Springtime is a wonderful time of the year. It is amazing to see a seed sprout into a plant. There are flowers with brilliant colors. The design gives a message that there must be a designer. Whether it is a plant, a flower, an insect, stars, or the human body God has revealed himself and how could someone still be an atheist?
A more mystifying question is how a person could believe in God, accept Jesus as his Son, grasp what he did on the cross, make a profession of faith then meander along without really serving Christ. That is the greater mystery.
And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. 34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” 35 And some of the bystanders hearing it said, “Behold, he is calling Elijah.” 36 And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.” 37 And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. 38 And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. (Mark 15:33-38)
Who was crucified?
Jesus cried out in a loud voice at the crucifixion. He was born in Bethlehem. But he is eternal. To understand who hung on the cross and made the cry we must go back more than the Christmas story. We must go back all the way to eternity.
In John’s gospel telling the story of Jesus the gospel opening words are in the beginning and they are attributed to Jesus. The gospel opens telling of the eternal existence of Jesus. The chapter tells of the incarnation of Jesus. That he was fully God and became fully human.
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)
God entered human history taking on humanity. Through him all things were made.
All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. (John 1:3)
Jesus was the creator. Creation owes all to the creator. Our very existence is only because of Jesus. By him all things were made.
For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. (Colossians 1:16-18)
Jesus is the image of the invisible God. In everything he has supremacy. Jesus is without sin. He was not only God, but he was also a human being, took on humanity. He identifies with our weakness. He was tempted but sinless.
Pilate said of Jesus, I find him innocent. What has he done? So Jesus hung on the cross as the just for the unjust.
We see the exalted glory of Jesus. He came to earth from the throne of heaven. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)
Jesus was more important than any dignitary or any hero. Jesus had the importance of God. The radiance of Glory became visible in Jesus Christ.
Jesus cared for people. He restored the sight of the blind, healed the lame, fed the hungry. He showed compassion to those society had cast aside. Jesus so loved you, and me, that he would do anything to save us.
When a poet says they would give the stars, or the moon if they were theirs to give in exchange for your love they are poetic expression. All those things belonged to Jesus, but they were not enough. Greater love has no one than to lay down his life for you.
Only his life, his shed blood would be a price high enough for the debt of sin. Jesus Christ the Messiah, the Son of the living God who hung on the cross, eternal, creator, sinless, the compassionate Son of the Living God. Halleluiah, What a Savior!
Then there is the disgrace of the cross. Jesus did not just shed his blood. He did not merely die for our sins, but he shed his blood and died one of the most torturous shameful deaths of all times. The cross was meant to be a warning for the worst kind of criminals. How Jesus died would violate the standards of decency applied to war criminals.
The shame began for Jesus on Thursday with betrayal and arrest. Following the agony of Gethsemane Jesus faced the Sanhedrin the Jewish ruling council. Caiaphas the high priest mocked Jesus. They beat him, blindfolded him and mocked him to make a prophecy who hit you?
On Friday morning Jesus was bound and delivered to Pilate. He went to Herrod and then back again to Pilate. He found no guilt. Herrod had not either because he sent him back. Pilate perceived the Jews delivered Jesus up out of envy.
Pilate asked the crowds what should I do with him? They answered crucify him. Why? What has he done? They only shouted louder, crucify him. The crowd manipulated Pilate by saying if you do not crucify Jesus, you are no friend of Ceasar.
The ruthless Roman soldiers led Jesus away and did their own cruel humiliation to Jesus. They put a crown of thorns on his head and spit on him. The flogging itself was a form of torture. At 9am Jesus was crucified, and they drove nails straight through his hands and feet. Jesus was nailed to the cross at Golgotha, the place of the scull, Calvary. After all this Jesus died.
And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. (Mark 15:37)
Jesus died a disgraceful, horrifying death. He died by a torturous crucifixion.
There is much significance of Jesus dying on the cross. There was his cry from the cross.
And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15:37)
In that terrible moment on the cross Jesus became the “offering for sin”. He became the ransom for the many. He was the perfect sinless one who took on sin for our behalf. At that moment the price was paid. The sinner forever redeemed.
What goes beyond all his physical suffering is that Christ was made sin, he bore our sin. The Holy one of God became sin on our behalf. Halleluiah, What a Savior!
So also the chief priests with the scribes mocked him to one another, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. (Mark 15:31)
If Jesus had saved himself, he would not have saved the sinners. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. (John 12:24) Jesus’ death made possible our eternal life. Halleluiah, What a Savior!
At 3pm the darkness ended. It is finished Jesus said and the temple vail is torn in two. Jesus took on the sins of the world. The cross provides access to all who come to God through Christ.
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6)
The cross may look like to the world as foolishness. For the believer it is the power of God to salvation.
For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. (1 Corinthians 1:18)
“Lifted up was he to die,
It is finished was his cry,
Now in heaven exalted high,
Halleluiah, what a savior. “
(Man of Sorrows Hymn by Philip Bliss)
What about you? What do you think about the message of the cross? Maybe the message of the cross has been foolishness to you. Today you can be saved as a result of the message of the cross and the power of God.
Your sin-stained soul can be as white as snow. Put faith in Christ. Let his death count for your sin. Consider who Jesus is. Consider how Jesus died. Consider the significance of Jesus dying on the cross. Do not cast off the message of the cross as foolishness. It is the power of God to salvation. Put your faith in Christ.
