coming soon!

Holy Week in the Philippines

 c. AD 30, Jerusalem

• On Sunday, Jesus rode into Jerusalem triumphantly, sitting astride a donkey in fulfillment of Zechariah 9:9: "Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey." People laid down palm branches and coats in His path. The Pharisees tried to silence them, but failed, and Jesus defended them. He then wept over the sad state of affairs in Jerusalem.
• On Wednesday, Judas Iscariot made a deal with the chief priests to betray Jesus for 30 pieces of silver.
• On Thursday, Jesus and His disciples held their Passover feast in an upper room, which Christians still remember today when they take communion. Judas left the feast to betray Jesus. They then left and proceeded to the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus went aside to pray. Judas arrived with a crowd, and Peter resorted to violence, which Jesus healed and told him to put his sword away. The disciples fled as Jesus was arrested and taken to trial. During the trial, Peter denied 3 times that he knew Jesus, and when the cock crowed, he realized what he had done and wept. Maundy Thursday was an eventful and very emotional day and night.
• On Friday, having been beaten horribly and made to wear a thorny crown, Jesus was forced to carry a cross down the Via Dolorosa (Way of Suffering) in Jerusalem. When it became too much, the Roman authorities made Simon, a man from Cyrene, Libya, carry it for Him. When they reached the top of Golgotha, or Skull Hill, they crucified Jesus with two thieves. The sky grew dark as many viewers mocked Jesus. One of the thieves joined in the mocking, but the other one got after him for it. Jesus told the latter thief that he would see him in paradise. Jesus entrusted His mother Mary to the care of His disciple John. He wondered aloud why God had abandoned Him. After being given a drink, He declared things finished, and entrusted His spirit to God. As the Sabbath was approaching, the Jews quickly brought His dead body down from the cross and buried it in a tomb that belonged to Joseph of Arimathea. Burial spices would have to wait until after the Sabbath.
• On Saturday, Jesus' devastated followers observed Shabbat and grieved the loss of the man who had changed their lives.
• Early Sunday morning, several women brought burial spices to the grave, and wondered who would move the heavy stone away. Imagine their surprise when they arrived to discover that the stone was already rolled away! The tomb was empty, except for grave wrappings! The women were afraid, bewildered and confused. They ran to get Peter and John, who returned to the tomb and found the empty tomb and grave clothes. Peter and John returned home, but Mary Magdalene hung around. She looked in the tomb again and was shocked to discover two angels sitting there! They wondered why she was crying, and she told them someone had taken Jesus' body away. She then turned around and saw someone else that she didn't recognize, who also asked why she was crying. She asked this person if he knew where the body was. When the stranger said, "Mary," she recognized Him as Jesus! He told her to go tell the disciples, which she did. That evening, the disciples (except for Thomas and the now-late Judas) were having dinner, and Jesus appeared to them. Thomas didn't believe them when they told him. Jesus appeared to Thomas a week later. (Note: Most of this is from John's account of the Resurrection in John 20. Other Gospel writers also mention that the angel(s) asked the women why they were looking for the living among the dead.)

Magellan's Cross in Cebu, Philippines
Photo by Allan Jay Quesada
CC BY-SA 4.0 license

AD 1521, Cebu and Mactan Islands, Philippines

• In his "ongoing mission to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before"* while circumnavigating the globe, Portuguese/Spanish explorer Ferdinand Magellan landed on an island in the middle of an archipelago in the Pacific. The island would eventually become known as Cebu. He brought the Roman Catholic faith to the islands, and spent some time there. He presented Santo Niño, the Holy Child, a statue of the child Jesus, to the local king Rajah Humabon and his wife Queen Humamay.
• In an attempt to help the people of Cebu, he travelled to the nearby island of Mactan, where he and his men were attacked by the tribe led by the local chieftain Lapu Lapu. In the ensuing Battle of Mactan, Magellan's journey ended at the end of a spear. His crew would return to Spain, among the first to circumnavigate the globe. Lapu Lapu is still regarded as a Philippine hero, for defeating foreign colonists.
• Though the people of Mactan did not convert, many in Cebu did. However, they did not entirely abandon their earlier animistic beliefs. Animists believe that everything, including inanimate objects, has a soul. There are good and evil spirits. Evil spirits must be scared away with talismans and by other means. Combine that with the Christian concepts of angels and demons, and you get some interesting, if unusual, customs.

Growing up in the Philippines in the 1980s, I saw what Philippine Catholics did and assumed that was typical of all Catholics. I would not learn until later that some of their customs are unique to the Philippines. While I don't think this is a comprehensive list of their customs, what follows is my recollections from childhood. Please note, by explaining this, I mean no disrespect to the Catholic Church or anyone else. While it saddens me that people feel the need to do all this, and it misses the point of Christ's sacrifice, it takes a lot of devotion.

