Maybe you have heard the story of the cross of Christ 100 times....maybe you have never heard it before....maybe you think that you are "good enough"....maybe you are struggling with an addiction....maybe you feel alone....maybe you think I am crazy...
Kait and I were reading through Mark 2 this morning, and we came across the following passage:
"And as he reclined at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Mark 2:15-17 ESV)
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The Crucifixion Notes taken from "The Life of Christ "CD focusing on the Crucifixion of Christ. By: Gregory Koukl |
related articles: Jesus' Passion Week A Great Debt The Resurrection |
(Matt 26:36-56; Mk14:32-52;
Lk 22:39-53; Jn 18:1-11)
A. Gethsemane (The
name literally means "oil press")
1. A garden on the Mount of Olives where Jesus and the disciples used
to pray
2. Jesus seeks the comfort of His
disciples but, unaware of the gravity of the hour, they don't stay
awake.
3. Jesus' prayer has two parts.
a. Part one: a
request for the removal of the cup "if possible."
1) This is not a prayer of Jesus'
that went unanswered. His request was denied
because conditions wouldn't allow it.
2) Jesus in Gethsemane
is the final argument against those who suggest there are other ways to
heaven than the cross of Jesus Christ. Jesus
pleaded, "Is there any other way?" The Father
answered, "No, none."
b. Part two: a
surrender to the divine will.
c. "What convulsed the Savior was
the fear of separation from God due to becoming the sin-bearer for men. He had long contemplated from afar what this would
mean to Him, but now the hour was upon Him and it was overwhelming"
(Harrison, p. 195).
4. In the Bible there are two
famous gardens:
a. Eden
b. Gethsemane , where the second
Adam was victorious.
B. The
betrayal.
1. A large contingent comes to
arrest Jesus.
a. Judas, chief priests, Pharisees,
teachers of the law, and elders of the people.
b. The Roman cohort, a contingent
of at least 200 soldiers and possibly as many as 600 (Harrison, p. 199,
footnote 2).
c. They were equipped with swords,
clubs, torches and lanterns.
2. Judas betrays Jesus with a kiss.
3. "I am."
Jesus' Trial
(Matt 26:57-27:31; Mk 14:53-15:16; Lk 22:63-23:25; Jn
18:12-19:16).
A. Before
Annas, Caiaphas' father-in-law
"The mock trial and subsequent activities of the Sanhedrin
were undertaken with utmost haste in the very early morning darkness
and the hours of daylight on Friday, so that the execution of Jesus
could be accomplished before the Sabbath began at 6 p.m. that day" (Daniel, p. 259, footnote).
B. Before
Caiaphas
1. This is before the assembled
Sanhedrin, the high court of the Jews (Matt 26:57-59).
2. Here Jesus faces two of the
three charges against Him:
a. Charge one: He
would destroy the temple
of God
1) Probably a reference to Jn 2:19,
but Jesus never claimed that He would be responsible for the
destruction.
2) The testimony of the witnesses
does not agree (Mk 14:59) and their testimony is thrown out.
b. Charge
two: He was the Messiah, the Son of the living
God (Matt 26:63-64).
1) "You have said it yourself."
2) "Hereafter you shall see the Son of
Man sitting at the right hand of power, and coming on the clouds of
heaven." (Here Jesus refers to Daniel 7:13, a messianic passage.)
c. Caiaphas declares Jesus guilty
of blasphemy and Jesus is sentenced to death (Matt 26:65-67).
C. Before
Pontius Pilate
1. The Jews were not allowed to
execute Jesus (Jn 18:31), so they took Him before Pilate, the Roman
governor, seeking a judgment.
2. Jesus' third charge: sedition
a. "We found this man misleading
our nation and forbidding to pay taxes to Caesar, and saying that He
Himself is Messiah, a King" (Lk 23:1-2).
b. Pilate finds no grounds for
punishment, but since Jesus is a Galilean, Pilate sends Him to Herod who
has jurisdiction there (Lk 23:7).
D. Before Herod
Antipas. (Lk
23:8-12) (This is the Herod who had John the
Baptist put to death.)
1. Herod was hoping to see some sign performed by Him
(v8).
2. When Jesus made no response He was mocked and ridiculed
(v11).
E. Before
Pontius Pilate a second time (Lk 23:13-25)
1. Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate
proclaims Jesus' innocence once again (v20).
2. Pilate offers Jesus' release,
but the people choose Barabbas instead.
3. Jesus is scourged and crowned
with thorns (Mk 15:15-19).
