7-30-07 #Disciple Bible Study Titled: "The Death of Deaths"

[Disciple]

While most Christians have at least some appreciation of the theological implications of the death of Christ, few of us have grasped the apologetic impact of the crucifixion. I have always felt that the crucifixion of Christ was a time of triumph for the crowds, and of agony for those who were true followers of our Lord. In my mind, it was not until the resurrection of our Lord that men and women began to be convinced as to the truth of our Lord’s teaching and claims.

As I have studied the Gospel accounts more carefully, I have found that the events of the crucifixion made a tremendous impact upon those who witnessed the death of our Savior. Even before the resurrection of our Lord, a scoffing soldier was convinced of our Lord’s innocence, a hardened criminal turned to the dying Jesus and sought his soul’s salvation, and a hostile crowd began to entertain serious misgivings about their part in the crucifixion.

As we turn our thoughts to the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ, let us attempt to determine what it was about this event that set it apart from every other death and what changed the minds of many of those present who were previously convinced that Jesus was a malefactor who needed to be blotted out of Jewish history.

The Sufferings of the Savior
No more cruel and inhumane method of execution has ever been devised by man than that of crucifixion. Modern technology may have perfected the art of killing more people faster, but there was no harder way to die than upon a Roman cross.

Crucifixion was not only conceived of as a fitting penalty for those guilty of heinous crimes, but as an excellent deterrent for any who might consider such acts against society. It was a death that was both painful and public, punitive and preventative.

Normally the crucifixion process was prolonged to up to two or three days. It would typically begin by a preliminary scourging, such as that suffered by our Lord (Matthew 27:26). We are not told how many stripes were meted out, but on the end of the whip were attached small pieces of bone or metal which would tear open the flesh of the victim. Many were unconscious before this ordeal ended; some even died.

If the criminal survived his scourging, he was forced to carry his own cross to the place of the crucifixion by the longest possible route. This served to humiliate the wrongdoer, and to caution those who witnessed his punishment. Once at the site of the execution, the criminal would be fixed to across, of which there were several varieties. It was not necessary to raise the individual to any great height, but only that his feet not touch the ground. Commonly, the victim bore a sign depicting the offense for which he was executed. He would carry this around his neck as he made his way to the place of death and the placard would then be fixed to the cross.

The precise cause of death of the one crucified is not known with any degree of certainty. Shock, exposure, starvation, heart failure, and suffocation may all have combined to slowly snuff out the life of the sufferer.

If for some reason the life of the victim lingered longer than the executioners desired, there was a simple and common solution. A large wooden mallet was used to break the legs of the dying man and his death would quickly ensue. It seems as though this made it impossible for the person to enhance his breathing by using his legs to relieve the pressure on his diaphragm. If this was the case, the person would quickly suffocate as he could no longer breathe.

Ancient Jewish writings do***ent that some of the women of Jerusalem, out of compassion for the sufferer, prepared a mixture of myrrh and wine. This drug would serve to dull the senses of the dying man and ease some of the pain. Our Lord refused to drink any of this drugged wine (Mark 15:23) as He would drink to the full the cup of God’s wrath and the consequences of sin as meted out on the cross.

The physical torture of the cross was only exceeded by the spiritual agony of our Lord’s death. There on the cross He suffered the rejection of men. Golgotha was located close to Jerusalem and probably near a main thoroughfare (John 19:20), along which many would pass. Matthew informs us that many of these passers-by ‘hurled abuse’ at Jesus (Matthew 27:39-40). It is significant that these passers-by were not unaware of the teaching of our Lord. “You who destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save Yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross” (Matthew 27:40).

The Jewish religious leaders were perhaps the most aggressive in their rejection of Jesus. It is interesting to note that they chose to mock Him, indirectly. Their words of insult were addressed more to the crowds, than to Jesus. “He saved others; He cannot save Himself. He is the King of Israel; let Him now come down from the cross and we shall believe in Him. He trusts in God, let Him deliver Him now, if He takes pleasure in Him for He said, ‘I am the Son of God’” (Matthew 27:42-43).

The soldiers, too, joined in this chorus of scoffers (Luke 23:36-37). While they may have known or cared little about the teaching of Jesus, His conduct on the cross did not match their Roman mentality of macho which they thought should be personified in a king. Even the two thieves joined in with their own reproaches (Matthew 27:44).

The jeering of these unbelievers was not, in my estimation, the most painful part of Jesus’ rejection by man. A certain rejection is implied by the apparent absence of those disciples in whom Jesus had invested so much of Himself. It would seem that only John was at the foot of the cross.

And then there were those women who had played such a vital part in the life and ministry of the Lord Jesus (Matthew 27:55f.). They were standing nearby, agonizing over that fate of Him Whom they had loved and served. The jeering words of the crowd were nowhere on their lips, but the underlying question of the scoffers haunted their hearts. Why was Jesus on the cross? Why didn’t He come down and show Himself to be the Son of God? While they still loved Him, they, too, could not fathom the meaning of the cross.

As deeply as all of these things must have grieved our Lord, the greatest sorrow has not yet been considered. It was not the physical pain which our Lord most dreaded. Neither was it the rejection of men, even those who were His most intimate friends. It was the separation from God which caused our Lord to shrink from the shadow of the cross (Luke 22:39-44).

