The Crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ

 

As Christians look ahead to the annual observance of the Crucifixion and Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, it is always good to look back and carefully review what happened that 2,000 years ago.  Those events had a greater impact on our lives and the lives of mankind in general than any other events in history.

First of all, it is important to recognize that torture and death by crucifixion were used many thousands of times by the Romans during the times of their reign.  So, the important question is “What was so special about the crucifixion of this one man?” The answer to that question lies in who He is, what events took place, and what was accomplished during those horrific hours leading up to and during His suffering and death, and His Resurrection that followed.

I will not focus on the answer to the question of who Jesus Christ is because Christians have already accepted the message of all scripture that our Lord Jesus is the Son of God. Most importantly, the Bible reveals that even before the foundation of the Earth was laid and man was created, the Eternal, Omniscient, Omnipotent Godhead knew that His beloved creation man would transgress against God’s laws / commit sin, leading to death. Therefore, God’s plan for Salvation / to restore man to Himself, had to:

1.      Apply to all mankind,

2.      Cover all sins / transgressions committed over thousands of years by mankind,

3.      Uphold the Highest Just standards of law and judgment of the Sovereign God, and

4.      Give each person the option to choose or reject God’s Plan for Redemption.

Only through God’s personal intervention could every person who ever lived be given the opportunity to be restored to a righteous relationship with Him and justified as though he / she had never sinned. Consider how God’s relationship with man evolved over the Bible’s thousands of years of history ( http://www.lesfeldick.org/lestimel.html ) (https://www.gotquestions.org/seven-dispensations.html ) . Further, try to imagine how God’s plan for man’s redemption could give each person the freedom to choose or refuse God’s offer of redemption.

At the time of His Crucifixion, our Lord Jesus was Incarnate / embodied in human form / 100% man, so that He could identify with each of us (Psalm 139:1-4, Hebrews 2: 14-18, 4: 14-15 and others) …, but He also maintained His Divinity / 100% God. (Matthew 17: 1-9). As both God and man, His suffering and death and Resurrection affected our entire being – our body, our soul and our spirit.  (1 Thessalonians 5:23)

The series of events in discussion covered several days. [One reference for the timeline of the events can be found at the following website:

https://www.ucg.org/the-good-news/the-chronology-of-the-crucifixion-and-resurrection-of-jesus-christ ]

On the first day of Israel’s observance of Passover, after His Last Supper with His disciples, the Lord led them to the garden at Gethsemane where His suffering began. The Scripture records that He “began to be sorrowful and very heavy” and said to them “My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death…”  His agony was so severe that as He prayed “His sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.”(hematohidrosis)  As they slept, He twice prayed to the Father that He not have to endure what lay ahead, but He would do the Father’s will (Matthew 26: 36-45, Luke 22:39-46).  Knowing what lie ahead, our Lord Jesus endured this terrible pressure on His soul and mind so that we might be able to withstand the attacks on our soul and mind. His soul was made an offering for our sins. (Isaiah Chapter 53)

Having been betrayed by Judas, arrested by Jewish leaders and turned over to Roman authorities, the Lord was judged to have committed no crimes by Pontius Pilate. Even so, to appease Israel’s rulers and the mob, Pilate instructed the soldiers to scourge the Lord.  Rome’s brutal soldiers were not limited by Israel’s legal restrictions of the number (40) of severe lashings / stripes He would have to suffer. (Deuteronomy 25:3) Further, their lashes with weapons of extreme torture tore His body’s flesh to the degree that He was virtually unrecognizable. (Isaiah 52: 14)

Even after suffering that gruesome abuse, at the insistence of the Jewish rulers and mob of Israelites, the Lord Jesus was turned over to the Roman soldiers to be crucified. Scripture reports that they then took him to their barracks where 600 soldiers lived. They stripped Him; repeatedly mocked and spit upon Him and struck Him on the head to imbed a crown of thorns that they had fashioned. Eventually they led Him away to be crucified. (Matthew 27: 22-31, Mark 15: 15-20)   

Our Lord Jesus, the Creator of heaven and the earth, suffered all this physical and mental abuse and torture silently for mankind. Scripture reports: “He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed.” (Isaiah 53)

That was only part of His suffering to pay the sin debt for mankind. Then the soldiers took Him away to Calvary to be crucified.

Christians are invariably familiar with the story of the Crucifixion.  But I feel that insufficient attention has been paid to the Lord’s final hours on the cross: the “Three Hours of Darkness”. In my next post I’d like to re-visit that subject.

Dr. W.A. Robinson