Behold the Man! - Part Two

In 'Behold the Man! - Part One' blog post we looked at the unjust trial by the Roman Governor, Pontius Pilate of Jesus of Nazareth. We also looked at the hatred and envy of the Jewish religious leaders and how they falsely accused Jesus of blasphemy against their God. The outcome of these events was that Jesus was condemned to death by crucifixion instead of a murderer named Barabbas. Barabbas was set free and Jesus was led out to be crucified.

John 19:17-18:

"(17) And He, bearing His cross, went out to a place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha,

(18) where they crucified Him, and two others with Him, one on either side, and Jesus in the centre."

Mark 15:22-23:

"(22) And they brought Him to the place Golgotha, which is translated, Place of a Skull.

(23) Then they gave Him wine mingled with myrrh to drink, but He did not take it." The wine was mingled with myrrh to create a sedating effect to ease pain. However, Jesus refused the bitter drink because it was not part of the Father's will for Him. Jesus would bear the full pain and anguish of the crucifixion for us.

It is interesting to observe the time line in the sequence of events at Golgotha. In the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke the events are recorded as Jewish time. In the Gospel of John the events are recorded as Roman time. So what appears to be an anomaly is really the same time but recorded according to Jewish or Roman time. For instance, The Roman 6th hour was 6:00 am in the morning; as it was counted down from midnight. The same time according to the Jews was the beginning of the 1st hour. So when we read in Mark 15:25: "Now it was the third hour, and they crucified Him." it is 9:00 am Roman time. For those of us who live in countries on Roman time; Jesus was crucified mid morning.

Mark 15:29-32:

"(29) And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads and saying, "Aha! You who destroy the temple and build it in three days,

(30) save Yourself, and come down from the cross!"

(31) Likewise the chief priests also, mocking among themselves with the scribes, said, "He saved others; Himself He cannot save.

(32) Let the Christ, the King of Israel, descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe." Even those who were crucified with Him reviled Him."

Isaiah 53:3-4 tells us prophetically that, "(3) He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. (4) Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted."

Now we will have another look at the time line. Matthew 27:45 tells us, "Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land." This is Jewish time; the Roman time is from noon until 3:00 pm. We noticed earlier that Jesus was crucified at the third hour in Jewish time but 9:00 am Roman time. So at the sixth hour in Jewish time, but noon in Roman time, Jesus had been on the cross for three hours duration. The events we have already looked at occurred during these three hours. However we are now about to enter a phase of vast significance!

We must go softly here as we are on holy ground. God drew a veil of thick darkness over Golgotha from noon until 3:00 pm. The reason for this was that the question of sin was about to be dealt with. This event was not for the eyes of mankind. Jesus was on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins. He was there as the sin-bearer, the substitute for you and me! In those three hours of darkness He was all alone - no one to help Him. He had already been despised and rejected by mankind; now He was about to be forsaken by God.

His physical sufferings and mental anguish were a prelude to what would be even worse - being made sin!

2 Corinthians 5:21:

"For He [God] made Him [Jesus] who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."

Isaiah 53:6:

"All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all."

1 Peter 2:23-24:

"(23) [Christ] who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously;

(24) who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness--by whose stripes you were healed."

Can you grasp this? God made Jesus sin for us! God caused to meet upon Jesus the iniquity of us all! Jesus personally bore my sins, and yours, on the cross in the three hours of darkness! Jesus paid the penalty for my sins!

In those three hours of darkness Jesus met and exhausted the full wrath and fury of a sin-hating, holy, righteous God against sin. We can never know what He passed through and how it affected Him. But we do know that He did it all alone and came out victorious to give us salvation full and free. What a Saviour! Jesus went into the darkness of Golgotha to ensure that you and I would not have to go into "...the blackness of darkness forever." [Jude 1:13]

Hebrews 9:26:

"...but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself." One sacrifice by Jesus Christ was sufficient to put away sin! It never has to be repeated!