The words of the Psalmist perfectly conveyed the agony of soul of our Lord as the Suffering Servant: “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” (Psalm 22:1; Mark 15:34). As someone has rightly pointed out, here is the hell our Lord dreaded, but nevertheless experienced for us. Hell is not merely the presence of pain and suffering, but the absence of God in the midst of that pain. This is also true for those who reject Christ as their Savior: “And these will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power” (2 Thessalonians 1:9).

Recently, a friend of mine was preaching on the book of Daniel. He rightly stated that while God may not choose to deliver us from our fiery trials (Daniel 3:16-18), He will be with us in the midst of them (Daniel 3:25). Only once has that not been so, and that was when our Lord bore our sins upon the cross and suffered the wrath and rejection of God in our place. What agony that must have been. The back of the Father, for an eternal moment of time, was turned to the Son.

Christians have sometimes had difficulty in maintaining a balance, in the significance of both our Lord’s physical suffering and death and His spiritual suffering and death. Both are real, both necessary, and both significant.

Some have stressed the physical sufferings of our Lord to the point where there is almost a mystical devotion to the blood of our Lord. There is a fixation upon the blood, almost distinct from a devotion to our Lord Himself. We are saved by the blood, but it is the blood of the Lamb. Others, in an effort to draw our attention to the spiritual sufferings and death of Christ, have sometimes made statements which have been viewed as heretical. They have played down the actual blood that was shed as though it were of no value. Let us hold firmly to the infinite value of both the physical and the spiritual aspects of our Lord’s sufferings and death.

The Meaning of the Death of Christ

The Scriptures often point us to the cross of our Lord as an example. It is the supreme example of brotherly love (John 15:13). It is the model which God has provided for the husband who would love his wife (Ephesians 5:25-27). It is the example of godly suffering for the sake of Christ (1 Peter 2:21-25). The cross is likewise symbolic of Christian discipleship (cf. Matthew 16:24; Mark 8:34-36). We must not only be willing to die for our faith in Christ, but be willing to die to selfish aims and ambitions. We must be willing to share in the humiliation which the cross symbolizes (cf. Colossians 1:24; Hebrews 12:2; 13:12-13).

Evangelical Christians have sometimes avoided speaking of the cross as an example because of the emphasis which liberal theology places on this point. The error of the liberal is that he stops at the cross as an example, and does not see it also as an expiation. The cross of Calvary was the long-awaited payment in full for the sins of men. The bulls and goats which the Jews offered did not make atonement (cf. Romans 3:21-26); they only succeeded in forestalling the judgment of God until payment was made by the Messiah.

“But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption” (Hebrews 9:11-12).

From the time of man’s creation the penalty for sin was death (Genesis 2:17; Romans 6:23). From the time of man’s fall, God had promised a provision for men’s sins (Genesis 3:15). The Old Testament sacrificial system was divinely ordained to remind God’s people that ‘without the shedding of blood there was no remission of sins’ (Hebrews 9:22). While the sacrifice of animals did not remove the sins of the people, it was an expression of their faith in the provision which God Himself would provide. The Old Testament prophets often spoke of Him who was to come and achieve salvation through His sacrifice.

(Isaiah 53:4-12).

The death Christ died was a fulfillment of all the prophecies of the Old Testament concerning the Messiah Who would come to suffer and die for the salvation of His people. From the outset of His public ministry, the Lord Jesus came as the Savior of men, the one sacrifice Who would bring salvation to men. As John the Baptist proclaimed, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). Throughout His earthly life, it was the cross that was His ultimate and compelling destiny.

The work of Christ upon the cross can be partially summarized by three terms: redemption, reconciliation and propitiation. Redemption is the work of Christ focused on the problem of sin. We are bought back from our enslavement to sin by the blood of Christ. Satan can rightfully demand our allegiance until the price of sin has been paid. Reconciliation heals the broken relationship between the sinner and God. Once sin was dealt with, there was no barrier between a man and God. Propitiation deals with the problem of the righteous anger of God aroused by sin. Divine wrath could only be appeased by the demands of justice being met. The death of Christ satisfied the holiness of God.

The death of Jesus Christ is the touchstone of the Christian faith. It is not enough merely to believe that Jesus Christ was a good man, even the Son of God. One must trust in His work upon the cross as the sole basis and assurance of his acceptance before God and eternal life with Him.

The death of Christ is unique in a number of ways. It perfectly fulfilled countless Old Testament prophecies which described it in minute detail. It was unique also because it fulfilled the many predictions our Lord made about His death throughout His earthly ministry. It was unique because no man has ever died like Jesus Christ did. It also was distinctive in that it alone bore the testimony of divine attestation through the miracles which accompanied it.

Perhaps no words better catch the significance of Christ’s crucifixion than those of the apostle Paul: “Behold then the kindness and severity of God” (Romans 11:22). On the one hand we must marvel at the love of God which sent our Lord to the cross to die for those who would have Him put to death. “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). There is no greater love than that which we see demonstrated on the cross of Calvary.

And yet we must also marvel at the immensity of the payment that was made by our Lord. On the cross we see not only the measure of the love of God, but also of divine judgment. For any who would think that God might wink at sin, let him consider the price that was paid, and by God Himself in the person of the Son. If God did not hesitate to punish His own Son with such severity, what kind of punishment do you and I deserve?

My friend, you cannot come to the cross of our Lord without making a choice. Either you will choose to trust in Christ as your salvation, or you must reject Him and bear the wrath which He bore for you. You must say, as did those who put Him to death, “His blood be on us and on our children” (Matthew 27:25).

The cross leaves no room for neutrality. You must trust in Him or take your place among His enemies. May God enable you to look to Him for your salvation.