Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. It's called Skull Hill, a place of execution outside ancient Jerusalem's walls.
Only common criminals were crucified, and that's what Jesus was once condemned by the Romans at the urging of Jewish leaders. He went willingly to that cross for us. From the Moody Church in Chicago, this is Running to Win with Dr. Erwin Lutzer, whose clear teaching helps us make it across the finish line. Pastor Lutzer, today you'll begin a look at the greatest act of love ever displayed, the crucifixion of Jesus for the sins of the world.
Dave, you're absolutely right. The cross of Jesus Christ represents the greatest act of love, but it also represents the greatest act of justice. When you stop to think of it, the cross is like a kaleidoscope that brings together all the attributes of God. And that's why it's so critical for us to meditate on the cross, to think about its implications. We here at Running to Win delight in the fact that this ministry is being heard around the world. As a matter of fact, at the end of this message, I'm going to be reading a letter that comes to us from Africa.
Why? Because people just like you have become partners with us in this ministry. Would you consider becoming what we call an endurance partner?
That phrase, by the way, comes to us from the book of Hebrews, that we run with endurance the race that is set before us. You need more info, of course. Go to rtwoffer.com.
That's rtwoffer.com or call us at 1-888-218-9337. Thanks in advance for helping us as together we get the gospel around the world. When we think of Jesus coming into Jerusalem, which begins what we call the Holy Week, and then we think of Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday, that cluster of events that we refer to as Holy Week are surely the most special days on the Christian calendar. I know that Christmas is great, but remember Jesus was born for a specific purpose and not until you get to Holy Week do we understand why he was born. He was born crucified.
He was born to die. When he came to Jerusalem on what we call Palm Sunday, the intention was for him to stir up a demonstration, because remember he came to Jerusalem to die and he needed to get himself crucified. And he knew that when he came to Jerusalem in that way, that it would stir up the already overheated anger of the scribes, the Pharisees, and the religious leaders, and he was assured that he would be put to death. The crowds that greeted him on that day, they were pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem and they'd arrived in Jerusalem for the Passover. Sometimes it is said that the crowds who greeted him on Palm Sunday are the ones who cried, crucify him on Good Friday.
I don't think so. I think that the common people heard Jesus gladly and they were the ones who welcomed him and said, Hosanna blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. It was a different crowd that insisted that he be crucified. Holy Week was a very busy time for Jesus.
Not only does he come into the city of Jerusalem, but also it is then that he cleanses the temple the next day, he curses the fig tree, you have the last supper, and then that series of trials taken place at night, those trials which condemned him. And now morning has come and it is time for Jesus to be crucified. I'm going to ask you to open your Bibles to the 14th chapter of the Gospel of Mark.
We have been using Mark as our baseline as we have done this series of messages entitled For Us, For Us in Agony, For Us Betrayed, For Us Crucified, and then For Us Raised from the Dead. And today we come actually to the 15th chapter, chapter 15. We began in 14, but we are now in 15, verse 21.
May I read to you the next four or five verses, perhaps six or seven. Verse 21, and they compelled a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus to carry his cross. And they brought him to the place called Golgotha, which means place of a skull. And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. And they crucified him and divided his garments among them, casting lots for them to decide what each should take. And it was the third hour when they crucified him.
I need to pause here. Keep in mind that when it says the third hour, that's nine o'clock in the morning, the time was calculated in those days, according to this schedule from six in the morning. So you have the third hour, which is nine o'clock. The sixth hour will be coming up.
That is high noon. So the Bible says that they crucified him at the third hour and the inscription of the charge against him, read the king of the Jews and with him, they crucified two robbers, one on his right and one on his left. And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, you would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself and come down from the cross. So also the chief priests with the scribes mocked him to one another saying, you know, he saved others.
He cannot save himself. Let the Christ, the king of Israel come down now from the cross that we may see and believe. Those who were crucified with him also reviled him just that far for now. They bring him to the place of the skull. Golgotha in Aramaic means skull hill.
