116. Beginner Bible Course: The crucifixion of Jesus (and Jesus’ seven words from the cross)

EPISODE 116:  A simple Bible overview of...THE CRUCIFIXION OF JESUS (AND JESUS’ SEVEN WORDS FROM THE CROSS)

My friend's son

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00:00:04

Got leukemia at age four, I met my friend for coffee. After the treatments were over, I asked him, what was the worst part of this ordeal with your little guy? He didn't hesitate a moment, Tim. It was the second chemo treatment. He looked nervous on the way over and asked me where we were going. By the time I turned into the hospital, he was clearly afraid and crying. I had to carry him into the hospital. And by the time I got him into the elevator, he was riding in my arms, screaming and pleading with me not to take them up there. The poor little guy had no idea. What I was doing was going to save his life. Sometimes the father has to do some very hard things.

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00:00:45

Things children don't understand for their own. Good. Now I want to expand that true story by asking you to imagine with me being that dad I was talking to in that coffee shop. But imagine instead in that elevator, your little boy is looking fearfully into your eyes saying, do we really have to do this? Daddy? I'm willing to do whatever you want daddy, but do we really have to now imagine it's not for his own good, he's going up there to be a bone marrow donor and it's to save the life of other people further. Imagine it's an excruciating procedure. And while your little guy is in this six hour procedure, the Doni is the ones whose lives he's going to save are sitting in the waiting room.

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00:01:26

They're playing cards, watching sitcoms and ordering in food. This really, really bothers you. So you go in and ask them about it. And their response is, Hey, take a chill pill, old guy. He needs to buck up and not be a wimp. I mean, as a father, what would you do carried along by the Holy spirit? In the letter of Romans, Paul writes for a good man. Some would dare to die, but God demonstrates his own love toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. Paul can be paraphrased this way. Some people would die for really good men, but God demonstrated his love for us by dying for really bad ones, really ungrateful ones, ones who didn't even want his help.

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00:02:13

In this episode, we look at the crucifixion of God's little boy, and it was excruciating. That's where the word excruciating comes from historians. Believe crucifixion was invented by the Persians, but the Romans perfected it. It was a fixing someone to an upright object. Sometimes it was a straight pole. Sometimes it was two poles cross like an X. Sometimes it was the small letter T as in the Christian symbol, the cross, the Romans prohibited crucifixion for any Roman citizen, with the exception, perhaps of a deserving soldier. We have writings of Roman senators who condemn the practice as barbarian at the time of the siege of Jerusalem in 78 D executioners crucified, as many as 500 people every day, they were so bored.

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00:03:03

They got creative. They would crucify people upside down. They'd tie them rather than nail them on the crucifix. They would even pin them to the object through their genitals. Their normal method was four or five inch long square nails. First, they would have fixed their arms. Not usually through the hands is we typically see in illustrations of the crucifixion of Jesus, but between the two bones of the lower arm above the wrist, they had found some people actually in riding on the cross could slip off. If it was through their hands as for their feet, they would either nail them through the heels on either side of the upright or cross their feet over and nail them close to the ankles through both feet.

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00:03:47

I apologize if this comes across as a clinical description of such a barbaric act, the gospel writers tell us it was the third hour or 9:00 AM. When Jesus was crucified after celebrating the Passover. Well, after midnight, the common folks were just waking up in Jerusalem. When the Roman soldiers were doing their crucifixion of Jesus, historians believe over a million. People were packed into Jerusalem for Passover. Many of these people believe Jesus was the Messiah. And before they could have their morning coffee, their Messiah had already been crucified. Word got out fast. And by noon, many of these people were standing in front of Jesus. And the criminals in front of the cross, many of them were sobbing and grieving victims of a Roman crucifixion were almost always stripped naked.

