Chapter
Nine - Crucifixion and Resurrection
Read
Matthew 27; Mark 15; Luke 23; John 18 &19
We begin this chapter by answering
one of the frequently asked questions in studying about Jesus. Did He know what
lay ahead of Him at the end of His ministry and when did He know it. Suffice it
to say that we have quite a few scriptural references that indicate that Jesus
did in fact know that His death was coming. Matthew’s Gospel account indicates
that He would be crucified. Now the real question is when He knew it. In
Matthew, Mark and Luke, Jesus speaks of His death towards the end of His
ministry as they begin to move toward Jerusalem. Prior to that His ministry has
been in and around Galilee. But now He makes a move toward the center of their
faith life, the Temple in Jerusalem. Surely at this point the Disciples are
well aware of the controversy their leader has stirred up and more than likely
are aware of the consequences of that if Jesus follows through with His plan to
go to Jerusalem. More than likely Jesus is letting the Disciples know what
awaits Him there so that they can be warned about the end. It is during these
discussions that Judas begins to focus on forcing Jesus hand to be the Messiah
Judas believes Him to be.
John’s Gospel on the other hand
indicates that Jesus knows what is coming long before the end of His ministry.
In fact in John 2: 19 we hear these words; NRS John 2:19 Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will
raise it up." Now we know that in John’s Gospel Jesus visits Jerusalem twice, at the
beginning of His ministry following the miracle of the water and wine in Cana
and then at the end in the Passion narrative. Now this raises the more correct
question, not when did He know it but what do the Gospel narratives want us to
know. John clearly from the beginning is focusing on the divinity of Jesus, that
He is God and in fact controls the whole ministry until His death on the cross.
We are going to explore this more in the next chapter. Matthew, Mark and Luke’s
Gospel accounts focus more in the humanity of Jesus, His teachings, miracles
and movement toward atonement for the world. Truth is we may never know when He
knew what awaited Him in Jerusalem. Does it really matter? No, in fact, that He
knew makes His decision to go that much more full of Grace.
Having read the passion
narratives in the four Gospel accounts, we have a picture of sacrifice and
love. Modern day scientists and scholars have been focusing on this story and
the reality of the savagery of it. Crucifixion appears first to the Persians and
is used throughout history to the Romans as a means of death. Most often it was
used to kill prisoners who had committed heinous or political crimes. It was
used by the Romans as a way of persuading folks to stay in line with the order
of the day. I have read recently where scientists have identified four types of
crucifixion methods including the “T” we are familiar with but also
“Crucifixion Simple” in the form of an “X” which seems to be gaining steam as
the potential way Christ was crucified. Before He gets to Golgotha He is
brutally beaten and scourged. Scourging was in itself a death sentence for most
prisoners, the idea of being whipped with a whip that had barbed ends to rip
the skin off those who were being punished would likely have killed any other
person. The Passion, a movie in 2004, directed by Mel Gibson, depicts this
difficult and agonizing last moments of Jesus. Many have said the graphics are
over the top. But maybe we have watered it down so that it appeases our sense
rather than understanding what He actually went through. But in the end we know
that He endured all of this for us. To be accused while He had committed no
crime, to be punished severely even though He had hurt no-one and then to be
put to death and yet He had not sinned.
So
why did He do it? The simple answer is for you and me. The death and resurrection of Jesus is
the single most pivotal moment in the history of the world. That was the
pivotal moment when Christ won the victory over death and took dominion of the
world from Satan through his descent into hell and rising from the dead.
“Indeed, because of Christ, all persons stand before the possibility of a new
relationship to God, whether they recognize and acknowledge it or not.”[i] From scripture we
recognize that Jesus, in this resurrected form was physical with divine
capabilities, he could eat and yet walk through walls. Paul through scripture
reminds us that our sin which leads to death comes from Adam and yet through
the resurrection of Jesus we are made whole.
But the longer answer begins by looking
back in history to understand the covenant relationships that God had with the
Israelites. God had created a series of instructions for the people of Israel
about atonement for sin and sacrifice. In those instructions found in Leviticus
and Deuteronomy, God has laid down the way in which sin is atoned for
humankind. God makes covenants and even though human beings have continually
broken them, the covenants and the methods by which covenants are kept is
intact. Sin must be atoned though the sacrifice of a living lamb or other
animal and the blood of that sacrifice offered up to God. From these early
understandings of sacrifice we come now to the beginning if you will of the
true atonement story. Jesus becomes the personification of the Passover Lamb.
When John the Baptizer in John’s Gospel sees Jesus coming down to the river
Jordan, he calls out “Here comes the Lamb of God’. The significance of that can
be found in the Passover story, a story central to the Hebrew faith and I would
suggest the Christian faith. In that story found in Exodus 12, we see that God
tells the people of Israel to sacrifice an unblemished lamb and to take the
blood of that lamb, place it on the doorways and entranceways to their homes.
That night as God brings death to the surrounding Egyptians, the people whose
doorways are marked are passed over into life.
We know that sin leads to death, spiritual
death, the place where we spend eternity in the absence of God. Now God did not
create sin or evil and because God is pure cannot tolerate sin or evil, it is a
condition of the world brought about by the unwavering love of God. How can
this be? God’s love is such that we have a choice whether to love God back.
That is true unconditional love. But as a consequence, angels and humans have
turned away from God when given that choice and that turning away brings sin
and evil into the world. That inherent nature that lies deep within our very
beings is not something that we can make go away. Only God could do that!
Therefore, since God had established that atonement for sin meant sacrifice and
God chooses to atone for our sins, the death of God in human form, Jesus, was
in a since preordained the moment Adam broke the one rule he was given. Jesus
came here ultimately for this very moment. His teaching and miracles were to
proclaim to the world who He is so that we might understand the sacrifice and
make the connection to Passover.
So here we are. Jesus goes
to the cross knowing full well what it means. I wonder often if He truly
understood what the pain and suffering would be like even though I believe He
fully knew it was coming. Jesus went to the cross to lay down His life for the
rest of us. That the pain of original sin would finally be laid to rest and the
path back to God would be available. But that is only part of the story. We
understand that through the power of resurrection that death no longer has a
hold on us. What happened from the moment of death on the cross to the moment
of resurrection and an empty tomb shall forever remain a mystery to us. But
what we do know is that through the power of that resurrection, Jesus now
claims us as His own. Our eternal lives have opportunity and promise. In place
of darkness and existing in a place where God’s presence is no longer felt, we
have the opportunity to sit at the table of God forever. The resurrection of
Jesus has shaken the world order and turned it upside down.
NRS John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that
everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
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