Calvary in Latin means the same thing. It was a place of refuse. Apparently it was like the city dump, but it was the place where people were crucified. It was a horrid place and that's where they brought Jesus. Simon of Cyrene happens to be there for the Passover. Jesus has been carrying his cross, but he staggered under its weight and eventually gave way because after all he was up all night enduring those trials. And so Simon carries the cross of Jesus to the place of crucifixion. What I would like us to do today is to look at the various responses of Jesus, the responses of individuals and crowds that were there on hand for the crucifixion. So as we go through this text and I'll also be referring to other texts, let us consider for a moment also that we are there. Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
I used to sing that as a boy thinking well of course I wasn't, but actually you were there and so was I. First of all let's consider what was the response of the soldiers to Jesus Christ's crucifixion. I think we could describe it as cruel indifference. Now when Jesus is brought there to the place of crucifixion they do offer him wine mingled with myrrh. Evidently it was a sedative. And Jesus rejected it because he wanted to die with all of his faculties intact. He wanted to have a clear mind as far as he could have under those conditions. He refused to die drugged. He would bear our sin and he would bear it with the full weight of it. He would keep in communion with the Father at least until high noon.
And so Jesus said no to what was offered him. Well the soldiers brought him there and the way they did crucifixion is the cross was laid down flat on the ground. The person who was being crucified would be put on that cross and this time there would be nails that would be put through him. And then the cross was raised and it would go down into the hole that was prepared for it undoubtedly hitting with a thud. And you can just feel the pain that is going to go through Jesus as well as those who are crucified with him.
The inflammation of the body, the tendons being torn, the burning thirst, all of the places of the body that were sensitive in high pain. And Jesus is crucified. It's remarkable that in four words here Mark sums up the whole purpose of God in creation and in redemption when it simply says there in verse 24, and they crucified him.
Those three words, they crucified him, sum up everything that God has been about in this world throughout these years of history. And then the soldiers they threw some dice regarding his clothing. Four different kinds of clothing. You think of the headgear, you think of his belt, his shoes, his inner tunic, and then the outer tunic which was a seamless robe. It was a custom in those days for a mother to make a seamless robe like this for her firstborn son. It is entirely possible that this robe was made for Jesus by Mary.
And there they are, they are throwing the dice to see who gets what. And that night when the soldiers went home and their children asked them, what did you do today? They said, well, we participated in some crucifixions and I have here his sandals, I have a robe, I have a belt, whatever it was that the soldiers took with them.
What a tragedy. One of the things that most of them did not take with them from the crucifixion was the gift of forgiveness, which they could have received. How tragic to be in the very presence of the one who can forgive them and leave with nothing to show for it except a piece of clothing. But I do need to ask you that when you attend a church, what do you leave with? Do you leave with a hymn? Do you leave with some thoughts that are edifying?
Do you leave with some new truths that you are going to apply or is it that you leave basically and go home with nothing? Cruel indifference. That's the way I describe the soldiers. Well, what about Pilate? I would say that he was conflicted.
Now this is very interesting. The text says that above him, the inscription read the king of the Jews. Now you know that it was customary in those days to write the crime of the person on top of the cross as a placard so people could see what he was guilty of. Pilate wrote the inscription and the full inscription was this is Jesus of Nazareth, the king of the Jews. Mark just picks up the last part of it, giving us the gist of what was written, the king of the Jews. Very interesting that Pilate should write that in the 19th chapter of John, the Jewish leaders, the Bible says they appeal to Pilate who insisted that the inscription be written. They appeal to him and they said, do not say he is the king of the Jews, but rather that he said, I am king of the Jews. Pilate said, what I have written, I have written and he wouldn't change it.
What's going on there? No doubt in my mind that what Pilate wanted to do is to spite the Jews. You see, he knows that he had been bested by them. He didn't want Jesus to be crucified. And three times, Pilate says, I find no fault in him. I find no fault in him.
I find no fault in him. But because of the pressure of the crowd bowing to that pressure, he gave them what they wanted and he handed them over to be crucified. Pilate is angry about that. So what he does is he writes this superscription, the king of the Jews.
The Jews were angry. He's not our king. He said he was king of the Jews. Pilate says, no, I'm not changing it.
What he was saying in effect was two things. Maybe first of all, I think that this is your king of the Jews. You never know how much insight Pilate had.
Maybe he was saying something else too. Is this the best that you Jews can do is that you have this man as your king? Oh, how it galled those leaders to know that Pilate would not change the sign. But you see, back behind Pilate's motives, there was God. God was making a statement. God was saying, this is the king of the Jews. And there it was written in Hebrew and Greek and Latin. So Pilate's response was one of conflict, one of spite. That's the way in which he saw the crucifixion of Jesus.