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00:04:36

They wanted humiliation to accompany the pain, our art depicts Jesus and the thieves on either side with a loincloth, but almost certainly they had been stripped naked. We're told by the gospel writers, the Romans created a sign written in Hebrew, Greek and Latin Jesus of Nazareth King of the Jews. When the religious leaders see them nail the sign over Jesus' head, they object, they say, take it down. And right. He said he was King of the Jews. What's written is written. Jesus was likely nailed to the cross peace through his wrists. The crosspiece lifted into place. And then once hanging there a nail through both feet or possibly through both ankles on either side of the pole, before doing this, the gospel writers tell us Jesus was offered wine mixed with gall to drink in case you're thinking that was one small act of compassion.

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00:05:30

Put that out of your mind that wasn't the purpose. It was a narcotic given to subdue the prisoner momentarily. So it would be easier to drive the nails and lift them into place. Once Jesus was lifted into place, the soldiers divvied up the clothes, Jesus had one piece of clothing that was fairly precious. His tunic, the writers tell us it was seamless. So all the Roman soldiers tore up. The other clothes for Pooh knows rags of some kind. They threw dice for the outer tunic, which had some value Psalm 22 prophesies they'll cast lots for my clothing. The soldiers then got comfortable.

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00:06:10

They could be here a while. Sometimes crucifixion only took a few hours, especially if the blood loss of the victim was immense from the scourging, but it could take as long as two or three days. We're not sure the condition of those two thieves crucified with Jesus, but from the scourging and from Jesus falling beneath the crosspiece. I'm guessing the soldiers figured the guy in the middle didn't have real long to live it's here. Jesus speaks from the cross. One of the seven statements he makes while being crucified. The only way you could say anything at all would be pushup on the nails, through your feet or ankles, catch a breath and speak a sentence.

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00:06:51

Jesus pushes up and says, this father, forgive them for, they do not know what they're doing. They certainly think they know what they're doing. We'll fast forward to the book of acts. We're told there that many of these same priest standing in front of the cross, turn to Jesus and believe in him as Messiah. They realize who Jesus really is. And they really didn't know to whom they were doing this for the next three hours, Jesus experiences, or can only be described as intense abuse. First from the people assembled in front of the cross. They say things like, ha save yourself. If you're the son of God, come down from the cross, come on down.

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00:07:35

They were joined by the religious leaders who put him up there. They speak to the crowd and stir them up further. He saved others. He cannot save himself. Let God save him. If he takes such great delight in him, that statement is word for word from Psalm 22, the soldiers who crucify him join in. Yeah. If you're the King of the Jews, save yourself and Jesus can't even catch a break from the robbers. One on either side in the morning, they're both taunting him. If you're the Messiah, save yourself and us. But during the course of the morning, something happens to the other robber.

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00:08:15

He has a change of heart. He starts to scold his partner on the other side of Jesus. Don't you fear God, we deserve this, but this man has done nothing wrong. Then he pushes up on his own nails, turns to Jesus and says, remember me, when you come into your kingdom, did you catch that? When you come into your kingdom, he's saying you're the Messiah. The promise King Jesus then gives his second statement from the cross. He lifts up on the nails, turns to the thief with the changed heart and says this truly today, you will be with me in paradise. It's at this point, the gospel writer, John tells us Jesus looks over the crowd and spots his mother and John himself.

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00:09:01

Jesus gives his third word from the cross to his mother. He says, dear woman, behold, your son. And he nods at John. Then to John. He says, behold, your mother, Jesus, the oldest son and his family was responsible to take care of his mother, almost assuredly. At this time, a widow believing he's about to pay for the sins of the world as their lamb of God, substitute Jesus summons, what energy he has left to take care of a task, caring for his mama. It's now noon. And the gospel writers tell us darkness descended on the land. It lasted for three hours.

