Sunday, September 21, 2008

The Crucifixion

John 19:16b-37

So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). Here they crucified him, and with him two others—one on each side and Jesus in the middle. Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS. Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek. The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, "Do not write ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews." Pilate answered, "What I have written, I have written." When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom. "Let’s not tear it," they said to one another. "Let’s decide by lot who will get it." This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled which said,
"They divided my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing." So this is what the soldiers did.


Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, "Dear woman, here is your son," and to the disciple, "Here is your mother." From that time on, this disciple took her into his home. Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, "I am thirsty." A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. When he had received the drink, Jesus said, "It is finished." With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jews did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe. These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: "Not one of his bones will be broken," and, as another scripture says, "They will look on the one they have pierced."

What strikes you about this passage and its broader context of chapters 18 &19?

How would you characterize the attitude/thinking of Jesus during his trial and execution?

10 comments:

Allen said...

How are you?

Allen said...

How can we live sloppy, apathetic lives when we see what Jesus did for us?

The cross provides amazing motivation for living right. Right?

Anonymous said...

I always think of the trip through down with the cross weight bareing down on his raw, bruised shoulders before i ever even think about hanging there. this to me is like our lives when we have tough times and feel beat down or that we cant make it, unloved or what ever. what an effort he put forth before ever getting to the point of dying for our sins. yes, it would seem the whole idea or picture of the cross should provide amazing motivation!
however, i think we (society) see it as merely an icon now; a shape repeated in jewelry, tatoos, cute little vehicle tags or an add on to your email or a stamp on your checks.
rr

Anonymous said...

I can't stand to think about or picture in my mind or watch on tv what Jesus went through. It just hurts too much. Knowing it is enough, I don't want graphics.

What means a lot to me is relating what we all go through on a day to day basis that Jesus went through too. Like being misunderstood, being set up, being scorned and made fun of etc. It just makes me feel so close to Him knowing He knows what we're going through and if no one else understands, at least He does.

Annette

Allen said...

Good comments!

Here is a question for you:

How many women are at the cross?

Allen said...

The NIV makes it 4, right? The original language is not so clear.

It probably is four, and some believe that "his mother's sister" is the Salome of Mark 15.40, which may be the same person described in Matthew 27.56 as "the mother of the sons of Zebedee."

Just kinda interesting, at least it is to me... ha ha ha

Allen said...

Just outside of Ephesus, high on a high (small mountain really) there is a little Catholic church. This is supposedly where Mary the mother of Jesus lived out here life. Legend says that John came to Ephesus and brought Mary with him. Makes good sense.

I visited this place on a Sunday morning, and an American nun was leading a handful of worshippers in a few songs, unaccompanied. It was beautiful.

Allen said...

OK, now go back to work. Or SAY SOMETHING! ha ha

Anonymous said...

It's very interesting Allen. Discussing the details and little things takes it from story form to real life. I miss our classes. Tell everyone I said hi.

Annette

Anonymous said...

been thinking about this scripture and story. here is a little story from my life to go along with this.
i have this mutt puppy that i love very much. he is a pitbull mix named oscar. my baby and big baby at that. back in early march he had been in his kennel all day and i let him out to run. as a puppy he was doing puppy things. running around crazy jumping etc. in the process he ran into the woods where i had an old lumber pile. when doing so he flipped over a board with some nails. i saw the nails and stepped to pick him up before he got hurt. however, i slipped on the wet leaves and instead put my foot on the nails. two 16d nails ran through my foot to the point that i had to stand on the board with my other foot to get the nails out of my foot. painful is an understatement.
reminds me of this though. i am a "mutt" just like my puppy and jesus loves me just like i love him. i was suffered the pain of the nails so he wouldnt have too just like jesus suffered the pain for me. i would do it again to keep him from being hurt and so would jesus.
it makes me feel so loved and special because jesus did that for me and from my experience with the nails, i can not imagine the extent of the pain that he went through. he did it because he loved me and to keep me from suffering, just like i did for my pup.
even though i am mutt just like my pup, i feel like i have the highest pedigree
rr