His Word Today

³⁶ Then they sat down and kept watch over him there. ³⁷ And over his head they put the charge against him, which read, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” (Matthew 27:36–37 (ESV)

²⁶ And the inscription of the charge against him read, “The King of the Jews.” ²⁷ And with him they crucified two robbers, one on his right and one on his left.” (Mark 15:26–27 (ESV)

³⁸ There was also an inscription over him, “This is the King of the Jews.” (Luke 23:38 (ESV)

¹⁸ There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them. ¹⁹ Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” ²⁰ Many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Aramaic, in Latin, and in Greek. ²¹ So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but rather, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’ ” ²² Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.” (John 19:18–22 (ESV)

In our study of the Gospel of Matthew’s record of the Passion Week of the Lord Jesus Christ, it is necessary, and insightful, to examine all four Gospel accounts. This discipline provides us understanding of all the events and encounters which took place during those hours.

For the next several days we will examine what occurred during the first three hours of Jesus’ crucifixion. Today’s focus again concerns the inscription Pontius Pilate wrote and had placed on Jesus’ cross; Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews. It is probable Pilate had no awareness the biblical truth of his inscription. He had no knowledge of Psalm 110. It is a Psalm of David. It is a royal psalm ultimately referring to Jesus Christ as the sovereign ruler, or divine/human king, of Israel.

“This psalm contains one of the most exalted prophetic portions of Scripture presenting Jesus Christ as both a holy king and a royal high priest—something that no human monarch of Israel ever experienced. It, along with Ps. 118, is by far the most quoted psalm in the NT (Matt. 22:44; 26:64; Mark 12:36; 14:62; Luke 20:42–43; 22:69; Acts 2:34–35; Heb. 1:13; 5:6; 7:17, 21; 10:13),” explains Dr. John MacArthur.

“While portraying the perfect king, the perfect high priest, and the perfect government, Ps. 110 declares Christ’s current role in heaven as the resurrected Savior (v. 1) and his future role on earth as the reigning Monarch (vv. 2–7). This psalm is decidedly messianic and millennial in content. Jesus Christ (Matt. 22:43–44) verifies the Davidic authorship. The exact occasion of this psalm is unknown, but it could easily have been associated with God’s declaration of the Davidic Covenant in 2 Sam. 7:4–17.”

The outline of Psalm 110 is simple but significant. David’s focus is Christ the King (vs. 1-3) and Christ the High Priest (vs. 4-7). Pontius Pilate did not realize it, but he affirmed the divine kingship and priesthood of Jesus Christ with this inscription.

Soli deo Gloria!

³⁶ Then they sat down and kept watch over him there. ³⁷ And over his head they put the charge against him, which read, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” (Matthew 27:36–37 (ESV)

²⁶ And the inscription of the charge against him read, “The King of the Jews.” ²⁷ And with him they crucified two robbers, one on his right and one on his left.” (Mark 15:26–27 (ESV)

³⁸ There was also an inscription over him, “This is the King of the Jews.” (Luke 23:38 (ESV)

¹⁸ There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them. ¹⁹ Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” ²⁰ Many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Aramaic, in Latin, and in Greek. ²¹ So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but rather, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’ ” ²² Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.” (John 19:18–22 (ESV)

In our study of the Gospel of Matthew’s record of the Passion Week of the Lord Jesus Christ, it is necessary, and insightful, to examine all four Gospel accounts. This discipline provides us understanding of all the events and encounters which took place during those hours.

For the next several days we will examine what occurred during the first three hours of Jesus’ crucifixion. Today’s focus is the inscription Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.

What is an inscription? An inscription (ἐπιγραφή; epigraphe) are words inscribed on a monument or in a book. Historically, they were written mostly on rocks, stones, walls of buildings, metals etc.

For example, the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. prominently features inscribed texts of two speeches by President Abraham Lincoln: The Gettysburg Address and his Second Inaugural Address. Within the historical context of first century crucifixions by the Romans, “the condemned person often carried the charge (Latin titulus) to the site of execution,” explains commentator Craig Keener.

John’s Gospel explains Pontius Pilate wrote the inscription placed on Jesus’ cross. It was located above the Lord’s head and read, ““Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” Matthew’s Gospel states, ““This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” Mark records, ““The King of the Jews,” while Luke’s Gospel says, ““This is the King of the Jews.” Additionally, John records Pilate wrote the inscription in Aramaic, Latin and Greek.

