Welcome and Explanation:
Welcome to Midlothian Baptist Church and our Walk through Easter. We invite you to take a walk with Jesus through the story of Easter. This is the greatest story ever told, and if you let it, it can change your life forever. Please know you are not walking this trail alone, you are joined by our prayers as you step into this story and reflect on what Jesus did for us that first Easter so many years ago.
            As you walk the trail, you will find 8 stations. These stations will tell you different parts of the story, and they are designed to cause you to pause and reflect on all that Christ endured. At many of these stations there are small gifts that you are encouraged to take as a way to remember your experience here, and more importantly what Jesus has done for us. Be sure to look for those gifts. You may use the bag you received as you entered the trail to store your gifts during your walk.  Please remember that this walk is meant to be a time of reflection and prayer, as you walk it, you may encounter others on the trail, please be respectful and remember they are on the same journey you are. As much as possible try not to distract others or allow yourself to be distracted from what God is sharing with you.
            Our prayer is that you will draw closer to Jesus as a result of your time here. If you have not yet become a follower of Christ, then use this “Walk Through Easter” to consider your faith. Today could be the day that you choose to receive Him as your personal savior.
            Our story begins on Palm Sunday, when Jesus rode a donkey into the city of Jerusalem, fulfilling an Old Testament prophecy. As He made His triumphant entrance he was greeted by crowds waiving palm branches and shouts of “Hosanna,” which is Hebrew for “save we pray.” His entrance into the city was indeed triumphal, but the week would take a turn, and before it was over the crowds that praised Him as He entered the city would yell “Crucify Him, crucify Him.”
            As you begin this journey, take a moment before starting the trail to ask Lord to prepare your heart. Pray that you have eyes to see, and ears to hear the story that He will tell you each step of the way.

The Lord’s Supper occurred during the week in the life of Jesus known as the Passion Week. This scene was later in the week. Soon after this supper Jesus would be on the cross. It was here that Jesus instituted what the Apostle Paul calls Communion; also known as the Last Supper or even the Lord’s Supper. Jesus was with eleven of His disciples. Judas, the betrayer, had been dismissed by Jesus to do his dastardly deed. As they were eating their meal, Jesus took unleavened bread and broke it into pieces and gave them to the disciples. He told them that it represented His body, that would be broken for them, and by implication for the whole world. He then took a cup of juice, made from grapes, and told them to drink it because it represented His shed blood that was poured out for the sins of all people.
            Today, Christians still observe this ceremony. But what is its purpose? First, to remember what Jesus did for us by giving His life as the payment for our sins. “This do in remembrance of me,” He said (Luke 22:19).  If you take Communion you are reminding yourself of the sacrifice Jesus made for you.
            Next, it is a declaration of your personal belief in the work of Jesus on the cross as the only remedy for our sins. The Apostle Paul said, “For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death…” (1 Corinthians 11:26). By taking the Lord’s Supper you are confessing your belief in who Jesus is and the work He did by giving His life to save us.
            Finally, whenever you participate in Communion you are stating that you are convinced that Jesus arose from the dead and that He will return to the earth one day as King. Paul said, “…you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.” (1 Corinthians 11:26). Jesus told the disciples, “But I say unto you, I shall not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.” (Matthew 26:29). Do you believe that Jesus will one day live on the earth again? If so, then every observance of communion reminds you of His coming.
            As you look at the table try to imagine yourself being in the upper room with Jesus and the disciples. If you believe in Jesus then use this moment to draw closer to HIm. Pray a prayer of thanksgiving for HIs broken body and shed blood given for you.
            You may take a candle to remind you of His great love for you.

Take a moment and imagine we’re in Biblical times during passover. A few days ago, on Sunday, Jesus had made His triumphal entry into Jerusalem. There was a huge group of people proclaiming His name. They shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” 
            During the same day Jesus would tell His disciples that the Passover is coming and the Son of Man will be crucified. Of course the disciples were upset and confused at this news. One of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, sneaks away from the others and goes to the palace of the High Priest.
            The chief priests and teachers were looking for some ways to get rid of Jesus. This is where Judas comes in. Judas goes and discusses how he might be able to betray Jesus. They were excited by this turn of events, and agreed to pay him some money, 30 pieces of silver to be exact. Now in those days 30 pieces of silver is not a lot of money. It was what was used to buy a common slave.
            Judas agreed to the deal and waits for an opportunity to betray Jesus. The day of Passover came and during the meal of the Lord’s Supper, Jesus tells His disciples that one of them will betray Him. Of course He is referring to Judas. Judas, along with the other disciples, asks Jesus “Is it I, Rabbi?” Jesus answers Judas in particular, “You have said so. What you do, do quickly.” Judas then leaves the upper room.
            Take time to read Luke 22:1-32. As you move on take a coin and reflect on the 30 silver coins. What would you do if you were in Judas’ position? Would you betray the Son of Man for the price of a common slave?

