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Thoughts from the Thicket San Jacinto Newstimes - March 2008 By Dr. Don Shannon The exact place where Jesus was crucified is to this day a point of contention among various Christian groups. In the New Testament we are told that it was outside the city walls, but the exact location of the walls surrounding Jerusalem 20 centuries ago is not certain. At any rate, the hill, called Golgotha in the Hebrew tongue and Calvary in the Latin, had undoubtedly been the site of other crucifixions. This may account for its designation as “the place of the skull.” The cross is said to have been the most painful form of execution ever devised. With the arms outstretched and the hands nailed to the horizontal beam, the victim’s body lay along the vertical post with the feet nailed to it. The cross was then lifted and dropped into a hole, the force of which caused the nails to tear against the flesh, leaving the condemned to hang in agony until death ensued. The ordeal for Jesus lasted about six hours, from mid-morning to mid- afternoon. However, the pain He felt was not only physical, but emotional as well. In Luke’s gospel we read how He was taunted by those who stood by watching his anguish, some of them saying, “He saved others; let him save himself if he really is the Christ.” The insinuation that He could not save himself because He was not the Christ was shortsighted. The reality was that He could not save himself because He was the Christ. Jesus could not save himself and also become the Savior of the world. To be the Christ meant that Jesus must die as the sacrifice for the sins of the world. Without the shedding of His blood, Jesus could not fulfill his messianic mission, and there could be no forgiveness of sin. Jesus was crucified that day between two felons who, unlike him, had been justly accused and convicted of their crimes. According to the laws of the day, they were getting what they deserved. As the three men hung from their crosses, they shared a brief exchange of words. Their words have been recorded for us in Luke 23:39-43. The first remarks came from a persistent blasphemer. “Are you not the Christ?” he taunted. “Well then, save yourself and us!” (verse 39). Someone has referred to his remarks as “partisan condemnation coupled with personal consideration,” “Partisan condemnation” in that his remarks were not his alone. He was repeating what he had heard from the crowd, but in doing so, he did not ignore his own plight. To his words of “partisan condemnation” he added these words of personal consideration, “Save yourself and us!” How often do you find yourself casting your lot with the crowd, hoping to somehow better your own situation? Many have chosen to go along with the crowd, only to find when it is too late, that they really didn’t want to go where the crowd took them. In II Corinthians 6:17 Paul reminds us of the Lord’s words, “Come out from among them, and be you separate.” Second, there were heard the words of a penitent dreamer. “Do you not even fear God,” he cried out to the blasphemer, “since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?” (verses 40-42). These are the words of truthful confession and faithful contemplation. First, there was the question of God’s judgment, “Don’t you fear God, since you too are about to stand before Him?” Second, there are words of truthful confession, “We are getting just what we deserve.” Having confessed his sins, he uttered words of faithful contemplation, and this is why I call him a penitent dreamer. He turned in belief to Christ and said, as if dreaming of a time beyond the pain and agony he was feeling, “Jesus, remember me when You come into your kingdom!” The fulfillment of that dream was closer than he could have ever imagined. Then, from that hill came the words of a Redeemer. In response to the penitent thief’s request to be remembered, Jesus said, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise” (verse43). These were words of surprising confirmation that the thief’s desire would be fulfilled on the basis of his confession of sin and profession of faith in Christ. Soon the pain and sorrow would all be gone as his spirit would leave the body behind to take its place in glory. Finally, there came from Jesus these words of supreme culmination, “Father, into your hands I commit My spirit” (verse 46). In John’s gospel (19:30) it is said that Jesus then said, “It is finished.” Having uttered these words, Jesus bowed His head and breathed His last. This was the supreme culmination of God’s plan and the prelude to His glorious resurrection. Jesus had done what He came to do. It was finished. He who knew no sin had been made to be sin for us. As Peter would later say, “Christ…died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, in order that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit” (I Peter 3:18).
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