From Jesus’ birth, and indeed from before the foundations of
the earth, a substitutionary death was central to Jesus’ incarnation and mission.
He was born to die. This is most clearly
expressed in the central symbol of the Christian faith - the cross! Every
religion and ideology has its visual symbol: Muslims – the crescent moon; Jews – the Star
of David; Buddhism – the lotus flower; Marxists – hammer & sickle; The
LGBTQ+ movement- the rainbow.
The Christian visual symbol is the cross. Not that it was the first symbol within
Christendom! The first symbol was actually a fish. The Greek word for fish, IXTHUS
spells out an acronym: Iesous
(Jesus), Christos (Christ), Theos (God) Huios (Son), Soter (Saviour).
But the abiding symbol became a cross. By this the Christian church
signified what it understood to be central to the Christian faith – the cross,
which speaks of Jesus’ suffering death
and His crucifixion – as a substitutionary atonement for rebel sinners.
The significance of the sign of the cross can be seen in its
widespread usage among the early Christians.
The North African lawyer theologian Tertullian
who wrote in about AD 200 Tertullian described how early Christians carried
this practice into their ordinary day-to-day activities in an attempt to
consecrate all aspects of their new life in Christ:
“At every step forward, at every going in and
out, when we put on our clothes and
shoes, when we bathe, when we sit at table, when we light the lamps, on couch,
on seat, in all the ordinary actions of
life, we trace upon the forehead the
sign of the cross.” (De
Corona, Chapter 3)[1]
Jesus was deeply aware and committed to the work that the
Father gave Him to do. He must go
to Jerusalem “and suffer many things at
the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law. He must be killed and on the third day
be raised to life.” (Matt. 16:21; 17: 22,23 ; 20:17-19). His life was focused upon the cross. And all this because
God so loved this world (Jn.
3:16)
On this GOOD FRIDAY morning,
we want to trace a particular
theme – namely the 7
short sentences that Jesus spoke
on the cross, and which are recorded for us in the gospels. We will trace them chronologically.
Last words are significant words. They are not idle words.
Moreover, our Saviour was speaking at that time on the cross when any speech
would have been laboured and strenuous.
In an essay entitled “On the
Physical death of Jesus Christ”
cited in the Journal of the
American Medical Association, medical
doctors William D. Edwards, Wesley Gabel
and Floyd Hosmer look at the physical signs and symptoms of Christ’s
sufferings. It does not make nice reading. Let me quote from it[2]
:
“As the arms fatigue,
great waves of cramps sweep over the muscles, knotting them in deep,
relentless, throbbing pain. With these cramps comes the inability to push
himself upward. Hanging by his arms, the pectoral muscles are paralysed and the
intercostal muscles are unable to act. Air can be drawn into the lungs, but it
cannot be exhaled. Jesus fights to raise Himself in order to get even one short
breath. Finally carbon dioxide builds up in the lungs and in the blood stream and
the cramps partially subside. Spasmodically, he is able to push himself upward
to exhale and bring in the life-giving oxygen.”
It was probably during this time of His suffering that Jesus uttered
the seven short sentences from the cross. Let us consider what was on the heart
and mind of our Lord Jesus - even in His dying moments.
1. A Word of Forgiveness:
[Lk. 23:34] “Father, forgive them, for they do not know
what they are doing.” Here Jesus looks at the Roman soldiers who are busy
casting lots in order to determine who of them shall get His seamless garment. They really do not know what they are doing,
except that they do this sort of thing all the time, without much questioning
of their orders. I simply wish to draw your attention at this point to the
incredible mercy and forgiveness of Christ, who finds it in His heart to
forgive His cruel torturers. On the cross we find Jesus praying. Not for Himself.
He prays for others. Not even at this
stage His own family. He prays for His enemies. In praying for is enemies Christ
gave us a perfect example of how we should treat those that wrong us and hate us.
But he also teaches us from the cross to never see anyone beyond the reach of prayer!
The divine principle is this: Forgive even your greatest enemies. Why? Because
you must not add burdens or curses to their souls. Remember that if your enemy
dies in an unreconciled state with God, he or she will, with all the
unreconciled people of the earth be consigned to an eternal hell. Pray that God
would forgive your enemies.
