MY PERSPECTIVE, Gary Damron
Though we've celebrated Easter, I want to continue some thoughts on events leading up to, and the crucifixion of Jesus the Messiah. His trial was unfair and unjust, but He received the death sentence in silence. Two scriptures give insight into His mindset. Luke wrote, "When the days were approaching for [Jesus'] ascension, ...He resolutely set His face to go to Jerusalem" (Luke 9:51. The writer of Hebrews described how Jesus, "for the joy set before Him endured the cross" (Hebrews 12:2). To the Romans, Jesus was a zealot, a threat to their authority. To the Jews, He was a false Messiah. But to those who believed and chose to follow Him, He was God’s deliverer.
A number of people were complicit in His sentencing. Pilate complied with the Sanhedrin's demand that Jesus be condemned, and the crowd outside the Praetorium called for His crucifixion. They were joined by other curious onlookers as Roman soldiers marched the prisoner toward Golgotha. Jesus carried the cross beam until He reached the city gate where He stumbled, then Simon of Cyrene was forced to help carry the cross. Along the way, women mourned the fate of One who had gone about doing good. Pilate had ordered an inscription, in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek, on the top of the cross: "Jesus the Nazarene, the King of the Jews".
Since that time, numerous studies of crucifixion have revealed the horrors of such a death. Recent movies have graphically displayed the cruelty and agony of people hanging on a cross. But the gospel writers' accounts of Jesus' death lack any effort to sensationalize, and they didn't try to elicit emotional response from their readers. Their intent was to establish the fact and meaning of the crucifixion.
In the midst of the horror, Jesus refused the sympathetic offer of wine mingled with myrrh (Mark 15:23). His rejection of any analgesic enabled Him to coherently, though in intense pain, continue to communicate from the cross. His words were not what we would expect from someone being crucified. There was no crying or cursing, no accusation of injustice, no expression of moral outrage. Jesus' heart found expression at intervals, as He struggled for each breath. In the past, I wrote a series of articles, "Words from the cross" and here is a short summary.
1) Luke 23:34 - "'Father, forgive them, for they know not what they are doing.'" Luke undoubtedly learned many details from later conversations with Mary. Jesus said this in response to those unwittingly involved in His agony and death, such as the Roman soldiers who were following orders as they crucified Him.
2) Luke 23:43 - "'Today, you will be with me in paradise.'" Jesus was crucified between two thieves, one who supported Jesus' innocence and who asked Him to remember him in the kingdom.
3) John 19:26-27 - To Mary, "'Woman, behold your son!" And to John the beloved disciple, "'Behold your mother!'"
4) Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34; Psalm 22 - "'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?'"
5) John 19:28, fulfilling Psalm 22:15 and Psalm 69:21 - "'I thirst!'" As the Son of David, the anointed Messian fulfills prophecies of One who thirsts because of persecution and His service to God. The words also reflect the theme of hungering and thirsting after righteousness (Beatitudes in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter 5); and spoken to the woman at the well (John chapter 4).
6) John 19:30 - "'It is finished.'" His earthly purpose accomplished, Jesus' statement of triumph proclaims that death provides atonement and the reconciling love of God.
7) Luke 23:46 and Psalm 31:5 - "'Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.'" To some, the cross might look like failure, yet Jesus expresses confidence in God's plan.
Jesus lived a life without sin. His compassionate sacrifice and death are all the more compelling, considering that He was humiliated as an outcast, treated like an animal, stripped of all dignity, and hung helpless and exposed. The statements made confidently, even in those circumstances, are based on the assurance that His sacrifice opens the door for repentant believers to a new and glorious kingdom.
As Jesus spoke from the cross, His plea for forgiveness, mentioned above, is not a setting aside of justice. Paul wrote that despite his former life, "...I was shown mercy, because I acted ignorantly in unbelief" (1 Timothy 1:12). The intercession that culminated on the cross reached out to Saul the persecutor and transformed him into Paul, servant of Jesus Christ. Even today, Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father, making intercession for us. Those who accept His sacrifice and love will find forgiveness and restoration as a beloved child of God.
Jesus had taught, "'love your enemies'" (Matthew 5 and Luke 6); on the cross He demonstrated that love by intervening for the soldiers who tortured and crucified Him; for Pilate who ordered His death; the Sanhedrin who sought to eliminate Him; the nation that rejected Him; and for all of us throughout history whose sin brought Him to the cross. John, the disciple who stood at the cross, wrote, "He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name" (John 1:11-12).
