THE CHRONOLOGY OF THE CROSS
Mark 15:16-47
Imagine the scene, the Sinless Son of God hangs on an old wooden cross, rusty spikes have been driven through His hands and feet. Blood pours from His precious brow where a cruel crown of thorns has been placed, the flesh on His back hangs like ribbons from the awful scourging He has endured. For hours He hangs there in indescribable agony, suffering for the sins of the world.
At high noon the earth becomes as dark as midnight, the separation that Jesus experiences at this point is far more excruciating than the physical pain He has faced thus far. In great anguish He cries "My God, my God why have you forsaken me?" His suffering continues for a while longer and when all things are accomplished He says "Father, 'into Your hands I commit My spirit.'
His work on earth is complete, He declares "It is finished". The precious Lamb of God breaths His last breath. Jesus dies... Then, an earthquake rumbles across the earth. From top to bottom the Veil of the Temple rips into. The enemies of Christ rejoice, Satan is filled with delight, and a few faithful followers weep and mourn.
I'm glad to tell you that this was not the end! Three days later, Jesus would rise from the grave. Though we rejoice in the hope that the Resurrection brings, we must never forget the agony of the Cross. I want us to take some time and examine what Jesus did at Calvary. As we do so, may we be reminded that all that He did, He did for us!
It is amazing how quickly things changed during the week of our Lord's Passion. On Sunday Jesus made His Triumphant entrance into Jerusalem. Large crowds gathered around Him and spread their clothes in the way before Him. Many people worshipped Him and some waved palm branches and cried "Hosanna, blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord"
On Monday, Jesus stood beholding Jerusalem and He wept for the people. Later He entered the Temple and turned over tables and cast out the moneychangers. That evening He left the city and spent the night in the town of Bethany.
When Tuesday arrived our Lord delivered the Olivet Discourse. He spoke to His Disciples about the coming persecution, Tribulation and other subjects concerning the end times. It was on this day that Judas Iscariot began to conspire with Sanhedrin to plan his evil betrayal.
The Gospels are silent concerning the Wednesday of Passion Week, but it is safe to assume that Satan was working overtime behind the scenes.
On Thursday, Jesus and the Disciples observed the Passover meal. After this meal, our Lord took on the form of a slave and girded Himself with a towel and washed the feet of His Disciples. Later they began their journey to the Garden of Gethsemane. Once there Jesus "became very heavy" and began to pray in great agony. After this time of prayer, Judas arrived with a band of soldiers and betrays Jesus with a kiss. Following this Jesus was arrested and taken to be questioned by Annas and then He was sent to the palace of the High Priest, Caiaphas.
Early on Friday Jesus was falsely tried by the members of the Sanhedrin. After appearing before Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin Jesus was sent to the Roman Governor, Pontus Pilate. Now we arrive at the heart of today's message. It is Friday of Passion Week, a day we often refer to as "Good Friday". This is the day that the prophets had spoken of. This is the day that Jesus had taught about. This is the day that God had planned before the foundation of the world. (Revelation 13:8 describes Jesus as "the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.")
This is the day that the Lamb would be slain. This is the day that His blood would be shed. This is the day that the price of our redemption would be paid. This is the day that our salvation would be secured.
Today, I want us to take a trip to Calvary. I want to look at all four Gospel accounts of the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ and for us to be reminded of the great price that He paid so that we could be forgiven of our sins. To the best of my ability I hope to cover the events of that day in order and in doing so we will consider "The Chronology Of The Cross".
- Let's begin by examining what took place at approximately:
6 O'CLOCK A.M ON GOOD FRIDAY
Somewhere around 6:00 Jesus appeared before Pontus Pilate. Pilate asked Him, "Are You the King of the Jews?" Jesus answered and said to him, "It is as you say." And the chief priests accused Him of many things, but He answered nothing. Then Pilate asked Him again, saying, "Do You answer nothing? See how many things they testify against You!" But Jesus still answered nothing, so that Pilate marveled. (Mark 15:2-5)
When it came to Pilate's attention that Jesus was Galilean he sent Jesus to Herod. Galilee was in Herod's jurisdiction and he happened to be in Jerusalem at the time. Herod had heard of Jesus and had been wanting to see Him for some time. He was hoping to see Jesus perform some great miracle. When Jesus appeared before Him, Herod questioned Him just as Pilate had done. While this is going on the Chief Priests and scribes continued shouting their accusations at Jesus.
- This brings us to approximately:
7 O'CLOCK A.M ON GOOD FRIDAY
As Herod questioned Jesus, He continued to keep His silence. Herod made the decision to send Him back to Pilate. But before he did, he and his soldiers mocked and abused Jesus.
