The Crucifixion
as recorded in Matthew
27:27-55
Pilate believed that Jesus was a good man and he didn’t want
to be responsible for his death. As the
Roman governor in Jerusalem
Would Pilate use his position to do what he knew was right
or would he do what he thought might
work to his advantage? Scripture tells
us that Pilate didn’t want to pay the price for doing the right thing! So he walked away from his responsibility to
uphold justice and told the crowd that they would be responsible for Jesus’
death! And then he ordered his soldiers
to whip Jesus and crucify Him.
The Roman soldiers obeyed Pilate and whipped Jesus and then
Scripture says the whole garrison gathered around to humiliate Him. (Matthew
27:27) Were these soldiers or brute
beasts? Jesus’ flesh was torn and
bleeding from the beating and He stood there with his head down while the
soldiers enjoyed shoving Him around and taunting Him. The soldiers stripped his clothes off and put
a purple robe on Him. And then, making
fun of Him, they twisted a crown of thorns and pushed it down on His head and
shoved a reed in His hand and bowed before Him in fake reverence saying: “Hail,
King of the Jews!” (Matthew
27:28-29) Then still jeering they spit
on Him and beat him over the head.
Finally the soldiers pushed Jesus out onto the road and lay
the heavy cross on His torn and bleeding back.
They ordered Him to carry the cross down the long road and outside the
city gates. Angry crowds lined the road
yelling obscenities and waving their fists at Jesus as He struggled along carrying
the heavy cross. Hatred hung heavy in
the air. At one point Jesus stumbled and
fell and the soldiers grabbed a man named Simon the Cyrene Africa . But Simon
the Cyrene
When the soldiers brought Jesus to a place outside the city
walls called Golgotha they stopped and
prepared to crucify Him. The blood thirsty
crowds were following along looking forward to spending the day watching Jesus suffer. .“Golgotha ”
is an Aramaic word which means “skull”.
No one knows why they called this place the place of the “skull”. People have guessed as to where the exact
location of “Golgotha ” is, but no one knows
for sure...
The Catholic church considers “The Church of the Holy
Sepulcher” in Jerusalem Golgotha ” is.
Scripture says that when the soldiers got to Golgotha they offered Jesus sour wine with gall to drink,
but Jesus refused it. Then the soldiers held
Jesus down on the ground and drove large nails through His hands and His feet,
nailing his body to the cross while the cruel mob stood around watching and
cheering and eating and drinking their booze and partying. Several women were in the background crying. This terrible scene had been prophesied one
thousand years earlier in Scripture: “For dogs have surrounded Me. The congregation of the wicked has enclosed
Me. They pierced My hands and My
feet: I can count all My bones. They look and stare at Me.
Then they hammered his cross into the ground between the
crosses of two robbers laughing and joking as they did their work. And then the soldiers cast lots for his robe
and divided up his other clothing. (Matthew
17:35) This was also prophesied a thousand years earlier: “They divided My
garments among them. And for My clothing
they cast lots.” (Psalms 22:18)
Then the soldiers hung a sign over His head. It was the custom to write out the
accusations made against the prisoner being put to death on a sign for everyone
to see. So the sign that hung over Jesus’ head read: “This is Jesus the King of
the Jews.” And the soldiers ran around the dying Jesus waving their hands and joking
about Him being a king.
As Jesus was hanging there on the cross the mob crowded
around swearing and shaking their fists and yelling more insults at Him. “You who destroy the temple and build it back
in three days, save Yourself! If You are
the Son of God, come down from the cross.” they jeered.. (Matthew 27:40) Even one of the robbers who were hanging on a
cross next to Jesus joined in to make fun of Him.