After dinner, Jesus takes His disciples and they go to a place called the Garden of Gethsemane. He asks His disciples to sit while He goes and prays. He takes Peter, James, and John further into the garden with Him. 
As they go, Jesus shows signs that He is troubled and that His soul is overwhelmed to the point of even death. Jesus tells them to stay and keep watch as He goes a little deeper into the 
Garden to pray by Himself. As He begins to pray He falls to the ground and asks God that if possible the cup of suffering might pass from Him. Jesus desires a different way to complete His mission, but He commits Himself to the Father's will. 
He returns to His disciples and finds them sleeping. He says to Peter, “Are you asleep? could you not keep watch for one hour? Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. Jesus walks away and continues to pray the same prayer. When He comes back, He finds His disciples sleeping again. He leaves them again to pray some more. Returning a third time He asks, “Are you still sleeping? Enough! The time has come and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise! Let’s go! Here comes the one who betrays me!”
Judas, one of the 12, brings a group of soldiers to arrest Jesus. Judas greets Jesus with a kiss. Jesus asks him, “Judas are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?” As the soldiers move towards Jesus, the disciples know what is about to happen. In an attempt to prevent Jesus from being arrested, Peter draws his sword and cuts off the ear of Malchus, a servant of the High Priest. Jesus, though, tells Peter to put his sword away, and He heals Malchus’ ear. Jesus allows Himself to be arrested right there in the garden. 
You are in a similar place, here in these woods. It's the perfect place to kneel and pray to God. As you pray, read Matthew 26:36-46. Then take a stone, and reflect on how Jesus, the Son of God, submitted Himself to the will of God by saying “not my will, but yours.” Think about areas of your life that you need to seek God's will, and use this rock as a reminder to submit your will to God’s. 

Picture it for a moment, it’s a cold night, the leader you have been following for several years has just been arrested and is standing trial. Being identified as a follower of this man could be very dangerous for you. You hope that no one recognizes you, but your worst fears are realized when someone near by calls out and says they saw you with the man on trial. What do you do?
            Those of us that know the Easter story, know that this is exactly the predicament that Peter found himself in during Jesus’ trial. We might boldly proclaim that if we were in that situation that we wouldn’t deny Jesus, but we need to remember that Peter said just that. We read in Matthew 26:35 that Peter says “Even if I have to die with you, I will not deny you!” Peter is bold, and confident that he would stand with Jesus. But, Jesus tells Peter that before the Rooster crows the next morning, he would deny Him three times. And as we read Matthew 26:69-75. As Peter does indeed deny Jesus, he does it three times and even curses, all before the rooster crows.  When that rooster crowed, Peter ran away, his heart broken, as he remembered the words Jesus told him.
            How many of us are like Peter though? We say we won’t deny knowing Jesus, but then our lifestyle or choices we make say otherwise. As you reflect on this part of the story, think back on times in your life where your actions or choices you have made have actually been a denial of Jesus. Then, pray that God would give you the strength to boldly follow Jesus as you write “I don’t know the man” on the wooden board.
 
 

As we have journeyed through the events of Jesus’ final day we have seen Him break bread with His disciples one last time, we have seen Him betrayed by one of His followers, we have seen Him at His most vulnerable as He prays to the Father in the garden, and we have seen one of His closest followers deny even knowing Him. Now, we come to His condemnation. After He was tried and falsely accused by the Sanhedrin, they brought Jesus to Pilate, the Roman governor, to be condemned to death. As Jesus stood before Pilate though, Pilate was unable to find any fault with Him and sought to release Him. But, the Sanhedrin incited the crowd that had gathered to call for Jesus to be put to death. The crowd loudly chanted crucify, crucify! Pilate saw no other way out then to grant them their wish; requesting a bowl of water Pilate washed his hands of the matter and allowed Jesus to be crucified. We would like to think that we would not have called for Jesus to be crucified; but, as we reflect on the words of Scripture we begin to understand that our sin yelled crucify louder than the mob that was there. And more than likely, if we had been in Pilate’s shoes we too, would have washed our hands of the issue and allowed the Jewish leaders to have their wish. Before you move to the next station of our journey, take time to read the account of these events in Matthew 27 verses 1 through 2 then 11 through 26, then reflect on what you’ve read, understanding that through our sin, we were a part of the call to condemn crucify Jesus.