Palm Sunday

Philippine Catholic devotees make a pilgrimage to the local church. Traffic is completely blocked by a sea of people all heading to get their palm branches blessed by the local priest. Some carry Catholic statues and other objects. Once their palm branches have been blessed, they return home and post them on their door. For a few days, there is a green branch on the door. As it dies, it turns brown, but remains on the door until next Palm Sunday. This is supposed to protect the house by warding off evil spirits throughout the year. It was common to see palm branches on people's doors.

Good Friday

This is a very disturbing day. In the hottest part of the year, just north of the equator, penitent flagellants beat themselves with whips, often laced with shards of glass or other sharp objects. They parade down the streets in a reenactment of Christ's walk down the Via Dolorosa. It is part theatre, but part real. The blood is real. The pain is real. The heatstroke is real. While we did not participate, I did nearly faint from the heat once, just watching. Many believe they must do this to be forgiven of their sins, and some do it for other reasons. People dressed as Roman soldiers are everywhere. A person dressed as Jesus (usually a man, but not always) carries a cross down the street, sometimes accompanied by people playing the thieves. When they get to the site of the crucifixion, the people carrying crosses are nailed to them (sometimes literally, sometimes in such a way that it just looks like it from a distance, sometimes just tied, sometimes both tied and nailed). They hang on the crosses just long enough to reenact the crucifixion, and then they are taken down and rushed to the hospital.

The Catholic Church officially frowns on this tradition, but has done little to stop it, as far as I am aware.

Crucifixion in San Fernando City,
Pampanga province, Philippines
April 19, 2019
Reuters/Eloisa Lopez

Black Saturday

Many people believe Jesus is literally dead every year on Black Saturday. They generally try not to take risks, as Jesus may not be available to help out. This coming Saturday, my post will go into more detail on a specific Black Saturday that I remember well, when something happened that caused a mother to be upset that her daughter chose to travel that day.

Easter

Everything is back to normal. Our Protestant church held sunrise services every Easter, where we would meet earlier than normal outside and worship as the sun came up. When I was young, I questioned whether Catholics believed in the Resurrection, as I did not see much out of the ordinary on that day. But on further reflection, if they are willing to do things, and trust that God is there to help them, they clearly do believe that Christ rose from the dead.

As I have grown older, I have learned that the Philippine brand of Roman Catholicism, some of which is even frowned on by the Philippine Catholic Church, is not typical. Some call it Folk Catholicism. I have come to respect many of my Catholic brothers and sisters in Christ, and I have learned a lot about their faith. In this world that is so sharply divided, I think we need to come together and learn from each other. We need to hold fast to our beliefs, but we also need to listen to others, and we can agree to disagree on many of the details. So much pain and death could have been avoided in the Middle Ages if Catholics and Protestants (or Christians and Muslims) had just listened to each other! They might have realized they agreed on more than they knew.

* The quote referring to Magellan is from Star Trek, not anything to do with Magellan...but it seemed appropriate here.

Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_Magellan

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Philippines

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santo_Ni%C3%B1o_de_Ceb%C3%BA

The Fall and Rise of Jesus

Jesus had entered Jerusalem on a colt, and the people had welcomed Him with loud shouts of “Hosanna!” That was now four days ago. It was Thursday evening, and the Passover meal was all set out. Lamb, bitter herbs, vegetables, unleavened bread, wine, and more. When Jesus and His disciples were almost done eating, He broke the bread and passed it around. Then He passed the wine around. He told His disciples that the bread was like His body that was about to be broken, and the wine was like His blood. They were to remember Him as they ate the bread and drank the wine.

At this time, Jesus had some shocking news for His disciples. He said, “One of you is about to betray me!” They couldn’t believe it! Everyone wanted to know who. Jesus said to His friend Judas, “Go and do what you have to do.” Judas left, but the others thought he was just off on an errand.

As the evening went on, Jesus continued to teach His disciples. Peter promised that he would be willing to do anything for Jesus, even die. Jesus replied, “You sure about that? Before the rooster crows, you’re gonna tell people three times that you don’t even know me!” Peter was shocked. He didn’t think he would ever do that!

When they were done with their meal and their lesson, they left the house and went to the Garden of Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives. Jesus took Peter, James and John and went to another part of the garden. He told them to watch and pray, while he went off to do some praying of His own. He prayed, “Papa, if it’s all the same to You, I’d really love it if You could change what is about to happen. I can’t bear to think about it! But I know that what You want is more important than what I want, so what You say goes.” Jesus prayed some more, and then He got up and went back to the disciples, who were asleep. “What are you doing?!” He asked them. “I told you to watch and pray! You need to pray that you won’t be tempted!”

While He was still talking to them, a crowd arrived with torches and soldiers, led by Judas! So he hadn’t been on an errand! Judas had arranged a signal with the priests and soldiers, and he walked right up to Jesus and gave Him a kiss on the cheek. That was a way friends greeted each other in that culture. “You’ve got to be kidding me, Judas,” Jesus said. “You’re betraying me with a kiss?”

