2024-12-28A
(Again we concentrate on the events as recounted in the Gospel of Luke but also refer to the other Gospels when necessary.)
A. JESUS ON THE WAY TO GOLGOTHA (Please read Luke 23:26-32; Matt 27:32).
a. His physical condition.
A person who was to be crucified, had to carry his own cross, but Jesus was very weak as a result of His spiritual conflict in Gethsemane, His three successive trials, and His flogging by the Roman soldiers. They usually used a whip with three ropes into which pieces of lead were woven. Jewish Law allowed 40 lashes. Such a flogging tore the flesh from the victim’s back and caused immense pain and blood loss. Since His arrest, trials, and torture, He probably had no food or water.
b. Too weak to carry His own cross.
When He was finally led to Golgotha, He was so weak that He could not carry His own cross, and no one volunteered to do it for Him. During His three years of ministry, He must have healed hundreds of people. Where was the lame man He had healed at the pool of Bethesda, or the one who had been let down through the roof? Where was Jairus whose little daughter He had raised from the dead? Where were His 11 disciples? Where were John and James who had asked to sit at His right and left hands in His Kingdom? They had all shared in His glorious, victorious ministry, but there not one was willing to share in the humiliation and pain of His crucifixion. When His strength left Him, no one stepped forward from the crowd, offering, “Master, let me carry this for You.” No one. The Roman soldiers then ordered a bystander, Simon of Cyrene, who had just joined the crowd, to carry it. God considered this act of such importance that He had it recorded in three Gospels. For this, Simon would receive his reward.
c. The price of glorifying God.
Here was a wonderful opportunity to do something special for Jesus. Sometimes we also want to do something for the Lord, but miss the opportunity because it comes at an inopportune time, or because we are too ashamed to do something humiliating.
Jesus had previously told His disciples:
23 And He said to all, If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me. 24 For whoever will save his life shall lose it, but whoever will lose his life for My sake, he shall save it. 25 For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world and loses himself, or is cast away?
26 For whoever shall be ashamed of Me and of My Words, the Son of Man shall be ashamed of him when He shall come in His own and in His Father’s glory, and that of the holy angels. (Luk 9:23-26).
To follow Jesus means to step out of the crowd and bear the humiliation and pain that the world places on devoted children of the Lord. You must be willing to openly take Jesus’ side and bear the rejection, accusation, contempt and even physical torture for His sake. You must be willing to take up your cross while the crowd watches and follow Him. Are you a Simon of Cyrene or are you part of the Jerusalem crowd? The cross always brings separation between man and man.
B. HIS HOURS ON THE CROSS (Please read Luke 23:33-48).
a. The crucifixion.
When they reached the top of the hill, known as Skull Hill, they crucified Him there. Usually, a wooden cross was laid flat on the ground and the condemned man was stretched out on it on his back. Thick nails, like iron pins, were then driven into the wood through his palms and feet. The cross was then lifted and the lower part of it lowered into a hole in the ground. The crucified man then hung from the nails that cut into his flesh and bone. Suspended like this also made it very difficult to breathe. Jesus’ back was already torn by the scourging, His head covered with puncture wounds from the crown of thorns, and His face bruised and cut from the blows they had inflicted on Him. The prophet Isaiah describes it as follows:
Just as many were astonished at You (so much was the disfigurement from man, His appearance and His form from the sons of mankind); (Isa 52:14).
This was the physical pain He would have to endure for the next couple of hours.
b. His material legacy.
He had no earthly possessions to leave to His family. During His ministry He never concerned Himself with a house, clothing, or food. His Father had provided for His daily needs and that was all He desired.
What He did leave behind, was a wealth of spiritual treasures, sufficient for the needs of all humanity. He also left to his family, close friends and disciples the example of a life completely surrendered to God.
c. He was considered a criminal.
The holiest Man ever, the perfect Son of God, was crucified between two criminals; He was counted as one of them. The other two were guilty of robbery and murder: Jesus died for all the sins that humanity had and will ever commit, even for those of the two men next to him.
d. An incalculable burden of guilt was on His shoulders.
The guilt that rested on His shoulders was more than the combined guilt of thousands of the greatest criminals who ever walked this earth. It was as if His Father had rested a vast invisible funnel upon Him and poured into it the sin of all mankind that had ever been committed and that would yet be committed. Thus, the holiest of all men became the greatest sinner ever, and bore the just punishment for it until the justice of God was fully satisfied.
This means that the Father, as an impartial judge, took the punishment that all these people would have to bear individually, poured it out on Jesus, and allowed Him to be punished for it until the Judge said: “Enough, these sins have now been properly, sufficiently, and completely punished.”
e. We cannot understand or describe his spiritual suffering in words.
We must also remember that the pain He experienced, was not only physical but also spiritual, in that He was deprived of the comforting presence of His Father because the wrath of God was poured out on the sin that rested upon Him. In Matt 27:46 we read that His suffering was so intense that He cried out, “Eli, Eli, lama, sabachthani,” which means, “My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me?” This probably happened during the three-hour period of complete darkness that came over the entire earth from noon to 3 p.m., as we will see later.
f. “Father forgive them…”
Let us also note that Jesus bore no grudge against His tormentors and murderers but cried out, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” He not only interceded for them but gave a reason to legally strengthen His prayer. How different was His attitude from that of James and John, who wanted to call down fire from heaven upon the Samaritans who refused to give them lodging for the night.
g. He, the Almighty, became weak for our sake.
