Illustration: The deepest demonstration of love is to willingly sacrifice oneself for the benefit of another. There is a story about Pat Thorne who was a sniper atop a tree, saw a platoon of Canadian soldiers walking on a road in the direction of a German contingent. Wanting to warn them and knowing he couldn’t possibly take out the whole German platoon, he fired warning shots in the direction of the enemy. He didn’t expect them to actually turn in the direction of the shot and fire aimlessly toward him. He remembers getting hit, feeling warm, falling, and waking up in an American hospital. His medal for that act of bravery is paralysis and a wheelchair for over 50 years of his life and not being able to lie in a bed, being propped upright in a chair where he sleeps at night.
Stories like these move us deeply. It leads us however to reach for an even higher meaning if we will grasp the greatest principle intended in this passage of laying down one’s life, for doing so does not always mean death. It is that experience of embracing a LIFESTYLE that is always about everyone else. The level of our “intimate and organic” relationship with God determines the extent that we embrace the LIFESTYLE of living for others.
In today’s context of passages we will see the lifestyle of Christ in the imagery of the final symbols of passion. Because of their nature of similarity, we call them the ‘Symbols of Semblance.’
One by one, let us look into the symbols of mockery, suffering and sin-
1. Crown of Thorns [symbol of mockery] Matthew 27: 27 – 31:
Our Lord was crowned with thorns, in mockery, by the Roman soldiers. Obviously, some small flexile thorny shrub is meant perhaps Capparis spinosa. "Hasselquist, a Swedish naturalist, supposes a very common plant naba or nubka of the Arabs, with many small and sharp spines; soft, round and pliant branches; leaves much resembling ivy, of a very deep green, as if, in designed mockery, of a victor’s wreath." - Alford.
They wove a crown out of thorns which would grow even in the palace grounds. It is immaterial whether they were young and tender thorn bushes, as probable in the spring, or hard bushes with sharp prongs. The soldiers would not care, for they were after ridicule and mockery even if it caused pain. It was more like a victor’s garland than a royal diadem, but it served the purpose. So with the reed, a stalk of common cane grass which served as scepter.
Had platted - The word “platted” here means “woven together.” They made a “wreath” of a thorn-bush.
A crown - Or perhaps, rather, a wreath made of thorns. A crown was worn by kings, commonly made of gold and precious stones. To ridicule the pretensions of Jesus that he was a king, they probably plucked up a thorn bush growing near, made it into something resembling in shape a royal crown, so as to correspond with the old purple robe, and to complete the mockery.
Of thorns - What was the precise species of shrub denoted here is not certainly known. It was, however, doubtless, one of that species that has sharp points of very hard wood. They could therefore be easily pressed into the slain and cause considerable pain. Probably they seized upon the first thing in their way that could be made into a crown, and this happened to be a “thorn,” thus increasing the sufferings of the Redeemer. Palestine abounds with thorny shrubs and plants. “The traveler finds them in his path, go where he may. Many of them are small, but some grow as high as a man’s head. The Rabbinical writers say that there are no less than 22 words in the Hebrew Bible denoting thorny and prickly plants.”
Purpose of the crown of thorns:
• Ridicule
• Mockery (Scorn)
• Torture
Application: Whenever we are treated with ridicule, scorn or torture for Christ sake, how do we react?
(a) God has made me great, so you can’t treat me like this ………
(b) You just can’t treat me like a doormat. In today’s context, it is being abusive…….
(c) Take it all, just the way Christ did.
Illustration: All over the middle-east even till today you can see the evidence of the thorny vines which were used for a crown on the head of Christ. The pricks of these thorns could make one numb and render endless and unbearable pain. Sitting here comfortably we may not even comprehend such things. The physical pain was evident but there was a greater pain for the Father for sacrificing His Son and the pain of the Son being rejected by His Father for us all that tore Christ apart so that we might have eternal life.
Let us move on to the next level of the passion symbol – Spikes / Nails.
2. Spikes / Nails [symbol of suffering] John 20: 24 – 25:
The nailing or fastening of a person to a cross, for the purpose of putting him to death; the act or punishment of putting a criminal to death by nailing him to a cross.
