The Crucifixion, The Foundation Of Our Faith
John 19:1 Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged him.
2 And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and they put on him a purple robe,
3 And said, Hail, King of the Jews: and they smote him with their hands.
4 Pilate therefore went forth again, and saith unto them, Behold, I bring him forth to you, that ye may know that I find no fault in him.
5 Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe. And Pilate saith unto them, Behold the man.
6 When the chief priests therefore and officers saw him, they cried out, saying, Crucify him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Take ye him, and crucify him: for I find no fault in him.
7 The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.
8 When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he was the more afraid; …
John 19:16 Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led him away.
17 And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha:
18 Where they crucified him, and two other with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst.
19 And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was, JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS.
Many songs have been written that remind us about the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. The crucifixion is the cornerstone of our faith. If there had been no crucifixion there would have been no resurrection.
So if there would have been no crucifixion we wouldn’t have the opportunity to be saved. The crucifixion gives us hope. It gives hope to those who are dead in faith, and also to those who are presently living by faith.
1 Corinthians 15:19-20 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.
The crucifixion is the foundation of our faith, in this life and in the life to come.
History reveals to us that crucifixion carried with it a horrible stigma and disgrace.
Crucifixion was usually reserved for the worst kinds of criminals or for slaves. It was a rare case for a Roman to be crucified. But among the Jews, not only did crucifixion carry with it a horrible stigma but it also carried with it the curse of God.
Deuteronomy 21:22-23 And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree: His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.
The Jewish culture understood this verse to mean that this method of death brought a divine curse on the one crucified.
For three and a half years Jesus was full of power and authority. When He spoke demons fled. When He raised His hands, the winds obeyed him and calmed down. He cleansed the lepers from the incurable disease called leprosy. He healed all who came into contact with Him of sickness and disease.
But on this particular day, Jesus Christ, the Lion of the tribe of Judah did not appear as the healer or the miracle worker, or the one who devils ran from, but He appeared as the Lamb of God “slain from the foundation of the world”.
There were those who thought He had lost his power and authority, but what they didn’t understand, was that it was all a part of his divine purpose. What they could not comprehend, is that He was fulfilling God’s plan.
What purpose are we fulfilling? Whose plan are we fulfilling?
The soldiers mocked Jesus in front of his followers during His trial.
Then as the religious rulers of that day encouraged them, they put royal garments on His body and a crown of thorns on His head and continued to mock Him. [John 19:2-4]
Crowns have always symbolized authority. The larger and more costly the crown, the greater the influence or jurisdiction given to the one who wears it. But instead of putting a gold crown on the head Jesus, they put a crown of thorns on His head.
It’s interesting to note that thorns were the result of Adam’s sin in the garden. [Genesis 3:17-18]
The soldiers put this crown of thorns on Jesus’ head to embarrass Him. They had no idea they were fulfilling God’s plan. But that wasn’t enough. They wanted to humiliate Him, so they put a purple rob on Him.
The color purple signified royalty and preeminence, because it was the color of kings. It was so valuable that not long after they put it on Him, the soldiers were at the foot of the cross gambling for it.
They mocked Jesus, and when they did, they helped fulfill His purpose. They helped complete the foundation for our salvation. The crucifixion is the foundation of our faith.
Let’s look at John 19:4 again: Pilate therefore went forth again, and saith unto them, Behold, I bring him forth to you, that ye may know that I find no fault in him.
Pontius Pilate was the governor over Judea at that time. History reveals that he was of the European origin, and he might of got his name from fighting in the Pontus [Black Sea region] for Rome.
He was sort of a cowardly man who cared more about the opinion of the crowd than he did about Jesus Christ. He was so concerned about looking good to the people and keeping his position of authority and popularity that it didn’t matter the cost.
Even though He admitted that Jesus was innocent, and his wife told him, let this innocent man go, he still consented to allow the Roman soldiers to crucify Jesus. And His decision haunted him for the rest of his life. He didn’t know it, but he was helping build the foundation of our faith.
When he told the mob that he couldn’t find any fault in Jesus and the people got upset about it, he washed his hands in front of them and said, “I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it” [Matthew 27:24] [Go ahead and kill Jesus, but I am innocent of His blood]
Pilate chose to violate justice by heeding to the voice of wicked people instead of listening to the voice of God. [who are we listening to]
He came so close to the answer to every problem in his kingdom, but he just couldn’t tear himself away from the popular opinion. He was to worried about being accepted by people to be concerned about being accepted by God.