He was constantly mocked; first by the priests. When He acted in power by healing people, casting out demons, and even raising some from the dead, these priests were consumed with jealousy; now they reveled in their power. Now they were the strong ones and He the weak. “You saved others; save yourself by coming down from the cross, and we will believe that you came from God,” they shouted mockingly.
h. Belittled by rough soldiers.
The soldiers also mocked Him. Pilate ordered a sign to be written in the three most popular languages and put on the cross with the words: “THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS,” . He probably had it written because of resentment towards the Jews who had practically forced him to have Jesus crucified. The soldiers now used this inscription as a basis for belittling Him. What they shouted was something like the following: “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself. A king does not belong on a cross, but on a throne and should reign. Show us your power, O king!”
i. Mocked by criminals.
Even the two crucified criminals mocked Him: “Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us too!”
j. While He suffers, He extends a saving hand to a fellow sufferer.
In the Gospel of Matthew we read that both criminals initially mocked Him, but in Luke it is recorded that one of them eventually repented (23:39-43). Paul writes that Jesus came into the world to save sinners (1 Tim 1:15) and here we see the proof of that. While Christ was dying for sinners, He seized the opportunity to snatch one of them right then and there from the brink of the abyss of damnation. This evildoer reached out in faith to the Man hanging next to him and pleaded, “Remember me when You come into Your kingdom,” and immediately he received these wonderful words of assurance: “Truly I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.” Oh, the grace and deep, deep love of God.
There was no need for the criminal to pray a carefully worded prayer, confessing all his robberies and murders. Putting together all the words he spoke, first to his fellow prisoner, then to Jesus, it amounted to: “Remember me. You are righteous; I am a sinner. You are innocent; I am justly punished. You have a Kingdom beyond the grave, but I, where shall I go? Remember me when You come to that glorious place,” and immediately he received the promise: “You will be with Me there, we will be together, this very day.”
k. “Lord, think of me too!”
If Jesus answered a sinner’s prayer even while hanging on the cross, how much more will he answer yours, now that he is seated in glory at the right hand of the Father?
l. The crucified Christ requires every person to choose.
Again we see how Christ divides humanity into two groups; those on His right hand go with Him to His Paradise and those on His left go without Him to eternal damnation (Matt. 25:34, 41). Each person chooses his own destiny. Jesus did not choose the criminal to His left or the one to His right above one another. His arms were outstretched to both; one criminal chose to accept the hand of God by faith and the other choose to reject it in unbelief.
m. Who is your candidate?
It is like receiving a ballot paper with the names of two candidates printed on it, namely, “The devil” and “Jesus”. Due to our sinful nature, we all, as children, as soon as we could distinguish between good and evil, drew a cross in the “devil” box. However, because God is merciful, He did not allow us to immediately put the paper into the “Forever” ballot box. No, He let us keep it in our hand for so many years so that we may have another opportunity to reconsider and vote again, before passing into eternity.
As the two thieves hung on the cross, both still had their ballot papers with them. One thief cast his into the eternal ballot box, unchanged. The other repented of his earlier foolish choice, “wiped it out” and made a new choice, after which he also cast his into the final choice ballot box. What his new choice was, is clear from his brief conversation with Jesus and the glorious promise he received from Him. Not everyone is privileged to be able to make a new choice at such a late stage in his or her life, which is why our loving God warns us, “… Today if you hear his voice, harden not your hearts… . (Heb 3:15).
Jesus is now watching, waiting for you to do the same. Draw a new cross next to the Name of Jesus, then put your paper into the “Forever” ballot box. In so doing you put your life into His hands for all eternity. Forever you will obey and follow Him wherever He leads and forever you will be his.
n. “What can I do for you?”
Jesus did not put His own needs above those of others. While He himself was suffering so terribly, He still took note of the needs of others close to Him, those for whom He could do something. As we saw He had compassion to snatch away a stick of firewood that was already smoldering under the wrath of God. Secondly, He also remembered His mother in her need and despair and entrusted her to the care of one of his disciples. (John 19:26,27).
o. The opposition leader.
Now let us turn away from Jesus for a moment and focus our attention on the devil who had orchestrated this painful happening. He is and remains a loser. Here, at Golgotha, he had three men in his power; each nailed to a cross while his followers crowded around, rejoicing in their victory, but in the blink of an eye the odds were changed. One of the three was suddenly delivered from his snares, not by an outsider but by One of the three, the One who hung on the middle cross. Can we imagine what a frustration it must have been for the evil one when one of his prisoners, one whom he had seduced and deceived for a lifetime and had come to the brink of damnation, suddenly saw an open door and escaped through it, while he could do nothing, absolutely nothing, to prevent it. What is more, two days later the Man who was nailed there to the middle cross would himself rise from the grave. The devil lost the battle on Golgotha by two to one!
p. Darkness (Please read Luke 23:44 to 49).
