already & not yet

While hanging on the cross, fully naked, Jesus was mocked by people heading into the city — for the site of the crucifixion was beside a main road leading into Jerusalem. The chief priests, scribes, the Roman soldiers, His fellow convicts, and people passing by — they all mocked Him. And one thing they kept saying was, Come down off the cross! You saved others. Can you not save yourself? Prove that you’re the Messiah! We have to wonder if this was Satan’s last attack on Jesus, tempting Him to use His Messianic power to save Himself.

Luke tells us that darkness covered the entire land for three full hours from noon to 3pm. These hours of darkness represented the cup that Jesus had prayed would pass from Him. But in the end He prayed, Not my will, but yours be done. Jesus willfully chose to enter into our suffering.

He cried out, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? He quotes from Psalm 22, a lament Psalm from David who cries out in a moment of anguish. And this experience must have been unlike anything anyone else has ever experienced, for Jesus absorbed into Himself the full weight of our sin. And yet, as with Psalm 22, there is a faithfulness embedded in this cry. Even claiming forsakenness can be done faithfully when one’s cry is directed heavenward toward God the Father. And this is what Jesus does. Even in His last moments, with His life ebbing away, He shows us the way of faithfulness.

Jesus said, It is finished. The language carries the meaning of “paid in full.” Last week we noted that everything about the ministry of Jesus reflects the Kingdom of God. So how does His death on the cross reflect the Kingdom? His death is an act of self-giving sacrificial love. And this kind of love is the hallmark of the Kingdom of God.

The New Testament makes it clear that the death of Jesus corresponds to the death of the Passover Lamb. There are two parts to this: the shedding of the blood and the application of the blood. If the Jewish people had merely shed the blood of the lamb, they would not have been delivered from Egyptian bondage. This work was effected through the application of the blood. The Jewish people were commanded to apply the blood on the doorposts as an act of faith. And in this trusting action, they experienced salvation.

Jesus died a similar death — the death of the Lamb of God. With the shedding of His blood, He has made salvation possible. This is why He said It is finished. But just as with the lamb in Egypt, the mere shedding of blood is only one part. There must also be the application of the blood. Only those who personally apply the blood will receive the salvation it secures. The way the blood is applied is through an act of faith — through putting one’s trust in Jesus as the Messiah and the Savior. It comes through believing that He died for our sins, that He was buried, and that He rose again. This act of faith culminates in baptism — where we bodily identify with the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus as we are immersed into His story.

In the name of Jesus Christ, the Sovereign Lord who makes all things new, he who has ears, let him hear.

Pilate then had Jesus flogged. The Jews had exact rules regarding this form of punishment. According to Deuteronomy 25, no one could be lashed more than forty times. So they typically flogged people up to 39 times. But Jesus was flogged by the Romans, not the Jews. And the Romans operated according to more grisly protocol.

Under Roman law, the number of times a person could be scourged was limitless. Roman flogging was so severe that people often died from this beating alone. The victim was usually stripped and tied to a post. The Roman whip had long leather lashes which could wrap around the whole body. At the end of each lash was a piece of metal, glass, or bone. After only a few applications of the whip, the victim’s skin was ripped away and muscle was exposed. Romans were especially fond of scourging the face. By the time a Roman flogging was over, often even family members could no longer recognize the victim. So His face was probably a bloody mass which would fulfill Isaiah 52:14, his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance.

Pilate had a reason for the severity of the flogging. He was hoping to present Jesus to the crowd once again in the hopes that such a severe flogging would suffice their bloodlust. To top it off, the soldiers put a crown of thorns on his head as a way of mocking him. The symbolism is important here. Thorns were part of the curse of Adam from Genesis 3:17-18, Cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you. Therefore, through His suffering, Jesus bears upon himself the curse of Adam, the curse of all humanity.

When Jesus was presented to the crowd again, Pilate said, Behold your King! But the people said, We have no king but Caesar! And they called for His crucifixion yet again. Finally Pilate relented and handed Him over to be crucified.

