The Crucifixion of Jesus

Intro:

it has been a few weeks since we last got together on Sunday. Now if you remember we find ourselves in Mark 15.

what Ben walked us through last time we were together was the trial of Jesus. We saw Jesus face these different accusations by the religious leaders and Pilate would be the man who would make a decision on the fate of Jesus.

V. 15 gave us so much insight into the decisions that Pilate would make. It tells us that Pilate wanted to gratify the crowd, so he released the criminal Barabbas and delivered Jesus to be scourged and crucified.

Pilate understood that Jesus was an innocent man yet the desire to please the crowd drove him to make his decisions.

now what i want to do today is to walk through the crucifixion of Jesus , to get a glimpse of what He went through for us, but to see the love of God for us. So much so , that He would send His son to go through so much for you and me.

Pilate Sends Jesus to be Scourged (v.15)

v.15 tells us that Pilate sent Jesus to be scourged before he was crucified.

That word “scourge” is to lash or to whip someone. This was the Roman practice of disciplining criminals. They would strip a man naked and tie him to a post and would either beat the criminal or would whip him as punishment.

this was meant to both be punishment to the criminal but it would also be a way of producing fear in the people who watched.

The whip the Romans would use was called the “cat of nine tails”. it was a wooden handle that had leather straps attached to it. On those straps there were usually a number of item attached to it..

There were bones, metal balls and other items that were meant to rip open the back of the criminal each time they were whipped with that. See pic

When the Romans used this, they produced deep lacerations, torn flesh, exposed muscles and excessive bleeding which would leave the criminal half-dead.

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this is just to give us insight into the brutality of the scourging. This would have ripped open the back , the legs, the side of Jesus. It would have exposed his muscles,it would have left him bleeding, in pain and half dead when they were finished with this scourging.

Jesus is Mocked by the Soldiers (v. 16-20)

After this scourging, Jesus is taken to the Praetorium where the soldiers continue to mock him. They put these purple garments on Him, they twist some thorny reeds and push it down on His forehead, and begin to say” Hail king of the Jews”

here they spit oh him, they punch Him and mock Him.

Jesus sent to be Crucified

it is after all of this humiliation, this beating, his body is ripped open, that the Roman soldiers begin the crucifixion process.

most movies you may have seen show Jesus being tied to a cross and him carrying this cross through the streets of Jerusalem until He is crucified.

those portraits are not all that accurate. The romans would tie a criminal only to the top beam of the cross. They would then be forced to walk carrying this top beam to the location where they would be crucified.

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Jesus Carries His cross (v.21- 24)

now remember that Jesus has been beat, scourged and has lost alot of blood over the last few hours. He had to have looked like and felt like He was already dead by this time . Now He is supposed to carry this top beam which could have weighed up to 100 pounds.

We are told that because Jesus was struggling with this , the Roman soldiers made a man who was near by help Jesus to carry this cross. We are told this man’s name was Simon and was from Cyrene. Cyrene was in North Africa.

now we are not told much about this man other than he was the father of 2 men named , Alexander and Rufus. It is interesting because Paul makes mention of a man named Rufus in the book of Romans and it is believed that it is the same man.

it is believed that this man Simon and his family may have become believers in Christ after this event that is happening.

Transition

now we are told that they took Jesus to a place called “Golgatha” which is called the place of the skulls. There are different thoughts on this and we really are not completely sure.

there is hill outside of the temple mount that is believed to be the place where Jesus was crucified because the hill looks like a skull. See pic #3

the problem with this is that the Roman’s didn’t crucify people in a far away hill, they normally crucified people along busy roads. They made it a way of humiliating the criminals and a way that brought fear to those walking by.

This is more likely what happen. Jesus was crucified along the road where people would be able to see him.

Transition

They would have offered him wine mingled with myrrh to drink at this point. This was a numbing agent. This would be offered to try to ease the pain.

it is interesting that Jesus rejected the wine, He rejected escaping the full pain and full cup of the wrath of God.

it is as they are about to crucify Jesus, that the soldiers begin to cast lots to divide the garments that they put on Jesus. The casting lots was like rolling dice if you would.

now this portion is significant that the writers put this in here because it is a fulfillment of prophecy. Ps. 22 is called a Messianic ps which describes future events of the Messiah.

Psalm 22:18 NKJV

They divide My garments among them, And for My clothing they cast lots.

Jesus is Crucified (v. 25-32)

Jesus nailed to the Cross (v.25)

Jesus is crucified on the third hour which is 9:00am.

Jesus would be nailed to this cross. Now lets talk about how the criminal would be secured to this cross. The criminal would have his hands nailed to the this top beam.

We normally say that Jesus had his hands nailed to the cross. In reality it was not His hands that were crucified, but His wrists. The hand could not hold the weight of the body. What the Romans would do is to drive the nails through the wrists, in the middle of the bones which would be able to hold the weight of the whole body.

in the process of these nails being driven through the wrists, the nails would sever a nerve which would send excruciating pain up the arm and to the entire body.

