Jesus Is Crucified
Matthew 27:31-44; Mark 15:21-32; Luke 23:26-43; John 19:16-27
This will be a
difficult week. Many people find it hard to consider in detail what Jesus
endured on our behalf at the Cross. The whole idea of public execution via
crucifixion is both foreign and abhorrent to us. Each of the Gospel writers
included a glimpse of the grisly scene, and each one revealed something unique
in his account. The descriptions of Jesus’ suffering on the cross leave us
stunned and silent. Most of the talking on Golgotha was done by onlookers, not
by the three men on crosses. Their statements were brief. Both their silence
and their few words take us into the heart of the meaning of the Cross.
Stations of Suffering
Reading the Word
Luke 23:26-33, NIV
As the soldiers
led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the
country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. 27A large
number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him.
28Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me;
weep for yourselves and for your children. 29For the time will come when you
will say, ‘Blessed are the childless women, the wombs that never bore and the
breasts that never nursed!’ 30Then ‘they will say to the mountains, “Fall on
us!” and to the hills, “Cover us!”’ 31For if people do these things when the
tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?” 32Two other men, both
criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. 33When they came to the
place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one
on his right, the other on his left.
Setting the Scene
Once the mockery of justice was over in Jesus’ manipulated trial, the sentence was immediately set in motion. Jesus began to walk the Via Dolorosa (the way of suffering). Over the centuries, believers meditating on Jesus’ experience have developed a sequence, partly based on the biblical account and partly based on tradition, called “the stations of the Cross.” These snapshots of the journey to the Cross are often depicted in stained-glass windows, paintings, carvings, and occasionally an extended walking experience with statuary that allows pilgrims to sense the movement in Jesus’ greatest act. The stations can be as many as fourteen, but ten mark events leading to the moment when Jesus was nailed to the cross: (1) Jesus is formally condemned to death (John 19:16); (2) Jesus sets out bearing his cross (Matthew 27:31; John 19:17); (3) Jesus falls; (4) Jesus meets his mother along the way; (5) Simon is recruited to help Jesus (Matthew 27:32; Mark 15:21; Luke 23:26); (6) Veronica wipes the face of Jesus; (7) Jesus falls again; (8) Jesus consoles the women of Jerusalem (Luke 23:27-31); (9) Jesus falls a third time; (10) Jesus is stripped of his garments for which the guards will gamble (Matthew 27:35; Mark 15:24; Luke 23:34; John 19:23-24).
Condemned men were
required to carry their own crosses to the execution site, but beatings had
weakened Jesus so that apparently he needed assistance. The Roman soldiers
recruited Simon of Cyrene to assist Jesus. Mark’s note that Simon was “the
father of Alexander and Rufus” (Mark 15:21) seems to indicate that the man and
his family were known among the believers in Jerusalem. We don’t know if Simon
was a displaced Jew in town for the Passover or whether he was a Jewish
proselyte from Africa, since Cyrene is in Libya. Simon’s action points toward
the significance of Jesus’ teaching about faithful discipleship being similar
to bearing a cross. What Simon was required to do every believer should be
willing to do, take up the cross assigned to us by God and serve Christ (see
Luke 14:27).
Luke records that
there was a group of believers who followed Jesus to Calvary, weeping. Jesus
spoke to the women briefly, urging them to join him in grieving for Jerusalem.
Their grief for him would be short-lived, but the city would soon face
destruction by Rome.
Once Jesus was
nailed to the cross, he was three hours from the finish line. During those
hours of excruciating suffering, Jesus made several brief statements, though
breathing was very difficult. Jesus’ crucified companions soon became silent.
But he had some important things to say. Seven times he spoke. Three times, his
words were prayers: He prayed for those who had just nailed him to the cross
(Luke 23:34); he prayed as he realized God’s abandonment (Matthew 27:46; Mark
15:34); and his final words were a prayer (Luke 23:46). Twice he had brief
conversations with others: the two thieves beside him (Luke 23:39-43) and then
his mother and John (John 19:26-27). And twice he spoke to the people gathered
at the foot of the cross: “I am thirsty” (John 19:28, NIV), and “It is
finished” (John 19:30, NIV). His last, brief words still speak into our lives
today.
Getting Personal
Knowing how the story turns out, what benefit do you find in
revisiting the events of Jesus’ crucifixion? How do you respond to the fact of
his suffering?
With whom do you
identify most in the events of Jesus’ last hours?
What words of
Jesus from the cross speak most directly to you?
When we think
about the cross of Jesus, our memories of suffering can help, but we haven’t
seen the Cross until we can truthfully say, “I belong there, but because of
Jesus, I won’t be going there!”
Talking to God
Meditate on the suffering of your Savior, cherishing what he did
at the Cross on your behalf. Ask him to help you show your gratitude to him
through your personal worship and obedience today.
(Veerman, 2011-08-25)
Veerman, D.
R. (2011-08-25). Life Application Study Bible Devotional. [[VitalSource
Bookshelf version]]. Retrieved from vbk://9781414365947
