Murder at Golgotha Hill
Series: Final Days on Planet Earth
March 21, 2010
How many of you know what this is? (hold up a cross) Believe it or not, a lot of people don’t understand the origins of the cross. Crosses are everywhere! They’re popular... they’re pretty... But for the most part, the average person is totally ignorant of their purpose. We see a lot of crosses today...they come in all sizes... from small enough to hang around a persons neck... to huge crosses that adorn large cathedrals. To some people it’s nothing more than a piece of jewelry, a fashion statement you where around your neck or hang on your rearview mirror.
And all kinds of people wear them... from gangsta rap stars to religious types. It’s like the true story I read of a Denver woman who walked into a local jewelry store looking for a necklace.“I’d like a gold cross”, she said. The man behind the counter looked over the stock in the display case and said, “Okay, well, do you want a plain one, or one with the little man on it?” Ohhh! People today aren’t dumb, they’re just ignorant of what the true meaning of the cross they wear around their neck is!
More and more, in our secularized society, people need to hear the message and the meaning of the cross... because honestly... they really don’t know! And Christians need to be reminded of exactly what they signed up for, when they committed themselves to take up their cross and follow Christ. Now, I guess... to a point you can understand why most people are ignorant about the cross... because crucifixions aren’t really something you see happening to anybody these days. Are they?
I mean, anybody here witness a crucifixion this past week? In fact, if Jesus had come to our society today, it’s doubtful that anyone would have even allowed a crucifixion to take place! We’d probably opt for a more humane way of executing him... say... a lethal dose of drugs, or maybe an electrocution. Just think how that would change the hymns we sing... “On a hill far away, stood an old rugged electric chair?” Somehow it just doesn’t sound the same!
The pt. I’m trying to make is that if Jesus’ death was put into our modern setting... it would be embarrassing to admit how our Savior died. I mean who would want to admit that they worship a person who died as a criminal? Let’s face it... great men don’t die on death row! And it was no different then... Death on a cross was reserved for only the worst murderers, rapists and thieves. It was the kind of thing you might do to a ‘child pornographer’… but not a Mother Teresa!
Listen, the reason the cross of 2000 years ago wasn’t worn by people as a fashion statement, or made out of a polished piece of 14 carat gold… the reason they didn’t grace the top of buildings...Was because the cross of 2000 years ago was nothing less than a MURDER WEAPON! It was a bloody, brutal, unfinished…uncaring weapon of torture and death! As A.W. Tozer once wrote:“The cross of Roman times knew no compromise, it never made concessions. It won all it’s arguments by killing it’s opponents and silencing them for good! It didn’t make an exception with Christ, but killed him… same as the rest! He was alive when they hung him on that cross, and completely DEAD when they took him off of it. That was the cross of ancient Rome. The cross of Jesus’ day meant only one thing...DEATH!
We have no idea of the incredible torture a person went through when they were crucified. Let me just read for you this morning, how a medical doctor described what happens to a person who endured this kind of death... The cross is placed on the ground and the exhausted man is quickly thrown backwards with his shoulders against the wood. The legionnaire feels for the depression at the front of the wrist. He drives a heavy square wrought-iron nail through the wrist and deep into the wood. Quickly he moves to the other side and repeats the action, being careful not to pull the arms too tightly, but to allow some flex and movement.
The left foot is pressed backward against the right foot, and with both feet extended, toes down, a nail is driven through the arch of each, leaving the knees flexed. The cross is then lifted into place and dropped into a hole... tearing the tendons of the wrist and feet as it hits the bottom with a deep thud. The victim is now crucified.
As he slowly sags down with more weight on the nails in the wrists, excruciating, fiery pain shoots along the fingers and up the arms to explode in the brain - the nails in the wrists are putting pressure on the median nerves. As he pushes himself upward to avoid this stretching torment, he places the full weight on the nail through his feet. Again he feels the searing agony of the nail tearing through the nerves between the bones of the feet.
