In the distance I see a cross. This is not an unusual sight. Crucifixion is the Roman’s favorite method of execution. I have walked by many crucifixions at this same spot. But a larger than normal crowd has gathered to witness this cross. I wonder why so many people are interested in the victim. As I walk through the crowd, I hear mocking from many and weeping from a few. I see the Roman soldiers gambling for his clothes. I examine the man hanging on the cross. For some reason, He seems different. He is not screaming or squirming. He is not cursing. He is not begging for mercy. Instead, I hear words that I will never forget: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” What kind of person is concerned about his executioners? Who is this man nailed to the cross? And then I read the sign above his head: “This is Jesus of Nazareth, the king of the Jews.”
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Some scholars believe the date was April 3, A.D. 33. Pilate, the Roman governor over Judea, was finished questioning Jesus concerning the accusations brought against Him by the chief priests and the elders of the Jews. He could find no reason to put Him to death. Yet he knew that if he didn’t give the people what they wanted, a riot was likely to break out in Jerusalem. Finally, he addressed the impatient mob waiting outside his palace. “What shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” he asked. “Crucify him!” they shouted.
Because of hatred and jealousy, the leaders of the Jews demanded Jesus’ execution. They saw Him as nothing more than a blasphemer who claimed to be the Son of God. Neither the Romans nor the Jews believed that this crucifixion would be any different from all the rest. They never imagined that this would be the single most important event in the history of the universe.
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“He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and familiar with suffering” (Isa. 53:3).
The soldiers led Jesus away to be flogged. He was stripped of His clothes, tied to a post, and beaten by several soldiers with a whip that was usually made of leather strips fitted with pieces of bone or lead. This flogging was so severe that its victims sometimes died. Others were left with their bones and entrails exposed. Josephus reports that a man named Jesus, son of Ananias, was brought before Albinus and “flayed to the bone with scourges.” Eusebius writes that certain martyrs were “lacerated by scourges even to the innermost veins and arteries, so that the hidden inward parts of the body, both their bowels and their members, were exposed to view.”
After the scourging, the soldiers put a robe on Jesus. It was probably an old garment that had been discarded by one of the soldiers. Matthew says the robe was scarlet, but Mark and John call it “purple”—suggesting that is was badly faded. It was probably the nearest thing to the royal color of purple the soldiers could find. Their aim was to make a complete mockery of His claim to be a king.
Of course, every king needs a crown, so the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on Jesus’ head. These thorns could have been up to several inches long. They would have sunk deep into Jesus’ head, causing blood to gush out and distort His face.
“His appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man and his form marred beyond human likeness” (Isa. 52:14).
A staff was put in Jesus’ right hand to act a scepter, and then the soldiers fell on their knees and paid mock homage to Him. They said, “Hail, king of the Jews!” in jeering tones. They spit on Him and took the staff and struck Him on the head again and again.
“I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting” (Isa. 50:6).
In all of this, Jesus remained silent. He was guilty of nothing, yet He never said a word.
“He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth” (Isa. 53:7).
Others had declared His innocence, but Jesus never defended Himself. Judas cried, “I have betrayed innocent blood” (Matt. 27:4). Pilate announced, “I find no fault in him” (John 19:4 KJV). The thief said, “This man has done nothing wrong” (Luke 23:41). The centurion exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!” (Matt. 27:54). Yet Jesus never said a word.
He was beaten, mocked, and spit upon, yet He took it all…silently.
“When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats” (1 Peter 2:23).
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Jesus was then led away to be crucified. Crucifixion victims were often forced to carry their own cross to the place of execution. But Jesus was in no condition to carry a heavy cross. The soldiers grew impatient with Jesus’ agonizing pace, and they grabbed a man named Simon along the way, making him carry the cross of Jesus. Jesus’ exhaustion is completely understandable. The previous day had been so grueling that His disciples were unable to stay awake while Jesus prayed in the garden. But that was only the beginning of extreme agony for Jesus. He was arrested, beaten repeatedly, held without sleep all night, beaten some more, flogged, and beaten again. After several hours of such sheer agony, combined with blood loss and shock, it is no wonder He was too weak to carry His cross.
We must remember that the cross came as no surprise to Jesus. Only a few days earlier He had told His disciples, “We are going up to Jerusalem and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. He will be handed over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult him, spit on him, flog him and kill him. On the third day he will rise again” (Luke 18:31-33). Any other person, knowing what Jesus knew, would have gone nowhere near Jerusalem, but the love of Jesus carried Him there.