Darkness suddenly came over the earth at 12 noon, when the sun was at its highest. It must have been terrifying. Everyone realized that it was a supernatural event, a sign from the heavens, a sign from God.
Why darkness? When God punished the Pharaoh of Egypt to release His people, darkness was one of the plagues He brought upon the Egyptians, but not upon His own people. Light is a sign of God’s presence, just as darkness usually indicates His absence. When Jesus became sin for us, God was so repulsed by his state that He withdrew from Him completely. The eternal darkness that a lost soul will experience in hell now came upon Jesus because He had to bear that too on our behalf. During those three hours while God withdrew from the earth, Jesus experienced both inner and surrounding darkness. One can hardly imagine His distressing situatuion: the excruciating pain in His body, the terrifying inner experience of being abandoned by His Father, and now, this suffocating darkness surrounding him as He hung there alone on the cross. This may have been what caused Him to cry out, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
q. “It is finished.”
After three hours the darkness cleared. Could it be that the full ransom for humanity’s sin had by then been paid for? (John 19:28) Jesus then said, “I thirst,” and they offered Him a sponge dipped in vinegar which and He accepted, then proclaimed, “It is finished,” (John 19:30) after which He triumphantly cried out, “Father, into Your hands I commend My spirit,” and died.
r. Understanding breaks through.
When the centurion who crucified Jesus saw this, he openly acknowledged that Jesus was a righteous man. In Mark 15:39 it is recorded that he cried out: “Truly this was the Son of God.” The entire crowd still standing there also beat their fists to their chests, deeply impressed by the awesome events they had witnessed. Perhaps some of them, like the thief on the cross, also came to believe in Jesus, right there on Golgotha.
s. The Father speaks in a shocking manner.
In the nearby city of Jerusalem, the Father simultaneously bore witness to humanity of what was happening in the spiritual realm. In the temple He caused the curtain that separated the holy part of the temple from the Most Holy, to be torn from top to bottom. Suddenly the place where God dwelt was open so that all could see the Ark of the Covenant, the mercy seat, and the cherubim with outstretched wings. Up until that moment, only the High Priest had been authorized to enter there once a year to make atonement for his sins and those of the people; now it was open to all.
There were probably a number of priests on duty present who saw this happen. If the curtain had been torn by man, it would have torn from the bottom upwards, but only God could tear it from the top down. The priests must have been stunned and fearing for their lives because they had looked into the sanctuary; yet no punishment from God came upon them.
t. A path paved to the Father himself.
Why did God do this? It was to demonstrate to mankind that the wall of sin that separated Him from man had now been broken down, by the final, once and for all, sacrifice that the Son had made to His Father. Praise the Lord! Henceforth every child of God would be able to enter the Throne Room and kneel at the feet of the Father and worship Him, not on the basis of his own goodness, but on the basis of the price paid by his Saviour, Jesus. That is why the angel had said to Joseph 33 years earlier: “And you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” (Matt. 1:21).
C. JESUS’ BURIAL (Please read Luke 23:50-56 and also see John 19:38-42)
a. The believers take courage.
The price had been paid, the victory won, and now Jesus’ disciples would emerge from their hiding places and show where they stood. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus were both prominent members of the Sanhedrin but secretly disciples of Jesus. During the trial and crucifixion they had been in the background, but now they fearlessly showed came forward. The evidence that Jesus indeed was the Son of God, was overwhelming: the three hours of darkness, the earthquake and the tombs opening, the veil in the temple torn from top to bottom, all of this spoke to them.
b. Jesus’ body laid in a tomb.
Joseph must have been a very influential person because Pilate agreed to his request to take Jesus’ body down from the cross and dispose of it. Together he and Nicodemus then went to the cross, received the Body, wrapped it in linen, and laid it in Joseph’s personal tomb with the intention of further caring for it after the Sabbath according to Jewish custom. They rolled the stone provided for this purpose in front of the opening to secure it. Some of the women who followed Jesus witnessed this.
c. The tomb is sealed (Please read Matt 27:62-66).
The chief priests and Pharisees wanted to make absolutely sure that the Jesus era would never be revived and got permission to seal the tomb and place guards there. In this too, the evil played into God’s hand because the same guards would later become witnesses of Jesus’ resurrection.
D. ADDENDUM.
Jesus’ seven “CROSS WORDS” (Words spoken from the cross).
- And Jesus said, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. (Luke 23:34).
- And Jesus answered him, “Truly I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” (Luke 23:43)
- Then when Jesus saw His mother and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, Woman, behold your son! Then He said to the disciple, Behold your mother! (Joh 19:26,27).
- Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? That is, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? (Matthew 27:46).
- I thirst! (John 19:28).
- It is finished! (John 19:30).
- Father, into your hands I commit my spirit! (Luke 23:46).
Reaching the end of the story on the crucifixion, one feels like spending a while in one’s inner room on one’s knees before God, for truly it was holy ground one had walked. Even commenting on it was difficult, for when one sees the holy Son of God hanging like that on the cross, one’s words dry up and one feels like confessing, as a human being, in sorrow and shame, the terrible injustice done to Him.
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