Luke 23:11 says that "Herod, with his men of war, treated (Jesus) with contempt and mocked Him, arrayed Him in a gorgeous robe, and sent Him back to Pilate. 12 That very day Pilate and Herod became friends with each other, for previously they had been at enmity with each other.
Once Jesus was returned to Pilate He was sentenced to death. Pilate asked the crowd what He should do with Jesus and they angrily cried "away with Him, crucify Him!" Though Pilate could find no fault in Him, he gave in to the demands of the crowd.
Mark 15:15 So Pilate, wanting to gratify the crowd, released Barabbas to them; and he delivered Jesus, after he had scourged Him, to be crucified.
Before leading Jesus away to His death, Pilate had Him scourged. The Bible does not go into detail concerning this process but history tells us that Jesus would likely have been stripped and tied to a wooden pole. Then He was whipped with a device the Romans called the “flagrum”. This was an instrument of torture that had a wooden handle from which extended several strips of leather. On the ends of the leather strips were either pieces of bone or metal. As Jesus was beaten, the bone and metal in the whip would gouge out large chunks of His flesh. Many men died from this horrific means of torture. This is just one more thing that Jesus endured for my salvation and yours. Sadly, He would face much more on our behalf.
- By this time it was near:
8 O'CLOCK A.M ON GOOD FRIDAY
After the scourging, Jesus was led away to Golgotha.
Mark 15:21 Then they compelled a certain man, Simon a Cyrenian, the father of Alexander and Rufus, as he was coming out of the country and passing by, to bear His cross. 22 And they brought Him to the place Golgotha, which is translated, Place of a Skull.
At this point Jesus has endured more than most would be able to bear. He had been falsely tried by the Sanhedrin all night, He has had no sleep. He is tired and exhausted. His face is swollen and bruised from the abuse of the High Priest and others. He is covered with blood from head to toe as a result of the scourging. His flesh is hanging from His back. There is a pool of blood forming at His feet. This was not enough abuse for those cruel soldiers! They draped a purple robe over His shoulders. One of them formed a crown of thorns and jammed it onto His head. Then they put a reed in His hand and they mockingly bowed before Him and cried out "hail, King of the Jews!"
In this moment of great agony they forced Him to carry His cross up Golgotha's Hill. It is believed that the cross weighed near 150 pounds. It is estimated that Jesus carried His cross the distance of over two football fields, in a weak and tormented state, At some point the soldiers recruited a man named Simon, who was from Cyrene, to bear the Cross the rest of the way.
- This brings us to:
9 O'CLOCK A.M ON GOOD FRIDAY
Mark 15:25 Now it was the third hour, and they crucified Him.
Once at Calvary, His executioners nailed Jesus to the Cross. The spikes used for crucifixion were approximately 7 inches long and 3/8 of an inch in diameter. These spikes were driven into His wrists and through His feet. The cross was then lifted up and dropped it into the hole. As the cross fell down into the hole, His flesh tore. The position of the nailed body held His rib cage in a fixed position. This would have made it extremely difficult to exhale. It would have been impossible to take a full breath. He had suffered from the scourging, the beatings and the walk with the Cross. By this point Jesus would have been extremely weak and dehydrated. He was losing significant amounts of blood.
Even in the midst of all of this pain and torture, Jesus was still focused on the salvation of others... even those who were in the process of killing Him. Luke 23:34 Then Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do." And they divided His garments and cast lots.
This beautiful expression of forgiveness meant nothing to those who were crucifying Him. While He is praying to God on their behalf, the soldiers began to gamble for His clothes.
Mark 15:24 And when they crucified Him, they divided His garments, casting lots for them to determine what every man should take.
The rejection and mocking did not end with this shameful act, as we move forward let us consider the events that took place around:
10 A.M. ON GOOD FRIDAY
As Jesus hung there as the sacrifice for our sins, those who passed by mocked and ridiculed Him.
Matthew 27:38 Then two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right and another on the left. 39 And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads 40 and saying, "You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross."
The chief priests and the scribes joined in as well: Mark 15:31 Likewise the chief priests also, mocking among themselves with the scribes, said, "He saved others; Himself He cannot save.
The soldiers also mocked Him. They offered Him sour wine and they said "If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself." They also nailed an accusation over His head that read "King of the Jews"
Diane Wilkerson wrote a song that was recorded by the Old Paths that speaks of this event, she said:
On Calvary's Cross
A sign proclaimed that He was King
While He hung there suffering
They did not know that they had spoken one true thing
As Jesus Christ the Lord of Glory bore their shame
They may not have known that He truly was King,bu t one day they will see Him for who He is, and when they do they will bow and confess that He indeed is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. In fact, all who have rejected Christ throughout history will bow and confess that His is Lord of all!
