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10. The Calvary
When the soldiers had
finished the mockery of Jesus, they dressed Jesus in His own raiment and
started to take him towards Calvary. As part of the death sentence the victim
was forced to carry his cross to Calvary. In point of fact the condemned
carried so-called patibulim, which was the crossbar of the cross. The
Patibulim was set to the upright post at the place of execution, at Calvary.
Jesus carried His cross from Via Dolorosa towards Calvary. The route was full of
people and Jesus carried his cross publicly before all the people. This was a
powerful example also for every disciple of Jesus that taking up your daily
cross means to take up the cross publicly; you can't carry your cross hidden
from the people. Your cross doesn’t bring you salvation, but the cross of
Jesus is the foundation of your salvation. Your cross, by the help of the
Holy Spirit keeps you in the will of God. The strength of Jesus was
already weakened after the brutal whipping and its consequences the
soldiers forced Simon of Cyrene to carry the cross of Jesus for the rest of
the journey. They came to Calvary, which is called ‘the place of the skull’,
the place the execution. The Bible says that the disciple of Jesus is to take
up their cross, every day and follow Jesus Christ. Those who are under
sentence of death go on a journey that has no return. The task of the cross
was to kill its carrier, in other words the cross brought death to one who
carried it. Also Jesus calls His disciples to die to themselves, so that the
Spirit of God can rule in their hearts. This dying to oneself need not
frighten you, because in this death only the desires of sin will be put to
death. In this way the death of the flesh, the believer can experience real
peace and righteousness in his heart. God loves us so much that He has
prepared a demolition program to sin, otherwise sin would destroy us.
So the dying of the flesh is not bad thing to us, but something to cheer us,
because in this way we can receive the influence of the Holy Spirit. At Calvary the soldiers
offered to the Jesus wine spiced with myrrh to drink, but Jesus did not taken
it. When a man was condemned to death it was the custom to give an alcoholic
drunk to ease the terrible pains. Jesus went to the cross without anaesthesia
and without any type of relief. Think about Jesus, He took to him all the
punishment of sin without any "relief medicines". Jesus was set in the
cross and His hands and feet were bound tightly in the tree of the cross.
After that from his wrists and feet was pierced through with long iron nails.
Hanging on the cross was extremely agonizing, because the sun burned
fiercely, the whipping, the cross bearing and after that the nails. This form
of death sentence was certainly extremely agonizing. The crucified man was
forced to support his body on the cross, otherwise he choked. The crucified
man died generally choking death on the cross slowly and agonizing. Jesus
surrendered to the agonizing death, because He loved you so much. Jesus has
really earned our love. We should love him with all our hearts. The soldiers divided the
garments of Jesus, casting lots, so that it might be fulfilled, which was
spoken by the prophet, "They divided my garments to themselves, and
they cast a lot over my clothing." Psa. 22:18. Pilate wrote above
the head of Jesus a title and put it on the cross. And it was:
JESUS THE NAZARENE, THE KING OF THE JEWS. Therefore, many of the Jews read
this title, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city.
And it had been written in Hebrew, Greek and Latin. On the cross a notice
explained what kind of crime the condemned man had done. What Pilate wrote
was quite right, that Jesus was The King of the Jews. There will come a time
when everybody will bend down before King Jesus and admit that Jesus is the
Lord. To the right and left of
Jesus were crucified two robbers. One robber asked Jesus to remember him,
when he came into His kingdom. The robber experienced on the cross - love and
truth, which came by Jesus who was hanging next to him. Although Jesus hung
on the cross and was weak in His flesh, He was nevertheless not weak in the
spirit or powerless, because even then, on the cross, there radiated such
love and power from Him, that one of the robbers received salvation. Jesus
promised to the robber, that he will get to paradise with Jesus. The robber
put his hope in Jesus and got for the reward - eternal life. The people who had
assembled at Calvary mocked and accused Jesus. They shouted to the Jesus; “Save
yourself and come down from the cross. He saved others; He is not able to
save himself” Priest’s, scribes and elders mocked Jesus too. This world mocks Jesus,
who wants to release sinners from the power of the sin and Satan. Men don't
want to come from the darkness to the light, because their deeds are evil.
The Bible teaches also, that from sin men can get a short time of enjoyment
and that's why people are slaves to sin and desire lust of sin, this short
time brings also eternal damnation. And from the sixth hour
there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. Easter happened
always at the time of the full moon, for that reason the darkness wasn’t a
normal eclipse of the sun, but the darkness was a sign from God, that sin is
being judged. All the sins of the world were thrown on Jesus; He suffered for
us the anger of God toward sin. The darkness lasted three hours, after which,
Jesus shouted: ‘Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani’; ‘My God, my God, why hast
thou forsaken me’? This shout did not mean, that the Father was rejecting
His Son, because according to Luke, Jesus shouted in loud voice just before
to His death: "Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit. And saying
this, He breathed out the Spirit. " Psa. 31:5. This word forsaken means in
Hebrew ‘help and let alone’. I believe that God didn’t reject Jesus, because
He is the perfect and holy offering - Lamb of God, but this shout of Jesus
means that He alone must accomplish redemption, without the help of the
Father.
Petri Paavola from Finland |
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