He said, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep…. No one can take my life from me. I lay down my life voluntarily” (John 10:11, 18 NLT).
Even with Simon carrying His cross, Jesus apparently was too weak to walk unsupported. Mark writes, “they brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha” (15:22), using a Greek expression for “brought” that suggests He was actually borne along to that place—probably walking with much difficulty, needing constant support from the soldiers along the way.
“Golgotha” is an Aramaic word, meaning “a skull.” It is generally assumed that the cross of Jesus stood on a steep, rocky hill that had the appearance of a skull. There is a place just north of Jerusalem’s walls that fits that description, known as Gordon’s Calvary. It still bears an eerie resemblance to a human skull.
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We view the cross much differently than people of the first century did. Today we adorn our cemeteries and churches with crosses, and some people wear them around their necks. But in ancient times, crucifixion was synonymous with horror and shame. It was a death inflicted on slaves, bandits, prisoners of war, and revolutionaries.
The cross was so offensive to the Romans that they refused to allow their own citizens to be crucified, no matter what they had done. Cicero (106-43 B.C.), the Roman orator, called crucifixion “a most cruel and disgusting punishment.” He said, “It is a crime to put a Roman citizen in chains, it is an enormity to flog one, sheer murder to slay one, what, then, shall I say of crucifixion? It is impossible to find the word for such an abomination.” Cicero also said, “Let the very mention of the cross be far removed not only from a Roman citizen’s body, but from his mind, his eyes, his ears.”
The cross may have been even more abhorrent to the Jews, for they saw it in light of Deuteronomy 21:22-23, which reads, “If a man guilty of a capital offense is put to death and his body is hung on a tree, you must not leave his body on the tree overnight. Be sure to bury him that same day, because anyone who is hung on a tree is under God’s curse.” They understood this to mean that a crucified person was abandoned by God. This explains why Jesus was crucified outside Jerusalem. The act was so offensive to the Jews that they would not allow it to take place within the sacred precincts of their city.
“Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree” (Gal. 3:13).
Those crucified were made a public spectacle, often being affixed to crosses in bizarre positions, and their bodies left to be devoured by vultures. For hours (if not days), the person would hang in the heat of the sun, stripped naked and struggling to breathe. In order to avoid asphyxiation, he must push himself up with his legs and pull with his arms, triggering muscle spasms causing unimaginable pain. The end would come through heart failure, brain damage caused by reduced oxygen supply, suffocation, or shock. Atrocious physical agony, length of torment, and public shame combined to make crucifixion a most terrible form of death.
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The soldiers laid Jesus on the cross beams and tied Him down. Then they picked up the long iron spikes, raised their hammers, and began to pound. They drove the spikes through Jesus’ wrists, pinning His arms and legs to the cross. But in the ugly sound of the hammers we hear the grace of God shouting above them all.
“He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isa. 53:5-6).
The cross is raised. With an awful thud, it settles in the ground. Every inch of Jesus’ body is filled with excruciating pain.
Picture Him on the cross, if you can. And ask yourself: Has there ever been anyone like Him? Is there any other Savior who deserves my life, my love, my worship? Is there anyone to compare with Jesus? Is there anyone who loves like He loves? Is there anyone who cares like He cares?
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I want you to see what the Apostle Paul has to say in Colossians 2 about the cross and the nails.
“When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ” (Col. 2:13a).
I. The cross was once an instrument of death, but now it is a symbol of LIFE.
Jesus died a cruel, humiliating death so that we might have eternal life.
“He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross” (Col. 2:13b-14).
II. The cross was once an instrument of shame, but now it is a symbol of FORGIVENESS.
[OBJECT LESSON: Set up 2’x4’ cross on stage. Write various kinds of sins on pieces of cardboard. Nail them to the cross, illustrating Col. 2:14.]
“The written code” or “the handwriting of requirements” (NKJV) refers to a list of our sins. The list is like an IOU, a note that acknowledges the obligation to pay a debt and is signed by the debtor. The list of our sins “stood opposed to us.” In other words, they were able to condemn us to hell. [Show the sins on the pieces of cardboard.] But God “cancelled” the list. That means He wiped it out, like erasing a blackboard. Not a trace of that list remains to be held against us. God “took it away, nailing it to the cross.” [Nail the sins to the cross.] The IOU could not simply be torn up and thrown away. The penalty for nonpayment was death. We deserved to be nailed to that cross. But instead the debt was paid by Jesus Christ.
“And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross” (Col. 2:15). Christ “made a public spectacle” of his enemies. The image is of a conquering hero leading a procession of his vanquished foes.