A common mode of punishment among heathen nations in early times. It is not certain whether it was known among the ancient Jews; probably it was not. The modes of capital punishment according to the Mosaic law were, by the sword (Ex. 21), strangling, fire (Lev. 20), and stoning (Deut. 21). Crucifixion was in used among the Egyptians, Gen_40:19, the Carthaginians, the Persians, Est_7:10, the Assyrians, Scythians, Indians, Germans, and from the earliest times, among the Greeks and Romans. Whether this mode of execution was known to the ancient Jews is a matter of dispute. Probably, the Jews borrowed it from the Romans. It was unanimously considered the most horrible form of death. This was regarded as the most horrible form of death, and to a Jew it would acquire greater horror from the curse in Deu_21:23. This punishment began by subjecting the sufferer to scourging. In the case of our Lord, however, his scourging was rather before the sentence was passed upon him, and was inflicted by Pilate for the purpose, probably, of exciting pity and procuring his escape from further punishment (Luk_23:22; Joh_19:1).
The accounts given of the crucifixion of our Lord are in entire agreement with the customs and practices of the Roman in such cases. He was crucified between two “malefactors” (Isa_53:12; Luk_23:32), and was watched by a party of four soldiers (Joh_19:23; Mat_27:36, Mat_27:54), with their centurion. The “breaking of the legs” of the malefactors was intended to hasten death, and put them out of misery (Joh_19:31); but the unusual rapidity of our Lord’s death (Joh_19:33) was due to his previous sufferings and his great mental anguish. The omission of the breaking of his legs was the fulfillment of a type (Exo_12:46). He literally died of a broken heart, a ruptured heart, and hence the flowing of blood and water from the wound made by the soldier’s spear (Joh_19:34).
Among the Romans, the degradation was also a part of the infliction, and the punishment, if applied to freemen, was only used in the case of the vilest criminals. The one to be crucified was stripped naked of all his clothes, and then followed the most awful moment of all. He was laid down upon the implement of torture. His arms were stretched along the cross-beams, and at the centre of the open palms, the point of a huge iron nail was placed, which, by the blow of a mallet, was driven home into the wood. Then through either foot separately, or possibly through both together, as they were placed one over the other, another huge nail tore its way through the quivering flesh. Whether the sufferer was also bound to the cross, we do not know; but, to prevent the hands and feet being torn away by the weight of the body, which could not "rest upon nothing but four great wounds," there was, about the centre of the cross, a wooden projection strong enough to support, at least in part, a human body, which soon became a weight of agony. Then, the "accursed tree", with its living human burden, was slowly heaved up and the end fixed firmly in a hole in the ground. The feet were but a little raised above the earth. The victim was in full reach of every hand that might choose to strike.
A death by crucifixion seems to include all that pain and death can have of the horrible and ghastly, - dizziness, cramp, thirst, starvation, sleeplessness, traumatic fever, tetanus, publicity of shame, long continuance of torment, horror of anticipation, mortification of untended wounds, all intensified just up to the point at which they can be endured at all, but all stopping just short of the point which would give to the sufferer the relief of unconsciousness. The unnatural position made every movement painful; the lacerated veins and crushed tendons throbbed with incessant anguish; the wounds, inflamed by exposure, gradually gangrened; the arteries, especially of the head and stomach, became swollen and oppressed with surcharged blood; and, while each variety of misery went on gradually increasing, there was added to them, the intolerable pang of a burning and raging thirst. Such was the death to which Christ was doomed. - [Farrar’s "Life of Christ."]
The crucified was watched, according to custom, by a party of four soldiers, Joh_19:23, with their centurion, Mat_27:66, whose express office was to prevent the stealing of the body. This was necessary from the lingering character of the death, which sometimes did not supervene even for three days, and was, at last, the result of gradual benumbing and starvation. But for this guard, the persons might have been taken down and recovered, as was actually done, in the case of a friend of Josephus. Fracture of the legs was especially adopted by the Jews to hasten death. Joh_19:31.