4. Pilate makes a final appeal in
the hope of saving Jesus.
5. The crowd intimidates Pilate
with the suggestion of disloyalty to Caesar (Jn 19:12).
a. "If you release this man you are
no friend of Caesar's; everyone who makes himself out to be a king
opposes Caesar."
b. The expression "Caesar's friend"
was a technical term assuring a long and profitable career. The loss of this title--a realistic threat considering
Tiberius's suspicious nature--could prove Pilate's undoing (Harrison,
p. 215).
6. Pilate sentences Jesus to death
by crucifixion.
The Crucifixion
(Matt 27:32-56; Mk 15:21-41; Lk 23:26-49; Jn 19:16-30)
A. A very cruel form of execution, generally reserved
only for slaves and rebels, not Roman citizens
1. Death was agonizing. A person could die by either exposure and shock or by
asphyxiation. When the person would collapse,
hanging from his arms on the cross, it would constrict the diaphragm,
inhibiting breathing. The only way they could
breathe was to push up against the nails that went through the feet. This was a continual effort. Finally,
through the loss of blood and exhaustion, the person eventually
suffocated.
2. Death was slow.
a. Sometimes death took up to nine
days.
b. Sometimes they would break legs.
B. Psalm 22 (see
notes, Week 2).
C. Certificate
of debt (Col
1. This certificate was a list of
crimes committed against the state that required payment.
2. When the crimes were paid for,
it was stamped with the word tetelestia, meaning
"paid in full."
3. Paul says that Jesus paid our
certificate of debt.
4. Jesus victory cry on the cross
was, "It is finished!" (Jn 19:30)
D. Jesus
gave up His spirit.
Crucifixion
is a cruel form of execution, generally reserved for slaves and rebels. Death is agonizing and slow, the result of shock,
exposure and, eventually, asphyxiation. Hanging
from a cross constricts the diaphragm, inhibiting breathing. The only way to get air is to release pressure on the
arms by pushing up against the nails that pierce the feet, requiring
continual effort that could go on for days. Exhaustion
eventually overtakes the victim and he suffocates.
For
Jesus, though, the pain of the cross paled in the face of a greater
anguish. There was a deeper torment that could
not be seen, more excruciating than nails pinning Jesus' body to the
timbers, more dreadful than lashes ripping flesh from His frame. It was a dark, terrible, incalculable agony, an
infinite misery, as God the Father unleashed his fury upon His sinless
Son as if guilty of an immeasurable evil.
Why
punish the innocent One? Nailed to the top of
the cross was an official notice, a certificate of debt to Caesar, a
public display of Jesus' crime: “The King of the
Jews.” The certificate of debt was a list of
crimes committed against the state that required payment.
When punishment was complete, Caesar's court would cancel the
debt with a single Greek word stamped upon the parchment's face:
“tetelestai.”
Being
king of the Jews was not the crime Jesus paid for, however. Hidden to all but the Father was another certificate
nailed to that cross. In the darkness that
shrouded Calvary from the sixth to the
ninth hour, a divine transaction took place; Jesus made a trade with the
Father. The full weight of all the crimes of all of humanity-every
murder, every theft, every lustful glance; every hidden act of vice,
every modest moment of pride, and every monstrous deed of evil; every
crime of every man who ever lived-these Jesus took upon Himself as if
guilty of all.
At
the last, it was not the cross that took Jesus' life. He
did not die of exposure, or loss of blood, or asphyxiation. When the full debt for our sin was paid, and the
justice of God was fully satisfied, Jesus simply gave up His spirit with
a single Greek word that fell from His lips: “Tetelestai.” “It is finished.” The divine
transaction is complete. The debt was cancelled.
(Colossians 2:13-14)
This
was not an accident. It was planned. The prophet Isaiah described it 700 years earlier:
Surely
our griefs He Himself bore. He was pierced through for our
transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The chastening for
our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray.
Each of us has turned to his own way. But
the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him. (Is 53:4-6)
No
other man did this. No other man could. Jesus alone, the perfect Son of God, the Savior of the
world, He paid the debt so that whoever relies on Him would not perish
under God's judgment, but have life with Him fully and
forever.</p>
Messiah
was dead. A vibrant and hopeful era had come to a
bitter and dismal end. The movement was over,
the disciples were scattered, and darkness covered the land. The religious establishment shook off the nasty
experience and settled down to resume life as usual. But
their rest would be short-lived, because very quickly death would be
swallowed up in victory.
“It is finished” It only remains for us
to trust in His promise.
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