They Crucified Him

Avia Sabou

intro

If you are new or visiting, over the last 18 months we have been making our way through the gospel of Mark - (Expository Preaching).

Now, we come to the end of the road that Jesus has been travelling and we have been following -  The road that takes us outside the gates of jerusalem, to stand upon a hill known as golgotha, looking up at the cross of Jesus.

As we begun last week, we are looking at this text that takes us from the roman palace where Jesus is mocked in vs 16 to his final breath in vs 41 - and we are dealing with this event over 5 weeks with each sermon looking at a different aspect or theme that Mark highlights in his account of our saviours suffering. 

last week - Christ is king

This morning we are going to focus on the Physical sufferings of Christ and what it shows us about the heart of God!

Read Text -

Mark 15:16–32

16 And the soldiers led him away inside the palace (that is, the governor’s headquarters), and they called together the whole battalion. 17 And they clothed him in a purple cloak, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on him. 18 And they began to salute him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 19 And they were striking his head with a reed and spitting on him and kneeling down in homage to him. 20 And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. And they led him out to crucify him. 21 And they compelled a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross. 22 And they brought him to the place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull). 23 And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. 24 And they crucified him and divided his garments among them, casting lots for them, to decide what each should take. 25 And it was the third hour when they crucified him. 26 And the inscription of the charge against him read, “The King of the Jews.” 27 And with him they crucified two robbers, one on his right and one on his left. 29 And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, “Aha! You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, 30 save yourself, and come down from the cross!” 31 So also the chief priests with the scribes mocked him to one another, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. 32 Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe.” Those who were crucified with him also reviled him.

Hook

Understandably, the cross of Christ has become the most recognised symbol of the Christian faith!

If there was no signage or text on this building and you were to walk in here - the two crosses on the wall would likely lead you to conclude that this is at the very least a Christian church or community of some sort.

it is the symbol that is on many of our Bible’s and is worn as jewellery.

Considering how common the image is, I wonder How easy it is to become decensitized to the reality of what actually occured upon the cross of Jesus.

In making the cross a symbol, have we sanitised the horror out of it?

sure, we talk about it all the time

As believers, It is the event that we at the least refer to in every sermon, that we rely upon for every prayer, and trust in as the means by which we have relationship with God.

all of which is well and good, but, there is certainly the possibility that due to constant and ongoing exposure to the ideas relating to the cross of Christ - we can become numb to or unmoved by the reality of what it actually meant for our saviour on that Day.

Grimmett’s Dinner - Archie Choking

certainly the first time, or few times we expereinced our child choking, it elicited a greater response. Although after multiple exposures… we had become decensitized_ pretty unmoved - relatively unconcerned.

Have we done the same with the crucifiction? Sure it is central to our faith but it is more a theological idea or a historical event than the gutwrenching suffering of the one who displays of his great love for us!

Sure, the consideration of what our king endured shakes us the first time, but over time it can become so common fair that we are no longer moved by it.

We aren’t gripped by the sufferings Jesus, not because we aren’t aware of them, but almost becuase we too aware of them.

this morning I want us to take a fresh look at the sufferings of Jesus

that we might be moved once again with affection for him

and gripped by the love of God on display in the sacrifice of his Son.

Let us then together consider the cross of Christ, attempting to do so with fresh eyes. Unhindered by the barriers of assumption and familiarity.

Before we jump in - I must point out that - Christ’s physical sufferings are:

Firstly - not even the worst or most significant of his afflictions (wrath of God - Next week)

real - he suffered, truly a man.

a window through which we see the heart of God!

*** Disclaimer - I do want to dwell on the reality of Christ’s suffering, although considering the age range in the room I will paint the picture without, hopefully making it a graphic novel.

[Pray]

When we come to the account of Christ’s death in mark 15 and it’s counterparts in the other gospel’s we can say conclusively, that Jesus didn’t just die.

It is not as if Jesus was convicted of a crime and therefore given the penalty of death - which was administered in some dignified fashion, or in some swift act of justice.

That could not be further from the reality of what Jesus endured at the hands of sinners.

Instead what we find only horror at the scene of Golgotha.

The Horror of Golgotha

vs. 22 calls the place where 3 crosses were erected Golgatha, the Skull place.

As it still is today, it is the skull that is a symbol of the horrible and horrific.

Golgotha is small hill, outside Jerusalem’s city walls.

Whilst an execution might be conducted in the public square, Christ’s sufferings happen in he skull place, still in public view to act as a warning, but outside the usual grounds of economy and community and society and justice.

For something so deplorable would not be viewed in the centre of human reasonableness.

But before even getting to Golgotha, Christ, endures afflictions that most wouldnt even survive. ——————————————————— Jesus is the only one of the 3 crucified that day who endure a great many more afflictions.

These begin in v. 15 - where he is

Scourged v. 15 a severe beating with a whip of cords, at the end of the leather cords are embeded bones of bits of metal. Tear open the skin, often revealing the white of bone. A punishment in and of itself that men often didnt survive.

crown of thorns v. 17 nail like - middle eastern thorns, I think we can assume that it wasnt gently placed upon his head, but it was forced down so that it peiced the thin tissue around his head.

and then, did you notice what they do next

they strike his head with a stick

Beating down upon the thorns that are already peircing his head.

having spat on him, and mocked him, Jesus is left beaten, his back, would have been torn open from a great many wounds, and his face red from the flow from his head.