In most cases, the body was suffered to rot on the cross by the action of sun and rain, or to be devoured by birds and beasts. Sepulture [burial or internment] was generally, therefore, forbidden; but in consequence of Deu_21:22-23, an express national exception was made in favor of the Jews. Mat_27:58. This accursed and awful mode of punishment was happily abolished by Constantine.
Purpose of the Spikes / Nails:
• Suffering (torture)
• Shame
• Take away our Sin
Application: Whenever we suffer or are put through shame for Christ sake, how do we react?
(d) God has made me great therefore no one can’t treat me like this ………
(e) You just can’t treat me like a doormat. That is being abusive…….
(f) Take it all, just the way Christ did.
Illustration: Near the city of Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil, is a remarkable facility. Twenty years ago the Brazilian government turned a prison over to two Christians. The institution was renamed Humaita, and the plan was to run it on Christian principles. With the exception of two full-time staff, all the work is done by inmates. Families outside the prison adopt an inmate to work with during and after his term. Chuck Colson visited the prison and made this report: ’When I visited Humaita I found the inmates smiling- particularly the murderer who held the keys, opened the gates and let me in. Wherever I walked I saw men at peace. I saw clean living areas, people working industriously. The walls were decorated with Biblical sayings from Psalms and Proverbs...My guide escorted me to the notorious prison cell once used for torture. Today, he told me, that block houses only a single inmate. As we reached the end of a long concrete corridor and he put the key in the lock, he paused and asked, "Are you sure you want to go in?" "Of course," I replied impatiently, "I’ve been in isolation cells all over the world." Slowly he swung open the massive door, and I saw the prisoner in that punishment cell: a crucifix, beautifully carved by the Humaita inmates-the prisoner Jesus, hanging on a cross. "He’s doing time for the rest of us," my guide said softly.’"
For the past 2,000 years, Christ still does time for us. Whenever we go the sinful route, we just nail Him up on the cross again. Have you wondered how many time, you put Him up there in a day…maybe a week or even a month. Unimaginable number of times!
This brings us to the last and the most profound of the passion symbols – ‘The Cross.’
3. The Cross [symbol of our sin] John 19: 16 – 19:
The name is not found in the Old Testament. It is derived from the Latin word crux. In the Greek language it is stauros, but sometimes we find the word skolops used as its Greek equivalent. The historical writers, who transferred the events of Roman history into the Greek language, make use of these two words. No word in human language has become more universally known than this word and that because all of the history of the world since the death of Christ has been measured by the distance which separates events from it. The symbol and principal content of the Christian religion and of Christian civilization is found in this one word.
The instrument of a slave’s death, associated with the ideas of pain, guilt, and ignominy. "The very name," writes Cicero (Pro Rab., 5), "ought to be excluded not merely from the body, but from the thought, eyes, and ears of Roman citizens." The Hebrew, having no term for it as not being a punishment in their nation, called it "warp and woof." Scourging generally preceded crucifixion: so Jesus (Mat_27:26; Mar_15:15; foretold in Isa_50:6; Isa_53:5). Pilate had probably hoped the Jews would be content with this scourging, and still let Him escape crucifixion (Luk_23:22; Joh_19:1). Jesus bore His own cross toward Golgotha outside the city (Heb_13:12; so Stephen, Act_7:58), but sinking exhausted probably He was relieved, and it was transferred to Simon of Cyrene; prefigured in Isaac carrying the wood (Gen_22:6; contrast Isa_9:6, "the government shall be upon His shoulder".)
Jesus’ sacred and lacerated body was raised aloft, the hands nailed to the transverse beam, the feet separately nailed to the lower part of the upright beam so as to be a foot or two above the ground (others think the two feet were pierced by one and the same nail). Stupefying drink, vinegar mixed with gall and myrrh, was first offered to Him and refused (Mat_27:34), for He would meet suffering consciously. Near death, to fulfill Psa_69:21, He drank of the sour wine or vinegar kindly offered Him on a sponge. His death was hastened by rupture of the heart.
The sour wine called posca was the common drink of the Roman soldiers. Pilate marveled at His speedy death, crucifixion often not terminating in death for days. The approach of the Passover Sabbath, one of peculiar solemnity, led to his permitting the Jewish law to be carried out which forbids bodies to hang after sunset (Deu_21:22-23). His legs could not be broken, because the Passover type must be fulfilled (Exo_12:46). Constantine when converted abolished crucifixion.
