The crucifixion of Jesus

The crucifixion

Matthew 27:32–55 ESV

32 As they went out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. They compelled this man to carry his cross. 33 And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull), 34 they offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall, but when he tasted it, he would not drink it. 35 And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots. 36 Then they sat down and kept watch over him there. 37 And over his head they put the charge against him, which read, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” 38 Then two robbers were crucified with him, one on the right and one on the left. 39 And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads 40 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.” 41 So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, 42 “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. 43 He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’ ” 44 And the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way. 45 Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. 46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” 47 And some of the bystanders, hearing it, said, “This man is calling Elijah.” 48 And one of them at once ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine, and put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink. 49 But the others said, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.” 50 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. 51 And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. 52 The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, 53 and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many. 54 When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!” 55 There were also many women there, looking on from a distance, who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to him,

Matt 27:32

Today we will look at what happened during the crucifixion of Jesus Christ on the cross. So what was happening in the verses that we just read? It says that they were going out of the city. Execution usually happens outside the City walls. Which symbolise rejection. Before this Jesus was flogged. Which means that Jesus was tied up and whipped. Pieces of sharp bone and Lead were attached to strips of leather and used to whip prisoners who were stripped and ties to a post. This whipping caused the flesh to be torn open and many times, the flogging alone killed the victims. Because flogging sometimes was so bad that the bones were exposed and their intestines and internal organs came out.

After the flogging, Jesus was very weak and they made Jesus carry his own cross. But Jesus was too weak to carry the cross all the way. They then forced a man named Simon to carry the cross. He carried the cross to Golgotha which means a skull. Then they offered Jesus wine mixed with gall. Why did they do this? Some think that it was to help ease the pain of the crucifixion. The soldiers were the ones who gave him the drink. and it says that Jesus drank it and then refused it. If Jesus knew that it was to ease the pain, then Jesus would not have drank it then spit it out. The soldiers did it not out of compassion but out of bad intention. To make fun of Jesus.

Then Jesus was nailed to the cross. Jesus was crucified naked. We are not sure if they used a cloth to cover their nakedness or not. The clothes of the victims became the possessions of the soldiers. They took Jesus garment cast lots for them.

Psalm 22:18 ESV

18 they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.

Mark says that the crucifixion took place at the 9th hr. Which is 9am. Usually the crime was written in red or black on a white tablet and displayed on the cross. Crucifixion was always carried out publicly as a warning to other people. And there was time for people to walk past and insult Jesus as they walked by.

In verse 37-44 what did they say about Jesus?

Matthew 27:37–44 ESV

37 And over his head they put the charge against him, which read, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” 38 Then two robbers were crucified with him, one on the right and one on the left. 39 And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads 40 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.” 41 So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, 42 “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. 43 He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’ ” 44 And the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way.

Matthew 27:40–43 ESV

40 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.” 41 So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, 42 “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. 43 He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’ ”

Matthew 27:37–43 ESV

37 And over his head they put the charge against him, which read, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” 38 Then two robbers were crucified with him, one on the right and one on the left. 39 And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads 40 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.” 41 So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, 42 “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. 43 He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’ ”

Matt 27:

They mocked Jesus saying that he was

The king of Jews, The meeting place between God and man, The son of God, Savior of men,King of Israel, Son of God.

The king of Jews,The meeting place between God and man, The son of God, Savior of men,King of Israel, Son of God.

All these things that they mocked Jesus about. These are all true. The people responded to unbelief because they used their own understanding to understand what they saw. And they could not see the truth.

The king of Jews,The meeting place between God and man, The son of God, Savior of men,King of Israel, Son of God.

Elaborate

Are there things about God that we understand in our own understanding? What do we need to change in our understanding of God?

Then there was darkness that came over all the land from noon till 3pm which was sixth to ninth hr.

How many hours was Jesus nailed to the cross? How do you feel when you think about this?

Amos 8:9–10 ESV

9 “And on that day,” declares the Lord God, “I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight. 10 I will turn your feasts into mourning and all your songs into lamentation; I will bring sackcloth on every waist and baldness on every head; I will make it like the mourning for an only son and the end of it like a bitter day.

Amos

This darkness was a sign of Judgement of the land and it’s people. It is also a Judgement on Jesus. Jesus was going to be judged by God and forsaken by God. When we are separated from God, we have no light. There will be only darkness.

Is darkness scary for us? Why? Are we living our lives in darkness or in God’s light?

Then Jesus cried out Eli Eli lema sabachthani which means My God, My God , why have you forsaken me? Jesus did not complain about the pain he was suffering but he was torn by his separation from the father. And for the second time they filled a sponge with wine vinegar and wanted to give it to Jesus.

Do you think it was to help Jesus? What do you think their intention was?

They wanted to prolong Jesus life to make him suffer more.

Then Jesus gave up his spirit which means that Jesus has power over when he was to die. At this point, Jesus chose to give up his life to pay for our sins.

At this point, the curtain was torn from top to bottom. then there is an earthquake and the rocks split and the tombs were opened. And many of the saints were raised from the dead and went into the holy city and appeared to many.

What does the tearing of the curtain mean? It means that the curtain of sin that separates us from God has been torn. Jesus is the new temple in which we have access to the father.

The earthquake symbolizes the judgement of God on the sin of the people. We do not have many details about the resurrection of the saints. But it does point to the work of Jesus. That when Jesus died and rose from the grave, Jesus will resurrect us and give us new bodies.

When the centurion saw the torn curtain and the earthquake and the resurrected saints, they concluded that this was not normal. Jesus must be who he said he was. The son of God.

Other than the soldiers, there were many women who followed Jesus till the end. The were not highly regarded by society but they provided for for Jesus ministry and took care of him. Jesus chose the women whom society looked down on do God’s work.