Jesus knew His time on earth was coming to an end. He had come for a mission: to save humanity from sin. And now the moment had come to complete that mission.

On the night before He died, Jesus was with His disciples celebrating the Jewish Passover. It was on this night that He instituted something new and wonderful: the Eucharist.

Jesus took bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to the disciples, saying:

Then He took the cup of wine and said:

Jesus was saying that His body would be given and His blood poured out - He was going to die for us!

After supper, Jesus went with the disciples to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray. He knew what was about to happen and was in anguish.

Jesus prayed to the Father:

Jesus didn't want to suffer - He was human and felt fear and anguish like us. But He chose to obey the Father, no matter the cost.

The anguish was so great that His sweat became like drops of blood falling to the ground.

The disciples, exhausted, slept. Jesus was alone in His agony, praying.

While Jesus was still praying, Judas Iscariot arrived - one of the twelve disciples! - bringing a crowd with swords and clubs.

Judas had betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of silver. He had arranged a signal with the soldiers: "The one I will kiss is the man. Seize him!"

Judas approached Jesus and said, "Greetings, Rabbi!" And he kissed Him.

A kiss of betrayal! How sad!

Jesus said to him, "Judas, would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?"

Then they arrested Jesus. Peter tried to defend Him with a sword, but Jesus said, "No more of this! Put away the sword!"

Jesus didn't want violence. He gave Himself up voluntarily.

They took Jesus first to Annas, then to Caiaphas, the high priest. There they accused Him falsely.

Caiaphas asked, "Are you the Christ, the Son of God?"

Jesus answered, "You have said so. I am!"

Caiaphas tore his robes and shouted, "Blasphemy! Why do we still need witnesses?"

They condemned Jesus to death for telling the truth - that He was the Son of God!

They spat on Him, struck Him, mocked Him. Jesus, the Son of God, was humiliated and mistreated.

Meanwhile, Peter - who had said he would never deny Jesus - denied knowing Him three times, out of fear. Afterward, when he realized what he had done, he wept bitterly.

In the morning, they took Jesus to Pilate, the Roman governor, because only the Romans could execute someone.

Pilate interrogated Jesus but found no crime. He told the crowd, "I find no guilt in him!"

But the religious leaders incited the crowd to shout, "Crucify him! Crucify him!"

Pilate tried to release Jesus, but the crowd refused. Fearing a riot, Pilate had Jesus flogged and then handed Him over to be crucified.

The soldiers mocked Jesus. They put a purple robe on Him and a crown of thorns. They struck Him and said, "Hail, King of the Jews!"

They made Jesus carry His own cross to a place called Golgotha (which means "place of the skull").

Jesus, already weakened by the flogging, fell under the weight of the cross. The soldiers forced a man named Simon of Cyrene to help Him carry the cross.

Women of Jerusalem wept for Jesus. He turned and said, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children!"

Finally they arrived at Golgotha. There they crucified Jesus between two thieves - one on each side.

As they nailed Jesus to the cross, He prayed:

Even dying in such a terrible way, Jesus prayed for those who killed Him! What extraordinary love!

On the cross, they placed a sign above Jesus' head: "JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS."

People passing by mocked Him: "He saved others; he cannot save himself!"

One of the thieves also mocked, but the other defended Jesus and said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom!"

Jesus answered:

Even on the cross, Jesus was saving people!

Near the cross stood Mary, Jesus' mother, and John, the disciple Jesus loved. Jesus said to Mary, "Woman, behold, your son!" And to John, "Behold, your mother!" He was caring for His mother to the end.

From noon until three in the afternoon, darkness came over all the land. The sun was darkened, as if nature itself was in mourning.

About three o'clock, Jesus cried out in a loud voice:

Jesus was experiencing the total separation from God that our sins deserve. He was taking our place!

Then He said, "I thirst!" They gave Him vinegar.

Then Jesus said, "It is finished!" - His mission was complete!

And finally, with a loud voice, He cried:

And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit. Jesus died.

At that moment, the veil of the Temple - the thick curtain that separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies - was torn in two from top to bottom! Now the way to God was open for everyone!

There was an earthquake. The rocks split. Tombs opened.

The Roman centurion guarding the cross, seeing all this, exclaimed:

A good man named Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for Jesus' body. With Nicodemus, they took Jesus down from the cross, wrapped His body in linen cloths with aromatic spices, and placed Him in a new tomb, cut in the rock.

Then they rolled a large stone across the entrance of the tomb.

There lay Jesus' body. Dead. In the tomb. Everything seemed to be over.

The disciples were desperate. Their Master was dead. All their hopes seemed to have died with Him.

But this was not the end of the story...

The crucifixion of Jesus is the saddest but also the most important story. Jesus loved the world so much that He gave Himself to save us. He could have come down from the cross, but He didn't - because He loved us too much to leave us lost in sin.