Again these scenes of cruelty and rejection had been
prophesied so very long ago. The ancient
prophet had foretold his death long ago: “But I am a worm, and a no man. A reproach of men, and despised by the
people. All those who see Me ridicule
Me. They shoot out the lip, they shake
the head, saying, ‘He trusted in the Lord, let Him rescue Him. Let Him deliver Him, since He delights in
Him!” Psalm 22:6-8)
The chief priests and the scribes and elders in their long
black robes proudly strutted by Jesus as he hung on the cross. This was the day they had been waiting for! They
were so glad to finally be getting rid of Him! They had worked so hard to have
Jesus put to death and now it was happening! “He saved others: but He can’t
seem to save Himself.” they gloated, shaking their heads. “If He is the King of Israel, Let Him come
down from the cross now and we will believe Him.” they sneered, wagging their
fingers at Him. (Matthew 27:39-42)
These religious leaders believed that they were doing God’s
will by having Jesus put to death. They
felt righteous and holy as they stood there mocking the Savior and watching Him
die. They were standing tall proudly wearing their phylacteries (leather
pouches with Scripture inside) and praying loud prayers. After all they represented God didn’t
they? It had been a difficult job to
persuade the people that Jesus should die.
But the so called men of God had finally won the people over to hating
Him and they were jubilant. This was
their day!
The mob stood around the cross having fun - screaming
insults at Jesus while He was gasping for breath and yelling crude jokes at Him
while He was writhing in pain. These
mean folks enjoyed seeing the blood pour down from His wounds and they took
pleasure in watching Him die. “He
trusted in God: let God deliver Him now if He will have Him. Didn’t He say, ‘I am the Son of God’?” they asked laughing. (Matthew 27:43)
Scripture says: “Now
from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land.” (Matthew 27:45) A supernatural darkness enveloped the whole
land. You would think that some of the
people in the crowd might question why this was happening! Why wouldn’t the sun shine while the Savior
was dying?
“And about the ninth
hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying “My God, My God, why have You
forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46) Jesus was made sin for us (2 Cor.5:21) and in
paying the penalty as the sinner’s substitute, He was accursed of God
(Gal.3:13) God the Father did not forsake
Him (Luke 23:46) but God as Judge had to be separated from Jesus if He was to
experience spiritual death in the place of sinful men.
Jesus’ cries from the
cross had also been prophesied long before: “My God, My God, why have You forsaken
Me? Why are You so far from helping
Me. And from the words of My
groaning?” (Psalm 22:1)
About this time one of the soldiers ran and took a sponge
filled with sour wine and put it on a reed and offered it to Jesus to drink as
He hung on the cross dying. And soon
after that Scripture records Jesus’ death:
“Jesus cried out with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. And behold, the veil of the temple was torn
in two from top to bottom. And the earth
quaked, and the rocks were split. And
the graves were opened: and many saints who had died were raised: and coming
out of their graves after His resurrection they went into Jerusalem
The creation - God’s world - was moved and effected by
Jesus’ death. It is not surprising since
Scripture says that through Jesus everything was made or created. (John 1:3)
Nothing came into existence without Jesus. Along with the darkness covering the earth
while Jesus hung on the cross, at the moment of His death there was a violent
earthquake. And Scripture records: “The centurion and his men who were guarding
Jesus saw the earthquake and the things that were happening and they were
terrified. And they said: “Truly this
was the Son of God.’” (Matthew 27:54)
Scripture also says that when Jesus died “the veil of the
temple was torn in two from top to bottom.”
This veil or curtain divided the Holy of Holies (where God’s presence
was) from the sinful people outside the veil.
People were kept on the other side of the veil because they would die if
they approached a holy God in their sin.(Exodus 26:31) The veil kept a sinful people away from a
holy God. But now the barrier was torn
down.
Scripture says: “Without the shedding of blood there is no
remission of sin.” (Hebrews 9:22) But the blood of the perfect lamb (Jesus) had
been shed and the price for sin was paid when Jesus died on the cross. Jesus death has torn down the barrier between
a sinful people and their God. The veil
in the temple was split by God, not by man.
It points to the fact that Jesus’ death opens the way for us to enter into
the presence of God!
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