Matthew and Mark indicate the inscription contained a charge (αἰτία; aitia) against the Lord. A charge contained “the content of legal charges brought against someone—‘accusation, charge, complaint,” explains the Louw and Nida Greek Lexicon.

The Jewish chief priests, Caiaphas and Annas, were not pleased. They said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but rather, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’ “ (John 19:21). Pilate replied, “What I have written I have written,” (John 19:22). Pilate’s actions reflected more his disdain for the Jewish leaders than any personal condemnation of Jesus or any commitment in receiving Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.

“The Jewish leaders desired to have the ambiguity removed. For reasons of his own Pilate refused. If we bear in mind that by means of this very cross Jesus actually won the victory (John 12:32) we shall understand that he is indeed King over all, including the Jews,” explains Dr. William Hendriksen.

Soli deo Gloria!

“And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots.” (Matthew 27:35 (ESV)

²⁴ “And they crucified him and divided his garments among them, casting lots for them, to decide what each should take. ²⁵ And it was the third hour when they crucified him.” (Mark 15:24–25 (ESV)

³³ And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. ³⁴ And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments.” (Luke 23:33–34 (ESV)

²³ When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier; also his tunic. But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom, ²⁴ so they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.” This was to fulfill the Scripture which says, “They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.” So the soldiers did these things,” (John 19:23–24 (ESV)

In our study of the Gospel of Matthew’s record of the Passion Week of the Lord Jesus Christ, it is necessary, and insightful, to examine all four Gospel accounts. This discipline provides us understanding of all the events and encounters which took place during those hours.

For the next several days we will examine what occurred during the first three hours of Jesus’ crucifixion. Today’s focus is Jesus’ first statement from the cross; “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

The Gospel of Luke is the only one of the four Gospels to contain this statement. I is widely recognized by biblical scholars as the first of seven statements Jesus spoke while on the cross. The Seven Statements of the Cross are as follows.

a. From 9 o’clock until noon:

(1) “Father, forgive them: for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34).

(2) “I solemnly declare to you, Today you shall be with me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43).

(3) “Woman, look, your son… Look, your mother!” (John 19:27).

b. The three hours of darkness: from noon until 3 o’clock; no words reported.

c. About 3 o’clock:

(4) “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34).

(5) “I am thirsty” (John 19:28).

(6) “It is finished” (John 19:30).

(7) “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit” (Luke 23:46).^[1]

The words are familiar to many. Its meaning may not be.

“Father.” In this context, father (πατήρ; pater) is a title of supernatural authority and care of His children. In Jesus’ case, it was an acknowledgment not only the divinity of God the Father, but also of His own deity as the only-begotten Son of God. This was one reason the Jews hated Jesus and sought to kill Him (John 5:18).

“Forgive them.” To forgive (ἀφίημι; aphiemi) means to pardon someone who has committed sin. It means to no longer hold someone responsible, guilty, for their sin. In this context, it was the sin of those crucifying Jesus. It was a strong statement by the God the Son to God the Father.

To forgive means “to blot out their transgression completely. In thy sovereign grace cause them to repent truly, so that they can be and will be pardoned fully,” states Dr. William Hendriksen.

“That this is the meaning is clear from the fact that the grammatical construction is exactly the same as in Luke 11:4, “And forgive us our sins,” and as in 17:3, “If he repents, forgive him.” Is it even conceivable that He who insists so strongly that His followers must forgive every debtor, and that they must even love their enemies, should not exemplify this virtue Himself?”

“For they know not what they do.” To know (οἶδα; oida) means to understand and to comprehend. Those responsible for the crucifixion of Christ, both Jews and the Romans, did not understand the gravity of their actions.

“Is it not marvelous beyond words that Jesus, in his earnest intercession for his torturers, even presents to the Father a special plea, an argument, as it were, for the granting of his petition, namely, “for they do not know what they are doing”? It was true: the soldiers certainly did not know. But even the members of the Sanhedrin, though they must have known that what they were doing was wicked, did not comprehend the extent of that wickedness,” explains Dr. Hendriksen.

This prayer by Jesus fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah. 53:12: “Yet he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.”

