More has been written about Jesus’ life than any man who has ever lived. More has been written about His death than His life, yet the material is not exhausted. Writers can find no more appealing story, and readers never tire of the theme. A fascinating angle to explore is the irony these events portray as we contrast Jesus’ moral strength and perfect character with those people and events He encountered on His last day.
CHRIST, JUDGE OF ALL MEN, STOOD IN FRONT OF PILATE, A JUDGE.
He who will judge the world (Rm. 14: 10; 2 Cor. 5:10), knows what it feels like to be judged. The Prosecutor knows what it feels like to be the defendant. Pilate executed justice before he crucified Jesus. Jesus had inherent authority, and Pilate had only delegated authority (Jn. 19:11; Rm. 13:1-6). Jesus thus gave Pilate his authority and then submitted to it. Further, He submitted to abused authority. He who needed only justice did not even plead for mercy.
Jesus, the Judge, promises to be fair and merciful to His followers (2 Tim. 4:8; Heb. 2:17), something foreign at His trial. He will say, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful…enter thou into the joy of thy lord” (Mt. 25:21), to many imperfect and undeserving defendants. Even on earth, Jesus showed mercy to undeserving people (cf. Jn. 811-11). Though perfect and deserving, He heard no such words. He likely only heard, Illum duci ad crucem placet. William Barclay comments: ‘The Roman ritual of condemnation and routine of crucifixion were fixed. They did not alter. The judge said, Illum duci ad crucem placet, ‘The sentence is that this man should be taken to a cross.’ Then he turned to the guard and said, I. miles, expecli crucem. ‘Go, soldier, and prepare the cross.”‘
Jesus knows what it feels like to have a sentence of condemnation passed down. He watched Pilate deliberate and heard him condemn. He will understand the pounding of our hearts and the sweating of our palms. He wants to take the stress out of judgment by preparing us for trial. In fact, He pleads with sinners to repent and take Him as their Advocate before they have to face Him as their Judge (1 Jn. 2:1). How interesting it will be to watch Pilate come before Jesus at the judgment that really counts.
CHRIST, FRIEND OF PUBLICANS AND SINNERS, WALKED FRIENDLESS DOWN THE CALVARY ROAD.
Jesus was accused, condemned, whipped, mocked, crowned with thorns, and rejected all before breakfast! Before 9 a.m., the soldiers put Jesus’ clothes back on him and led Him out of town to “The Place of the Skull.” In this “parade,” the prisoner, usually naked, was set in the middle of a hollow square of four soldiers. The cross was laid upon his shoulders, and he was pushed along the road as he staggered to the place of crucifixion. People lined the streets and jeered the victim Jesus—weak from loss of blood, sleep/food deprivation, fluid dehydration, and emotional strain—fell beneath the cross as He marched (Jn. 19: 17; Lk. 23:26).
At this point in the story, we might expect a hundred volunteers among those He had helped during His ministry to rush to His aid, perhaps arguing over who got the privilege of helping the Master in this small way. But no one stepped forward. Simon of Cyrene, evidently a stranger, had to be compelled (made) to bear the cross after Christ. Jesus, who had always been a friend to the friendless (Lk. 7:34), walked alone to Golgotha. His disciples had fled into the night (Mt. 26:56), and now His acquaintances kept their distance in the morning.
CHRIST, WHOSE YOKE IS EASY, STRUGGLED BENEATH THE WEIGHT OF THE CROSS.
A Roman cross weighed about three hundred pounds, so prisoners were only made to carry the horizontal part (patibulum). (The vertical stipes was kept on site at Golgotha.) But even this weight of perhaps a hundred pounds was too much for Jesus in His weakened condition. It is interesting that Jesus struggled with that burden. He who made the world (Jn. 1:10) and holds it together by “the word of his power” (Heb. 1:3) struggled to carry a tiny part of it. He whose curse withered a live fig tree (Mt, 21:19), withered beneath Calvary’s dead tree. This points to His humanity—He set aside divine strength to die as a man.
Consider this struggle beneath this weight in light of His famous invitation to sinners: “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you…and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Mt. 1 When Jesus saw us straining under the “patibulum” of sin, He offered to take it from our shoulders and put it on His own. In fact, He did exactly that as He walked in this shameful parade down “death row.” He carried His cross that we might not have to carry ours. He became “…sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Cor. 5:21). The burden lifter became the burden bearer (1 Cor. 5:7).