It is then, that they ‘lead him out to crucify him’

Carry his own cross v. 20-21

History tells us that this means Jesus would have been led between a square gaurd of four roman soldiers, and he would have been made to carry the crossbeam that they would use as his pin up board.

Beam = approx 40-50kg.

and after the treatment he had endured, and the blood lost… seemingly Jesus is unable to do it for long.

Here is the humanity of the Son of God in the flesh. The one through whom the stars and Sun were spoken into being, is unable to carry a length of timbre.

and so Simon of Cyrene

Together they carry the cross - out to the place of the skull.

and there… “they crucified him”

The reason Mark, or any of the gospels for that matter, give us absolutely zero details, is because every single person alive, when Mark is writing, his gospel knows exactly the horrors that these three words entail.

Crucified

The Roman Empire, was well known for inventing and perfecting, a great many things. - aquaducts - Roads - Underfloor heating - perfected the art of Torture

and the pinicle of this area of achievement, was the Roman cross - a punishment set aside for only the worst transgressor.

IT was used to make a point (to other nations, and to lawbreakers)

It was not a means of execution, but a means of death, as slowly as possible, by toture.

There were 3 crosses on golgotha that day, and all 3 men received:

3 Nails Through the wrists and then the feet before being raised up, to hang by the strength of his own flesh.

Despite the pain of peiced hands and feet, The cause of death is asphyxiation - as the body is slowly deprived of oxygen

this is the slow torture

As the weight of the body is pulled the lungs cannot suck in air, unless the victim

pulls on the nails in his hands, and pushing up on the one in his feet.

a process that would take hours if not days

Jesus didn’t just die.

SO we must ask why?

If Jesus is God in the flesh, why death at all, and why such a grusome one?

Well we must conclude that the horror of Golgotha reveals to us the:

The Grace of Golgotha

The Bible tells us that the story of the cross is, the story of God’s love for sinners.

1 John 4:7–10 (ESV)

7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

The suffering and death of Christ upon the cross, in the manner with which he truly died, is one of the means by which we know the LOVE OF GOD FOR US.

We know this by faith! we trust in God’s word. We trust, that the event of the death of Jesus is his love for us on display.

My Faith story: I don’t have some extravagant testimony of some single experience that changed my life.

but i do remember - somewhere along that journey, coming to the conclusion that 1 John 4:10 = was about me… and John 3:16, included me.

So when I look at the cross of Jesus, by God’s grace in giving me new eyes = i don’t just see a historical event that is entirely abstracted from my life… instead I see my saviour and his great love for me.

John 15:13 (ESV) 13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.

Freinds - well that can’t be me?

I am entirely unlovable. unworthy, unwanted.

Who are those freinds??

Romans 5:6–8 (ESV)

6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

As I have said, there are 3 men crucified on golgotha that day.

Jesus and the two robbers (Criminals), one on his right and another on his left v. 27

Luke, in his gospel gives us a few more details about these two other men:

> Luke 23:39–43

39 One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” 40 But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.”

Three crosses stand upon the hill called golgotha. In the middle, hangs, and slowly suffers the Son of God.

All 3, are men treated as criminals, suffering the worst of punishments,

but, only two of them hang there, justly condemned.

Look at what the second criminal says - v. 41

Then he turns to the one whom he knows has done nothing wrong:

> 42 And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” 43 And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

What does the love of God in the cross of Jesus mean for us for sinners? It means grace. Grace that covers all and every sin!

There are 3 crosses on Golgotha, but only one of the men dies in the place of others:

The two criminals are being put to death, hanging upon the tree becuase of thier own wrongdoing.

Jesus isnt, instead, Jesus hangs upon the tree in the place of every sinner who would ever trust in him.

he takes the punishment, not from the human courts, but from God himself, in the place of sinners:

including the man hanging next to him.

including the man deserving of the cross

the man who had no chance to pay back or make right his immoral life and actions

Grace to him!

(ROm 5) _ whilst we were still sinners - if it is grace to him, its grace to every sinner that looks upon the cross of Christ with faith.

and sees thier saviour suffering

and beleives God’s word of love

How? Well -

2 Corinthians 5:21 (ESV)

21 For our sake he [God] made him [Jesus] to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Here is the crazy irony of the Grace of God at Golgotha—

There were 3 crosses on Golgotha that day…

There is only one righteouss man who hung from a tree … and it wasn’t Jesus

Sure Jesus is the righteouss and he had lived a perfeclty obedience and righteouss life —- God made him to be sin.

As he hung upon the cross, God declared him a sinner as he bore the sins of others.

The righteouss man hanging on the cross, wasn’t Jesus:

It was the criminal. who’s sins were placed upon the shoulders of Christ.

Though the criminal had lived a sinner, God declared him righteouss.

Which criminal are you?

Both criminals on the cross died that day… but only one of them joined Christ in Paradise!