Author Arthur Pink writes in Jesus’ statement of forgiveness…

       1. Here we see the fulfillment of the prophetic word.
        2. Here we see Christ identified with His people.
        3. Here we see the divine estimate of sin and its consequent guilt.
        4. Here we see the blindness of the human heart.
        5. Here we see a lovely exemplification of His own teaching.
        6. Here we see man’s great and primary need.
        7. Here we see the triumph of redeeming love.

“Some of the fruit of this prayer can be in the salvation of thousands of people in Jerusalem at Pentecost (Acts 2:41),” states Dr. John MacArthur. “Christ’s prayer, while they were in the very act of mocking Him, is an expression of the boundless compassion of divine grace.” See also Acts 4:4; 6:7.

Soli deo Gloria!

---

 

“And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots.” (Matthew 27:35 (ESV)

²⁴ “And they crucified him and divided his garments among them, casting lots for them, to decide what each should take. ²⁵ And it was the third hour when they crucified him.” (Mark 15:24–25 (ESV)

³³ And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. ³⁴ And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments.” (Luke 23:33–34 (ESV)

²³ When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier; also his tunic. But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom, ²⁴ so they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.” This was to fulfill the Scripture which says, “They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.” So the soldiers did these things,” (John 19:23–24 (ESV)

In our study of the Gospel of Matthew’s record of the Passion Week of the Lord Jesus Christ, it is necessary, and insightful, to examine all four Gospel accounts. This discipline provides us understanding of all the events and encounters which took place during those hours.

For the next several days we will examine what occurred during the first three hours of Jesus’ crucifixion. Today’s focus is the casting of lots for Jesus’ clothing.

All four Gospels contain this event. However, John explicitly stated the Roman soldiers in charge of the crucifixion were the ones who cast lots for Jesus’ clothes (John 19:23). Casting lots involved throwing a specially marked pebble, piece of pottery, or stick in making decisions based upon chance or luck. In other words, the soldiers rolled the dice to see who would win Jesus’ garments. No mention is made of the two criminals’ clothes. Just the Lord’s.

John mentioned there were four soldiers at the crucifixion. They divided Jesus’ clothes among the four of them. However, when they examined Jesus’ tunic, they did not want to divide it into fourths, but rather see which solider would win it outright (John 19:23b-24a). John stated this behavior fulfilled Old Testament Scripture (John 19:24b; Psalm 22:18).

“Having crucified him, the legionaries divided his garments by casting lots. In all probability by means of the throwing of dice the four pieces—head-gear, sandals, belt, and outer garment—are divided among the four (John 19:23) soldiers. The seamless tunic, all of one piece, woven all the way from top to bottom, is also put into the lottery, all of this in accordance with the prophecy of Ps. 22:18 (LXX Ps. 21:19), though this reference to fulfilment is not found in Matthew but in John 19:23, 24,” explains Dr. William Hendriksen.

“People were usually hung on a cross naked, but Jesus might be allowed a loincloth due to the shame His people associate with nakedness. Either way, His clothing now belongs to the soldiers guarding Him, a custom observed with every crucified victim. Yet this time prophecy is also fulfilled as lots are cast for Christ’s clothing (Matt. 27:35; see Ps. 22:18). John Calvin appropriately comments, “God determined that His own Son should be stripped of his raiment, that we, clothed with his righteousness and with abundance of all good things, may appear with boldness in company with the angels,” states Dr. R. C. Sproul.

Mark recorded it was the third hour when Jesus’ crucifixion began (Mark 15:25). Based upon the Jewish reckoning of time, the crucifixion occurred at 9:00 A.M. Pilate sentenced Jesus to death at 6:00 A.M. (John 19:14), but it wasn’t until three hours later the execution actually began at Golgotha.

“The clear implication of the passage which we are studying must not escape us. It is this: Jesus bore for us the curse of nakedness in order to deliver us from it! (Cf. Gen. 3:9–11, 21; 2 Cor. 5:4; Rev. 7:13, 14). Surely if what Ham did to his father Noah is singled out for special mention because of its reprehensible character, then what the soldiers did when they disrobed Jesus and then divided his garments among themselves, casting lots, should cause us to pause with horror. Such a pause is suggested by the words: These things, indeed, the soldiers did (John 19:24). They did that which was shameful. Yet, by means of that shameful deed God’s eternal plan (hence, also prophecy) was fulfilled. Hence, we pause in abhorrence … and adoration,” concludes Dr. Hendriksen.