Hebrews 10:12:

"But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God."

Mark 15:34-36:

"(34) And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" which is translated, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"
(35) Some of those who stood by, when they heard that, said, "Look, He is calling for Elijah!"

(36) Then someone ran and filled a sponge full of sour wine, put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink, saying, "Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to take Him down."

"My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" this cry is foretold in Psalm 22:1. Jesus already knew the answer. He was forsaken because He was the sin-bearer. Habakkuk 1:13

"You [God] are of purer eyes than to behold evil, and cannot look on wickedness..."

John 19:28-30:

"(28) After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, "I thirst!"

(29) Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth.

(30) So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, "It is finished!"...

Mark 15:36 and John 19:29 are part of the same incident. The difference is that in the Gospel of John we also learn that Jesus cries out "I thirst!"

Let's now take a closer look at John 19:30:

"So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, "It is finished!" And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit." Two extremely significant events occur here. Firstly, He cries out "It is finished!" thus signifying that He had settled the question of sin forever; and that He was victorious against the wrath of God regarding sin. Secondly, "...bowing His head, He gave up His spirit."

Matt 27:50-54:

"(50) And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.

(51) Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split,

(52) and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised;

(53) and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.

(54) So when the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they feared greatly, saying, "Truly this was the Son of God!"

In Matthew 27:50 the Greek word used for yielded up is aphiemi and has the thought of: to send, an intense form of to go; in other words to dismiss forceably.

Why is it important to focus on these words? For this reason; crucifixion did not kill Jesus of Nazareth. As has already been pointed out He was not subject to death because He was, and is, sinless. Therefore death had no claim on Him. The only way He could die was to dismiss His own human spirit.

John 10:17-18:

"(17) Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again.

(18) No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father."

Please note carefully what is in these two verses. Jesus lays down His life in order to take it up again. "No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself." No man took Jesus' life He chose to lay down His life for you and me. "I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again" The penalty for sin is death! Jesus voluntarily died to pay the penalty and clear our debt of sin.

The moment Jesus dismissed His human spirit and died, two major events occurred. The thick curtain in the Temple which veiled the Holy of Holies from the Holy Place was torn in two - from the top to the bottom. At the same time there was an earthquake in Jerusalem. The earth quaked and rocks were split open by the earthquake. The Roman centurion and the crucifixion squad were terrified. The centurion declared publicly that, "Truly this was the Son of God!"

Returning to Golgotha, an extremely significant event now takes place.

John 19:31-37:

"(31) Therefore, because it was the Preparation Day, that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.

(32) Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who was crucified with Him.

(33) But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs.

(34) But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out.

(35) And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you may believe.

(36) For these things were done that the Scripture should be fulfilled, "Not one of His bones shall be broken." [Psalm 34:20]

(37) And again another Scripture says, "They shall look on Him whom they pierced." [Zechariah 12:10].

The two criminals had their legs broken to speed up their deaths. Jesus had already died so the soldier took a spear and thrust it up into His side to make sure that He was really dead. The blood that flowed from His side is the blood that makes atonement for us before God.

Leviticus 17:11:

"For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul." 1 John 1:7 "But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin."

It's time to return to the scene at Golgotha.

John 19:38 "After this, Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly, for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus; and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took the body of Jesus.

Matthew 27:59-60:

"(59) When Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth,

(60) and laid it in his [Joseph's] new tomb which he had hewn out of the rock; and he rolled a large stone against the door of the tomb, and departed."

In the next blog post we will look at Jesus' resurrection and ascension to Heaven.

Jon Peasey

Biblical Perspectives blog www.jon-peasey.blogspot.com

Ebooks author page https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/JRPeasey

[All Scriptures quoted are from the New King James version; unless otherwise noted. Words enclosed in [ ] are inserted for clarity. Words in bold type emphasise a point. You may notice some verses are quoted with ... at the beginning, ending or elsewhere in a verse. Only the relevant part or parts of the verse, that relate directly to the current subject matter is quoted.]

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