2. A Word of Salvation: [Lk. 23:43] In speaking to the penitent thief on the cross next to
Him, Jesus said to him, “Truly, I say to
you, today you will be with me in paradise”. Jesus was crucified between 2 thieves
to show that He had really become fully identified with the sin and shame of
this fallen world. Therefore, the prophet Isaiah could say in 53:12b : “He poured out His life to
death, and was numbered with the transgressors, yet He bore
the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors“ (see also Jesus claiming this as fulfilment
about Himself in Lk 22:37). The
amazing thing we note here is that one thief received Him and the other
rejected Him. The two thieves were equally close to Christ. Both saw what
transpired in these last 6 fateful hours. Both were sentenced to death as real criminals.
Both were suffering acutely, both were dying and both needed forgiveness. Yet
one died in his sins (as he lived), while the other called upon Christ to save Him
and inherited paradise literally at the 11th hour. The mystery of salvation!
How God chooses some, and bypasses some is a mystery, but the Lord Jesus Christ
did consistently say that no-one would come to Him unless the Father has
enabled Him (John 6:44, 65)
3. A Word of Affection:
“When Jesus saw his mother and the
disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, ‘Woman, behold
your son!’ Then he said to the disciple, ‘Behold your mother!’ And from that
hour the disciple took her to his own home.” [John
19:26, 27]. The third short sentence
from the cross relates to His mother. Oh it must have been so very hard for her
to see her Son suffer in this cruel way. We remember
the words of that old man Simeon in Lk. 2:34,35, holding her new born child, prophesying: “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising
of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed so that the thoughts from many hearts may be revealed. And (turning to
Mary), he said, “And a sword will pierce through your own soul also”. Well, here was the sword was piercing her own
soul! But what concern Jesus has for His earthly mother. Even on the cross He
is not so pre-occupied with his own pain as He is concerned that is mother is
properly taken care of. Truly, we see a pattern: Jesus is the man for others!
Let me pause for a moment and continue to trace Jesus’ sufferings
as we now come to the fourth sentence, which is really a cry!
He has been through hours of pain with intermittent partial asphyxiation,
and the pain of his lacerated back as he moves up and down against the rough timber.
Now another agony begins. A deep crushing pain develops in the chest as the
pericardium slowly fills with serum (fluid) and begins to compress the heart.
His death is near. The loss of tissue fluids has reached a critical level, the
compressed heart is struggling to pump thick sluggish blood into the tissues. The
lungs at this time only receive small amounts of air. And so follows the fear of death and forsakenness. ( W.Edwards et.al)
4. A Word of Anguish: [Matthew 27:46] “And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, saying, ‘Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani? that is ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’”. Understand, that Jesus is not crying out only because of His fear of pain and death, which is indeed a great enemy. At this time He is also reaching the full revelation of His forsakenness from the Father with whom He had only unbroken, loving fellowship. “Forsaken“, must be one of the most horrible words in human language. Imagine the forsakenness of an orphan. Imagine the forsakenness of a marriage partner in which one walks out. Imagine a rebellious child that forsakes their parents. He who knew only love and unbroken fellowship and the Father’s delight was now forsaken. He bore the full wrath of His Father’s holy anger when He bore our sins. God the Father could not look at this sin which was heaped upon is Son. He is too holy. He could not look at His beloved Son. Christ had to die alone as He bore the consequences of our sin and the “wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23). It really is all too deep for us. It is a mystery how all this could be. Pause and consider that this was for you and me!
What love!
5. A Word of Suffering:
[John 19:28] “After this,
Jesus knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), ‘I
thirst’”.
The dehydrated tissues send their stimuli to the brain! I
thirst! A sponge soaked in Posca, a cheap, sour wine, a staple
drink of the Roman legionnaires
is lifted up to Him. He receives it. Jesus can now feel the chill of
death creeping through His tissues.
This brings about the 6th and 7th statement on the
cross, which are words of Accomplishment and Committal
6. A Word of Accomplishment: [John
19:30] “When Jesus had received the
sour wine, He said ‘It is finished’, (Gr. Tetelestai!) And he bowed His head and gave up His spirit.” Finally He can allow
His body to die by voluntarily dismissing His spirit …
7. A Word of Committal: [Luke 23:46] Luke records that Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into
your hands I commit my spirit.” And
having said this, he breathed his last.
His work of atonement has been completed. The Lamb of God has
given His body and blood for sinners, so that all that would look to Him and
believe in Him would never die, but inherit eternal life.
Thank God for Good Friday
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