On the first day of Passover, when the special Passover sacrifice was offered up, many Jews came into the city to observe. Apparently Simon of Cyrene was one such person who was in the city for this holy festival. But Jesus was so battered from his flogging that He could not carry His own cross. So Simon was enlisted to carry the cross to Golgotha, which is the Aramaic name for the hill of crucifixion. In Latin, this word is translated as “Calvarie,” from which we get the same English word.

The soldiers offered Him wine mingled with myrrh and gall. This was often given to convicts just before nailing them to the cross in order to help numb some of the pain. But Jesus refused. As one scholar says, “He needed full control of His senses for the spiritual warfare He was about to fight on the cross.”

He was crucified at 9am on the first day of Passover, the same time that the priests offered up the special Passover sacrifice inside the city. In Roman crucifixion, the nails were almost always driven through the wrists, then the heels. The idea was to force the victim to pull himself up in order to take a deep breath. Many victims of crucifixion eventually suffocated as their energy wore out.

The first thing Jesus said from the cross was this: Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. Words of grace, even as His blood was being shed.

Under Roman law, the Jewish leaders could not put anyone to death, so at daybreak the religious leaders sent Jesus to Pilate. Pilate was known for his cruelty. In fact, it was his cruelty that led to his downfall. His career ended after he massacred a group of Samaritans at Mount Gerazim and he was summoned back to Rome a few years after this episode. But cruel Pilate routinely declares Jesus to be innocent in the Gospels.

The religious leaders claimed that Jesus was guilty of sedition, so Pilate asked Him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus replied by saying, My kingdom is not of this world. The kingdom of God does not originate nor operate in the same manner as the kingdoms of earth.

Based upon this, Pilate declared that Jesus was innocent. As far as he was concerned, Jesus was no threat to Rome. But the chief priests persisted in their allegations, saying, He stirs up the people, teaching throughout all Judea, from Galilee even to this place (Luke 23:5). When they mentioned that Jesus was from Galilee, it gave Pilate a way out. Pilate controlled Samaria and Judea, but Galilee was under the jurisdiction of Herod Antipas, who was also in Jerusalem for the feast. So Pilate sent Jesus over to Herod.

According to the Gospel account, Herod had been wanting to see Jesus for a long time. But not because He had any interest in the Kingdom of God. Rather, Herod hoped to see Jesus perform some miracle that he might be entertained. But Jesus refused; miracles serve a purpose other than entertainment. So when Herod grew bored, he and his soldiers began to mock Jesus before sending Him back to Pilate. And Luke tells us that Herod and Pilate struck up a friendship that day. Prior to this, there had been hospitality between them. Herod had complained about Pilate to the Roman Senate on one occasion and that was the source of the bad blood between them. But on this day, Pilate recognized Herod’s authority, which seemingly pleased Herod — and thus they became friends. Even in his death, Jesus unites those who are natural enemies.

Both Pilate and Herod declared Jesus to be innocent. But the chief priests persisted yet again, this time stirring up the crowd. Trying to resolve this problem more peacefully, Pilate offered the people a choice. The Roman authorities would release one Jewish prisoner as a gesture of goodwill. Besides Jesus, another man was in custody. His name was Barabbas. According to the Gospels, he led an insurrection; so he was actually guilty of the crime of which Jesus was accused. He was also a murderer and a robber — so he had quite the rap sheet.

Interestingly, “Barabbas” means “son of Abba.” The Gospels do not give his actual name, probably to avoid confusing us. That’s because other sources claim that his name was also Jesus (or Yeshua in Hebrew). So here are these two men who share the same name; one was guilty of sedition, the other was accused of the same crime but was innocent. The one who was guilty walked away free, while the one who was innocent suffered in his place. And Barabbas stands for each one of us, too; for as Isaiah says, we are all like sheep who have gone astray. Jesus takes our place.

The members of the Sanhedrin bribed Judas with thirty pieces of silver to betray Jesus. They needed Judas to show them where Jesus was staying, so they could arrest him in secret. They also needed Judas as a witness to testify against Jesus, but he committed suicide before this could happen.

