|
The crucifixion of the Lord Jesus
Christ is by far the most heinous act of apostasy and rebellion
against God ever. The Jewish people had waited for centuries for the
coming of the promised Savior arid Messiah. But when He finally
came, in spite of His unparalleled teaching, revelation of divine
truth, offer of eternal life, and divine power over the demonic
realm, the natural world, disease, and death, they rejected Him.
John says in John 1:11, “He came to His own, and those who were His
own did not receive Him.”
Jesus’ earthy journey to the cross began thirty-three years before
His death in the small village of Bethlehem, near Jerusalem. He was
born in the humblest of surroundings — a stable with a manger for a
crib. Soon after His birth, His journey took Him, along with Mary
and Joseph, south into Egypt for protection from Herod, who wanted
to kill Him. After that danger passed, His parents took him north
from Egypt into Galilee to their little home in Nazareth. And there
His life seems to have paused for thirty years.
Then, when the Son of God reached thirty, His life journey took Him
to the Jordan River, where He was baptized by John the Baptist, and
began His public ministry. After three years of ministry, Jesus came
to Jerusalem for the last week of His life. So as this text opens,
it is Friday morning of that final week. Jesus would be crucified
later that afternoon and dead and buried before sundown. Luke
records the final steps of Jesus’ journey to Skull Hill.
The exact location of the site where the Lord was crucified is
unknown. It may have been the traditional site, now obscured by a
Roman Catholic church, the more recent one known as Gordon's
Calvary, or a different site. But the location of His execution is
not important, the redemption accomplished through His death is
eternally unequaled in importance.
[to top of second column] |
Temporally, Christ's journey to Skull
Hill lasted thirty-three years, but that was simply the final step
of a journey that began in heaven, the dwelling place of the eternal
Trinity. Every step of the way was preordained, which is why the
Bible describes Jesus as the Lamb slain from the foundation of the
world (Rev. 13:8 KJV), who had come to “Save His people from their
sin” (Matt 1:21), and’ “did not come to be served, but to serve, and
to give His life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). Contrary to the
false reaching of some, Jesus’ death came as no surprise to Him. In
fact, 1-ie had repeatedly predicted it, in all its gruesome details.
Obviously, Jesus draws the primary attention on these final steps to
the cross. He is the only one who speaks, and that only once, and
only on one topic — Judgment. But along the way other characters
appear in lesser roles. We meet the mixed murderers, the supporting
stranger, the curious crowd, the weeping women, and the companion
criminals. Keep reading!!!
[Ray Pebble
First Baptist Church] |
