The commemoration of Good Friday is a solemn and holy event for Christians. We cannot get to the resurrection of Jesus Christ without traversing through the crucifixion, death, and burial of God's only begotten son. One of the dividing lines among Christian traditions is the context of Jesus's Passion and death. When we separate Jesus from His worldly environment and circumstances-being persecuted as a Jewish teacher by a foreign empire and betrayed by compatriots who were threatened by His message and witness-we lose sight that Jesus, both fully God and man, was gruesomely murdered.

This...