The Cross

 Friday

The Cross

“Then Jesus uttered another loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.”

Mark 15:37

The night had been long. In the early hours of the morning, Jesus had stood on trial before the Sanhedin. Now, he stood before a group of Roman soldiers. They had beaten Him. A leather whip with tips of lead and bone had ripped the flesh from His back. Blood dripped from the gaping wounds, running down His legs before puddling on the floor. A soldier leaned close to His face, mocking Him as he plucked hair from His beard (Isaiah 50:6). The raucous laughter of the soldiers drifted to His ears as a purple robe was brought to Him, and put around His shoulders. A crudely made crown was placed on His head, pressed down as large thorns pierced His flesh. He felt a trickle of blood fall on His eyes,  swollen from the many blows to His face. “Hail! King of the Jews!” yelled a soldier, as he saluted him before taunting Him further. Another soldier came and fell down before Jesus in mock worship before rising, and spitting in His face. Yet, Jesus uttered not a word.

Pilate summoned the soldiers to bring Jesus in front of the crowd of people gathered outside. Pilate said, “Look, here is the man!” (John 19:5, NLT). The crowd began shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”. Pilate replied, “Take him yourselves and crucify him. I find him not guilty.” (John 19:6, NLT) So, they led Jesus away. They placed the cross on his back, and led Him to Golgotha. Each step brought excruciating pain to the raw wounds on His back. Tears fell from His eyes. 

They stripped Him of His clothes, and then placed His body on the cross. Then, they took long metal spikes, and began hammering them into His arms and legs. He winced in pain as the spikes dug into His flesh, and tore through His tendons. They hammered a sign above His head that said, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews”. A group of soldiers gathered around Him, and hoisted the cross up. The movement took His breath, as the cross was driven into the ground. Crucifixion, a slow death of suffocation. Each breath would require the accused to push up on their raw back, spikes grinding into their flesh, as they tried to fill their lungs with air. 

Below a crowd had gathered. A group of women wept quietly. Soldiers continued to mock Him, slinging taunts and insults in His direction. The leading religious leaders scoffed, and said “He saved others. Let him save himself if he is really God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.” (Luke 23:35, NLT) A group of soldiers divided His clothes among them, and then rolled dice to see who would get His robe. He hung there naked and exposed. The weight of the sins of mankind pressing into His spirit. He lifted His face and said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.”(Luke 23:34, NLT) A phrase that He had said as they stretched His body out on the cross, and again as insults had been thrown in His direction. Darkness fell across the sky as if it were night. Thunder rumbled in the distance. “Jesus called out in a loud voice, ‘Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani ?’ which means ‘My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” (Matthew 27:46, NLT)

Time moved slow, as darkness clung to the earth. Knowing that His mission was now complete, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” A soldier standing nearby dipped a sponge down into a jar of sour wine, and lifted it to Jesus' lips. Jesus tasted it, and then shouted, “It is finished.” (John 19:30, NLT) The ground began to shake violently, and the curtain in the Temple was torn from top to bottom. And Jesus hung His head, and breathed His last breath. 

As Jesus hung on the cross, it is recorded that He uttered seven phrases. Seven, the number of “fullness” or “completeness”. He had completed the mission for which He came. He gave His life for yours. He was abandoned by God, so that you wouldn’t have to be because your sin cannot stand in front of a Holy God. His death made you complete. His brokenness made you whole. His blood made you clean. He was stripped of His robe, and left naked so that you could be clothed in His righteousness. 

Some days I forget the price He paid to ransom me. My face, and your face is what kept Him hanging there. We were the joy set before Him (Hebrews 12:2). We were the prize that He was running to, the treasure He couldn’t do without. He loves us that much. My prayer for you today is that your eyes will be opened to the price He paid for you, and the depth of His love for you.

“Yet it was our weakness he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down…But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all.”

Isaiah 53:4-6

Scripture Reading:

Matthew 27:1-62, Mark 15:1-47, Luke 22:63-23:56, John 18:28-19:37, Isaiah 53