A. To this point in our study, we have considered many events during that final week that led to the crucifixion of Jesus.
1. The Lord entered Jerusalem in a glorious way and spent the week teaching truth and refuting error.
2. The Lord's enemies actively sought for an opportunity to kill Jesus.
3. The Lord's own disciple, Judas Iscariot, became the source of that opportunity for the Lord's enemies.
4. After Judas betrayed Christ, He was arrested and tried multiple times by the Jews and the Romans (before Annas, before Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin, before Pilate, before Herod, and before Pilate again).
5. At last, the sentence of death was passed.
a. Time after time, Pilate pronounced Jesus to be free of guilt, yet he yielded to the multitudes and delivered Him to be crucified.
b. This was as Jesus had foretold: "The Son of Man is to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill Him; and when He has been killed, He will rise three days later” (Mark 9:31).
B. In this lesson, we will examine Christ's crucifixion.
1. As we do so, let us understand that such a death would be horrible for anyone, but Jesus is the Son of God who left His exalted place in heaven to come for this very purpose.
2. The only reason for the Son of God to die in this way was to save us.
II. THE EVENTS OF THE CRUCIFIXION
A. These events are recorded in Matthew 27:32-50, Mark 15:21-37, Luke 23:26-43, and John 19:17-30.
B. Let us remember the abuse suffered by our Lord prior to His crucifixion: beatings, insults, spitting in His face, scourging, mockery, exhaustion, the crown of thorns, and more.
C. Christ was led outside of the walls of Jerusalem to a hill called Golgotha, the "place of the skull.”
1. Jewish laws and customs would not permit a man to be put to death in the city.
2. Because of His weak physical condition, the Lord was unable to carry His cross the full distance to Golgotha. The Romans compelled Simon of Cyrene to bear the cross when Jesus could not.
D. As the Lord was led out, He spoke to those who mourned over Him (Luke 23:27-31).
1. Jesus instructed them to save their mourning for Jerusalem, for He knew of its coming destruction (it came in A.D. 70; see also Matt. 23:37-24:51; Luke 19:41-44).
2. At this time of intense suffering and imminent death, Jesus was still teaching and warning.
E. For shame, Christ's clothes were removed before He was crucified.
1. The soldiers had removed the purple robe from Jesus and clothed Him in His own garments before they led Him away to be crucified (Matt. 27:31).
2. Four soldiers divided the Lord's garments among themselves at Golgotha (John 19:23). For His tunic, they cast lots to determine who would have it (John 19:24, a fulfillment of Ps. 22:18).
F. At Golgotha, the Son of God was crucified.
1. Just before Christ was crucified, He was offered a drink of wine mixed with gall or myrrh, which would have dulled His senses and made His suffering more bearable. Jesus refused the drink (Matt. 27:34; Mark 15:23).
2. It was the third hour (around 9 A.M.) when Jesus was crucified (Mark 15:25). In the three hours since dawn, Jesus had been formally charged by the Sanhedrin, tried by Pilate, tried by Herod, sentenced by Pilate, continuously abused, and at last crucified.
G. Consider the brutality of the cross.
1. Death on a cross was reserved for the worst of criminals. Roman citizens were not permitted to be crucified under any circumstances.
2. The cross was likely eight or nine feet in height. The middle, vertical post of the cross was probably already mounted in the ground.
3. Nails approximately the size of railroad spikes were likely used to fasten Christ's hands and feet to the cross. He was probably nailed through the wrists to the cross-bar and raised to the highest position.
4. There were several causes of death by crucifixion.
a. One could bleed to death from the nail wounds.
b. One could suffocate as the pull of his own weight prevented him from drawing breath.
c. One could die from exhaustion due to struggling against the forces at work against him.
d. One could die from exposure as he was left without any protection from the elements.
5. As we have noticed, the Lord was already weak, lacking blood, and exhausted before He was crucified. His death was probably affected in part by all of these causes.
H. The Bible records seven statements made by Jesus from the cross.
1. One statement was a prayer of forgiveness for His own murderers (Luke 23:34).
2. One statement was a provision for His mother as He instructed the apostle John to consider Mary as his own mother (John 19:25-27). From that hour, John took her into his own household.
3. Even on the cross, the words of Jesus were selfless and merciful.
I. On the cross, Jesus continued to suffer mockery and blasphemy from those around Him.
1. Pilate had made a sign describing the charges against Jesus, which said, "King of the Jews.” The chief priests objected to Pilate, but he refused to alter the sign (John 19:19-22).
