What Jesus’ Last Hours Were Like

High on that hill of Golgotha, on Calvary,

Built on the garbage dump of the city,

The Christ, Savior of Sinners, everywhere,

Hung upon the cross.

Between two sinners, guilty

Of their crimes, Jesus wept.

One mocked him, saying, “Save yourself and us, too!

Where is that band

Of angels, son of Man?”

The other one told that one off, and said,

“This man has done no wrong.

He has chosen to die, so we all could live.

Soon, to go to heaven, away

With the wind, he will be swept;

So bother him not; just leave him alone;

I believe in him.”

Jesus had been put on trial,

After being betrayed

By one of his own disciples;

He had been ridiculed and

Beaten by a cat of nine tails or a scourge;

Thirty nine bloody , fiery stripes he bore;

Yes, for us, the straps of that beating, he gladly wore.

Bleeding, dirty, spat on and cursed by others,

By members of his own people, the Jews,

They turned away

And refused to accept him as the Messiah;

Never once did he grumble or say ‘please, no more’

He said instead; “Father, do as you will.

I am yours; I know sin is real,

And it takes a greater sacrifice

To give solace to the hopeless.”

As the crowds gathered around,

Jesus saw his mother on the ground,

And John the disciple stood beside her.

He called out to John, “She is your mother”

And ever after she lived in the house of John the disciple.

But as the hour grew later into the afternoon

He would hang there for us all, taking on our sins, he’d die,

And then his body; they would take it down.

A darkness gathered crouching over all, for the time

Was close upon the son of man;

Wind blew and the lightning flashed.

Night fell heavy in the afternoon.

Soldiers had taken his clothes; they had drawn lots.

Another had given him sour wine or vinegar for his drink.

Not a bit of mercy given him; not a bit of rest was his to wink.

They pierced his sides and let his holy blood flow.

They had mocked and placed a crown of thorns; oh woe.

People held their noses and carried on about the ‘ungodly stink;’

It hung in the air; a miasma of the worst smells sins can reek;

Oh, the ones who hated him, they looked on him with fear; this meek,

Mild, humble, man of peace whose one unshakable faith was his strength:

“No man shall see the Father, except he comes through me.”

In the last hour, Jesus called out, “Father, I am ready; call unto me.”

Even then, the mockers cried out, “No other has smelled so foul;

How is this a man of God? What a stink; he stinks with such horrid body odor;

Even the leper, whom this man healed, never smelled so bad as this!”

Staring at the man on the cross; dirty, bloody, beaten and abused;

His bladder and bowels had emptied their contents, soiling his bare legs;

They spat at him; they threw rocks, insulted him more,

Before they turned and walked away, and Jesus watched them go.

He said, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”

On the ninth hour, the breath went out of Jesus,

And an ABSOLUTE darkness fell over the land.

He died to save us all; yes, every last one of us he offered his hand.

An earthquake split wide the rocks on the hillside cemetery.

God changed the face of the Earth for a short time.

From the cemetery the dead awoke, and

The saints walked home to their families.

A rich man agreed that Jesus would be buried in his tomb;

His body was taken down and washed and bound with the shroud;

And to the tomb it was moved as quietly as it could be done.

It was on a Friday; would he rise again the third day?

His betrayer, having remorse, tried to give back the 30 pieces of silver;

But the men would not hear of it and distraught Judas went away.

He had thrown down the blood money earned with a kiss;

And hearing the fate of Jesus, Judas killed himself, upon a Judas tree.

The money, as the prophets said long before,

Was used to make a potter’s field

For those who had nothing; a sign that

For all, one day, Jesus would yield

A place to be buried to those who had nothing.

Giving them a place to rest until the call to rise again would come,

When Gabriel would blow his horn on Judgment day

Jesus rose three days later, yes, I believe.

The first he met was Mary Magdalene,

And he forbade her to touch him; for he

Had not yet been to the Father;

He was still unclean from the days in the underworld;

Some call it purgatory; she must not touch him.