There are many noteworthy events that took place at Calvary. One of the most beautiful happened around:
11 A.M. ON GOOD FRIDAY
There were two other men who were crucified on either side of Jesus. In the beginning, both of them railed on Him just as those who were at the foot of the cross. But there was a change that took place in one of those men. One cried out... "If you really are the Christ, save yourself and us." The other said "Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong." He then turned to
Jesus and said "Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom." There in the midst of His agony, even in His dying hours Jesus saved this penitent thief. He looked at Him and said "Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise."
I want you to know that what Jesus did for this man, He will do for you! Romans 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Around this time Jesus saw His mother Mary and the Apostle John standing nearby. He looked at them and said "Woman, behold your son!" Then He said to the disciple, "Behold your mother!" (John 19:26-27)
- This leads us to the events that took place at "the sixth hour", which is 12 p.m. Notice what happened at:
12 P.M. ON GOOD FRIDAY
Mark 15:33 Now when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.
Adrian Rogers describes this moment in time as "midnight at high noon".
For hours men had mocked, scorned and abused the sinless Son of God. Now a supernatural darkness covers the earth. This was another fulfillment of prophecy.
Amos warned of the coming judgment of God against the sinfulness of Israel. In Amos 8:9, the Lord said this, “And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord God, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day.”
In the Bible, darkness is associated with the judgment of God. When the darkness fell on Israel that day, God was signaling that the judgment of that nation was at hand. Another reason for this period of darkness was the curse of sin. Jesus entered the very darkness of sin that we might be brought out of darkness into “His marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9)
This time of darkness lasted for three hours. During this time, Jesus was plunged into the greatest darkness He had ever known. The holy, sinless, Lamb of God literally became sin on that cross. Again I remind you that what He did that day, He did for us!
2 Corinthians 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
Jesus knew that He would endure all of this pain, suffering and separation before He came. And He loved us so much, in fact He loved us "while we were yet sinners", that He came anyway!
- Let's take a moment and consider what happened from:
1 to 3 P.M. ON GOOD FRIDAY
For the first time in ever, God the Son is separated from God the Father. Matthew says that "about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46)
John tells us that there came a point where the Jesus cried "I thirst".
John 19:28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, "I thirst!" 29 Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth.
Mark informs us that "when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, "It is finished!" (Mark 15:30)
Luke says that after Jesus cried "it is finished" Jesus then said "Father, 'into Your hands I commit My spirit.' " Having said this, He breathed His last. (Luke 23:46)
Matthew goes on to tell us that as Jesus took His last breath there was a great earthquake "and the rocks were split, 52 and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised"
We are also told that "the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom". This supernatural act signifies the fact that God accepted Jesus' sacrifice and because of this we now have access to God.
Many people saw all that took place at Calvary that day. Many of them were still not convinced that Jesus was who He said He was. But there was a centurion there who proclaimed "surely this was the Son of God."
After these things the soldiers came by to break the legs of those who were crucified that day. This was to ensure that they were dead because "it was the Preparation Day, that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day)"
They broke the legs of the malefactors but when they came to Jesus they saw that He was already dead. But one of the soldiers took his spear and pierced Jesus' side. When He did "immediately blood and water came out."
Following this, "Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent council member" took the bold step to go to Pilate and request the body of Jesus. When Pilate found out from the centurion, that Jesus was dead he granted the body to Joseph. Joseph and Nicodemus then took Jesus body and wound it in linen cloths with spices. Joseph owned a nearby tomb which had been hewn out of a rock. They placed Jesus body in that tomb and rolled a stone in front of the door.
Again I say, this is not the end of the story; Jesus did die, but praise God He rose again! But I want you to know that He loved you enough that He was willing to pay this great price to redeem you. Jesus hung on that cross suffering for the sins of the world. God made it clear that Jesus' sacrifice was sufficient to save us from our sins. The Old Testament sacrifices merely covered sin. The sacrificial offering of Christ’s blood on Calvary removed sin forever!
John the Baptist said to "Behold the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world."
Salvation is possible because of the precious blood of Jesus! This blood came as a result of the sinless sacrifice of Jesus at Calvary.
Revelation 1:5 ...Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,
Jesus' blood has the power to take the blackest heart and wash it whiter than snow. And you must understand that you and I are the reason for Jesus' sacrifice!
John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
You have the outstanding opportunity to bow and confess that Jesus is Lord and receive everlasting life. I encourage you to humble yourself at His feet. Confess your sins before Him, call upon the name of Christ, trust Him as Savior and surrender to Him as Lord. If you will do this... you can and will be saved!
God almighty is offering you eternal life right here, right now! You may continue to reject His offer. You may even profess that you do not believe in Him, but one day you will stand before Him in Judgment. and you will humbly bow before Him and confess that He is Lord! When that day comes it will be too late. I beg you, turn to Him while there is time.
If you have been born again, may we never forget the price that was paid on the Cross where Jesus died.