The Bible tells us that Judas was given a cohort of soldiers. According to Roman law, a cohort could not be dispatched to make an arrest until someone appeared before the governor to accuse someone of a crime punishable under Roman law. This means that when he left the Passover meal, Judas not only went to the chief priests; he also went before Pilate to accuse Jesus. This explains why Pilate was dressed and ready to conduct the trial in the early hours of the morning. He anticipated this because he had already released the cohort to make the arrest.

A Roman cohort consisted of several hundred soldiers. According to the Gospel accounts, this cohort was joined by the captains of the temple — basically, the temple police — members of the Sanhedrin, and the servant of the high priest. John tells us that this servant’s name was Malchus.

When this posse arrives to arrest Jesus, Simon Peter decides to take action. It really is an act of great faith by Simon, even if it misses the point. On one side you have hundreds of Roman soldiers, temple guards, and many others carrying torches and weapons. And on the other side, you have Simon Peter with his one sword. But Simon is ready to take them on; he draws his sword and cuts off Malchus’s right ear. But Jesus rebukes Simon Peter; and with a touch, He miraculously heals Malchus. Even in this critical moment, Jesus heals someone who actually stands against Him. He loves His enemies, even to the very end.

These arresting forces take Jesus to Annas, the father-in-law of Caiphas, the high priest. Annas had served as high priest about twenty years earlier but he retained control of the priesthood because he was succeeded by several of his sons; his son-in-law; and later on, his grandson. He was the head of what the Pharisees referred to as “the Bazaar of the Sons of Annas,” a money-changing and sacrifice-selling business. Annas was sort of like “The Godfather” of the Temple in those days. He and his family were greatly feared; they controlled everything that happened in the Temple; and, best of all, they received a cut of all the action.

Why would they take Jesus to Annas first? Because he had a grudge against Jesus. Remember earlier in the week, Jesus went to the Temple and drove out the money-changers and poured out the coins and drove out the animals being sold for sacrifices. Those money-changers were Annas’s underlings. The tables he overturned belonged to Annas. More importantly, the money lost on that day came directly out of Annas’s pocket. Luke says that on the heels of this, the chief priests (the Sadducees) and the scribes (the Pharisees) and the principal men of the people (that’s Annas and his cronies) were seeking to destroy Jesus (Luke 19:47).

By going immediately to Annas, they begin Jesus’s religious trial. But doing so at night and in secret violated the Sanhedrin’s law, which signals what a sham trial this is going to be. The religious leaders presented one false witness after another, trying to find two that could agree. But one by one, their testimonies were disqualified. Mark 14:56, For many bore false witness against him, but their testimony did not agree.

All of this seems to frustrate Caiphas, the high priest. He asked Jesus, Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you? (Matt. 26:62) But Jesus remained silent. Legally, He was not obligated to answer, because asking Him to speak when they failed to produce reliable witnesses was a violation of their own regulations. Yet all of this further exasperates Caiphas, so he says, I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God (Matt. 26:63). In a Jewish court of law, the phrase, “I adjure you,” is a way of putting someone under oath, which obligated the adjured to answer. In Mark’s Gospel, Jesus responds to the question by saying, I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven (Mark 14:62).

This is where the lawlessness of the “law crowd” really shows. Caiphas rips his garments, something he was forbidden to do except when someone blasphemed the name of God; yet Jesus did not do this. Furthermore, Caiphas initiated the charge of blasphemy, which also violated Sanhedrin regulations. They broke yet another of their laws by announcing the guilty verdict on the same day as the trial. Mark 14:64, And they all condemned him as deserving death. This decision was unanimous, which should have proven the innocence of Jesus.

Mark 14:65, Then some began to spit at him; they blindfolded him, struck him with their fists, and said, “Prophesy!” And the guards took him and beat him. According to their own law, judges were to be kind and humane. Their own law also stated that a person condemned to death was not to be scourged or beaten beforehand. But these restrictions were completely ignored. To hit someone with the fist was punishable by a fine of four days wages. To slap someone with the palm of the hand was even more insulting, punishable by a fine of two hundred days wages. Worst still was to spit in someone’s face; this was punishable by a fine of four hundred days wages. More than a year’s salary is what it would cost you to spit in someone’s face. Yet no one was fined on this night.