The Crucifixion: Surrender!

Introduction: When Darkness Has It’s Moment

Jackie Robinson, born in 1919 in Cairo, Georgia, was a trailblazing figure in American sports and civil rights[1][2]. He became the first African American to play in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the 20th century when he joined the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947[2][3]. Before his professional baseball career, Robinson excelled in multiple sports at UCLA, becoming the first student to letter in baseball, basketball, football, and track[1][3]. After a brief stint in the military, where he faced discrimination and was court-martialed for refusing to move to the back of a segregated bus[1][2], Robinson played in the Negro Leagues before being approached by Branch Rickey, president of the Brooklyn Dodgers[1][3]

[1] Hill, S., & Stojanovic, D. (2022). Dangerous Faith: 50 Powerful Believers Who Changed the World. Thomas Nelson.

[2] Robinson, Jackie. (2015). In Compton’s Encyclopedia. Compton’s Encyclopedia.

[3] Haupert, M. J. (2012). Entertainment Industry: A Reference Handbook. ABC-CLIO.

Branch Rickey wanted to integrate for both personal and strategic reasons. He was a Methodist, and therefore, an opposer of racism. And he was a businessman, who felt integration would attract millions of black fans.

So, he reached out to Jackie Robinson and said [in their first meeting] “I need a player with guts enough not to fight back.” Robinson accepted his challenge.

He endured:

Death threats

Racial attacks, slurs, and taunts from both fans and players

Yet, he went on to:

Win 1947 Rookie of the Year

1949 MVP

Six-time All-Star

World Series in 1955

Here’s the point: There were moments when Jackie Robinson was hit and he was not able to hit back.

The same is the case for Christians. Sometimes, God places us in a position where he allows us to be hit and we cannot hit back. We are provoked but we cannot take revenge into our own hands.

Simply put, there are moments when darkness wins the day. There are times when the ungodliness of the world overpowers the godly individuals who are submitted to the reign of God. In these moments we feel defeated, because it strikes our ego as children of the Creator and Ruler of all things. We often find ourselves saying, “How could something like this happen to me?”

We should feel better, because Jesus was placed in a similar situation. This is what Jesus was speaking to when he was betrayed by Judas and was arrested by the Jewish leaders. He said in Luke 22:53, “…this is your moment, the time when the power of darkness reigns.”

What do you do when God allows your enemies to have their moment in your life? What do you do when you are being oppressed, ridiculed, targeted, and abused, but God prohibits you from responding? What happens when God allows you to get hit, but tells you not to hit back?

In moments where darkness is having its moment, prayer is a weapon for Christian use. Jesus demonstrated this as He was preparing to be handed over to the authorities.

Luke 22:42 “42 “Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.””

Premise: The cross of Christ was God’s way of disarming the world’s evil forces. [We often ask God for victory but there is no victory without a cross.]

When God wanted to dispel the forces of darkness that opposed the people of God, He sent His Son to endure those forces and demonstrate their powerlessness. Such things could never have been accomplished by sinful creatures such as you and I. Rather, such a task required a perfect lamb of God who was capable of freeing those who are bound by sin and demonstrating those forces—both religious and pagan—are worthless and powerless before the only begotten Son of God.

Colossians 2:14–15 “He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. In this way, he disarmed* the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross.”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Confessing Church

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German pastor and theologian during the time of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi regime. He openly and courageously opposed the tyranny of Adolf Hitler and Nazism.

During this time, the church was incredibly intimated and ultimately silent about the oppressive actions against Jews and other people groups. However, Dietrich Bonhoeffer challenged the church with sharp criticisms—arguing individuals are seeking authentic community and courage that is becoming of a body that represents God. He felt submitting to the forces of evil was not an option. Rather, submitting to God who might allow them to win the day was the way to overcome their evil antics.

He felt the church had become stale with religion and man-made traditions that made it difficult for others to come to Jesus. In the Cost of Discipleship, he wrote,

The real trouble is that the pure word of Jesus has been overlaid with so much human ballast—burdensome rules and regulations, false hopes and consolations—that it has become extremely difficult to make a genuine decision for Christ.

