The Death of Jesus
33 At the sixth hour darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour. 34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?”—which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
35 When some of those standing near heard this, they said, “Listen, he’s calling Elijah.”
36 One man ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a stick, and offered it to Jesus to drink. “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to take him down,” he said.
37 With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.
38 The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. 39 And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, heard his cry and saw how he died, he said, “Surely this man was the Son of God!”
40 Some women were watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. 41 In Galilee these women had followed him and cared for his needs. Many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem were also there.
My Understanding: Jesus was betrayed by one of his twelve disciples, Judas. Judas had cut a deal with the chief priests, the teachers of the law, and the elders, i.e. the spiritual leaders of Jesus’ day, who sent men to arrest Jesus. Judas had arranged a signal with them so the soldiers would know which person to arrest. The one Judas kissed was the one they were looking for. Thus, the men seized Jesus and arrested him. Jesus was brought before the religious leaders, including the whole Sanhedrin. They were looking for evidence against Jesus so they could put him to death, but they did not find any. Many people gave false testimony against Jesus, but there was disagreement among their statements. Jesus remained silent and gave no answer to their accusations. Yet, when asked directly if he was the Christ, he replied, “I am.”
Then, they accused him of blasphemy, and decided that he was worthy of death. Some of the people present spit at Jesus. They blindfolded him and then they struck him with their fists. They mocked him and then the guards took him and beat him. Judas, one of the twelve had betrayed Jesus into the hands of his enemies. All of Jesus’ disciples initially deserted him and fled. And, Peter, another of the twelve, who had said he would never fall away, disowned Jesus three times, just as Jesus had said he would. Yet, when Peter heard the rooster crow a second time, he remembered Jesus’ words and he broke down and wept.
The next morning, the religious leaders and the whole Sanhedrin handed Jesus over to Pilate. And Pilate examined Jesus. It was the custom to release a prisoner whom the people requested. Pilate asked the people if they wanted Jesus released, i.e. if he should release “the king of the Jews.” He asked this, knowing that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him because they were envious of him. The chief priests stirred up the crowd to have a murderer, named Barabbas, released instead. So, Pilate asked the crowd what he should do with Jesus, to which they replied, “Crucify him!” Pilate wanted to make the crowd happy, so he released Barabbas, he had Jesus flogged, and then he handed him over to be crucified.
The soldiers led Jesus away. They called together all the other soldiers. And, they mocked Jesus. They placed a crown of thorns on his head. They continually struck him in the head with a staff and spit on him. They pretended, in a mocking way, to worship him. Then they led him to be crucified. This is our Lord that they did all this to. He is our God, our perfect Lamb sacrifice for our sins who went through all of this for you and for me so that we could be free from sin. He is God; the creator of the universe and of all things on the earth, and yet he left his home in heaven, came to earth as a baby, took on human flesh, suffered as we suffer, was tempted as we are tempted, yet without sin, and then he went through all of this pain and suffering leading up to his crucifixion, as well as the pain of the crucifixion, itself. Yet, that was not the greatest suffering of all. When he died on that cross, he took upon himself the sins of the entire world. Think about how much suffering you have had in your life due to your own sins. He took all our sins on him. He crucified them, buried them, and then he rose from the dead, triumphing over death, hell, Satan and sin so we’d be free.
Our sins had to be the greatest suffering of all, yet he faced another great, and perhaps an even greater suffering, and that was, when he took our sins on him, God the Father could not look on him. So Jesus also felt the pain and suffering of separation from God the Father. I know there have been times in my life when I have felt as though God was not present, though I knew he was. I felt as though he was silent. I wanted to hear his voice and to just have that assurance that he was right there. There were times when I even told him that he could yell at me, if that is what I needed, but I just needed to hear his voice speaking to me. I just needed to feel his presence. I think that has to be one of the most horrible feelings ever – to sense the absence of the presence of God, even though he would not ever leave those who are truly his. So, Jesus suffered this separation from his Father, too.
When Jesus died, the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The curtain in the temple is what separated the Holy of Holies, which housed the Ark of the Covenant, from the people. God’s people could not come into his presence then like we can today. It was there the high priests made yearly sacrifices (atonement) for the sins of the people, and for themselves. So, the tearing of the temple’s curtain in two signified that Jesus’ blood sacrifice on the cross for our sins had once and for all paid for our sins and had made the way for us now to come into God’s presence, as the Holy Spirit of God now dwells within the hearts and lives of true believers in Jesus Christ. So now we no longer need human priests to intercede for us between us and God the Father, because Jesus is our high priest who now is our mediator between us and the Father so that we can approach the throne of grace with confidence (See the book of Hebrews).
Because of what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross in dying for our sins and then in rising from the dead, gaining victory over our sin, we are now able to come to faith in Jesus Christ and to have our sins crucified with Christ, buried with him and then we are able to be raised to have new lives in Christ Jesus. We come to faith in Jesus Christ because God the Father first draws us to that faith, then because of what Jesus did for us in saving us from sin, so it is only by God’s grace that we are even able to believe in Jesus Christ. When we choose to believe, part of that belief means that we turn from our sin and our former ways of living according to our own fleshly appetites, and we choose to walk humbly before God in faith and obedience to all his commands. In other words, we cannot separate repentance and obedience from the act of believing in Jesus Christ. They are intrinsically linked together. So, if you have not repented of your sins and if you have not made that commitment to invite Jesus Christ into your life and to walk in obedience to Him, I pray you do so today.
Jesus, Lead Me / An Original Work / July 22, 2011
Jesus, lead me all the way.
Be my hope and be my stay.
Gently lead me where I should go,
So Your Spirit, I want to know.
Open up my heart to You.
Fill me with Your love and truth.
Make my heart want to obey.
Be my Lord today. Gently lead alway.
Jesus, lover of my soul,
Cleanse my heart, and make me whole;
Be transformed in my heart today,
As I turn from my sin and pray.
Make Your will known to my heart.
May I not from You depart.
How I long to hear You now,
As I humbly bow. Jesus, hear me now.
Song Lyrics @ Public Domain
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