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At this trial the Jewish priests accused Jesus of many wrong doings and presented many false witnesses. Even so, after Pilate, heard all their testimony he declared that he found no guilt in Jesus. The priests however aggressively pressed their demand for a death sentence. Pilate considered Jesus to be without sin but was nevertheless concerned that an out-and-out riot might occur if he released Jesus, and so he yielded to the desires of the accusers.
Jesus was condemned to hang on a cross until death. It was the custom to allow the condemned to have a great amount of alcohol prior to execution to alleviate some of the pain. Jesus refused this sedative, and the Roman soldiers proceeded to nail him to a wooden cross. Jesus cried out from the cross:
O Lord, why have You forsaken me? Please forgive These people; they don't know what they are doing.
The compassionate Jesus forgave his tormentors even as he was dying on the cross.
The New Testament Gospels offer details about the day of the execution. It is said in these stories that when the soul of Jesus left his body the skies darkened and the earth quaked. At this same moment, the forty foot curtain partition that prevented the
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