So the crowd led Jesus away, and the rest of the disciples ran away. But Peter doubled back and kept his distance while he followed the crowd. He didn’t want to be caught, but he could tell Jesus was in trouble. So he tracked them to the chief priest’s house. In the chief priest’s courtyard, Peter found a bonfire and sat with the people who were sitting around it keeping warm. A servant girl saw him and said, “Hey, that guy was with Jesus!”

“Who?” Peter said. “Don’t know him.”

A few minutes later, someone else recognized Peter and said, “You’re one of Jesus’ disciples.”

“Nope!” Peter said.

Another hour went by. Someone else commented, “This guy has a Galilean accent. He must have been with Jesus!”

“What are you even talking about?” Peter replied. “That’s ridic—“ And he heard it.  Rr-r-r-r-rrr!!

Jesus looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered what Jesus had said: “Before the rooster crows, you’re gonna tell people three times that you don’t even know me!” Peter ran outside and cried. He was so ashamed that he had lied!

By this time, it was Friday morning, and the trial began. After asking Jesus some questions, the priests dragged Him before Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea. Pilate couldn’t find anything to charge Jesus with, but the people insisted He was a public nuisance and was making wild claims of being the Son of God. When he found out that Jesus was from Galilee, he said, “Well, that’s Herod’s territory! Take Him to Herod!” But when Herod asked Jesus questions, Jesus wouldn’t answer. The priests were accusing Jesus of claiming to be the King of the Jews, so Herod started making fun of Him. He put a robe on Jesus and sent Him back to Pilate. But Pilate didn’t want to punish someone who had done nothing wrong! But the crowd kept pressing him. He started to get worried that this would become a riot, and that could really get him in trouble with the Roman authorities. Pilate was really torn on what to do. Should he punish an innocent man to make a bunch of people happy, or should he let Him go, and maybe lose his job because he allowed a riot to happen? “What do you want me to do with him?” Pilate asked the crowd. They replied, “CRUCIFY HIM!” So finally, Pilate gave in and let them do it.

The soldiers forced a guy named Simon to carry Jesus’ cross up the hill. Along with two criminals carrying their own crosses, and a whole crowd following them, Jesus and Simon walked to the top of the hill. Jesus had been beaten pretty bad by this point, and the Romans had made a thorny crown for Him to wear. When they reached the top, the soldiers nailed Jesus and the two criminals to their crosses, and they and the priests said some horrible things to make fun of Him. It was the worst kind of bullying. But Jesus prayed. “Papa, forgive them! They have no idea what they’re doing!”

Now it was about noon on Friday, and it got really dark. As 3 PM came along, Jesus cried out, “It’s done!” Then He prayed, “Father, take my spirit.” And He died.

The centurion who was guarding Jesus’ cross commented, “Wow! This was a good man.”

Jesus’ friends and His mom were watching. While he was on the cross, he had told his disciple John to take care of Mary. Now, His friends took Him down from the cross, and a man named Joseph from the town of Arimathea offered to bury Him. By this time, it was light again, but the sunset was coming soon, and Saturday was the Sabbath. They weren’t allowed to work on Saturday, so they had to work quickly to get Jesus buried before sundown. Several women who were followers of Jesus followed Joseph to the tomb, and then they hurried home to prepare the spices to preserve Jesus’ body. But they had to stop work when the sun set because of the Sabbath.

Early Sunday morning, once the Sabbath was over, the women got up and took the spices they had prepared to the tomb. While they were on their way, they were discussing the biggest challenge to this trip. There was a big heavy stone in front of the tomb! How were they going to get it out of the way?

So they got to the tomb and discovered their first shock. Somebody had already rolled it away! They went into the cave and found their second shock. There were some empty grave clothes, but Jesus wasn’t there! Then suddenly, the cave filled with light, and there were two men wearing brilliant clothes standing with them! The women were so stunned and scared that they bowed down and looked at the ground. What happened next shocked them even more. The men said, “What are you doing looking for the living among the dead? Jesus isn’t here! He has risen!”

The women hurried back to the disciples and told them. This was a lot to take in, and neither the women nor the disciples knew what to think about it. Peter and John went back to the tomb with them. John saw the grave clothes and believed, but Peter left wondering what in the world had happened.

So Mary Magdalene was left standing outside the tomb crying. She had a feeling someone must have moved the body, and this must be some kind of cruel prank. She saw the angels again, and they asked her why she was crying. She replied, “They’ve taken my Lord away, and I don’t know where they’ve put Him!” Then she turned around and saw another man. She didn’t recognize this guy and decided he must be the gardener. This new man asked her, “Why are you crying? Who are you looking for?”

She replied, “Sir, if you took him, can you tell me where you put him so I can go get him?”

Then he replied, “Mary.”

She had been crying so hard she couldn’t see straight through her tears. She looked at Him again and recognized Jesus! “Teacher!” she cried. She was so excited that she ran and told the disciples what she had seen with her own eyes!