Hot Tempers; Cold Temps      
    
   Scolded by Jesus for their hypocrisy, religious figures wanted to kill him. All that stopped them were crowds of people who flocked to him. 

   Caiaphas, the high priest, solved a debate by declaring that one should die for the people and the nation. John 11:49-52; 18:14. 

   Judas the disciple solved the problem of crowds. He knew where Jesus would be at night.

   Jesus took a beating under the direction of the conflicted governor, Pilate, who thought that would satisfy the mob. It's been said that ordinary men would not have survived such punishment. Who knows? 

   To mock their victim, they removed his clothes and covered him with a purple (royal) robe and a crown of thorns. According to Mark 15:20, they put his clothes back on. 

   We don't know how much time elapsed between the beating and the cross. But his warm clothes were removed once again.

   All this winter and spring we have checked Jerusalem's weather out of curiosity. Daytime highs may have been in the mid-50s (or lower; there was no sun for three hours) and nighttime lows in the mid-40s. That's why Peter was warming himself by a fire. John 18:18. 

   How did two "criminals" manage to share the occasion? Mocking continued. But one, perhaps hearing Jesus' last words, got the message. 
No confession. No repentance. No baptism. No sanctification. No good deeds.

   At his "eleventh hour" he asked and received.

       Jimmy

The last 33 words summarized from WORLD magazine.

We're not suggesting it's that easy for everyone.
But neither do we put the Lord in a box of rules.