Many people continue to deny the severity of Jesus’ substitutionary atonement on the cross. They deny the shame, the curse and the wrath of God the Father poured out upon the sinless Son of God. However, it was in my place condemned He hung on the cross. I encourage you to read and meditate upon Romans 3:21-26.

Soli deo Gloria!

³¹ “And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and led him away to crucify him.” Matthew 27:31 (ESV)

²⁰ “And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. And they led him out to crucify him.” (Mark 15:20 (ESV)

³³ And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left.” (Luke 23:33 (ESV)

 ¹⁶ So he delivered him over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus, ¹⁷ and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. ¹⁸ There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them.” (John 19:16–18 (ESV)

The following article is by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones. It is entitled Test Your View of the Cross. It is excerpted from Dr. Lloyd-Jones’ commentary on the Book of Romans.

“The Cross does not merely tell us that God forgives, it tells us that it is God’s way of making forgiveness possible. It is the way in which we understand how God forgives. I will go further: how can God forgive and still remain God? — that is the question. The Cross is the vindication of God. The Cross is the vindication of the character of God. The Cross not only shows the love of God more gloriously than anything else, it shows his righteousness, his justice, his holiness, and all the glory of his eternal attributes. They are all to be seen shining together there. If you do not see them all you have not seen the Cross. That is why we must totally reject the so-called ‘moral influence theory’ of the Atonement — the theory which says that all the Cross has to do is to break our hearts and to bring us to see the love of God.”

“Above and beyond all that, Paul says, ‘He is declaring his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past’. Why this, if it is merely a declaration of his love? No, says Paul, it is more than that. If it merely proclaimed his forgiveness we would be entitled to ask whether we can depend on God’s word, and whether he is righteous and just. It would be a fair question because God has repeatedly stated in the Old Testament that he hates sin and that he will punish sin, and that the wages of sin is death. The character of God is involved. God is not as men.”

“We think sometimes that it is wonderful for people to say one thing and then do another. The parent says to the child, ‘If you do this thing you shall not have that sixpence to buy your sweets’. Then the boy does that thing, but the father says, ‘Well, it is all right’, and gives him the sixpence. That, we think, is love, and true forgiveness. But God does not behave in that manner. God, if I may so put it, is eternally consistent with himself. There is never a contradiction. He is ‘the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning’. All these glorious attributes are to be seen shining like diamonds in his eternal character. And all of them must be manifest. In the Cross they are all manifested.”

“How can God be just and justify the ungodly? The answer is that he can, because he has punished the sins of ungodly sinners in his own Son. He has poured his wrath upon him. ‘He bore our chastisement.’ ‘By his stripes we are healed.’ God has done what he said he would do; he has punished sin. He proclaimed this through the Old Testament every­where; and he has done what he said he would do. He has shown that he is righteous. He has made a public declaration of it. He is just and can justify, because having punished another in our stead, he can forgive us freely. And he does so. That is the message of Romans 3:24: ‘Being justified [being regarded, declared, pronounced righteous] freely by his grace through the redemption [the ransoming] that is in Christ Jesus; whom God hath set forth as a propitiation through faith in his blood.’ Thus he declares his righteousness for having passed over those sins in his time of self-restraint. ‘To declare, I say’, his righteousness then, and now, and always, in forgiving sins. Thus he is, at one and the same time, just and the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus.”

“Such is this great and glorious and wonderful statement. Make sure that your view, your understanding of the Cross, includes the whole of it. Test your view of the Cross. Where does this statement about ‘declaring’ his righteousness and so on, come into your thinking? Is it something that you just skip over and say: `Well, I don’t know what that means. All I know is, that God is love and that he forgives.’ But you should know the meaning of this. This is an essential part of the glorious Gospel.”

“On Calvary God was making a way of salvation so that you and I might be forgiven. But he had to do so in a way that will leave his character inviolate, that will leave his eternal consistency still absolute and unbroken. Once you begin to look at it like that, you see that this is the most tremendous, the most glorious, the most staggering thing in the universe and in the whole of history. God is there declaring what he has done for us. He is declaring at the same time his own eternal greatness and glory, declaring that ‘He is light and in him is no darkness at all’. ‘When I survey the wondrous Cross. . .’, says Isaac Watts, but you do not see the wonder of it until you really do survey it in the light of this great statement of the Apostle. God was declaring publicly once and for ever his eternal justice and his eternal love. Never separate them, for they belong together in the character of God.”