Did she hold her nose? For her lord gave off a mighty stink;

Not just of the grave but the lingering sins of the world,

Which his resurrection put to an end, and life regained its sweetness.

Not to say he was corrupt; his body was whole;

But he had been to the land of the dead

And he surfaced as a victor over death.

To the disciples remaining,

He showed the nail holes in his feet and in his hands.

He told them that he died so he could save man.

One disciple, Thomas, had to be given proof

that it was Jesus, their master and teacher.

“Thomas, do you not know your Lord?

It is I who stands before you.”

Holding out his scarred hands

Thomas knew it was true;

“The lord Jesus had risen!”

Soon he would go to Heaven to be

With his Father;

For his sacrifice to conquer sin

Has been filled;

And many centuries have passed by.

Two thousand years have gone by,

And I know, in my heart, that Jesus is still here.

Here, we find, all these many years later,

The Lord is our Savior.

You know he is there.

Open your heart and

Let him be the best friend you’ll ever have.

But as you go through your days

Remember all the ways,

Acknowledging Jesus Christ is the only way

You will see Heaven.

Think of the love for us Jesus has, he loves us;

He knew us every one; and knew it must be

 And he felt it was worth

All the suffering; Jesus is the Shepherd and he loves his flock.

Yes, he suffered for us, and aren’t you glad he did?

Think of being in a place of great burdens and facing the ultimate sacrifice.

Jesus did it; he gave his life for us sinners;

He loved us, and came down from on high to walk among us.

Now if someone had looked down on you, and said something hurtful,

If they claim to be Christian they fool only their selves;

For Christ became like one of us, yet he was innocent;

He was the lamb of God and for Adam’s children he gave his life.

Forget the way people treat you;

Live the Golden Rule; look around

And spread that big smile.

And if you find in your life

Someone who claims to be Christian,

But is picky and looks down their nose at you or others;

Someone who will fuss about

Something like someone's beard or maybe

A so called body odor, think back to the reality

Of the Lord’s last hours;

And if you think you smell roses, think again.

Don’t put down anyone else,

For there are times in life we all smell stinky.

We will all answer for our sins

When this World ends;

Every man, woman or child;

So keep your thoughts and opinions to yourself.

Everyone needs to remember not to put on airs,

And let on they are any better

Than another person, for whatever the reason,

Because the Lord of Lords loves us all the same.

So remember that when you pray in Jesus’ name,

Jesus in this day and time would be wearing jeans,

Have long hair, and a beard,

He might be shoeless; he might not have a dollar to his name.

Remember man’s wealth never meant anything to him.

Would you treat him differently

Or would you treat him the same?

He might look like a bum

But outward appearance will not stop Jesus from his path.

Don’t judge by the looks,

For you can't make one hair white or black

Mean anything more special to Jesus.

Don't make insults to others.

All of us should be sisters and brothers.

If you turn around and sneer at another,

Just because you think someone is less than they really are,

That is not Christ like behavior to act petty.

Jesus is the one who carries the scars.

If you cut down someone, belittling them,

Jesus is upset by your false heartedness

Be a good person; at least try your best.

And remember what it was like for Jesus

Those final hours of his life

He went through pain unimaginable

It wasn't pretty

And also keep in mind, that night

He died to put our sins right.

He gives us a hope for eternal life.

He made everything right.

Your sins are forgiven when

You are washed in the blood of Jesus.

With Jesus in your life,

It is easier to sleep at night.

Yes, be born again in water and of Spirit.

When you are saved, you will do no petty,

Backstabbing acts of jealousy again.

That is an act of evil; not of Jesus;

His act is one of unconditional love.

The time for setting your life right is now;

If you want to go to heaven above,

Get on your knees and accept Jesus in your life.

and for the rest of your life,

Live it right, live it for Jesus.

Jerriann Law and JD Couch, 8-30-2012