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Matthew 27:33-56; Mark 15:20-41; Luke
23:26-49; John 19:17-30.
Historical Setting:
Time: Friday, April 7, A.D. 30,
9 a.m to 3 p.m.
Place: Calvary (Golgotha), just
outside the city of Jerusalem.
Persons: Christ,
centurion and Roman soldiers, priests and Jewish multitude,
Simon of Cyrene, Mary Magdalene, Mary, mother of James the
younger and Joses, Salome, other women, John.
After Simon took over the carrying of Jesus’
cross, the progress was speeded up. At last the troop arrives
at Golgotha’s Hill. The place of crucifixion was a small
knoll, shaped like a skull, hence it’s name, Golgotha.
Stillness ascends upon the crowd as they watch the soldiers
rip off Jesus’ garments, leaving only the meager necessities.
And then the cruel procedure of the crucifixion begins. Oh the
pain that wracks Jesus’ body as the nails are driven into His
hands! But Jesus doesn’t utter a sound.
To ease the sufferings of those condemned to die, it was
the custom that the women of Jerusalem prepared a drink of
wine mingled with a narcotic, which somewhat dulled the sense
of pain. But when this is offered to Christ, He refuses it,
wanting to be fully aware of what is going on around Him.
However, He tastes it to show His appreciation of their kind
offer.
Jesus is nailed to the cross. The heavy vertical beam is
sunk into the hole prepared for it. The jolting of the drop
causes nearly unbearable pain, but as it is happening, Jesus’
lips part, and He utters a prayer. He knows that the angels
are hovering, ready at an instant to help Him, but His
thoughts are not on Himself at this time, they are on His
tormentors. He cries out to His Father in Heaven, “Oh Father, forgive them. They know not what
they are doing.”
People start to move in closer. The frenzied mob, silenced
for a few moments while the nailing procedure is going on, now
begin their cries again. They taunt, “You! You so-called
Son of God. If You really are God’s Son why don’t you come
down from that cross?” Some of them spit towards Him.
Other pick up stones and throw in His direction. Children,
mimicking the adult's actions, begin hissing at Him and
throwing objects toward the crosses too. And even the chief
priests, the scribes and elders, as if they hadn’t already
done enough to Him, begin in with their cries of mockery:
“He saved others, Himself He cannot save. Let Him come down
from the cross. Then we will believe Him.”
And another thing that is attracting a lot of attention is
the superscription that Pilate put above Jesus’ cross. In
Greek, in Latin, and in Hebrew, the sign reads: JESUS OF
NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS. (John 19:19) To this the
chief priests take great exception. They go running to Pilate
with their complaint. “Don’t say, ‘King of the Jews’,”
they yell at him. “Say, ‘He SAID I am King of the
Jews’.”
Pilate is sick and tired of these pesky priests. And he is
still upset because they had forced him to condemn an innocent
man, so his heated answer to this was: “What I have
written, I have written.” He turns from them, by his
action dismissing them.
While all this hullabaloo is taking place, the soldiers
snatch up Jesus’ garments and start arguing over them. They
divide His clothes into four parts (John 19:23, 24),
each soldier getting a fourth. But His outer robe is made
out of one continuous piece of cloth, woven from top to
bottom. So to settle the dispute as to who would get this
unique outer garment, they decide to gamble for it, casting
lots to see to whom it would belong. I can imagine their
discussion as to how a humble carpenter’s Son could own such a
unique piece of clothing, forgetting that Jesus had a lot of
friends. I do not know the history of this garment, but the
parting of His garment is mentioned in Psalm
22:18– “They part my garments among
them, and cast lots upon my vesture,” so I do know
that it must have been valuable, or why would they all have
wanted it?
And to add insult to injury, as Jesus hangs dying on the
cross, the two condemned criminals, hanging on crosses on
either side of Him, begin to berate Him and curse Him,
saying “If you really are Christ, the Son of God, then
prove it. Save Yourself–and us” But then something happens
to change the attitude of one of the thieves. Suddenly he
turns on his fellow criminal and says, “Have you no fear of
God, seeing we also are condemned to die? Ah yes! But we
deserve to die. This Man does not. He has done nothing wrong.”
Then he addresses Christ, saying, “Lord, please
remember me when You come into Your kingdom.”
Even if this thief had been the only sinner in the world,
Christ knew that His death would be worth it. He says to the
man, “Today I will see you with Me in
Paradise.”
Jesus’ suffering is at its peak, but He still remains
alert, His mind, as always, on others. He feels a comforting
presence close to Him. Straining His eyes downwards, to the
foot of the cross, He sees a large group of women huddled
together, weeping. How His heart goes out to them! And then He
notices that among these women is His beloved mother. He can
feel her anguish. He knows how she stores things up in her
heart, never letting the public know her true feelings. She is
a “ponderer”. He knows the pain she would be feeling, seeing
her firstborn Son suffering so. Scrutinizing the group more
closely He sees His closest friend, the disciple, John. The
pain he reads on his face causes Jesus to moan inwardly. He
calls to him, “John, You are my faithful friend. You have
been like a close brother to me. I am committing my mother
into your care. Please look after her. See how she mourns.”
John, hardly able to contain his emotions, moves closer to
Mary. It is then that he hears Jesus speak again. This time He
says, “Woman (a title of
respect), behold thy
son.” John, at this point, puts a protective arm
around his newly appointed mother. He takes her into his care
from that time on.
It is noon, and Christ has suffered for three hours.
Everything becomes dark. It is an eerie darkness, a darkness
which effects even Christ. Has God turned His back on His
Own Son? Yes. But not because of anything Christ has done.
It is because at this time, the sins of mankind are laid upon
Him. And God cannot look at sin. Christ feels so alone.
So deserted. He can stand it no longer. He cries out, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani,”
which being interpreted is: “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?”
The cry, not seeming to come from a weakened
Man, rings out across the valley. All those who are standing
around hear it, adding to the fear that has fallen on them by
the unusual and untimely darkness (which lasted three
hours.)
And then another anguishing cry rings out,
“I thirst.” A soldier comes
with a sponge dipped in sour wine. He gives it to Jesus to
drink. And then Christ’s last cry rings out, making the people
cringe: “It is finished! Into Thy hands
I commit My Spirit.” At last the awaiting
angels can escort their Lord to Paradise. Christ’s ordeal on
the cross is over.
And suddenly another frightening occurrence takes place.
There is a great earthquake, which opens graves. (More
about this in another episode) And that isn’t the
only thing that happens. In the city of Jerusalem, just a
little distance away, the veil of the temple rips right down
the center, from the top to the bottom, exposing the Holy of
Holies, which no one but the high priest had been allowed to
enter, and that only once a year. But now the way into the
Holy Place is opened to all, through the Savior’s death.
The crowd who has gathered at Calvary smite their breasts.
“What is happening? What is happening?” many of them cry. And
one centurion, dropping to his knees, exclaims, “Truly this
was the Son of God!”
The horrible, but glorious day at Calvary
was over. By His death on the cross Christ finished the work
of redemption, and salvation is open for all who will accept
it.
“There is a green hill far
away,
Without a city wall,
Where the dear Lord was
crucified,
Who died to save us all.
We may not know, we
cannot tell
What pains He had to bear;
But we believe it
was for us
He hung, and suffered there.”
(A hymn)
Helen Dowd
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