CHRIST, WHO BROUGHT JOY TO THE WORLD, WAS FOLLOWED BY WEEPING WOMEN.
Jesus is pictured as a happy person who generally “rejoiced in spirit” (Lk. 10:21). He took children into His arms (Mk. 9:36), attended weddings and happy Jewish festivals (Jn. 2; Mt. 26:17), and feasted with both poor and rich (Mk. 2:16; Lk. 7). He brightened whatever corner of Palestine He visited. Parents thrilled to have Him hold their babies (Mt. 19:13). Hopeless sinners went away from Him thinking that tomorrow was a new day (Mk. 12:37). The lame walked away from Him (Mt. 11:5), the deaf got to hear His sermons (Mt. 15:30), the blind saw His face (Mk. 10:52), the sick got out of bed to wait on Him (Mt. 8:14, 15), and grieving parents had dead children restored to them (Mt. 5:41; Lk. 7:22). An embarrassed woman had her dignity restored (Jn. 8); a short, hated tax-collector had the King stay at his house (Lk. 19); and cast-out lepers no longer needed dermatologists when touched by His hands (Mt. 8:3). Think Of all the happiness Jesus brought to earth!
Now contrast these scenes with the one on the Via Dolorosa1, the first and worst “trail of tears.” Tender-hearted women cried in the cross’s wake (Lk. 23:26-31). They were bewildered, heartbroken, drenched in sorrow. They loved Jesus so much that they could not leave Him, although each glance at His mutilated body cut them in the quick of their hearts. Jesus did not tell them to “quit crying” (as many men would have), but, remarkably, told them to weep—only not for Him, but for themselves! Why? Because in A.D. 70, Rome would terrorize their nation. His thoughts are more with their pain, yet forty years away than with His own in the immediate future! Do not miss the irony in the fact that He who came to planet earth to bring happiness became a “man of sorrows” and left it “acquainted with grief’ (Isa. 53:3).
CHRIST, THE GLAD TIDINGS OF GOOD THINGS, TRAILED BEHIND AN ACCUSING PLACARD.
Jesus’ favorite greeting was, “Be of good cheer!” (Mt. 9:2; 14:27; Mk. 6:50; Jn. 16:33). Wherever He went, the Gospel (Good News) spread. He spoke more encouraging words, with more positive results, than any before or since. It is interesting, then, to consider what was not said the day He died. Of all the words that could have been used of the Word (Jn. 1:14), no formal, flowery, funeral speech was made; no careful obituary was penned; no long write-up was published and circulated; and no memorable saying was etched into His tomb marker. The only words used—”the King of the Jews” (Mk. 15:21)—were those scratched by some soldier on a rough board and nailed over His head.
CHRIST, THE HOLY SON OF GOD, RUBBED ELBOWS WITH TWO THIEVES.
Crucifying Jesus between two known criminals was deliberately staged to humiliate Jesus. He who was purer than angels (Heb. 1:4) and as holy as God (Jn. 10:30; Mk. 1:24; Acts 2:27) was put between two judged as unfit to live among fellow humans. He who never once sinned (Heb. 4: 15) was joined to men who sinned so often, and to such a degree, that their fellow sinners executed them. He who never once said a curse or cross word died with His ears full of the profane curses of one who prostituted his God-given tongue with both (Lk. 23:39). He whose saliva had been used to heal (Mk. 7:33; 8:23), died with the dried spit of His enemies on His face (Mt. 26:67; 27:30). He who gave away everything He ever had died between men who took what did not belong to them (Mk. 15:27). He who was “…holy, harmless, undefiled” had those who were corrupt, dangerous, and tainted as His closest companions in His most passionate moments. He who was “separate from sinners” and who was “made higher than the heavens” died with those who were of the scum of the earth (phrases taken from Hebrews 7:26). What a contradiction that the holy Son of God should die with the corrupt sons of men!
What a trip it was for Jesus from Pilate’s courtroom to God’s throne room via a gate marked death!
1”the sorrowful way,” the road between Pilate’s headquarters and Calvary.