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00:09:42

The gospel writers tell us nothing about those three hours from noon to three, other than this deep darkness over the land. What's the significance of this darkness. Some think it's God sending a message to the crowd. Darkness and scripture was a sign of judgment. The crowd, certainly must've wondered that there's a second possibility. It's a metaphor. This is the Passover time in the book of Exodus. God had sent 10 plagues or contractions on the nation of Egypt. The ninth plague was darkness falling over Egypt. For three days, it was a darkness. You could feel. It's hard not to put these two events together, a darkness you could feel in Egypt followed by the Passover where the blood of a lamb spread over the door on the posts of a house prevented the death of the firstborn son.

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00:10:32

In that house. John, the baptizer had announced Jesus was the lamb of God that would take away the sins of the world. That he was the Passover lamb darkness. Then a sacrifice lamb. I think that darkness was sending a message about who was hanging there in front of them, the Passover lamb of God. But I think there's a darker reality to that three hours of darkness. This was the time of the SIM dump to be the lamb of God who took away the sin of the world. Jesus had to take on the sin of the world. It's possible. Even likely during these three hours, all the sin of the world was being thrown on Jesus.

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00:11:14

The lamb, this makes even more sense. When we see how Jesus breaks the silence at 3:00 PM, Jesus lifts up on the nails and speaks in Aramaic. His mother tongue. He cries my God, my God. Why have you forsaken me? That's a direct quote out of some 22 as well. If Jesus is God's beloved son, this would be the first and last time in all of eternity that the relationship of God, the father and Jesus, the son was completely broken. Scripture tells us God is too Holy to look upon sin. During these three dark hours, God, the father turned his back on son. He abandoned him after crying this out, he lifts up on the nails to say his fifth phrase.

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00:12:00

I thirst someone, grabs a sponge and tries to feed him a sour wine. After taking a sip, Jesus lifts up on the nails again and cry guys out tat Telus Tai it's translated in your Bible. It is finished. That's a very odd word. It's an accounting term. My students in the time of Jesus, if you borrowed money from someone, you'd write them and IO you. When you paid it back, they would write tat Telus tie across it paid in full Jesus, cries out, paid in full what's, paid in full. What do we owe the debt of sin in Paul's letter to Romans?

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00:12:41

He writes the wages of sin is death, spiritual separation from him. God Jesus says not anymore. It's paid in full Ted. Tell us Tai. I have a friend who has that tattooed across his forearm. Jesus, the lamb of God has paid it once for all in full Jesus lifts up one more time, bows his head. And I'm guessing in a gasp, whisper says father into your hands like that. I commit my spirit and Jesus yielded up his spirit. He checked out, meanwhile, a kilometer away in the temple. Something extraordinary happens. The veil covering the Holy place.

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00:13:23

60 feet high and four inches thick is torn from top to bottom, separating like a stage curtain. It was the partition between the inner court where the priests worked and the holiest place representing where God was at the moment of Jesus' death. The curtain is torn top to bottom. As if God wants to say, let there be no mistake who tore this curtain? It's like, God's saying, okay, people come on in. This was accompanied by an earthquake. Hardcore Roman soldiers at the cross tremble, crying out. Surely this was the son of God. While this is all happening, the Jews are in front of pilot.

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00:14:05

Making another request. Tomorrow is our Sabbath. We don't want this Jesus guy on the cross to filing our Sabbath order that his legs be broken so we can get them off. The cross. Romans had a special led pipe. They did that with the lower leg bones made it impossible to lift up and take another breath. The victims died quickly. Pilot agrees and a soldier delivers the orders. The centurions start on the two thieves and break them the legs. But when they get to Jesus, he's clearly already dead. Why break his legs? One of the century ans pierces I'm under the ribs through the heart with his spear, blood and water was out.

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00:14:46

This fulfilled two old Testament. Prophecy is not one of his bones will be broken and they will look on God's Messiah whom they've pierced it shortly after 3:00 PM on Friday, the day before the Sabbath, we call it good Friday. It's only good because of how it ends to tell us Ty who for the joy set before him endured the cross Tet. Tell us Ty, it's going to be a very interesting weekend in Jerusalem and we'll look at that weekend in our next wordpicture.