Proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ

The Way of the Cross  

Abraham spoke of that day, King David wrote about it, and the prophet Isaiah prophesied saying , “He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the punishment of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed”.

Just as the Old Testament believers looked ahead to when God would send a Redeemer, we look back to that day by faith when the prophecy was fulfilled, that we may remember the Sacrifice that God made and the blood he shed for the remission of our sins.

Matthew 27: Vrs 33 And when they were come unto a place called Golgotha, that is to say, a place of a skull, They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink. (Vinegar mixed with gall was a type of narcotic that the soldiers would give to help alleviate the pain and suffering, but when Christ tasted it, he refused to drink of it because he chose to suffer the full penalty for sin, sober and in his right mind).

Vrs 35 And they crucified him, and parted his garments, castings lots: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots, And sitting down they watched him there; And set up over his head his accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

Now the sign placed over the head of Jesus, was Pilates way of threatening and mocking the Jewish people, but God had another purpose for it. Pilate was Gods instrument in spreading the Gospel. This sign was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek, so every one who passed by, no matter what language they spoke could read the sign, declaring that Jesus Christ is King. 

Vrs 35 And they crucified him, and parted his garments, castings lots: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots, And sitting down they watched him there; And set up over his head his accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

Earlier in his ministry, Jesus was led into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.  And when the devil came to him he said, “If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread”, so we see Satan once again moving in and through the crowd tempting him again with the very same temptation as before. (If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross). 

Jesus didn't yield to Satan's temptation then, and He doesn't yield to his temptation now, for it is written, "Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

Vrs 51-56 And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many. Now when the centurion and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, truly this was the Son of God. And many women were there beholding afar off, which followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering unto him: Among which was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee’s children.

I can’t help but think how hard it must have been for those women standing there watching Jesus suffer and die on the cross that day. It’s hard for me to imagine just how much he had to suffer. Yet I think we need to remember Calvary and the cross on which Jesus died.  We need to see just how much he suffered that we may know what it cost him to bear our sins, and the sins of the world.

The four Gospels all give witness to Jesus being crucified on the cross, but they don’t give much detail to the pain and suffering he really went through. I think the book of Psalms gives us a clearer understanding of what Christ saw from the cross.

David writes, “Many bulls have surrounded me. They opened their mouths at me like a ravening and roaring lion. I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax melted within me; my strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue cleaves to my jaws. Thou dost lay me in the dust of death. For dogs have surrounded me; a crowd of wicked men have encircled me; they have pierced my hands and my feet. I can count all my bones. They look, they stare at me; they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing do they cast lots”.

Old Testament book of Exodus the 12^th Chapter, God speaks to Moses and Aaron and tells them to take a young male lamb without blemish, and to kill it, and take the blood, and strike it on the two posts and on the upper door post of the houses where they lived. 

For I will pass through the land of Egypt and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, and against all the gods of Egypt, I will execute judgment.  And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you.

God was giving Moses and his people a sign of what He was planning to do in the future, when He Himself would provide the Sacrifice, and where the blood is applied, the judgment of God would pass over.  This is where we get the phrase, the Pass Over, and the Pass over Lamb. We sing today the song that says, “When I see the Blood, I will pass, I will pass over you”.

Death by crucifixion was one of the cruelest and shameful deaths that could have ever been devised; and was practiced by the Romans. Only slaves and the worst criminals were condemned to be crucified. The person was nailed to the cross, with each hand extended as far as they would reach. The feet were nailed together, and then the cross was lifted up and dropped into a hole with a violent thud, which dislocated the joints of the body. The weight of the body hung on nails through the hands and the feet. The criminal was left on the cross until he died of untold pain and suffering.

So at Gods appointed time on a hill called Golgotha, the Son of God became the Lamb of God, and the cross became the alter on which he died. And for us today through faith in His blood, our sins have been forgiven.  Can you remember John’s testimony of Jesus, when he said “Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world?

Mary Magdalene is mentioned here in this passage as one of the women beholding Christ on the cross.  But earlier, the Bible describes her as a woman possessed by demons, whose life was bound and enslaved by sin.  But then Jesus came into her life and changed her life completely.

She was delivered from the demons, she was set free from the bondage of sin, and she became a faithful follower of Jesus.  She was close to Jesus during the last hours of his life.  All throughout his suffering, his death, burial, and resurrection, we see Mary again and again. So when Mary Magdalene stood at the foot of the cross, she saw the One who loved her unconditionally.  She saw the nail pierced hands that had once touched her life and had healed her.  She saw the nail pierced feet, of the One who came to her and set her free. When she looked at Jesus she was looking at the One who gave her a new life and has the power to change lives.

The Bible says we have all sinned and come short of the glory of God. We chose to disobey God and to go our own way, and the result is separation from God. Sin became our Master with death as its wages.

In God’s eyes we were already dead in our trespasses and sins. That means there was no hope for us.  There was nothing we could ever do to redeem ourselves. There is only One Way our relationship with God can ever be restored, and that is through Jesus Christ, and the way of the cross. The Bible tells us that there is no other name under heaven, given among men, whereby we must be saved. (Acts 4:12) 

In those days of the Jewish Passover, it was customary for the governor to release one prisoner from his sentence.  And at that time they had in prison a man named Barabbas who was a murderer and condemned to die. And when Pilate asked who should I release unto you, Barabbas or Jesus, the chief priest and elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas to be released, and for Jesus to be crucified.

Just a few days earlier, they hailed him as their King and Messiah, and now they preferred a murderer to him.  There cries were not shouts of praise and worship, but cries to Crucify Him. When it comes to our sins, I think we are like Barabbas in many ways. We are guilty with nothing to say. We have all sinned against God and His commandments.  Yet Gods grace is far greater than our sin, and He chose the way of the Cross to demonstrate his love for us.

The nails that pierced his hands and feet were meant for you and me, every slap of the face, every time he was spit upon, and every time his beard was plucked out. Every whip and stripe that he bore, he bore it for you and me.  And the Bible tells that He didn’t resist, He didn’t fight back, and he never said a word in his own defense.  When He was laid on the cross, and his arms were stretched out, he didn’t close his fist, but he opened them widely to receive the nail.  And He did it all for you and me.

God’s forgiveness of our sins was accomplished at Calvary’s cross. When Jesus cried out with a loud voice saying, “It is finished”, He was saying that He had done the work that His father had sent him to do.  And now the debt of our sin is PAID IN FULL. The way back to God is now opened in heaven and we can stand in Gods presence as if there has never been any sin.

No one has ever shown any greater love than the love we see at Calvary. I think I can understand how Mary Magdalene must have felt that day, to have Jesus come into her life and change it completely. He broke those chains that bound her life and set her free. He gave her a new life to live.  I think we can understand how Barabbas must have felt on that day, when Jesus was chosen to die in his place.  He knew that he was guilty of the crimes that he had done, yet God was saying, “Let him go, take me instead”.

So when I think of how he gave His life for me, then I can’t help but want to live my life for Him. When I see him bear the reproach and shame of my sin outside the gate of Jerusalem, when I see him fall beneath the weight of the cross and understand that it was my sins that weighed him down, then I can’t help but want to take up my cross and follow him, all the way.

Rev. James A. Lewis