Then Pilate asked Him, saying, "Are you the King of the Jews?" He answered him said, "It is as you say".
Luke 23: 3 NKJV
I remember watching the film The Passion of the Christ with a few church friends when it first was released some years ago. honestly, my very first reaction to this film was one of shock and horror. I had read scripture upon scripture of the persecutions of Jesus, but I had never seen with my own eyes what it must have been like back in the day. The fact that I knew that Jesus was a innocent man carried no weight in His death on that cross. Those that held His life in the balance haggled over His fate. Now, knowing what I know now, I would have voted for Jesus to die on that cross as well. Why? Because Jesus took my sin upon Himself that I would be saved {2 Corinthians 5:21}. Of course, none of those who were presiding over the fate of Jesus that day even knew that He must die for others to live. Jesus knew His fate. He predicted it more than a few times to His own disciples. Yet to see the punishment dealt upon Him was too much for me. To see the pain and anguish He must have endured was painful to watch. Yet, in a sense, I had been a front row participant in the death of Jesus on that cross. The apostle Paul explains to us in Galatians that he himself had been "Crucified with Christ." This was Paul's explanation of Christ living in him {Galatians 2:20}. So, if Jesus in fact lives in me, was I not there with Him on that fateful day? Wasn't I nailed to the cross right there beside Jesus? Well, in a sense, yes. For it was my former sin nature which was put to death beside Jesus on that cross. Everything about me which said that I am but a sinner died that day with Jesus. What remains is the new creation brought forth by Christ {2 Corinthians 5:17}. The fact that a innocent Jesus had to die upon the cross has been lost over time. Yes, Jesus was undeserving of the punishment He received. However, this is the way it had to be. The innocent lamb sacrificed for many. The real story here is that through the love and mercy of the Father, Jesus took upon Himself the punishment meant for me.
"I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."
Galatians 2: 20 NKJV
At some point in the future I will be doing a page on how we hold on to those symbols of our beliefs. However, for now I will suggest that it is not the cross which we Christians should be turning to in our search for knowing and understanding Jesus. That cross was simply a prop used by the Romans to dish out their punishment upon those who went afoul of Roman law. If Jesus had endured His punishment today, He may very well had been marched into a chamber where He would have been administered a lethal injection. The method and form of His death has never been the issue. What is at stake is our own understanding of why Jesus did what He did. Why did Jesus suffer such a horrible punishment? Well, He did it for me. Not only for me, but for all mankind. That's right, Jesus endured His punishment even for those who may not deserve it. I find the words of Jesus as He died upon the cross to be prophetic. "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do"{Luke 23:34}. Here was Jesus, suffering on the cross, and yet He held mercy for those who were persecuting Him. I believe that this is the true nature of Jesus. Not one of judgement, but of love {1 John 4:8}. It is not the cross which we should leading us to Christ, but what He has done for us.
Upon the cross of Jesus, the Roman authorities placed a sign which read, THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS. This was not meant as much as a proclamation of what Jesus Himself had declared, but as a warning from the Roman rulers of the region that anyone who decided to challenge the authority of Rome would suffer the same fate as this Galilean carpenter.
And a inscription also was written over Him in letters of Greek, Latin and Hebrew: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
Luke 23: 38 NKJV
~Scott~
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