As the arms fatigue, cramps sweep through the muscles, knotting them in deep, relentless, throbbing pain. With these cramps comes the inability to push himself upward to breathe. There is no escaping the pain. Air can be drawn into the lungs but not exhaled. He fights to raise himself in order to get even one small breath. Finally carbon dioxide builds up in the lungs and in the blood stream, and the cramps partially subside. Spasmodically he is able to push himself upward to exhale and bring in life-giving oxygen.
Hours of this limitless pain, cycles of twisting, joint-rending cramps, intermittent partial asphyxiation, searing pain, as the tissue is torn from his lacerated back as he moves up and down against the rough timber. Then, another agony begins; a deep, crushing pain deep in the chest as the pericardium (the lining around the heart), slowly fills with serum and begins to compress the heart.
It is now almost over - the loss of tissue fluids has reached a critical level - the compressed heart is struggling to pump heavy, thick, sluggish blood into the tissues - the tortured lungs are making a frantic effort to gasp in small gulps of air. He can feel the chill of death creeping through his tissues... Finally he can allow his body to die... in total exhaustion. (Pause)
All of this the Bible records with the simple words... “and they crucified him”. Did you realize that Jesus endured all that for you and me? And not because we earned it or deserved it (mind you)... He endured the agony of the cross, because He loves us so much... he would rather die than allow us to be separated from Him for eternity.
WE were the guilty ones... not Him! WE were the ones who deserved to die for our sin... not Him! Think about it... everytime that Jesus stopped long enough to pronounce the forgiveness of sins for an adulteress... for a tax-collector or a beggar... for every blind man that he told, “Your sins are forgiven”… Deep down, he knew that he was going to be the one who would have to foot the bill for that forgiveness. He would pay the ultimate price! Forgiveness is free... but it’s not cheap... it would cost Him his life!
But yet, as we’re going to see this morning. That’s how Jesus Christ died. But why? Why did He have to die in this way? Well, as we study John 19:16-30 (NLT) this morning… He’s going to give us the reasons why. READ…The scripture passage we read this morning is chocked full of symbolism, prophesy and hidden meaning. It’s like John is doing everything he possibly can to point to the fact that the person crucified on that fateful day… was in fact God in flesh!
The 1st thing John wants us to rule out is that Jesus’ crucifixion wasn’t some kind of accidental death, or even martyrdom… He says very clearly in vs.17 that Jesus ‘carried the cross by himself”. That’s no accident! Jesus wasn’t the victim of some unforeseen circumstance. Scripture makes it very clear that Jesus even predicted His own death. Many time He said "I'm going to die" and He quoted Old Testament scriptures. In John 10:17-18 Jesus stated, "No man takes My life from Me but I lay it down." Nobody took Jesus’ life from Him…He gave it…voluntarily! Jesus Christ died, not because He was forced to die…but because He CAME to die!
And Jesus didn’t die as a martyr either (as some mistakenly believe). Some people say that “Jesus wasn’t God, but He was a good man who died as a martyr like Martin Luther King, or John Kennedy.” The problem with that idea is that Jesus presented Himself as God, and proved that He was God. So His death was for a divine purpose. Neither God or Jesus Himself were surprised by His death. Jesus said many times, "I must go to Jerusalem... The Son of man must suffer... The Son of man must die... He must be lifted up." In Acts 2:23 (Peter's sermon on the day of Pentecost.), said… “But you followed God’s prearranged plan. With the help of lawless Gentiles, you nailed him to the cross and murdered him.” –Acts 2:23(NLT) In otherwords, Peter says, “You murdered God, but it was planned and there was a purpose for it!” So what was that purpose? Why did Jesus have to die?