Soli deo Gloria!

³¹ “And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and led him away to crucify him.” Matthew 27:31 (ESV)

²⁰ “And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. And they led him out to crucify him.” (Mark 15:20–23 (ESV)

²⁰ “And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. And they led him out to crucify him.” (Mark 15:20 (ESV)

¹⁶ “So he delivered him over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus.” (John 19:16 (ESV). 

The following article is by Dr. James Montgomery Boice. It is entitled The Centrality of the Cross. It is excerpt from Dr. Boice’s Foundations of the Christian Faith

“…if the death of Christ on the cross is the true meaning of the Incarnation, then there is no gospel without the cross. Christmas by itself is no gospel. The life of Christ is no gospel. Even the resurrection, important as it is in the total scheme of things, is no gospel by itself. For the good news is not just that God became man, nor that God has spoken to reveal a proper way of life for us, or even that death, the great enemy, is conquered.”

“Rather, the good news is that sin has been dealt with (of which the resurrection is a proof); that Jesus has suffered its penalty for us as our representative, so that we might never have to suffer it; and that therefore all who believe in him can look forward to heaven. …Emulation of Christ’s life and teaching is possible only to those who enter into a new relationship with God through faith in Jesus as their substitute. The resurrection is not merely a victory over death (though it is that) but a proof that the atonement was a satisfactory atonement in the sight of the Father (Rom 4:25); and that death, the result of sin, is abolished on that basis.”

“Any gospel that talks merely of the Christ-event, meaning the Incarnation without the atonement, is a false gospel. Any gospel that talks about the love of God without pointing out that his love led him to pay the ultimate price for sin in the person of his Son on the cross is a false gospel. The only true gospel is of the ‘one mediator’ (1 Tim. 2:5-6), who gave himself for us.

 Finally, just as there can be no gospel without the atonement as the reason for the Incarnation, so also there can be no Christian life without it. Without the atonement the Incarnation theme easily becomes a kind of deification of the human and leads to arrogance and self-advancement. With the atonement the true message of the life of Christ, and therefore also of the life of the Christian man or woman, is humility and self-sacrifice for the obvious needs of others.”

“ The Christian life is not indifference to those who are hungry or sick or suffering from some other lack. It is not contentment with our own abundance, neither the abundance of middle class living with home and cars and clothes and vacations, nor the abundance of education or even the spiritual abundance of good churches, Bibles, Bible teaching or Christian friends and acquaintances. Rather, it is the awareness that others lack these things and that we must therefore sacrifice many of our own interests in order to identify with them and thus bring them increasingly into the abundance we enjoy… We will live for Christ fully only when we are willing to be impoverished, if necessary, in order that others might be helped.”

Soli deo Gloria!

³¹ “And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and led him away to crucify him.” Matthew 27:31 (ESV)

²⁰ “And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. And they led him out to crucify him.” (Mark 15:20–23 (ESV)

²⁰ “And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. And they led him out to crucify him.” (Mark 15:20 (ESV)

¹⁶ “So he delivered him over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus.” (John 19:16 (ESV).  

In our study of the Gospel of Matthew’s record of the Passion Week of the Lord Jesus Christ, it has been necessary, and insightful, to examine all four Gospel accounts. This discipline provides us understanding of all the events and encounters which took place during those hours and days.

Today’s focus is on the method of execution called crucifixion. Two concepts related to crucifixion occur in Scripture: the “cross,” a pagan mode of capital punishment, and the “tree,” which was a Jewish form (Deut. 21:23; Gal. 3:13).

“The Greek used in the Christian New Testament uses four verbs, three of them based upon stauros (σταυρός), usually translated “cross”. The most common term is stauroo (σταυρόω), “to crucify”, occurring 46 times; sustauroo (συσταυρόω), “to crucify with” or “alongside” occurs five times, while anastauroo (ἀνασταυρόω), “to crucify again” occurs only once at the Epistle to the Hebrews 6:6. Prospegnumi (προσπήγνυμι), “to fix or fasten to, impale, crucify” occurs only once, at the Acts of the Apostles 2:23,” writes one historical scholar.

