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http://picturesofjesus.eu/
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
hmdowd@telus.net
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