Well, that’s a great question, because all throughout history, great men have given lots of reasons for Jesus’ death on the cross. But the death of Jesus is so significant and so complex, that no ONE reason can explain it all. John gives us at least 4 reasons why Jesus had to die in His eye-witness account of His death…
Why Did Jesus Have to Die? The 1st reason is…
1.To pay for my SIN Vs.19-22
In vs.19 we read that Pilate had a notice or a wooden placard that he specifically wanted nailed to the cross above Jesus head. And he wanted it to say… “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews”, and then he wanted it written in 3 languages…”Hebrew, Latin and Greek”. When the Jews saw this, they wanted to edit it to read…NOT this IS the Jesus, King of the Jews… but “This man said he was the King of the Jews.” But Pilate wouldn’t change it! He said, “What I have written, I have written”.
In otherwords…”You Jews can stuff it!” Now, maybe he was being stubborn out of spite for forcing him to crucify Jesus instead of Barabbas, or maybe he really believed it…we don’t know… but the bottom line was… the words stood as they were written.
Now I think that the fact that this powerful proclamation stating Jesus’ identity was written in the 3 great languages of the ancient world at that time… is incredibly significant! Greece represented all of the worlds great thought and philosophy… Rome represented the worlds law and government… and Hebrew represents the worlds religion and worship of the true God. So in effect, that small sign represented all of mankind! This small, almost insignificant sign was stating that Jesus was the King of the world! And as he hung on the cross… He was dying for the whole world.
The bible says in Rom.3:23…that “ALL have sinned and fall short of the perfect standard of God”. In otherwords, none of us are perfect. We’ve all blown it. We’ve all made mistakes. We’ve all sinned. If you think you’re perfect you need to see a psychiatrist! I don’t measure up to my own standard, much less God’s perfect standard. In Romans 6:23 we read that “the WAGES (or what we get for sin is death”. In otherwords...sin deserves punishment. If you do the crime you’ve got to do the time! Justice demands punishment. Somebody has to pay for all the things you’ve ever done wrong – either you or somebody else. Either you go to hell or somebody else pays for all the things you’ve done wrong. That’s what justice demands. So God steps up to the plate and says, “I’ll do it. I know you’ve blown it. I know you’ve made mistakes. I know you’ve sinned. But I love you so much, I will pay for all the things you’ve ever done wrong so you can get to heaven on My tab.” Jesus Christ (God in flesh) comes to earth, lives a perfect life and dies on the cross for my sin and for yours. It’s all been paid for. Every sin you will ever commit. Even the ones you haven’t even done yet. The ones you haven’t even thought about – next week, next year, ten years from now. They’ve already been paid for!
Ephesians 1:7 “He is so rich in kindness that he purchased our freedom through the blood of his Son, and our sins are forgiven.” –Eph.1:7(NLT) Think about this. If there had been any other way for your sins to be forgiven or any other way for you to get to heaven besides Jesus Christ coming and dying on the cross don’t you think that God would have used it? Of course! If there had been any other way for you to be saved from your sin so you could go to a perfect place for the rest of your life, don’t you think God would have chosen the less painful way? If there had been two ways to get to heaven, don’t you think He would have used the other way rather than let His Son go through all that suffering? The fact is, folks, there is no other way. There is no other way! There is no other way! If there was any other way, Jesus Christ’s death is a waste. The only way you have any chance of getting to heaven is accepting the free forgiveness of Jesus Christ who paid for it on the cross. That is the only, only, only way you and I will ever get into heaven.
If you haven’t accepted that free gift you ought to do it right now. Don’t waste another second of your life. In fact, let’s bow our heads and pray together. I’m going to pray a simple prayer and you can follow me in it. Just say it in your mind… PRAY
So, the 2nd reason Jesus had to die on the cross was not only to pay the price for our sin… but to…
2. To participate in my SUFFERING vs.24
Starting in vs.23 through 24, John includes a scene that I think is probably one of the harshest and cruelest things I’ve ever read in the bible. READ. Can you imagine this? Here’s Jesus…hanging on a cross, naked, held up by four nails driven through his hands and feet…like a picture frame… while below him (in plain sight) gamble for His garments! (It’s a prophecy from Ps.22:18… “They divide my clothes among themselves and throw dice for my garments”.
