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•1一到早晨，祭司长和长老、文士、全公会的人大家商议，就把耶稣捆绑解去，交给彼拉多。2彼拉多问他说：“你是犹太人的王吗？”耶稣回答说：“你说的是。”3祭司长告他许多的事。4彼拉多又问他说：“你看，他们告你这么多的事，你什么都不回答吗？”5耶稣仍不回答，以致彼拉多觉得希奇。

马可在这里简略记载了耶稣受到的审讯。实际上耶稣一共受到了6次审讯。他是在周四深夜在客西马尼园被捕的。然后他被短暂地带到亚那那里，这是第一次审讯，亚那是退休的大祭司，但仍有权力。第二次是他被带到大祭司该亚法那里受审，这审判是不合法的，因为审判是在黑夜里进行的。第三次，周五清早，太阳出来以后，犹太公会又召集会议，再审一次。第四次，他们耶稣带到彼拉多那里，彼拉多找不出什么罪，又送他去希律那里受审，这是第五次；然后希律又把他送回来见本丢彼拉多，经历第6次审判。在这六次审判的过程中，耶稣被士兵无情地殴打和鞭打。这一切都发生在早上九点他被钉十字架之前。你能想象当耶稣站在彼拉多面前时，他是多么疲惫和虚弱吗?然而，耶稣仍然在掌管一切。站在彼拉多面前的不是罗马帝国的王，而是万王之王。

以前我服侍的教会，我们在受难日晚上举行特别崇拜，蜡烛一个接一个地熄灭，最后只有复活的蜡烛亮着，为教堂提供昏暗的光线。我们会诵读耶稣在十字架上所说的话，并生动地描述了耶稣在十字架上所发生的事情，以及他死时所遭受的痛苦。我们默默地离开教堂，默想耶稣为我们遭受了多么可怕的苦难。但是复活的蜡烛的微光把复活节的喜乐留在了我们的心里。

我们应该仔细考虑这些事情。我们应该思考万王之王是如何被一个败坏的体系和一个败坏的统治者定罪的，这样上帝就可以因耶稣的缘故赦免我们的罪。我们应该思考这些事情，这样我们就不会认为任何罪都是“小事”或“愚蠢的错误”。我们应该思考这些事情，以便我们可以“明白基督的爱是何等长阔高深”(以弗所书3:18)。我们之所以称它为“受难日”，是因为耶稣的苦难给我们带来了祝福，我们已经被他的血所救赎、恢复和赦免。

祈祷:主耶稣啊，我祈祷你的十字架永远不会远离我的心思意念，因为只有在你神圣的受难中，我才能找到盼望和平安。阿们。

Mark 15: Very early in the morning, the chief priests, with the elders, the teachers of the law and the whole Sanhedrin, made their plans. So they bound Jesus, led him away and handed him over to Pilate. ² “Are you the king of the Jews?” asked Pilate. “You have said so,” Jesus replied. ³ The chief priests accused him of many things. ⁴ So again Pilate asked him, “Aren’t you going to answer? See how many things they are accusing you of.”  ⁵ But Jesus still made no reply, and Pilate was amazed. (NIV)

Mark summarizes the trials of Jesus. There were actually six trials. He was arrested late at night in the Garden of Gethsemane. Then he was taken, probably briefly, to Annas, who was the retired high priest, but who still had power. Then he was tried by Caiaphas, a trial that was not legal because it was conducted in the hours of darkness. The Sanhedrin reconvened early in the morning, after sunrise, to try him again. Then he was dragged to Pontius Pilate, who sent him to Herod, who sent him back to Pontius Pilate. Between these six trials, Jesus was beaten and scourged ruthlessly by the soldiers. All this happened before 9:00 AM when he was crucified. Can you imagine how tired and weak Jesus must have been when he stood before Pilate? Yet there is no doubt who was in charge. It was not the Roman governor, but the King of kings who stood before him.

In the church that I served, we observed Good Friday with a Tenebrae Service, in which candles were extinguished one by one, until only the Resurrection Candle provided dim light in the church. We read the words of Jesus from the cross, along with a vivid description of what happened to Jesus leading up to the cross along with the pain he suffered as he died. We left the church in silence to contemplate what terrible things Jesus suffered for us. The dim light of the resurrection candle kept the joy of Easter in the back of our minds.

We ought to ponder these things. We should ponder how the King of kings was condemned by a corrupt system and a corrupt governor so that God might, for Jesus’ sake, pardon our sins. We should ponder these things so that we never think that any sin is a “little thing” or a “silly mistake” on our part. We should ponder these things so that we might “grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ” (Ephesians 3:18).  The reason we call it “Good” Friday is because of the blessing that Jesus’ suffering has had on us, who have been redeemed, restored, and forgiven by his blood.

Prayer:  Lord Jesus, I pray that your cross will never be far from my mind or my heart, because only in your holy passion will I find hope and peace. Amen.