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John begins in chapter 19 of his gospel in verse 16 saying …
“Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took
Jesus, and led him away.” Pilate had
finally given up his efforts to spare the innocent blood of Christ, and had
acquiesced to the fervor of the religious zealots who demanded Christ be killed
through the power of the state. From a
human perspective, all hope was gone for Christ. The hate of the Pharisees, combined with the
muscle of Roman power, was a combination that no man could overcome. But therein lies the irony. This was no ordinary man. Christ, with the power of His divinity, could
have at any time removed himself from this situation. He had done so on every occasion where the
people intended to make Him their earthly King.
But while He exercised divine power to escape fame and earthly glory, He
used none of it to escape His own torture and death. He chose to submit through each agonizing
moment, all the way to His death. It is
why He had said that no man takes His life, that He alone must lay it
down. All the power of hate and Rome was
nothing against His own will, should He have willed it, He could have stopped
the process in an instant. But He did
not.
John continues in verse 17 … “And he bearing his cross went
forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew
Golgotha: [verse 18] Where they crucified him, and two other with him, on
either side one, and Jesus in the midst.”
No sense in wasting an execution, Pilate determined to go ahead and
execute two other captured criminals with Christ. In yet another Roman expression of
efficiency, the criminals were to carry the heavy load of the instrument of
torture they were to be put to death upon.
They carried their own crosses (though we know this burden at some point
in the journey became too much for Christ, and another was tasked to help Him
with it). Crucifixion was not the same
as beheading, or a bullet to the head, or a mortal wound from a sword or
spear. It was intended to be a slow
death. The victim must hold themselves
up in order to keep breathing properly.
When the muscles in their legs finally give out, they become unable to
breathe, and die of asphyxiation. Their
last ounce of strength would be spent trying to stay alive for just one more
moment, with a knowledge that at some point, they would lose strength and die. Christ had already exhausted Himself, in the
beating He had taken that nearly had Him bleed out. He had been mocked, spat upon, lost more
blood from the crown of thorns placed in His head, and again exhausted from
trying to carry His own cross. He would
not last long.
Pilate however, had one parting shot at those religious
zealots who had refused to listen to reason.
Pilate knew that the Jews believed their Messiah was to be their
king. So John records in verse 19 … “And
Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was, JESUS OF
NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS. [verse 20] This title then read many of the
Jews: for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city: and it was
written in Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin. [verse 21] Then said the chief priests
of the Jews to Pilate, Write not, The King of the Jews; but that he said, I am
King of the Jews. [verse 22] Pilate answered, What I have written I have
written.” Pilate did believe Jesus was
indeed the Messiah of the Jewish prophecy, his brief encounter with Truth
taught him that. So, Pilate gave to
Christ the title the common belief in that prophecy warranted. In effect, Pilate was saying to the Jews,
whether you see it or not, you have asked me to crucify your only hope. And Pilate remained firm in keeping this
title posted in every common language, near to Jerusalem during a Passover, a
year of Jubilee, and a time when every worshipper would be heading into the
city. This was something the Pharisees
could not stand, but were forced to endure.
Modern artistic renderings of Christ always show Him clothed
during this final torturous death. It is
hard enough for us to bear that He died in our place, but to add the
humiliation of seeing our God on earth naked, and exposed for all to see, for
His enemies to further mock, is too much for most artists to represent. But scripture tells us in verse 23 … “Then
the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments, and made four
parts, to every soldier a part; and also his coat: now the coat was without
seam, woven from the top throughout. [verse 24] They said therefore among
themselves, Let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be: that
the scripture might be fulfilled, which saith, They parted my raiment among
them, and for my vesture they did cast lots. These things therefore the
soldiers did.” His clothing was divided
among the soldiers (spoils of war), and He would have no further need of
it. His robe however, was decided by
dice as it was a garment woven without seam.
Even in the details of their greed, scriptural prophecy was fulfilled. The Pharisees were present during these
events. They knew the prophecies. They had spent their lives debating the
scriptures and their meaning. These
events were not lost on them, but they simply did not choose to care, or to
truly see their own error and repent.
In another act of cruelty, the Romans freely permitted the
women related to the victims of crucifixion to attend these events. The women who loved these victims would
openly grieve for them, pleading for mercy which would not come. The victims seeing the pain of their loved
ones, would struggle harder to survive, thus extending the torture of their own
inevitable death. All of this spectacle
only added to the pain and torture for everyone concerned. The men who were friends of the victim would
largely stay away, as they did not want to risk a confrontation with the attending
soldiers, or risk being associated with the victim and perhaps find themselves
the subject of further Roman prosecution in coming days. So no matter what the motivation may have
been, the remainder of the disciples of Christ were not recorded as being
present at His death. Perhaps they were
there and unnoticed, or perhaps they had already fled to the upper room. In any case, John does record who had come in
verse 25 … “Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother's
sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene.” Four women had come to grieve and spend what
little time there was left, with the One who they had all come to love. I do not know, if the sister of the mother of
Christ may have been the mother of John the Baptist or not, but at least Mary
had some family present with her.
Death was now very near.
Strength had given way to the exhaustion of human limits. For most of us, our thoughts would have been
centered on living, on keeping alive just a bit longer. But even unto death, despite everything that
has happened to Him, and all the pain He has personally endured. The thoughts of Christ are on the pain of
those He loved. Instead of crying out
for His own agony, He looks to address the concerns of His family. John records in verse 26 … “When Jesus
therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith
unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son! [verse 27] Then saith he to the
disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his
own home.” Widows were the poorest of
Jewish society, without a male to earn, and buy, and manage affairs, a woman
could do little to preserve her own life.