It’s almost unimaginable that somebody could be so callous! Have you ever thought about what this looked like to Jesus? As he looked downward past his bloody feet at the soldiers huddled in a circle throwing dice for his clothes… He must have been amazed at the inhumanity of man! Here were these soldiers witnessing the event of the ages… but they were too blind to see it! As far as they were concerned, it was just another Friday morning and He’s just another criminal. They were totally indifferent to the suffering of Jesus.
They’re like a lot of people today. The typical resident in Contra Costa County is sitting at home right now in their bathrobe reading the newspaper and watching TV. Totally oblivious to what Jesus Christ has done for them and the price He paid for them. Totally indifferent to His love. Treating it like it doesn’t matter. I think a lot of ‘church-goers’ are this way too! Going through all the right religious motions…but never really understanding that His death was for them…personally. How about you? Are you playing games at the foot of the cross? This morning, you may be close to the cross, but far from Christ!
One of the reasons that Christ suffered and died on the cross was so you could know that no matter what you’ve suffered in life, He’s already been there. It’s interesting that if you read all the gospels, you’ll count 7 things that Jesus said from the cross. 6 of them are things you would expect the Son of God to say if He was really being crucified…like forgiving sins… “Forgive them, they don’t know what they’re doing”… Promising eternal life…“Today you will be with me in paradise”… Caring for others… John, take care of my mother… even feelings of betrayal…“My God, My God…why have you forsaken me?”…
But what you wouldn’t expect from the Son of God is what He says in vs.28… “I thirst”. That’s not something a god says… that’s something a human says. And that’s the point. Jesus was God in flesh… but He was also flesh! And He wants us to know that whatever we’ve gone through… He’s already been there! He didn’t wear a bullet-proof vest and refuse to mix with the ‘little people’. He knows the human condition. He experienced betrayal and fatigue, frustration and pain…He knew what it was like to lose a loved one and be disappointed. He went through depression and felt the sting of failure. Like I’ve said before… He was crucified so that I don’t have to crucify myself!
People ask all the time…”Why doesn’t God do something about all the suffering in the world?” God’s answer to that question is the INCARNATION. See when Jesus came into this world…God Himself entered into the agony and the hurt and pain of this world. God showed up in person of Jesus Christ. He didn’t create the pain…He created a perfect world…our sin did that. Now He would have been perfectly justified to just sit back and say, “You made the mess, now you have to live with it!” But love couldn’t do that! Incredibly he entered into this world and took all the suffering on Himself. He practiced more than He preached, and died on the cross, and actually took on my suffering. NOW…I don’t know about you… but I couldn’t resist that kind of love! And sometimes just knowing that my God has been there and done that… helps me get through the pain and hurts that life brings!
Clothes weren’t made in a sweat shop somewhere in Taiwan back then… they were handmade. That made them worth a lot of money. In fact, one piece of Jesus’ clothing was especially expensive. It was a undergarment…woven from top to bottom without a seam. Not only was that tough to do, but it was extremely labor intensive and therefore expensive. So much so that the soldiers decided to auction it off separately. You know what kind of person wore an expensive piece of clothing like that? No not a rich man… (because Jesus wasn’t rich)… A PRIEST!!! It was a priestly garment! A priest by nature is a go-between, a bridge between God and man. And that’s exactly what Jesus was for us. He was the perfect priest, making a bridge between us and God. God (that made Him sinless)… and He was man (that made Him sensitive). Together that qualifies Him to be my Savior!
