GOLGOTHA

This post is a combination of thoughts i wrote during my 'summer with the savior series" in august 2014

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Matthew 27:24-44/Mark 15:12-32/ Luke 23:26-43/ John 19:16-27

And Pilate again said to them, “Then what shall I do with the man you call the King of the Jews?” And they cried out again, “Crucify him.” And Pilate said to them, “Why, what evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify him.”

So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves.” And all the people answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!”

Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified.

So they took Jesus, and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha.(which means Place of a Skull).

And they compelled (they seized) a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross.

(Luke:) ‘and laid on him the cross, to carry it behind Jesus’.

And there followed him a great multitude of the people and of women who were mourning and lamenting for him. But turning to them Jesus said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. 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!’ Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?”

And it was the third hour when they crucified him.

Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” 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. 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.’” Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.”

And with him they crucified two robbers, one on his right and one on his left, and Jesus between them.

They offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall, but when he tasted it, he would not drink it.

And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots.

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, 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, but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.

Then they sat down and kept watch over him there. And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” And the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way.

One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

When Mel Gibson’s movie, The Passion of the Christ, came to theaters in 2004, I did not want to see it.

I resisted it and prayerfully asked whether I should go.

One of my good friends finally went with a few weeks left before it was about to stop running..

I asked him, “What do you do with a movie like that?”

He said it was sobering, but encouraged me to go.

I asked him another question, “Do people buy popcorn?”

He replied, “They bought it…but they did not eat it.”

So I went… it was maybe the last night or so of its run. My wife and I quietly entered the theater… I guess there was only 1 other person there.

And I wept and wept and wept….. but it was a beautiful weeping.

I know I mentioned this yesterday.. but the sadness I have felt the last few days has overwhelmed me. It is hard to write this post.

In the garden of eden.. man received a curse for his rebellion. Pain, sweat, thorns, blood, death…….

On the cross Jesus drank a cup- pain, sweat, thorns, blood.. and death

And as He is hanging on the cross, He is still loving and forgiving.

In today’s reading a few things stuck out to me…

• “His blood be on us and on our children!”-  What an amazing statement of irony! Here is the cry of the evil mob, demanding the innocent man be slain. 2,000 years later, this is a cry of every parent for salvation and mercy.

• I guess I had never noticed the statement Jesus makes on the way to the cross: “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. 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!’ Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?” (Found in Luke’s account)

Again, I refer back to the Olivet Discourse and this is one more connection to that prophecy… I will quote a portion of it from Luke as well:

“But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are inside the city depart, and let not those who are out in the country enter it, for these are days of vengeance, to fulfill all that is written. Alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! For there will be great distress upon the earth and wrath against this people. They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive among all nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. (Luke 21:20-24 ESV)

It is clear that Jesus is referring to the terrible siege of Jerusalem in AD 70… a partial judgement for the sin of the people but just birth pains of the great and dreadful Day of the Lord.

• “Today, You will be with Me in paradise” In all of the gospels Jesus healed.. Jesus forgave sins..Jesus promised eternal life- but there is something about this statement that rises as the greatest words that Jesus ever spoke.

Today- the immediacy of the promise

With ME- this makes heaven all the sweeter

Paradise- Promise for the SINNER and a life better than we could eve imagine!

Oh my sweet Savior…. taking this for me………

The TIMELINE OF  the saddest day in human history

Here is a common timeline of the day….

I am also going to include parts of Isaiah 53 written approximately 700 years before Jesus was born and Psalm 22 written 1,000 years before Jesus was born……

For he grew up before him like a young plant,

and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
and no beauty that we should desire him.
[3] He was despised and rejected by men;
a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
(Isaiah 53:2-3 ESV)

7 a.m.   Jesus Returned to Pilate and Jesus is Sentenced to Death

(Matthew 27:26; Mark 15:15; Luke 23:23-24; John 19:16)

8 a.m.  Jesus is Led Away to Golgotha

(Matthew 27:32-34; Mark 15:21-24; Luke 23:26-31; John 19:16-17)

[4] Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
[5] But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.
[6] All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
(Isaiah 53:4-6 ESV)

9 a.m. - "The Third Hour” Jesus is Crucified on the Cross

Mark 15: 25 - It was the third hour when they crucified him.

Luke 23:34 - Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."