So Christ first thinks of us once again, and in so doing affirms that we
are family by choice, as much or more, as we are family by blood. To His mother, He offers yet another
son. To His most loved friend, He offers
the care and love of yet another mother, His very own mother. To care for the widows, and orphans, is not
just a lesson to be preached in the Temple, but to be lived by example, even at
the point of death. Even at the door of
death itself Christ is thinking about us, trying to care for us, looking out
for our best interests. With all the
divine power at His disposal, He does not make miracles to insure the wealth
and ease of the life of His mother.
Instead He asks John to love her and care for her. He asks Mary to treat John as her own son,
and to love and care for Him. It is not
miracles that are needed to make our lives filled with wealth and ease, it is
only love. It is love that is truly
important. It always was, it will always
be.
Now there was only one more prophetic scripture to be
fulfilled. John records in verse 28 … “After
this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture
might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst. [verse 29] Now there was set a vessel full
of vinegar: and they filled a spunge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and
put it to his mouth. [verse 30] When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar,
he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.” Every prophecy of scripture regarding the
true mission of the Messiah had been fulfilled.
Christ had died. He had yielded
up His own life. He had laid it down for
us. He had died of a broken heart. But I do not believe we were the direct
reason for His so great sadness. There
was something else going on, something of far more significance, and caused
Christ far more sadness. The burden of
our sins were upon Him. As such, for the
first time in His existence (which is without time and space to measure), He
was forced to be separated from His Father.
This separation constitutes the very definition of hell itself. To be pulled away from the source of love and
life and be hidden from its view, was more than the heart of Christ could
bear. Sin could not exist in the
presence of God the Father. Therefore
though He Himself was sinless, the weight of our sins that He carried, forced a
separation between Himself and His Father.
This was just too much for Him.
This separation was more than even His own divine nature could
endure. It would be this separation that
would cause Him to yield up His own life, and see His heart broken because of
it. This was the ultimate sacrifice on
His part for us; to be willing to endure separation from His Father in order
that we might not suffer that fate.
But there was even more at stake for Christ than the
separation that was causing His eminent demise.
What if, having been stained with the weight of our seemingly endless
evil, He could no longer return to the presence of His Father? What if this separation was to be
permanent? What if the sacrifice He was
making was simply not enough to redeem mankind, or be removed from His
being? He was not just risking a human
life in the sacrifice of His life with taking on our sins. He was risking divine existence as the
universe had come to know it. He was
risking everything for us. He was giving
up everything for us. The scale of His
sacrifice was not to be measured in merely His mortal human existence, but in
His divine eternal one as well. This was
the question the atheists delight to ponder, could God create a rock so big He
could not move it? But of more eternal
significance, could Christ carry the sins of us all, and still return to the
side of His Father, having once been stained with the evil of our species from
time and memorial? This answer was not
visible from the cross. Jesus would have
to die first, and find out if it was enough later. His divinity could not answer this mystery
before He experienced it. Thus
everything was at risk for our God. And
the pain of separation was that which would cause His own heart to break. And still He went forward with it. Still He submitted, and did the will of His
Father, without a guarantee it could be undone, or overcome, only a faith that
this is the road He must take, and the choice He must make … for us.
And while the fate of the universe itself hung in the
balance, the Pharisees had larger concerns, they must insure that preparation
for the religious rituals they were to perform would not be distracted by the
death of Love and Life itself on a cross outside their city. These men firmly believed that holiness was
achieved through their own actions, not through simple submission. As such they must “do” what they needed to do
in order to be made “pure” before the day of rest and atonement. John records the height of hypocrisy in verse
31 … “The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies
should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was
an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they
might be taken away.” The religious
leadership of the only one true religion on planet earth, the one established
by the Man hanging on the cross, was determined that their murder of their
founder would not distract from the ceremonies they had been directed to
perform. Thus they wished to accelerate
the deaths of those hanging there, in order to wrap things up by Sabbath. Ironically there was not even need of this
where Christ was concerned, He was already resting.
John records the events in verse 32 … “Then came the
soldiers, and brake the legs of the first, and of the other which was crucified
with him. [verse 33] But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead
already, they brake not his legs: [verse 34] But one of the soldiers with a
spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water. [verse 35]
And he that saw it bare record, and his record is true: and he knoweth that he
saith true, that ye might believe. [verse 36] For these things were done, that
the scripture should be fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be broken. [verse 37]
And again another scripture saith, They shall look on him whom they pierced.” Now even after He was dead, scriptural
prophecy was still being fulfilled. But
beyond this, a lethal spear wound was inflicted JUST to make SURE Christ was
dead. It was already visibly
evident. The darkness as nature refused
to witness the death of her creator was unearthly and unprecedented. The thunder and earthquake that occurred when
Christ had given up the ghost, which had woken some of the dead from Adam to
Christ and would now bear witness of His divinity until His first ascension in
three days, would rock Jerusalem to its core.
And most interesting, the rip from top to bottom of the heavy curtains
that separated the Most Holy place from the rest of the temple, allowing EVERYONE
to stare straight at the Ark of the Covenant without death. All of these miraculous events testified at
the death of Christ, of His divinity, of the magnitude of His sacrifice.
But skeptics are not convinced by the miraculous, only by
the practical. So a mortal spear wound
through the ribs of Christ would have to suffice for proof of death. After all, a Roman soldier knew how to kill
if nothing else. They had plenty of
practice at it. And there has never been
any dispute that Christ was killed in these events. There has only ever been a dispute about
whether He emerged from death. The proof
that He died seems to have been sufficient for even the most die-hard atheist who
examines this record. Indeed there seems
to be ample evidence that He died. But
as said in the beginning, the only way to prove a resurrection is to first
prove a death has occurred …
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