The English term cross is from the Latin word crux, referring to a tree or any construction of wood used to hang criminals for execution. The term later came to refer specifically to a cross. The term crucifix is from the Latin crucifixus or cruci fixus, meaning “to crucify” or “to fasten to a cross.”

“The oldest depiction of a crucifixion … was uncovered by archaeologists more than a century ago on the Palatine Hill in Rome. It is a second-century graffiti scratched into a wall that was part of the imperial palace complex. It includes a caption – not by a Christian, but by someone taunting and deriding Christians and the crucifixions they underwent. It shows crude stick-figures of a boy reverencing his ‘God’, who has the head of a jackass and is upon a cross with arms spread wide and with hands nailed to the crossbeam. Here we have a Roman sketch of a Roman crucifixion, and it is in the traditional cross shape,” explains Clayton F. Bower Jr. “Cross or Torture Stake?” 

“The cross work of Christ is central to the Christian faith and its proclamation, because of who it was who died on the cross and what it was he did there. With the apostles the church affirms that it was the eternal Son of God, the Word who became flesh, the Lord of glory, who died on Calvary (Rom. 9:5; Titus 2:13; Heb. 1:8; 2 Pet. 1:1; John 1:1, 14; 20:28; 1 Cor. 2:8). Accordingly, in its best moments, the church has “gloried in nothing but the cross” (Gal. 6:14) and has “resolved to know nothing among [the nations] except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2),” explains Robert R. Raymond, A New Systematic Theology of the Christian Faith

“It has done so even though it knows that the preaching of the cross is “a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles” (1 Cor. 1:23). It has done so, not only because it knows that “God was pleased through the foolishness of preaching [the message of the cross] to save those who believe” (1 Cor. 1:18, 21), but also because it recognizes that the cross of Christ is “the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Cor. 1:24). For Paul to characterize the cross of Christ the way he did in 1 Corinthians 1:24—”the power of God and the wisdom of God”—implies that God accomplished a truly great salvation through the cross work of the Lord of Glory. One can sketch the momentous outlines of that “so great salvation” simply by surveying what the New Testament epistles affirm about the “body,” “blood,” “cross,” and “death” of Christ, words which taken in their contexts represent that great work in terms of a sacrifice (see also 1 Cor. 5:7; Heb. 7:27; 9:26, 28; 10:10, 12, 14).”

¹⁸ “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. ¹⁹ For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” ²⁰ Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? ²¹ For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.” (1 Corinthians 1:18–21 (ESV)

Soli deo Gloria!

³¹ “And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and led him away to crucify him. ³² As they went out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. They compelled this man to carry his cross. ³³ And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull), ³⁴ they offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall, but when he tasted it, he would not drink it.” Matthew 27:31–34 (ESV)

²⁰ “And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. And they led him out to crucify him. ²¹ And they compelled a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross. ²² And they brought him to the place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull). ²³ And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it.” (Mark 15:20–23 (ESV)

In our study of the Gospel of Matthew’s record of the Passion Week of the Lord Jesus Christ, it has been necessary, and insightful, to examine all four Gospel accounts. This discipline provides us understanding of all the events and encounters which took place during those hours and days.

The wine which the soldiers offered to Jesus and which he refused is described by Matthew as “mixed with gall,” or with something bitter. This event would be a fulfillment of Psalm 69:21: “They gave me poison for food, and for my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink.”  

“The women of Jerusalem had prepared a painkilling potion of drugged wine for condemned men to drink; Jesus refuses it (cf. 26:29). The myrrh-mixed wine of Mark 15:23, a delicacy and external pain reliever, becomes wine mixed with gall in Matthew; compare Ps 69:21 and the similarity between the Aramaic word for “myrrh” and the Hebrew word for “gall,” explains commentator Craig Keener.

“The evangelist was probably thinking of Ps. 69:21a, and if so, correctly regarded what was now happening as a fulfilment of that Old Testament passage. According to Mark 15:23 the bitter substance was myrrh,” explains Dr. William Hendriksen.

“Having tasted this mixture, Jesus refused to drink it, no doubt because he wanted to endure with full consciousness all the pain that was in store for him, in order to be our perfect Substitute.”