The agony consisted in:
(i) the unnatural position of the body, causing pain at the least motion;
(ii) the nails being driven through the hands and feet, which are full of nerves and tendons, yet without a vital part being directly injured;
(iii) the wounds so long exposed bringing on acute inflammation and gangrene;
(iv) the distended parts causing more blood to flow through the arteries than can be carried back through the veins;
(v) the lingering anguish and burning thirst.
After Constantine’s vision of the cross in the air and the inscription, "Under this standard thou shalt conquer," a new standard was adopted, the Labarum, with a pendent cross and embroidered monogram of Christ, the first two Greek letters of His name, and Alpha and Omega (Rev_1:8). The Andrew’s cross is shaped like an X, through Hippolytus says he was crucified upright. The Anthony cross (embroidered on his cope) was shaped as a T. The pagan Egyptians, Copts, Indians, and Persians, all have the same sacred emblem. Tradition, and the inscription over our Lord’s head, make it likely that the form of His cross was +. The pole on which the brazen serpent was lifted by Moses was the type (Joh_3:14; Num_21:8-9).
The fathers regarded its four limbs pointing above, below, and to both sides, as typifying" the height, depth, length, and breadth" of the love of Christ, extending salvation to all (Eph_3:18). The harmlessness of cruciform flowers is another suggested type in nature. Christ’s cross transforms the curse into a blessing (Gal_3:13-14); the inscription was written with letters of black on a white gypsum ground. By a striking retribution in kind, the Jewish people, whose cry was "crucify Him," were crucified in such numbers by Titus "that there was not room enough for the crosses, nor crosses enough for their bodies" (Joseptius, B. J., 6:28). The piercing of Jesus’ hands was foretold in Psa_22:16; Zec_12:10.
The inscription on the cross ‘The King of the Jews’ was written in Hebrew, Greek and Latin. A symbol or emblem merely at first, it soon began to have the notion of spiritual and supernatural efficacy attached to it. In the 6th century the crucifix image was introduced, and worship (latria) to it was sanctioned by the Church of Rome. Figuratively, the cross and crucifixion are used for spiritually mortifying the flesh, in union spiritually by faith with Christ crucified, not self-imposed austerities (Mat_16:24; Phi_3:18; Gal_6:14; Col_2:20-23). Our will and God’s will are as two separate pieces of wood; so long as both lie side by side there is no cross; but put them across one another, and then there is a cross. We must take up the cross Christ lays on us if we would be His disciples.
Symbolical Uses / Purpose of the Cross:
(i) Extra-Scriptural
The sign of the cross was well known in the symbolics of various ancient nations. Among the Egyptians it is said to have been the symbol of divinity and eternal life, and to have been found in the temple of Serapis. It is known either in the form of the Greek cross or in the form of the letter “T”. The Spaniards found it to be well known, as a symbol, by the Mexicans and Peruvians, perhaps signifying the four elements, or the four seasons, or the four points of the compass.
(ii) Scriptural
• Symbol of pain, distress and burden-bearing
• Symbolizes rejection
• Symbolizes suffering and humiliation
• Turned the curse upon us into a blessing (Galatians 3)
• Doctrine of the Atonement (Pauline theology)
• Symbolizes death
• Expresses the bond of unity between the Jew and the Gentile (Ephesians 2)
• Expresses the bond believer and Christ (Ephesians 2)
• Symbolizes love (John 3: 16)
• Symbolizes Sanctification (Galatians 4)
• Symbolizes victory
Application: Jesus in Mark 10: 21 says that it is mandatory for us to take up our cross daily and follow Him implying for us to submit to troubles and afflictions from love to Christ. Do we take up our crosses daily or sometimes or not at all? Why should we? In the contemporary world, it is synonym to abuse. We can’t do that now. It was such a great shame for me that one of the pastor’s wife’s came and told me that (The big I) she would prefer to take up leisure, pleasure and getting spoiled rather than take up her / his cross daily. She loves and enjoys it when her husband, family, friends and the congregation are all out to spoil her. Some of us may be sailing in the same boat? Time to wake up!