The prophet Isaiah talked about the authority that Jesus Christ would show
When Jesus was on earth, he proved He was the King of kings with His Word of power. He spoke and a legion of devils came out of a man and entered into a herd of swine. He commanded death to give up it’s prey and it did. He commanded sickness to flee and it did. He said, “Peace Be Still” and the winds and the sea obeyed his voice.
When Pilate told Jesus that he had the authority to take His life by crucifixion, Jesus answered and said in John 19:11 … Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: …
Jesus is King of all kings.
After Pilate realized Jesus was innocent of the charges brought before him, he wanted to let Jesus go, but when he told the people what he wanted to do, they got upset.
They didn’t want justice, they wanted death! They wanted blood! They wanted the blood of Jesus and they got it!
If you want the blood of Jesus Christ applied to your life today, you can have it.
The mob asked for His blood and He gave it to them. He died for them. He even asked for their forgiveness. While He was on the cross, just before He died, He cried, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do”.
They were building the foundation of our salvation. Now we can be forgiven through repentance and our sins can be washed away through baptism. The crucifixion is the foundation of our faith.
When Pilate asked in John 19:15, “shall I crucify your King?” the chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar!”.
So Jesus stood before the nation of priests and people to give in reality what they had only in type.
It’s hard to understand how people who were blessed in so many ways could stoop to the rejection of the very One who had the power to deliver them.
John 1:10-11 says, He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
He came to deliver them, but they rejected Him.
John 19:5-6 Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe. And Pilate saith unto them, Behold the man. When the chief priests therefore and officers saw him, they cried out, saying, Crucify him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Take ye him, and crucify him: for I find no fault in him.
Pilate knew Jesus was innocent. He really wanted to release Him. Some historians say that when Pilate said, “Behold the man”, he was trying to let the people know that Jesus was human, and that no innocent man deserved to die by means of the horrible death through crucifixion.
He could of thought that if the people saw Jesus as human that they would no longer feel threatened by Him, but instead it fueled the mob and they screamed all the louder.
They had heard Jesus teach, they had seen Him work miracles, they had seen Him heal the sick, raise the dead, and cast out devils. They even sang His praises. {When somebody starts singing your praises, look out}
They were singing His praises one day and few days later they were screaming, “crucify Him”. They had no idea that they were building the foundation of our faith. They were fulfilling God’s plan.
They didn’t recognize who He was.
Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given: And the government shall be upon his shoulder: And his name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
The standard Roman procedure for crucifixion as the Gospel accounts describe it
After the pronouncement of a sentence, authorities required the condemned person to carry the horizontal piece of the cross to the place of execution, which was outside the city. The leader of the four-man execution squad led the procession, bearing a sign detailing the reason for the execution.
The soldiers then affixed the victim’s outstretched arms to the crossbar with either nails or ropes. They lifted the victim and secured him to the perpendicular pole, or the stipend, which they often left in place permanently, both for convenience and as a warning.
Sometimes, they also provided a small board or peg to bear some of the weight of the condemned. This practice actually may have prolonged suffering by prohibiting suffocation.
They then secured the feet in a manner that forced the knees into a bent position. The soldiers then attached a sing to the top of the stipend that described the accusation. Death usually came slowly. Sometimes, a victim survived for several days after his crucifixion.
If a person died immediately, it was probably due to exposure, disease, hunger, shock, or extreme exhaustion. Occasionally, soldiers mercifully hastened death by breaking the legs of the condemned. In Jesus’ case, death came much more swiftly than usual.
A soldier thrust a spear into His side to assure that He was dead. Then Pilate allowed Joseph of Arimathaea to remove His body from the cross. [John 19:31-37]
A lot of times the Romans left the bodies of the crucified unburied for carnivorous birds and beasts to eat, which added to the disgrace. The soldiers of Rome were cruel, they were schooled in the art of execution. How a person could degenerate to such a morbid mentality is beyond human comprehension. To perpetuate countless crimes against the innocent must come from a mind that is given over to evil.
A children’s song that teaches the importance of what we watch, hear, and allow into our hearts speak the truth. Be careful little eyes what you see. Be careful little ears what you hear. What we see and what we hear becomes a powerful influence on our lives either for good or for evil. And the influence of evil input has the power to shape our minds which will also affect our actions.
It’s obvious that the horrific acts committed before them and by them desensitized the Roman soldiers, and this set the backdrop for the terrible cruelty they poured out on Jesus Christ.
Scourging was another type of punishment that authorities imposed on the prisoners of that day
The scourge was a whip made of leather with several straps attached to a wooden handle. At the end of the leather strips were pieces of rock, bone, metal, or the claws or talons of an animal. Sometimes knotted at the end, this instrument was commonly called a cat-o’-nine-tails.
