John Ortberg asks in his book, Who Is This Man, “How did Friday end as Friday? Why did Jesus die? How did this man (meek and mild, blesser of little children, friend of sinners) end up being executed as an enemy of the state?” Friday ends with 3 crosses erected outside of Jerusalem. Two of these crosses have thieves nailed to them, while one is already empty, yet it has a sign over it that reads: Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews. It’s in Aramaic, Latin, and Greek.
In the ancient world of Jesus’ day there were twelve major players that led to Jesus’ death on cross: Rome, The Crowds in Jerusalem, the thieves who were crucified with Jesus, Pilate, Chief Priests, Pharisees, Zealots, Essenes, Herod, Crowds at the Temple, Caesar. Twelfth Player in the story: Jesus. King of Kings, Lord of lords, crucified for our sins: Jesus.
