Three years after His baptism, Jesus visited Jerusalem for the last time. After He and his friends had shared the Passover meal together, they went out to a quiet garden to pray. Not all of the twelve were with Jesus. One of his friends, Judas, had left before the end of the meal.

It was a dark night. In the garden, Jesus told his friends that He felt fearful and sad. He asked three of them to stay awake and keep Him company while He prayed. But his three friends kept falling asleep.

Suddenly there was a clanging of swords. Soldiers! Leading them was Judas. He had betrayed Jesus to his enemies and they had sent soldiers to arrest Him. Frightened by the sight of the soldiers, all of Jesus' friends ran away.

Jesus was taken to the house of an important judge. Many people came and told lies about Him. But Jesus said nothing. Then the judge asked Jesus, 'Are you the Messiah, the Son of God.'

'Yes, I am,' said Jesus.

When the judge heard this, he became very angry. Other people shouted and spat at Jesus. They teased Him and punched Him. They called for Jesus to be killed. As the judge could not have Jesus killed, he sent Him to Pilate, the most important Roman soldier in the country. 'Are you a king?' Pilate asked Jesus.

'My kingdom isn't in this world,' said Jesus. 'If it was, my followers would be fighting for it. But no, it's a different sort of kingdom.'

Pilate decided to have Jesus whipped, as a warning. He let his soldiers mock Jesus. They dressed Him up as a king and put a crown of thorns on His head. They beat Him with a stick.

Then Pilate had Jesus brought in front of the crowds who had gathered for Passover. Pilate said, 'As it is your festival, I will set a prisoner free. Shall it be this king of yours, Jesus?'

But the crowd was on the side of Jesus' enemies, 'Crucify him!' they shouted.

Pilate ordered his soldiers to take Jesus outside the city walls. He was made to carry a large wooden cross. When they got to the Hill of the Skull, the soldiers stripped Jesus and nailed Him to the cross. People walking by made fun of Jesus.

'If you really are the Son of God, come down from that cross,' they said. After three hours, Jesus cried out, 'My God, my God, why have you left me alone?'

Then He died.