Jesus willingly offered Himself up for our sins, in doing so He experienced great physical and spiritual pain. All that Jesus experienced on the day of His crucifixion was prophesied in the Old Testament; this included being scourged and mocked. Psalm 22:7-8 says “All those who see Me ridicule Me; They shoot out the lip, they shake the head saying, “He trusted in the LORD, let Him rescue Him; Let Him deliver Him since He delights in Him!” Then in Isaiah 50:6 the prophet writes, “I gave My back to those who struck Me, and My cheeks to those who plucked out the beard; I did not hid My face from shame and spitting.”
            All throughout His trial before the Sanhedrin, to His trial before Pilate, to His beating, and up to His death on the cross Jesus was mocked. Matthew 26:67 says “they spat in His face and beat Him.” John 19:1-4 describes Jesus being scourged and mocked by the guards; other passages describe His beard being pulled out.
            Imagine being beaten with a whip that had bits of metal and glass braided into its tails so that it would not just sting when it hit you but it would dig into your skin and cut you deeply. Then imagine having a crown of thorns not just placed on you head, but shoved down so hard that the thorns would cut into your temple. Finally, imagine having a purple robe placed on your fresh wounds as your assailants mocked you. You would be experiencing intense physical and spiritual pain.
            Jesus experienced all this on that day, yet He did it willingly. Why? Because He loves you. He knew a price had to be paid to restore the relationship He wanted with us; He knew that price would be painful. But, as it says in John 3:16 “God so loved the world that He gave His only son.” God loved us to the point that He was willing to have His son experience this pain, in fact it says in Isaiah that it pleased God to crush Him. Jesus loved us so much that He willingly allowed Himself to experience this pain and rejection. Take one of the crosses provided here, hold it in your hand, and pray to God, thanking Him for His love for you. A love that was willing to endure great suffering.

            Pilates condemnation meant that Jesus would be put to death . He would be crucified on a Roman cross. In our world there are many images of a cross. We see news reporters wearing a cross as jewelry, we drive down highway and sometimes see three crosses erected on a hilltop, our national cemeteries have beautiful green grass and neat rows of white crosses, church buildings are adorned with them, and the list goes on. But what is the meaning of the cross? Is there more to it than being an instrument of death for the historical figure named Jesus?
            The answer is yes, there is much more about the cross than first appears. The Bible explains in Colossians 2:13-14, “And you, being dead in your trespasses (another word for sins)… He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.”
            You might be surprised to learn that we are all born spiritually dead because of our sins. We need to be made alive in our spirit by the Holy Spirit of God. But that is not possible until the list of our crimes against God are dealt with. This was accomplished by Christ when that list was nailed with Him to His cross. He became as sin to God there on that cross. The result being that God has a basis for forgiving us because the punishment for our sins was paid by Christ.
            As you stand here and look at this cross, we invite you to take a nail and hammer it to the cross. You can hammer it to the cross as a reminder of what Jesus did for you, and as a reminder that Jesus paid for your and my sins.

            There is one more part in our story. Yes, Jesus died on the cross paying the price for our sins. But, He did not stay dead. He rose again three days later, signifying that God had accepted the payment.
            The very first person to see the resurrected Lord Jesus was Mary Magdalene. Mark 16:9-11 says, “Now when He was risen early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene…”
            Try to imagine the astonishment that Mary felt when she saw Jesus. She was present when He died, witnessed His burial, but here He is alive again! How could it be? There is only one true explanation, God raised Him from the dead. This is the greatest news ever heard, Jesus conquered death. Now there is hope for the rest of us. Jesus offers to us the same life that He has. The same power that raised Him from the clutches of death is available to us. All that is required is for us to believe in Him.
            Peter, who was an eyewitness of the risen Lord, said, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” 1 Peter 1:3
            Because of Jesus death and resurrection, we can come int o the presence of God because all charges against us have been erased. However, you must believe in Christ and trust in Him for your salvation. Only then can His work on the cross and His resurrection be applied to you. Believing in Christ means more than just acknowledging His existence as a historical figure. It is being convinced that all the claims the Bible makes about Jesus are true. These claims are: He is God, a sinless man, He died for our sins, He arose from the dead, and He is the only way to heaven.
            Do you believe those claims? If so, have you prayed and asked Him to be your savior? Have you If not take a moment to consider all you have heard, and understand that Jesus did this for you! If you have accepted that gift we encourage you to pray and thank Him for all He has done for you. But, don’t just stop there, take this message to others. Because, all of the world needs to hear this message.
            We want to thank you for participating in our Walk Through Easter. Please contact our church if you have any questions about what you experienced today, or if you would like to know how you can know Jesus. We will be happy to speak with you.