2. Many who passed by along with the rulers and the soldiers mocked Him and tempted Him to prove Himself by coming down from the cross and calling on God to save Him.
3. Even one who was crucified with Jesus mocked Him.
a. Jesus was crucified with two thieves. This fulfilled Isaiah 53:12, for He "was numbered with the transgressors” (see Mark 15:28; Luke 22:37).
b. One of the thieves mocked Jesus and dared Him to save the three of them.
c. The other thief defended Jesus and asked the Lord to remember him when He came in His kingdom. Jesus said to him, "Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise” (see Luke 23:39-44).
J. From the sixth hour (noon) until the ninth hour (3 P.M.), darkness fell over the whole land. Luke's account says that the sun was obscured (Luke 23:45).
K. Consider the final moments of our Lord's suffering on the cross.
1. At the ninth hour (3 P.M.), Jesus cried out, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which is translated, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” (Matt. 27:46; Mark 15:34).
a. This cry to the Father by Jesus fulfilled Psalm 22:1.
b. Some who heard this cry thought that Jesus was calling for the prophet Elijah.
2. The Lord also said, "I am thirsty” (John 19:28, a fulfillment of Ps. 22:15), and so a sponge full of sour wine was extended to Him on a hyssop branch (a fulfillment of Ps. 69:21).
3. After this, the Lord said, "It is finished” (John 19:30) and "Father, into Thy hands I commit My spirit” (Luke 23:46; see Ps. 31:5). He then bowed His head and breathed His last.
III. NEVER FORGET
A. "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)
B. "For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rom. 5:6-8)
C. "Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” (Phil. 2:5-8)
IV. CONCLUSION
A. As Jesus died, it appeared to His enemies that they had won the victory over the Lord.
1. Of course, the ultimate enemy of Christ is Satan, and he certainly thought that he had succeeded.
2. However, Christ's enemies were wrong, for it was by His death that Christ would take away the power of Satan (Heb. 2:14).
3. What His enemies did not know was that Christ would overcome His death and be raised from the grave, giving Him the victory over Satan forever.
B. In the next and final lesson, we will consider the events that followed the death of Christ, which give us hope today and forever.
V. POST-SCRIPT APPLICATION: CRUCIFYING CHRIST AGAIN
A. Despite our familiarity with the story, the crucifixion of Jesus Christ is still stunning.
1. The brutality suffered by our Lord is so heartbreaking that it pains us to think about it in detail.
a. The cruel, vicious, barbarism of those who hated the Lord is shocking. Their unquenchable thirst for the blood of an innocent Man is beyond imagination.
b. The injustice endured by the Lord is the worst in the history of the world. He had done nothing deserving of any punishment, yet He was sentenced to death.
c. The humiliation of the Son of God was immeasurable. He was mocked, spat upon, blasphemed, stripped of His clothing, and given a criminal's death.
d. The pain of the Lord's wounds was unbearable. He suffered beatings, scourging, the crown of thorns, nails driven into His flesh, and hanging from a cross.
2. The fact that God's Son had to suffer so much in order to atone for our sins teaches us just how terrible sin is. The Father would not have required the Son to suffer so much if it was not necessary to redeem us from our lost condition.
B. As horrifying as Christ's crucifixion is to us, some will crucify Jesus yet again.
1. The notion of crucifying Jesus again seems unthinkable, but this is the figure used by the Bible to describe those who are faithful for a time and then fall away.
a. Notice Hebrews 6:4-6: "For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame.”
b. Apostate Christians cannot physically crucify Jesus again, but they do crucify Him in their hearts and reject Him just as the Jews did (ref. John 1:11).
2. For those who have once received the truth about Christ but turn away from Him and go on sinning, they reject their only hope and treat Him as unholy.
a. Notice Hebrews 10:26-31: "For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay.' And again, ‘The LORD will judge His people.' It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”
b. Jesus was offered once for all (Heb. 9:12, 26; 10:10-14). There will be no other sacrifice for those who reject Jesus, for when He comes again, it will be for judgment (Heb. 9:27-28).
C. Rather than crucifying Christ again, let us crucify ourselves.
1. We do not need to be physically crucified to please the Lord, but figuratively we must be crucified and die to sin so that we may have a new life of righteousness in Christ. Consider these passages:
a. "For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin.” (Rom. 6:5-7)
b. "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” (Gal. 2:20)
c. "Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” (Gal. 5:24)
2. The choice set before Christians is this: either go back to a life of sin and thereby crucify Jesus to ourselves again, or go forward with a life of righteous by crucifying the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life. Which will it be?