Illustration - Imagine the following: It’s a Wednesday night and you are at a church meeting when somebody runs in from the parking lot and says, "Turn on a radio, turn on a radio." And while the church listens, an announcement is made: "Two women are lying in a hospital dying from a mystery flu." Within hours it seems this thing just sweeps across the country. People are working around the clock trying to find an antidote. Nothing is working.
It’s as though it’s just sweeping in from everywhere. And then, all of a sudden the news comes out. The code has been broken. A cure can be found. A vaccine can be made. It’s going to take the blood of somebody who hasn’t been infected, and so, sure enough, all through different countries channels of emergency are broadcasting, everyone is asked to do one simple thing: Go to your local hospital and have your blood type taken. That’s all we ask of you. When you hear the sirens go off in your neighborhood, please make your way quickly, quietly, and safely to the hospitals.
Sure enough, when you and your family get down there late on that Friday night, there is a long line, and they’ve got nurses and doctors coming out and pricking fingers and taking blood and putting labels on it. Your wife and your children are out there, and they take your blood type and they say, "Wait here in the parking lot and if we call your name, you can be dismissed and go home." You stand around, scared, with your neighbors, wondering what in the world is going on and if this is the end of the world.
Suddenly a young man comes running out of the hospital screaming. He’s yelling a name and waving a clipboard. What? He yells it again! And your son tugs on your jacket and says, Daddy, that’s me. Before you know it, they have grabbed your boy. Wait a minute. Hold on! And they say, "It’s okay, his blood is clean. His blood is pure. We want to make sure he doesn’t have the disease. We think he has the right type."
Five tense minutes later, out come the doctors and nurses, crying and hugging one another- some are even laughing. It’s the first time you have seen anybody laugh in a week, and an old doctor walks up to you and says, "Thank you, sir. Your son’s blood type is perfect. It’s clean, it is pure, and we can make the vaccine." As the word begins to spread all across that parking lot full of folks, people are screaming, praying, laughing and crying. But then the grey-haired doctor pulls you and you wife aside and says, "May we see you for a moment? We didn’t realize that the donor would be a minor and we need, we need you to sign a consent form." You begin to sign and then you see that the number of pints of blood to be taken is empty.
"How many pints?" And that is when the old doctor’s smile fades and he says, "We had no idea it would be little child. We weren’t prepared. We need it all!"
"But...You don’t understand. We are talking about the world here. Please sign. We need it all!"
"But can’t you give him a transfusion?" "If we had clean blood we would. Can you sign? Would you sign?" In numb silence, you do. Then they say,
"Would you like to have a moment with him before we begin?" Can you walk back? Can you walk back to that room where he sits on a table saying, "Daddy? Mummy? What’s going on?" Can you take his hands and say, "Son, your mummy and I love you, and we would never ever let anything happen to you that didn’t just have to be. Do you understand that?" And when that old doctor comes back in and says, "I’m sorry, we’ve got to get started. People all over the world are dying."
Can you leave? Can you walk out while he is saying, "Dad? Mum? Dad? Why have you forsaken me?" And then next week, when they have the ceremony to honor your son, and some folks sleep through it, and some folks don’t even come because they go to the lake, and some folks come with a pretentious smile and just pretend to care. Would you want to jump up and say, "MY SON DIED FOR YOU! DON’T YOU CARE?" Is that what GOD wants to say? "MY SON DIED FOR YOU. DON’T YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I CARE?" Father, seeing it from your eyes breaks our hearts. Maybe now we can begin to comprehend the great Love you have for us.
Christ did His part by taking up His cross and shedding His blood for the entire world so that we are redeemed and have eternity with Christ alone. How will you respond today?
Conclusion: Retrospections on the past passion symbols, we could at this moment, concur to what ever has been preached. But the real deal is, have these symbols made a radical impact in our lives and if they have, what are we doing with them? Adorning them with a wreath or living them out ourselves so that the impact that Christ made, we would follow in the same footsteps and make a Christ-like difference in our lives and in the lives of others. Your response is important to God.