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they would then crucify the feet. Driving the nails in the middle of his feet. Sometimes they would put a block under their feet to help the support and sometimes they did not. See Pic #5

now once a person was nailed to the cross they not only dealt with the pain of their served nerves, but they would also have a hard time breathing. Because of the weight of the body, the weight would drag them to an incline position. This incline position on the cross would put pressure on their chest and lungs. The only way to properly breathe would be to pick themselves up in order to catch a breath.

Jesus would have to do this to breathe. Think about His back that has been ripped open by the scourging rubbing on the hard wood. This would be so painful just to breath.

for many, this would be the cause of death.,

Jesus’s Crimes nailed to the Cross (v.26)

The Roman’s normally nailed the charges for which the criminal was accused of on the cross. For Jesus , they wrote “king of the Jews”. There was no fault in him, they placed this as a way of making fun of him.

now most of the time we see movies with a cross, we see the cross extremely high. This was not normally the case. The cross was placed on the side of the road, at eye level with people walking by, so they would be able to see the charges brought against them. For Jesus we are told in Luke 23:38. that they wrote his charge in greek , latin and hebrew. The common languages of the day.

Jesus numbered with the Transgressors (v.27-32)

Here are a few different things we see things. We are told that Jesus fulfills 2 more prophecies according to scripture.

Jesus was number with the transgressors- He was crucified with criminals on His right and His left. He was counted a criminal like these other men whatever their crimes were.

Isaiah 53:12 NKJV

Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, And He shall divide the spoil with the strong, Because He poured out His soul unto death, And He was numbered with the transgressors, And He bore the sin of many, And made intercession for the transgressors.

2. Those who walked by wagged their heads

people who walked by, and saw Him, wagged their heads and they mocked Him and call out for Him to save Himself

Psalm 22:7–8 NKJV

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!”

Insight.

it is important to understand that God was not surprised by this happening. Jesus was not surprised by this. This was God’s plan.

i want you to understand that. It was God’s plan all along. Not for Jesus to suffer for no reason. But God’s plan was a rescue mission for you and me. Sin had separated you and I from God. There was no way that we could ever be drawn back into a relationship with God apart from the penalty of the sins of the world being dealt with.

and the only way that could happen, is by a perfect person talking upon themselves all of the wrath or the punishment of that sin. This cup of Gods wrath on sin is what Jesus willing came to this earth to drink. God sent his only son to die in this manner because it was the only way that He could rescue you and reconcile you back into a relationship with Him. That is the extent of God’s love you us.

Romans 5:8 NKJV

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

So these prophesies show us that God had planned this beautiful plan all along.

Jesus Dies on the Cross (v. 33- 40)

A. The Cry of Jesus (v. 33-36)

we are told that it is now the 6th hour which is 12 o clock or noon. They crucified Jesus at 9am and now it is noon.

we see that a darkness comes over the land for 3 hours from, noon to 3pm. It is interesting that this darkness at this time is actually recorded in history by Roman historians.

At 3pm Jesus cries out “my God, My God, why have you forsaken my?”.

This again is in reference to Ps.22:1

Psalm 22:1 NKJV

My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? Why are You so far from helping Me, And from the words of My groaning?

but it is the first time where Jesus has been away from God. Here during this time of suffering, Jesus is apart from God for the very first time. And so you see the real humanity of Jesus crying out.

i can’t imagine that. i can’t imagine my kids being in pain and wilfully turning my back. God had to do so in order that Jesus could take on the full wrath of God and so you and i could be reconciled to God.

those that were there couldn’ t understand what Jesus was saying. They offer him at this point sour wine, which was basically wine and vinagar. It was used by the Romans as a refreshing drink.

Jesus’s Last words (v. 37)

We are told that Jesus cried out with a loud voice and then He died.

well what did Jesus say?

John 19:28–30 NKJV

After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, “I thirst!” Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth. So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.

Jesus’s last words were “IT IS FINISHED”.

in the Greek it is “Tetelestai” which means- “PAID IN FULL”.

Jesus had just paid in full for the sins of the world. He had just completed what no one else could ever do, He paid for the sins of the world and had made a way for you and i to have a relationship with God.

What Happened after Jesus Died(v. 38-39)

The veil was torn (v. 38)

The veil that they are talking about here is the veil in the temple between the holy place and the holy of holies. God’s presence was in the holy of Holies and no one was able to go there only the high priest once a year to present a sacrifice on the day of Atonement. Here that veil that separated us from god had been torn from top to bottom. God did the work and now we have access to God freely.

Hebrews 4:16 NKJV

Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

2. Earthquake

Matthew 27:51 NKJV

Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split,

We are told that there was an earthquake, the rocks slit

3. Graves were opened up

Matthew 27:52–53 NKJV

and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.