“At the place called Golgotha (the Skull), There they crucified Jesus.” (John 19:18)
The description of the most significant death in human history is expressed in essentially brief words: “There they crucified Him.”
The event is based on eyewitness testimony. The entire account is inspired by God Himself who hung on that cross. At best, the description of it is restrained, even in its brutality, a restraint that is both purposeful and perfect.
THE CROSS OF JESUS CHRIST IS A ONCE-FOR-ALL-TIME SUBSTITUTION OF THE SON OF GOD IN MY PLACE.
On THE CROSS, God treated Jesus as if He lived my sinful, self-centered life so that God might treat me forever as if I had lived the perfect loving life of Jesus.
There is a danger that we become so familiar with the churchy words that we treat the cross as some history lesson or religious relic. The cross means much more than just salvation from hell and the hope of heaven, as wonderful as that is.
THE CROSS OF CHRIST IS THE VERY POWER OF GOD TO CHANGE EVERYTHING IN YOUR LIFE.
When Christ died on the cross for sinners, he not only stood in my place, doing what I never could do (which is forgive my sins), but he also empowered me to execute my self-centered life to live a new Christ-centered life. “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23).
Jesus lives in me to lead me to others He intends to love first and love most through me.
Too often, we are in danger of trivializing the historical events that changed our lives for all of eternity.
The #1 Textbook describes Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God, the King of Glory who came to this earth on a mission to save us. Jesus did it willingly, not weakly, “I willingly lay down My life…I came to give My life a ransom for many.”
In the Garden of Gethsemane, the night before He was to be crucified, Jesus went face to face with hell, our hell, so that we might live face to face in His heaven.
“There they crucified Jesus.”
The King of kings was treated as if He had no authority.
They spit upon Him, blindfolded Him, and began to hit Him with their fists. Then Jesus was scourged and whipped.
“There they crucified Jesus.”
The Giver of Life was treated as if He were worthy of death.
The enormous crowd led by the religious leaders shouted for Governor Pilate to execute Jesus, “Crucify Him. Crucify Him.”
“There they crucified Jesus.”
The Humble Servant was treated as if He were the King of Nothing.
The Roman soldiers prepared Jesus for crucifixion by staging a mock coronation for a pretended king. A scarlet war robe, a crown of thorns, and a reed for a scepter were used as punishment pieces. Each one of the six hundred soldiers bowed down in mock adoration with the fake praise, “Hail, King of the Jews!” Each rose and spit in His face.
“There they crucified Jesus.”
The Glory of Heaven was led like a lamb to the slaughter (v. 20).
“There they crucified Jesus.”
The innocent Jesus was treated like a condemned criminal deserves to be treated.
He was placed between two thieves, most likely terrorists (v.22).
“There they crucified Jesus.”
The Gentle One suffered the most excruciating torture beyond human comprehension.
Crucifixion was considered the cruelest most painful and most degrading forms of punishment ever conceived by humans, even in the eyes of the pagan world. The historian of that time, Josephus noted crucifixion as the most wretched of all ways of dying. Every breath was based on the worth of the effort to delay the inevitable.
“There they crucified Jesus.”
The Almighty God was treated as if He were powerless.
“There they crucified Jesus.”
The King of Glory was treated with humiliating nakedness.
“There they crucified Jesus.”
The Creator of everything was treated as if He possessed nothing (v. 24).
The Roman soldiers rolled dice to claim His clothing.
“There they crucified Jesus.”
The eternal God was treated as if He were running out of time.
It was 9 AM (the third hour of a Jewish morning) when they crucified Jesus (v. 25). At noon, the skies darkened until 3 PM when Jesus cried out and gave up His life after hanging on a cross for six hours.
“There they crucified Jesus.”
The Name above every name was treated as if His name meant nothing.
They gave Jesus the sarcastic inscription, ““This is Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews” (v. 26). This world considered it a name that was worthless, but it’s the name that’s above every name…”that at the name of Jesus, that every knee would bow and every tongue would confess that He’s the King of kings and the Lord of lords, to the glory of God the Father.”
“There they crucified Jesus.”
The Savior of the world was treated as if He had nothing of worth to give.
The haters said that He could not even save Himself.
“There they crucified Jesus.”
Jesus was treated as if He had lived your life.
There is a spiritual reality behind all these historical facts.
There was a DIVINE TRANSACTION and a DIVINE TRANSFORMATION.
Romans 5:8, “God demonstrated His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
1 Peter 2:24, “Jesus Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross.”
1 Peter 3:18. “Christ died for sins once for all, the just”—the innocent one— “for the unjust”—the guilty ones— “in order that He might bring us to God” spiritually alive.
“There they crucified Jesus.”
God now treats you as if you had lived the perfect loving life of Jesus.
Our death is His. His life is ours.
John 3: 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only beloved Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.
Here is the application.
JESUS IS THE ONLY THING/PERSON WHO CAN CHANGE YOU.
This would be a great day to ask God to engage your heart in the things that really matter, not only in life but eternity.
Every relationship, every problem, every difficulty you have is resolved by you being changed. And the only place to be changed is at the cross. But note: If this story is so familiar that it does not affect you, then all it will be is just another day of information for your trash file.
All the problems you have in life, all the broken or difficult relationships you have in life, are solved by going to the cross again and again and seeing the love of God shed for you in dying in your place, treating you as if you had lived Jesus’ life, and taking that love and using it to love others first and love them most.
Love your spouse, your family, the needy, the poor, the neighborhood, the nations.
Spurgeon said this: “Jesus looked down at the people he was dying for, some cringing like cowards, some snarling like dogs, all clueless and blind to what He was doing. And in the greatest act of human history, He stayed on the cross.”
“There they crucified Jesus.”
Has it ever changed your life? Is it changing you today?
I GAVE JESUS MY LIFE AND JESUS GAVE ME HIS LIFE TO LIVE INSIDE ME TO LEAD ME TO OTHERS HE INTENDS TO LOVE THROUGH ME.
To anybody here who does not know Jesus, you can ask Jesus to be your God and your Savior—right now, right where you are. It will change everything. The weight of your sin will be forever removed, and God will make you spiritually alive.
Jesus will come to live inside of you so that He might lead you to others He intends to love first and most through you.
Love first. Love most. Make your relationships better. Do not be spiritually asleep or spiritually apathetic or spiritually tired.
BE SPIRITUALLY AWED BY A GOD WHO WOULD HANG ON A CROSS IN ORDER TO BRING US WITH HIM TO THE HIGHEST PLACE OF HONOR, HAPPINESS, AND HARMONY IN ORDER TO MAKE US LIKE HIM AS WE DANCE IN THE CIRCLE OF HIS LIMITLESS LOVE, INFINITE GOODNESS, AND INEXHAUSTIBLE JOY.
The FACE of Christ at the PLACE of the cross is the deepest, highest, clearest revelation of God in history.
There is no other place where you can see God more clearly or love Him more dearly.
Here is the PLACE & FACE where the worth of God and His love for you are most fully magnified.
THE CROSS OF JESUS CHRIST IS A ONCE-FOR-ALL-TIME SUBSTITUTION OF THE SON OF GOD IN MY PLACE which secured a new life of being with Christ and being made like Christ.
“There they crucified Jesus.”
Jesus continuously gives everything He is to you. Give Him everything you are again today.
LOVE FIRST...LOVE MOST 