The Soldiers Cast Lots for Jesus' Clothing

10 a.m. Jesus is Insulted and Mocked

Matthew 27:39-40 - And the people passing by shouted abuse, shaking their heads in mockery. "So! You can destroy the Temple and build it again in three days, can you? Well then, if you are the Son of God, save yourself and come down from the cross!"

Mark 15:31 - The leading priests and teachers of religious law also mocked Jesus. "He saved others," they scoffed, "but he can't save himself!"

Luke 23:36-37 - The soldiers mocked him, too, by offering him a drink of sour wine. They called out to him, "If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!"

Luke 23:39 - One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: "Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!"

11 a.m. Jesus and the Criminal

Luke 23:40-43 - But the other criminal rebuked him. "Don't you fear God," he said, "since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong."

Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."

Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."

Jesus Speaks to Mary and John

John 19:26-27 - When Jesus saw his mother standing there beside the disciple he loved, he said to her, "Woman, he is your son." And he said to this disciple, "She is your mother." And from then on this disciple took her into his home.

Noon - "The Sixth Hour" Darkness Covers the Land

Mark 15:33 - At the sixth hour darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour.

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he opened not his mouth.
[8] By oppression and judgment he was taken away;
and as for his generation, who considered
that he was cut off out of the land of the living,
stricken for the transgression of my people?
[9] And they made his grave with the wicked
and with a rich man in his death,
although he had done no violence,
and there was no deceit in his mouth.

(Isaiah 53:7-9 ESV)

1 p.m. Jesus Cries Out to the Father

Matthew 27:46 - And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

I have always seen this statement more as an allusion to Psalm 22- than a theological statement of the sin causing separation.. read parts of this amazing Psalm!

PSALM 22- WRITTEN APPROXIMATELY 1,000 BC

[1] My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?
[2] O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer,
and by night, but I find no rest.

[6] But I am a worm and not a man,
scorned by mankind and despised by the people.
[7] All who see me mock me;
they make mouths at me; they wag their heads;
[8] “He trusts in the LORD; let him deliver him;
let him rescue him, for he delights in him!”

[14] I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint;
my heart is like wax;
it is melted within my breast;
[15] my strength is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue sticks to my jaws;
you lay me in the dust of death.

[16] For dogs encompass me;
a company of evildoers encircles me;
they have pierced my hands and feet—
[17] I can count all my bones—
they stare and gloat over me;
[18] they divide my garments among them,
and for my clothing they cast lots.

[26] The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied;
those who seek him shall praise the LORD!
May your hearts live forever!

[27] All the ends of the earth shall remember
and turn to the LORD,
and all the families of the nations
shall worship before you.
[28] For kingship belongs to the LORD,
and he rules over the nations.

[29] All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship;
before him shall bow all who go down to the dust,
even the one who could not keep himself alive.
[30] Posterity shall serve him;
it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation;
[31] they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn,
that he has done it.

2 p.m. Jesus is Thirsty

John 19:28-29 - Jesus knew that everything was now finished, and to fulfill the Scriptures he said, "I am thirsty."A jar of sour wine was sitting there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put it on a hyssop branch, and held it up to his lips.

3 p.m. - "The Ninth Hour"- Jesus has paid it all……...

It is Finished :John 19:30a - When Jesus had tasted it, he said, "It is finished!"

Luke 23:46 - Jesus called out with a loud voice, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." When he had said this, he breathed his last.

Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him;
he has put him to grief;
when his soul makes an offering for guilt,
he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;
the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
[11] Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;
by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,
make many to be accounted righteous,
and he shall bear their iniquities.


(Isaiah 53:10-11 ESV)

Events Following Jesus' Death

The Earthquake  Matthew 27:51-52 - At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life.

The Centurion - "Surely he was the Son of God!" (Matthew 27:54; Mark 15:38; Luke 23:47)

The Soldiers Break the Thieves' Legs (John 19:31-33)

The Soldier Pierced Jesus Side (John 19:34)

Jesus is Laid in the Tomb (Matthew 27:57-61; Mark 15:42-47; Luke 23:50-56; John 19:38-42)

HAS THERE EVER BEEN A DARKER DAY? AND THE IRONY IS THAT WE CALL IT ‘GOOD FRIDAY”.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, [2] looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:1-2 ESV)