What Jesus Suffered in the Hours Before His Crucifixion

Jesus loved the Father (John 14:31) and submitted Himself to do the Father’s will (Matt 26:39-44; cf. Rom 5:19; Phil 2:5-8), which included enduring the illegal trials of His accusers, as well as the eventual mockings, beatings, and crucifixion. All that Jesus suffered was prophesied in Scripture (Gen 3:15; Psa 22:16-18; Isa 50:4-7; 52:14; 53:3-12; Matt 26:67-68; Mark 10:32-34). God the Father was in complete control of the circumstances surrounding the trials and crucifixion of Jesus (Acts 2:23; 4:27-28). Though unjustly attacked, Jesus knew He was doing the Father’s will (John 6:38; 10:14-18; 12:27; 18:11) and did not retaliate against His attackers (1 Pet 2:21-23). The four Gospels record the arrest, trials, mocking, crucifixion, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. Matthew, Mark and Luke refer to events taking place according to Jewish time in which the day ends at sunset; whereas John relies on Gentile time in which the day ends at midnight. A brief chronology of Jesus’ trials, mockings, beatings, crucifixion and burial is as follows:

1. Jesus was arrested during the night—perhaps around midnight—and faced six illegal trials, three religious and three civil. The trials must have happened relatively early, as they concluded “about six in the morning” (John 19:14 CSB).
2. During the religious trials, the chief priest and Sanhedrin tried to secure false testimony about Jesus so they might have grounds to crucify Him (Matt 26:59).
3. Jesus was beaten in the face and mocked during His Jewish trial (Matt 26:67-68).
4. After Pilate agreed to the demands of the mob (Matt 27:17-25), he had Jesus scourged (Matt 27:26a), and then “handed Him over to be crucified” (Matt 27:26b).
5. Jesus was mocked and beaten by Roman soldiers (Matt 27:27-30), and then was led away to be crucified (Matt 27:31).
6. Jesus was crucified by 9:00 AM (Mark 15:25).
7. Jesus was judged by the Father and bore our sins on the cross from 12:00 to 3:00 PM (Matt 27:45; Mark 15:33; Luke 23:44).
8. Jesus died about 3:00 PM (Matt 27:46-50; Mark 15:34-37).
9. Jesus’ body was placed in the grave before 6:00 PM (i.e. sunset) because the Jews did not want His body on the cross for the Sabbath (John 19:31, 38-42).

The Jewish trials declared Jesus guilty, whereas the Gentile trials found Him innocent. Jesus was crucified by Gentiles because of the pressure of the Jewish leadership. The crucifixion of Jesus was physically horrendous and involved not only great physical pain, but also psychological anguish and social humiliation.