The Romans used this torture as a way to get someone to testify against the condemned or to get the condemned to confess. The Roman law also allowed the scourging of an ordinary prisoner before his crucifixion.
When the soldiers scourged Jesus by the order of Pilate, it is probable that they scourged Him in the Roman manner, which was much more sever than that of the Jews. The Jews never gave more than thirty-nine blows, because the law forbade them to abuse a prisoner or to cut his flesh in this manner so they stopped at thirty-nine stripes to make sure they were obeying the law.
Some have said that they calculated the number of blows an average human being could endure and subtracted one. [See Deut. 25:3]
The apostle Paul said in Philippians 2:5-7 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
Just hours before His crucifixion, Jesus showed His love once again for mankind by sitting down and serving His disciples. While they bickered among themselves as to who was the greatest among them, Jesus set about the task of ministry.
It was not a glorious position of preaching or standing in front of great multitudes to exhort and to be seen, but it was ministry. Like a lowly servant, He washed the feet of the men that He had called to follow Him. When He had finished, He let them know that this is the pattern they should follow. [see John 13:15-17]
Real ministry is not always proclamation, but it’s mostly demonstration.
From the moment Jesus’ earthly ministry began, Satan sought to question the His authority. It was in the wilderness following a forty day fast that Satan challenged Jesus’ authority.
Each time, Jesus responded in power with the Word of God. Each time, Satan fled. Without hesitation, Jesus answered the enemy’s questions from the security of His identity and purpose.
Even in His death, the religious leaders and authorities questioned the authority of who He was. [Matthew 27:40] But still Jesus was secure in His identity.
When Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, His concern for mankind was magnified. He considered the dilemma of humanity, knowing that He was their only hope for salvation. He considered the terrible punishment that He would endure as He willingly paid the price for the sins of the world.
While ministering on earth before this time, He saw people as sheep having no shepherd and had compassion on them. When He saw the downtrodden in society, he reached a hand of compassion to them and lifted them to a level that they would never forget.
He left His disciples asleep a stone’s distance away and traversed the corridor of intercession alone. Pleading for strength to accomplish the will of God, He cried out for release. Nevertheless, He submitted to His purpose of becoming the Lamb slain for our sins.
John 19:26 When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son.’
He who was the Son of God was also the son of Mary.
He came to build the foundation of our faith. And it is upon this very foundation that they gates of hell shall not prevail against the church.
On crucifixion day, Jesus’ mother stood near the cross looking into the face of the one to whom she gave birth, experiencing all the emotions of a mother losing a child to a tragic death.
As the son of Mary, Jesus was a human who knew shame, suffering, and pain.
As she stood nearby, perhaps she remembered the prophetic words of Simeon: yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed. [Luke 2:35]
As the Son of Man, Jesus experienced every emotion of humanity, feelings of loneliness, despair, anxiety, pain, hurt, and happiness.
In order to emphasize His humanity, Jesus referred to Himself as the Son of Man in many instances. As the Son of Man he became hungry. [Matthew 4:2] was thirsty [Matthew 25:35] experienced human emotion [John11:35] grew weary [Mark 4:38] and faced temptation [Matthew 4:1].
The writer of Hebrews declared, in Hebrews 4:15 - For we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
John 19:7 The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.
When the host of hypocritical accusers could not convince Pilate that Jesus pretended to be a king, they said that He claimed to be the Son of God, and they demanded His crucifixion.
Several days before His trial, Jesus gathered His disciples together and asked them two questions: Whom do men say that I am? And Whom do you say that I am? [see Mark 8:27-29]
The first question received a variety of answers, John the Baptist, Elias, Jeremias, or one of the other prophets. But when Jesus asked who they thought He was, the answer was specific. Peter declared definitively, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. [Matthew 16:6]
This proclamation by Simon Peter was a revelation given to him by the Lord. The record in fact proves that He was truly the Son of God.
Furthermore, He was God manifested in the flesh. [See 1 Timothy 3:16]
Isaiah prophesied that Jesus Christ would be a child born and a son given, but he also declared that He was the mighty God and the everlasting Father. [See Isaiah 9:6]
Colossians 1:19 For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;
Conclusion:
If Jesus had refused to suffer the shame and reproach of the Cross, and if the Crucifixion had never taken place, then our sins could not be forgiven … remitted. As a matter of fact, there wouldn’t be a gospel, for the gospel stands on the foundation of the Crucifixion. We can experience the resurrection power in our lives because of the crucified and risen Christ.
Jesus plummeted to the depths of sin by embracing the Cross so that He could give us salvation.
Hebrews 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
The crucifixion is the foundation of our faith.
