Friends,
This is lengthy…but I believe worth the read. At one point early in Julius Caesar's
political career, feelings ran so high against him that he thought it best to
leave Rome. So, he sailed for the Aegean
island of Rhodes, but in route the ship was attacked by pirates and Caesar was
captured. The pirates demanded a ransom of 12,000 gold pieces, and Caesar's
staff was sent away to arrange the payment. Caesar spent almost 40 days with
his captors, jokingly telling the pirates on several occasions that…he would
someday capture and crucify every one of them to a man. The kidnappers were greatly amused, but when
the ransom was paid and Caesar was freed, the first thing he did was gather a
fleet and pursue the pirates. They were
captured and crucified...to a man! (I
guess he wasn’t joking after all). Such
was the Romans' attitude toward crucifixion. It was to be reserved for the
worst of criminals, a means of showing extreme contempt for the condemned. The suffering and humiliation of a Roman
crucifixion were unequaled. And so this brings us to the place where we are in
the story of Jesus. He has been
betrayed, arrested, subjected to a mockery of a trial, questioned by Pilate and
Herod, only to be turned over to be subjected to this most horrible of
punishments. In fact, Roman statesman
and philosopher, Cicero, would say concerning crucifixion, “It was the most
cruel and shameful of all punishments. Let it never come near the body of a
Roman citizen.” So, let us consider what
takes place as Jesus is delivered to be crucified, and what this means for us.
This mode of capital punishment was for the lowest kind
of criminals, particularly those who promoted insurrection. Today, many think
of the cross as a symbol of glory and victory.
But, in Pilate’s day, the cross stood for the ultimate rejection, shame
and suffering. It is with this understanding that Pilate delivers Jesus to the
chief priests, and they…with the help of Roman soldiers…take Jesus to be
crucified. It was customary for the criminal
to carry his cross, or at least the crossbeam, from the hall of judgment to the
place of execution. Jesus begins the
mile long walk carrying His cross, but He receives some relief from Simon of
Cyrene, whom the Roman soldiers draft to do the job. We are not given a reason
as to why…apparently Jesus is run down, worn out. One thing is certain – bearing the cross is a
mark of guilt, but Jesus is not guilty. It
was also required that the criminal wear a placard over him announcing his
crime, such as “thief,” “murderer.” Pilate writes, “This is Jesus of Nazareth,
the King of the Jews.” The chief priests
protest the title, but Pilate refuses to change it. He knows that this
statement embarrasses them. It is his final statement about the Jewish establishment,
wanting it to be clear that this is their decision. Jesus is crucified outside of the city
(Hebrews 13:11-13) between two others, possibly associates of Barabbas. They
are notorious criminals, which fulfills Isaiah 53:12, “He was numbered with the
transgressors.”
This all takes place at Golgotha, which means “cranium”
or “skull.” “Calvary” is the Latin equivalent.
Most executions were carried out in private, but Jesus is nailed to a
cross and hung up for everyone to see. It is Passover season at this time, and
so, there are thousands of visitors in the city. There are also soldiers there…it is their
job. At most Roman executions, a centurion would be assigned with four soldiers
to assist him. Since Jesus is a popular teacher with a large following, there
are likely more guards there. It was a privilege for the soldiers to share
whatever personal belongings the victims had, so they divide up all that Jesus
owns, which would not have been much, but it does fulfill Psalms 22:18.
A group of women, along with the Apostle John, stand near
the cross. John says they are – Mary, the mother of Jesus…Salome, his mother’s
sister…Mary, the wife of Clopas…and Mary Magdalene. It takes great courage for these ladies and
John to stand there in the midst of the hatred and ridicule that is displayed
toward Jesus. But, their presence is certainly an encouragement to Jesus. Jesus assures His mother of His love for her,
and gives John to be her “adopted son” to care for her. We know that he does
care for her, and that she is among the believers in the Upper Room as they
await Pentecost. (Acts 1:14) Our Lord
understands what is taking place. As we have noted several times, Jesus is
fully in control as He obeys His Father’s will.
He refuses to drink the pain deadening wine that is offered to those who
are to be crucified (Matthew 27:34), and this is in order to fulfill the
Scriptures (Psalms 69:21). He says, “I
thirst”, for He is enduring real, physical suffering, for He has a real human body. Jesus does take some vinegar offered to him
by a soldier who shows Him some pity, but it does enable Him to utter His shout
of triumph in a loud voice – “It is finished!”
While it is true that Jesus’ sufferings are now complete, many of the
Old Testament types and prophecies are now fulfilled, and the once-for-all
sacrifice for sin is now fulfilled.
I thought it would be good to have a telling picture of
what took place the day of Jesus’ crucifixion, so I go to the famous artist,
Rembrandt. Rembrandt, the famous Dutch
artist, painted his famous “Three Crosses” in 1653. The painting presents a
harsh depiction of the Crucifixion of Jesus hanging lifeless between two
thieves. At the foot of the cross are soldiers and onlookers. As you scan the
crowd gathered at the foot of the cross, you’d notice how the Dutch Artist had
captured various facial expressions and actions of the people. Some are
laughing, some crying, others are bewildered. What is most fascinating about
the painting, is a lone figure standing in the shadows (on the left). It is a
representation of Rembrandt himself. This was Rembrandt’s way of saying, “I was
there, too. My sins helped nail Jesus to the cross, too.” And we are there with Rembrandt, because it
is also our sin that Jesus took to the cross.