Lastly… Jesus died on the cross…
3. To provide my SUBSTITUTE vs. 28-30
When Jesus said, “I thirst” it must have gotten one of the soldiers attention. A jar of wine vinegar was sitting there as a sedative to dull the pain. So they stuck a sponge to a long stalk of hyssop reed, dunked it in the vinegar and gave it to him. Unknowingly, when they gave it to him they fulfilled another prophecy found in Ps.69:21 “they offer me sour wine to satisfy my thirst”. READ. Now I just happen to have some vinegar here… volunteer? (Have someone try it…)
Now what’s amazing is that centuries before at the 1st Passover… the angel of death was going through Egypt, killing every first born male. And if you believed in God’s deliverance you were to sacrifice a spotless lamb, dip a stalk of ‘Hyssop plant’ in it’s blood and spread it across the top of your door. That would be a sign for the death angel to “PASS-OVER” your house and save your son. Now it’s no coincidence that the soldier used a ‘hyssop’ plant, because Jesus is our ‘sacrificial lamb of God’. Just like the lambs blood saved people from death during the 1st Passover… God’s blood shed for us…spares US from eternal death…if we’ll believe and obey!
He had to die, because you and I sinned. And the only way to pay for sin is to die. The bible says that “The wages (or what I receive) for sin… is death.” Well, Jesus paid the price for me. He died my death. I mean wasn’t there any other way…It was a necessity. If there could have been any other way for the salvation of the world, don't you think God would have used it? Sure and saved His Son the suffering on the cross. There was no other way. How do you explain that?
• 2 Cor. 5:21…“For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.” –II Cor.5:21(NLT)
• One who deserves to die gets set free, another who does not deserve to die takes the place.
• Galatians 3:13…“But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures, “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.” –Galatians 3:13 (NLT)
He took our condemnation. He is a substitute. Every time you see the phrase "for us" that's this concept of substitution.
READ vs. 30…“When Jesus had tasted it, he said, “It is finished!” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.”-John 19:30 (NLT). When Jesus Christ died on the cross He stretched out His hands and one of the things He said was “It is finished.” Notice He didn’t say, “I am finished” because He wasn’t. It wasn’t about that. He came to life three days later. What He was saying is that the payment for all your sins, all my sins has been paid for. The word “finished,” in the Greek is actually one word te-tele-stai. “Te-tele-stai” literally meant “paid in full.” When a person had paid off a bill they would stamp “te-tele-stai” on it. That means it’s paid in full. And how long do you remember a bill you’ve paid off? You forget it, don’t you? When a person would serve their time in prison and their sentence was commuted they’d stamp on their prison papers te-tele-stai – paid in full. You’re a free man. You can go. You’re not in prison any more.
So when Jesus, on the cross said, “It is finished.”… He was setting us free! Free from the guilt and the condemnation of our past. Free from the prospects of eternal punishment. And listen, when He said it, He didn’t say it with a heavy sigh and a whimper…”te-tele-stai’…It wasn’t a cry of despair and defeat. NO! He shouted it in triumph! It was a cry of fulfillment. A cry of completion! A cry of victory! If his hands hadn’t been nailed down, I think He would have punched the sky with a triumphant fist! “TETELESTAI!!! I’ve paid for all the things you’ve ever done wrong so you can go to heaven!”
So how do I respond? How should I respond to the death of Jesus? Let me wrap this up here. There are 3 ways I should respond to what we’ve talked about this morning.
1. I ought to love Jesus. Even if God never did anything else for me, He deserves my total devotion because He’s bought my ticket to heaven. I should love Christ with all my heart. The Bible says, “We love because He first loved us.”
2. I ought to hate sin. Why? Because it was sin that put Jesus on the cross. My sin. Your sin. So when I watch television and I laugh at sin, or I watch a movie and laugh at somebody sinning, that’s Satan’s way of getting me to lower my standards. Sin is not a laughing matter. Just look at the cross. It is a serious matter and I should hate sin and do everything I can to fight against injustice in the world.
3. I ought to not only love Christ and hate sin… but I should tell others. The Bible says in II Cor.5:18… “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself. No longer counting peoples’ sins against them. This is the wonderful message He has given us to tell others.” If somebody died for you, wouldn’t you want to know about it? I think so! Jesus Christ died for your next door neighbor. Jesus Christ died for your mom and dad. Jesus Christ died for your brother and sister. He died for your best friends. Jesus Christ died for the people you work with and go to school with. Don’t you think they deserve to know about it?
