The Day Of The Cross

A Sermon For You

Easter Message April 2001

By- Evangelist Gary Huckaby

The Day Of The Cross And They Crucified Him!

Matthew 27:33-36 will be our text.

"And when they were come unto a place called Golgotha, that is to say, a place of a skull, they gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall; and when he had tasted thereof; he would not drink. And they crucified him, and parted his garments, casting lots; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, They parted my garments among them, and upon my

vesture did they cast lots. And sitting down they watched him there;"

"And They Crucified Him!"

Have you ever noticed the number of times the word "they" is used in this twenty-seventh chapter of Matthews Gospel?

Some twenty-eight times I find this word used, and it is speaking of those who were at the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. There were at least three groups of people there that day, just as there are almost always, three groups of people in every gathering. I would like to look at these three groups in this message today.

The Crowd Of Sympathy

The crowd of sympathy is the first crowd of people that were there that day. These are those who stood by with tears in their eyes. They were sobbing, and saying, Why? Why? Are they killing Jesus? What did He do to them? Who has He hurt, and not helped? What wrong has He done?

This is always the way it is with the sympathetic crowd. They always stand by and Boo, Boo!hoo!

But that is all that they did. They didn’t try to defend Him. They didn’t cry to Pilate to release Him and not Barabbas. They just stood there and cried! This crowd is also with us today. They sand by and watch as God’s servants work in the harvest of souls. hey sometimes cry and say how terrible things are, and that they are all in favor of the Word of God, but these never lift a finger to help, they just stand by and cry, and Boohoo! They never come to Worship services, memorial services, Bible studies, or Prayer meetings, But, Oh, They are sympathetic though!

Next let us look at the second crowd that was at the foot of the cross of Jesus Christ that day.

The Crowd Of Antipathy

What does that word mean, preacher? You are probably asking. It means, total opposition Jesus Christ and His ministry. This is the crowd who shouted to Pilate; Crucify Him! Crucify Him! Crucify Him! We hate Him, Kill Him, kill Him!

This crowd wanted Jesus to die. He was a threat to them. His teachings were directly opposed to their life style. He was a threat to expose their crooked ways, and they hated him. Hated Him so much that they rejoiced in watching the Son of Man die in agony and pain! This crowd is also with us today. This is the crowd that wants to burn all the Bibles, close the door to every true Church in the neighborhood. They want to keep the Gospel from the radio airwaves, and off of TV stations. They hate Christianity and its teachings so much they want to eradicate it from the face of the earth. There is one thing about this crowd though. At lest you know where they stand. there is no mistaking of what they want and who they are. This is how it was with the crowd of antipathy.

Next we are going to look at the crowd of;

The Crowd Of Apathy

This is the worst of the three crowds. Apathy means, total unconcern or that they just don’t care. No matter what is going on, they don’t care in the lest bit. There motto is, "What ever!" This crowd was there just to see what was happening. They didn’t care either way as to who was dyeing. They just came along for the ride, and to see someone else die. They didn’t

care who was dying, or how many were dying, they just wanted to watch!

We have this crowd with us today too. They drive by our houses of Worship, and never bat an eye in its direction. If they do look this way it is to say, "that is nice" but they never come to services, never read the Bible, never study God’s Word. They are totally unconcerned. They just don’t care!

The crowd of Sympathy, the crowd of Antipathy, and the crowd of Apathy are the three crowds that are always present, and I can see these crowds at the foot of the cross that day. As Jesus hung on that old rugged cross, these crowds were all there watching.

Are you in one of these three crowds today?