So many people come to church with a genuine desire to hear what we have to say, yet they are always going back home with the uncomfortable feeling that we are making it too difficult for them to come to Jesus.

They are convinced that it is not the Word of Jesus himself that puts them off, but the superstructure of human, institutional, and doctrinal elements in our preaching.

Statements like this is and his unwavering commitment to doing the right thing, even when his life was risked led to his death. Refusing to remain a stale Christian and recipient of what he called “cheap grace”, Bonhoeffer was executed by the Nazis on April 9, 1945 after participating in a failed attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler.

In Scripture, God often calls His people to surrender to suffering as a means of declaring His glory in the earth.

Joseph was betrayed and sold into slavery. Yet, he never retaliated or kicked against the call to suffer without avenging himself.

David was pursued by King Saul, the man he gave his life to, but refused to harm him.

Israel was subjected to Babylonian exile without any permission to oppose their adversaries.

Daniel and the three Hebrew boys were subjected to the oppressive acts of the Babylonian king but could not oppose.

Jeremiah was beaten and imprisoned simply for speaking the truth, but he could not fight back or give up his ministerial calling.

And if we ever wondered whether Jesus is fair or righteous, He submitted His only begotten Son, Jesus to suffering and He did not lift a finger because he knew exactly what moment He was living in.

When the apostles took up arms to defend Jesus in Matthew 26:52–53, Jesus said, “52 “Put away your sword…Those who use the sword will die by the sword. 53 Don’t you realize that I could ask my Father for thousands of angels to protect us, and he would send them instantly?”

Principle 1: Discern the season, determine the response.

Sometimes, we give the right response in the wrong season or moment of our lives. Yes, there are times where we should speak up, fight, and oppose the tactics of Satan. There are moments where we should be on the offensive rather than the defensive. However, there are moments where we should be silent, submitted, and humble. One of the secrets to overcoming the enemy is learning when to be a lion and when to be a lamb. This is why Jesus was so successful.

Principle 2: A wise disciple knows when to be a lion and when to be a lamb.

Perhaps, nothing has ruined relationships, homes, and ministries like not knowing how or when to respond as a lamb or a lion.

There were moments when we respond as a lamb, when we should be lions.

We are too passive, submitted, and nonchalant.

There are moments when we respond as lions and we should be lambs.

We are too aggressive, imposing, and forward.

The Mocked King

The beauty of Jesus’s ministry is that He knew when to be a lion and when to be a lamb. There are two ways in which Jesus is described during His crucifixion: slave and criminal.

Slave- Philippians 2:7 “7 Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form,”

Criminal- Isaiah 53:12 “12 I will give him the honors of a victorious soldier, because he exposed himself to death. He was counted among the rebels. He bore the sins of many and interceded for rebels.”

As a slave and criminal, Jesus endured so of the most abusive and humiliating acts known to an individual of the time.

The Romans used it in the case of slaves, notorious criminals, and insurrectionists to make a political statement. Crucifixion asserted the dominion of Rome over conquered peoples by making a gruesome example of anyone who dared to upset the pax Romana. According to Josephus, it was frequently utilized during the siege of Jerusalem in ad 70. Although practices varied somewhat, crucifixion often involved driving a long nail (Luke 24:39; John 20:25; Col 2:14) through the victim’s ankles into the vertical post of the cross and driving nails through the victim’s outstretched hands or wrists into the horizontal beam of the cross. The precise medical cause of death by crucifixion is not clear. It is commonly thought that victims would die of asphyxia. They would eventually have difficulty supporting their own weight with their legs. Then it would become increasingly difficult to breathe when hanging by the arms. The process could take days, and at times the executors would break the legs of the victims to hasten their deaths, though in the case of Jesus this was not necessary (John 19:31–33). Another theory is that dehydration and loss of blood from the pre-crucifixion flogging and the nail wounds would cause death (Brown 1994:1088–1092).

Turner, D., & Bock, D. L. (2005). Cornerstone biblical commentary, Vol 11: Matthew and Mark (p. 362). Tyndale House Publishers.

Prior to his crucifixion He was flogged.