He went to the cross to die for all mankind…for slave and free, young
and old, good and bad, and for people of every nationality and social status.
There are two groups of people involved in Jesus’ burial
– the Roman soldiers and the Jewish believers.
It was not unusual for victims to remain on a cross and experience a
lingering death, so the Jewish leaders do all that they can to hasten the death
of Jesus and the two thieves. Jesus
dismissed His spirit at the ninth hour, which was 3 pm according to how they recognized
their days. It is amazing that the Roman
soldiers did not do what they were
supposed to do – break all of the victims’ legs – but they did do what they were not supposed to do – pierce Jesus’ side. But, in both of these matters, they fulfill
the Word of God. The bones of the
Passover lamb were not to be broken (Exodus 12:46, Numbers 9:12), so Jesus’
bones are protected. However, one of the
soldiers pierced His side (fulfilling Zechariah 12:10). John sees some special
significance to the blood and water that comes from the wound in His side. For one thing, it proves that Jesus has a
real, genuine body, and that He does experience death. In his first letter, John deals with evidence
that Jesus is God come in the flesh, and He presents three symbolic witnesses
-- the Spirit, the water and the blood. (1 John 5:7-8) The Spirit relates to what is going to take
place at Pentecost, the water relates to His baptism by immersion, and the
blood to His crucifixion. In each of
these events, God makes it clear that Jesus is who He claimed to be…God come in
the flesh. (19:35)
Once the soldiers are finished with their work, Jesus’
friends take over. God has prepared two high-ranking men to prepare His body
for burial and to place it in a proper tomb.
Joseph of Arimathea is an interesting character, for certain…he is rich
(Matthew 27:57), a prominent member of the Jewish council (Mark 15:43), a good
and righteous man who has not been in agreement with the council (Luke 23:50-51),
and he is Jesus’ disciple. He, along
with Nicodemus (whom we first meet back in chapter 3), make preparations for
Jesus to have a decent burial. It is apparent that Nicodemus has become a
full-fledged follower of Jesus at this point.
It is important that these men follow where the Lord is leading them,
because if Joseph and Nicodemus are not there, who knows what happens to the
body of Jesus? Haste is important…it is
important to get the body away from the Romans and the Jewish leaders…so, the
men work quickly. Matthew, Luke and John
all tell us that Joseph has this new tomb that has just been dug (and who knows
for what reason) and it is here that he wants to bury Jesus. The men also
assemble the cloths and spices needed for burial. What is apparent is that these two have done
a lot of careful planning…none of this (getting costly spices for the
preparation of the body, or securing the tomb) was going to take place at the
last minute. Some of the other women are
also there to witness Jesus’ burial.
They are planning to return after the Sabbath and complete the burial
procedures. Joseph and Nicodemus boldly
identify with Jesus Christ at a time when it seems like all is a failure and
His cause hopelessly defeated. The
Sabbath is now about to dawn, and Jesus has fulfilled His work, the mission for
which He came into the world.
The Roman emperor Charlemagne knew this. An interesting story surrounds the burial of
this famous king. Legend has it that he asked to be entombed sitting upright in
his throne. He asked that his crown be placed on his head and his scepter in
his hand. He requested that the royal cape be draped around his shoulders and
an open book be placed in his lap. That
was A.D. 814. Nearly two hundred years later, Emperor Othello determined to see
if the burial request had been carried out. He allegedly sent a team of men to
open the tomb and make a report. They found the body just as Charlemagne had requested.
Only now, nearly two centuries later, the crown was
tilted, the mantle moth-eaten, the body disfigured. But open on the skeletal
thighs was the book Charlemagne had requested…the Bible. One bony finger
pointed to Matthew 16:26 "What good will it be for a man if he gains the
whole world, yet forfeits his soul?"
You can answer that one. (From
The Applause of Heaven [Word Publishing, 1996] Max Lucado, p. 139-140).
I guess that this is a really good, pertinent question,
isn’t it? Charlemagne seemed to
understand it. It is true that, as the
old saying goes, there are two certainties in life – death and taxes…well, make
that three, the Cleveland Browns will be terrible. :-) But seriously, because of what happened with
Adam and Eve in the Garden, we all have a meeting with the grave that we are
going to make at some point. And as at
all funerals, the question is – what was this person’s life about? I can honestly say that I have done some
funerals where this question was easy to answer…and at other times, it has been
much more complicated. The apostle Paul
gives us a great illustration of comparison between Jesus’ experience and our
own, when he says in Romans 6:3-4, “Do you not know that all of us who have
been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried
therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was
raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness
of life.” The point that Paul makes is
that…just as Jesus died on the cross for us, we have to die…die to
ourselves. But that we must also be
buried in a grave, just as Jesus was buried in a grave. But, our burial takes place in water, so
that when resurrection takes place (which we will discuss next time), this also
assures our own resurrection. But, when
we are baptized, we are burying our old self so that our new self can come to
life. This is critical. I believe Paul captures one of the best
arguments for baptism, in that burial is a necessity because it connects us
with Jesus.
Blessings, Don