It is easy to focus on the physical pain Jesus suffered on the cross. What is of greater importance is the significance of His death. It was a substitutionary death providing a substitutionary atonement on behalf of sinners.

²¹ “But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— ²² the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: ²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴ and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, ²⁵ whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. ²⁶ It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” (Romans 3:21–26 (ESV)

“The death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth are the central events of Christian theology. The cross has meaning because of the significance of the person who was put to death on it and because of what his death accomplished. “The word of the cross” was central in the salvation proclamation of the early church. Above all, the event of the cross was God’s principal saving act in history; hence the cross, though a past event, has present significance. Christ crucified and risen is the core of the church’s message (Gal 3:1),” states the Tyndale Bible Dictionary.

Soli deo Gloria!

³¹ “And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and led him away to crucify him. ³² As they went out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. They compelled this man to carry his cross. ³³ And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull), ³⁴ they offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall, but when he tasted it, he would not drink it.” Matthew 27:31–34 (ESV)

²⁰ “And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. And they led him out to crucify him. ²¹ And they compelled a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross. ²² And they brought him to the place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull). ²³ And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it.” (Mark 15:20–23 (ESV)

²⁶ And as they led him away, they seized one Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and laid on him the cross, to carry it behind Jesus. ²⁷ And there followed him a great multitude of the people and of women who were mourning and lamenting for him. ²⁸ But turning to them Jesus said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. ²⁹ For behold, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ ³⁰ Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ ³¹ For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?” ³² Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. ³³ And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left.” (Luke 23:26–33 (ESV)

¹⁶ “So he delivered him over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus, ¹⁷ and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha.” (John 19:16–17 (ESV)

In our study of the Gospel of Matthew’s record of the Passion Week of the Lord Jesus Christ, it has been necessary, and insightful, to examine all four Gospel accounts. This discipline provides us understanding of all the events and encounters which took place during those hours and days.

Three more crosses; three more men. Luke alone mentioned two criminals who also faced crucifixion (Luke 23:32). He did not mention their names, but only their being led away to their death along with Jesus.

Three more crosses; three more men. Just another day for the Roman executioners at a location called Golgotha. In Aramaic, this meant The Place of a Skull (John 19:17).  

The word Golgotha appears only in the New Testament accounts of the Crucifixion. Three of the Gospels use the Hebrew-Aramaic term, “Golgotha” (Matt. 27:33; Mark 15:22; John 19:17). Only Luke used the Latin equivalent, “Calvary,” meaning “skull or cranium” (Luke 23:33).

Why was the name Place of a Skull or The Skull used when referring to Jesus’ place of execution? Scholars offer varying opinions and reasons.

“The reason why this place was called “the skull” is unknown, although several explanations have been offered. An early tradition, apparently originating with Jerome (ad 346–420), asserted that it was a common place of execution and that the skulls of many who had been executed were strewn around the site. No first-century evidence has been found to substantiate this viewpoint,” explains the Tyndale Bible Dictionary.

“Some suggest that it was a place of execution and that “skull” was used figuratively, simply as a symbol of death. Origen (ad 185–253) mentioned an early, pre-Christian tradition that the skull of Adam was buried in that place. This is probably the oldest explanation of the name, and is referred to by several writers after Origen.”

“Others have said that the name resulted from the fact that the place of the Crucifixion was a hill that had the natural shape of a skull. No early evidence from any sources has been found to substantiate this view, and the NT accounts do not refer to the place as a hill.”

Three more crosses; three more men. What is known is Golgotha/Calvary was outside the Jerusalem city proper (John 19:20; Heb. 13:12). It could have been on an elevated site, since people saw it from a distance (Mark 15:40). It was probably near a road since Matthew and Mark mention   “passersby” (Matt.t 27:39; Mark 15:29). The Gospel of John alone places it near a garden containing the tomb where they buried Jesus (John 19:41). The use of the definite article, “the place of the skull,” indicates it was a familiar place.

Three more crosses; three more men. Luke alone mentioned Jesus was hung on the center cross of three (Luke 23:33). For the Jews, to be hung on a tree, in this case a cross, was a sign of God’s curse upon the executed (Deut. 21:23; Gal. 3:13). Jesus Christ became a curse on behalf of sinners like you and me.

Soli deo Gloria!