Mark 15:16–20 “The soldiers took Jesus into the courtyard of the governor’s headquarters (called the Praetorium) and called out the entire regiment. They dressed him in a purple robe, and they wove thorn branches into a crown and put it on his head. Then they saluted him and taunted, “Hail! King of the Jews!” And they struck him on the head with a reed stick, spit on him, and dropped to their knees in mock worship. When they were finally tired of mocking him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him again. Then they led him away to be crucified.”

Flogging is a form of punishment involving repeated lashes or blows with a whip, rod, or other instrument[1][2][3][4]. It was recognized in the Old Testament as a form of punishment, with a limit of 40 lashes to prevent degradation of the punished individual[2][3]. In Roman times, flogging could involve whips with metal or bone shards, causing significant damage to the victim, and was sometimes used as a precursor to crucifixion[4].

[1] Elwell, W. A., & Beitzel, B. J. (1988). Flogging. In Baker encyclopedia of the Bible (Vol. 1, p. 796). Baker Book House. [2] Flogging. (2003). In C. Brand, C. Draper, A. England, S. Bond, E. R. Clendenen, & T. C. Butler (Eds.), Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary (p. 585). Holman Bible Publishers. [3] Flogging. (2015). In C. Brand (Ed.), Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary (Revised and Expanded, p. 579). Holman Reference. [4] Longman, T., III, Enns, P., & Strauss, M., eds. (2013). In The Baker Illustrated Bible Dictionary (p. 598). Baker Books.

The question we should seek to answer is why would such a terrible manner of persecution be appointed to Jesus—one who did nothing and was deemed to always be righteous?

This was all fulfillment of Scripture, according to how God wanted to declare His glory and bring all men to Himself.

Isaiah 53:1–11 NLT

1 Who has believed our message? To whom has the Lord revealed his powerful arm? 2 My servant grew up in the Lord’s presence like a tender green shoot, like a root in dry ground. There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him. 3 He was despised and rejected— a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care. 4 Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows* that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins! 5 But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. 6 All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all. 7 He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth. 8 Unjustly condemned, he was led away.* No one cared that he died without descendants, that his life was cut short in midstream.* But he was struck down for the rebellion of my people. 9 He had done no wrong and had never deceived anyone. But he was buried like a criminal; he was put in a rich man’s grave. 10 But it was the Lord’s good plan to crush him and cause him grief. Yet when his life is made an offering for sin, he will have many descendants. He will enjoy a long life, and the Lord’s good plan will prosper in his hands. 11 When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish, he will be satisfied. And because of his experience, my righteous servant will make it possible for many to be counted righteous, for he will bear all their sins.

Jesus, Proved It!

Principle 3: Surrendering is proof you are who God says you are.

When Jesus took the position of surrendering to the will of His Father, the accusation was you are not who you say you are. You are just a phony. David referred to this feeling in Psalm 22.

Psalm 22:8 NLT

8 “Is this the one who relies on the Lord? Then let the Lord save him! If the Lord loves him so much, let the Lord rescue him!”

Many people imagined the Messiah would flee oppression or either vindicate Himself by fighting the temptation. Accordingly, there were two criminals next to Jesus who challenged the notion that He was truly the Messiah.

Luke 23:39 “39 One of the criminals hanging beside him scoffed, “So you’re the Messiah, are you? Prove it by saving yourself—and us, too, while you’re at it!””

However, the one thing that proved Jesus was the true Messiah was His sacrificial suffering for those who deserve to die.

Luke 23:41–43 NLT

41 We deserve to die for our crimes, but this man hasn’t done anything wrong.” 42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.” 43 And Jesus replied, “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

Brothers and sisters, we deserve every terrible thing that could happen to us, because we have done enough to experience the total wrath of God. While Jesus died as a criminal, we are all true criminals who deserve the eternal punishment of God. Yet, because of the pain Jesus endured on the cross, we are able to enter paradise.

The crucifixion is proof that God’s way of humility, humiliation, self-sacrifice, and lamb-like actions wins the war even when it sometimes loses the day.

Matthew 11:28–30 “Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.””