III. The cross was once an instrument of helplessness, but now it is a symbol of VICTORY.
The enemies of Jesus—the Jews, the Romans, Satan, and the demons—all thought they had defeated Jesus. But, as 1 Corinthians 2:8 says, “None of the rulers of this age understood [the wisdom of the cross], for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.”. They didn’t realize that Jesus would triumph over them through the cross.
F. F. Bruce writes, “But now they are dethroned and incapacitated, and the shameful tree has become the victor’s triumphal chariot, before which his captives are driven in humiliating procession, the involuntary and impotent confessors of his superior might” (The Epistles to the Colossians, to Philemon, and to the Ephesians (NICNT), p. 111).
The cross meets our deepest needs: life with hope and meaning, forgiveness, and victory over destructive forces.
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The cross provides us with many challenges. But here is the challenge I would like to give you today: Since Jesus was fully devoted to us, is it too much for Him to expect us to be fully devoted to Him? He once said, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Matt. 16:24).
Maybe you need to take the first step. Maybe Jesus isn’t yet your Lord and Savior. He is waiting for you to put your trust in Him. Would you consider doing that today?
Jesus, I thank You
for dying on the cross for my sin.
Today I renounce my sinful ways
and put my trust in You.
If you have already a follower of Christ, I challenge you to follow Him more closely. Is there such a thing as being too devoted to Jesus?
“He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness” (1 Peter 2:24).
Title Slide
Max Lucado, in his book He Chose the Nails, pretends to make a list of all of the mistakes the builder of his house has made. Then he writes,
God has done with us what I am doing with our house. He has penned a list of our faults. The list God has made, however, cannot be read. The words can’t be deciphered. The mistakes are covered. The sins are hidden. Those at the top are hidden by his hand; those down the list are covered by his blood. Your sins are “blotted out” by Jesus (KJV). “He has forgiven you all your sins: he has utterly wiped out the written evidence of broken commandments which always hung over our heads, and has completely annulled it by nailing it to the cross” (Col. 2:14 PHILLIPS).
This is why he refused to close his fist. He saw the list! What kept him from resisting? This warrant, this tabulation of your failures. He knew the price of those sins was death. He knew the source of those sins was you, and since he couldn’t bear the thought of eternity without you, he chose the nails.
The hand squeezing the handle was not a Roman infantryman.
The force behind the hammer was not an angry mob.
The verdict behind the death was not decided by jealous Jews.
Jesus himself chose the nails.
So the hands of Jesus opened up. Had the soldier hesitated, Jesus himself would have swung the mallet. He knew how; he was no stranger to the driving of nails. As a carpenter he knew what it took. And as a Savior he knew what it meant. He knew that the purpose of the nail was to place your sins where they could be hidden by his sacrifice and covered by his blood.
So Jesus himself swung the hammer.
The same hand that stilled seas stills your guilt.
The same hand that cleansed the Temple cleanses your heart.
The hand is the hand of God.
The nail is the nail of God.
And as the hands of Jesus opened for the nail, the doors of heaven opened for you (He Chose the Nails, pp. 34-35).
Since Jesus was fully devoted to us, is it too much for Him to expect us to be fully devoted to Him?
HE CHOSE THE NAILS
I. The cross was once an instrument of death, but now it is a symbol of ____________________.
“When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ” (Col. 2:13a).
“Dead in your sins” = the Colossians spiritual condition; “the uncircumcision of your flesh” (NKJV) = their bodily uncircumcision as Gentiles
II. The cross was once an instrument of shame, but now it is a symbol of ____________________.
“He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross” (Col. 2:13b-14).
“The written code” (“The handwriting of requirements”—NKJV) = an IOU, a note that acknowledges the obligation to pay a debt and is signed by the debtor.
“Stood opposed to us” = was able to condemn us to hell.
“Canceled” = to “wipe out,” like erasing a blackboard.
“He took it away, nailing it to the cross” = the IOU was not simply torn up and thrown away. The penalty for nonpayment was death, and it was paid by Christ.
III. The cross was once an instrument of helplessness, but now it is a symbol of ____________________.
“And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross” (Col. 2:15).
“None of the rulers of this age understood [the wisdom of the cross], for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory” (1 Cor. 2:8).
“But now they are dethroned and incapacitated, and the shameful tree has become the victor’s triumphal chariot, before which his captives are driven in humiliating procession, the involuntary and impotent confessors of his superior might.”—F. F. Bruce, The Epistles to the Colossians, to Philemon, and to the Ephesians (NICNT), p. 111