Now, what about the robbers? The Bible says with him, they crucified two robbers in verse 27. And notice what it says at the end of verse 32. Those who were crucified with him also reviled him. Both thieves, both bad to the bone criminals, they reviled Jesus too. And yet in the midst of that, asking him to come down from the cross, save yourself and us. There was something about Jesus that struck one of the thieves. Maybe it was this placard that Pilate had written because it was a gospel tract. No doubt, one of the thieves who was dying, the thieves couldn't see Jesus.
Probably they couldn't, but they could hear as people would walk by and they'd say, oh, what was his crime? It says the king of the Jews. And there was something about Jesus, even though Jesus was in a predicament that was as bad as his.
It appeared as weakness. One of the robbers said, if you're a king and if it is true that you saved others, as people who are walking by sarcastically said, if you're a king, remember me when you come into your kingdom. He didn't have the nerve to ask for forgiveness. Didn't have the nerve to say, meet me in your kingdom. Just remember me. And Jesus on the cross said today you shall be with me in paradise.
Wow. How would we describe the thieves? Well, they taunted him, but one of them believed and the other did not. Just the request for this king to remember him, got him a place in paradise.
Takes your breath away. So much for the robbers. What about the bystanders? We're now in verse 29. You'll notice it says, and those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, you would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days. Misinterpreting, undoubtedly deliberately misinterpreting what Jesus said.
Save yourself and come down from the cross. They were blaspheming him. Calvary was at a crossroads.
It was outside of the city, but people would walk by. Undoubtedly there are some people who decided to show up because there was a crucifixion that day. At least three people were being crucified and they walked by and they saw King of the Jews. They had heard about Jesus. They knew about him. And so they blasphemed him and says, if you are the Christ come down from the cross.
Imagine what the crowd was thinking was this. He is up there because he's weak. He's up there because there was nothing that he could do about it.
He's up there for the same reason that the robbers are up there and he belongs with them. By the way, that also was a stroke of Providence. When the centurions put Jesus in a position to be in the middle of two thieves, they thought, well, this is where this criminal belongs and they didn't know that God was making a statement because God had said he was numbered with the transgressors and came to redeem those who are lost. But now the crowd, they think, weakness. If you're a king, if you're the son of God, come down from the cross.
They did not understand that it was not a matter of weakness. It was a matter of strength. It was his love for us that kept him there. That's what kept him on the cross. Jesus was not crucified because he couldn't help it. He was crucified because he knew that this was God's plan that he had agreed to. And so he was bearing the sin of many. God help that crowd. They should have been saying, woe is us, woe is us, because our sin is being paid for on this cross. We are the ones who need to repent of our hardness of heart. But the crowd didn't see it that way, did they?
And the crowd still doesn't see it that way today, do they? Well, let's go on now and talk about the religious leaders. The chief priests were in verse 31. You'll notice it says now, verse 31, so also the chief priests with the scribes, they mocked him to one another, saying, he saved others. He cannot save himself. Let the Christ, the king of Israel come down now from the cross that we may see and believe.
And I want to say, give me a break. Of course they wouldn't have believed. They had seen miracles. They had seen demonic deliverance.
They had seen even and known of a few resurrections that Jesus performed. You'll notice that they are different from the passers by. The passers by actually call out to Jesus, save yourself, come down from the cross. The religious leaders don't. They talk to one another and they say, losing all their dignity. Well, why doesn't he come down from the cross?
And they talk among themselves. They say, lest if he were to do this, we would believe. No, you wouldn't believe. You wouldn't believe. You've had a chance to believe and you are angry and full of contempt and hatred and you will not believe.
But that's what they said. Now, visualize the scene. Here you have Jesus dying.
The disciples have forsaken him and fled, though John shows up later. You have the situation with the women. They are watching afar off. They had more courage than the men.
God bless them. And oftentimes it's the same way today. But Jesus is dying there alone. You have all of this blasphemy taking place around him. All of the mocking, all of the ridicule, all of the contempt, all of the humiliation, horrid sins. What do we expect? Wouldn't we expect God to come out of heaven and to say enough already? I'm going to just zap these people with my judgment.
I am going to give them what they deserve for treating my son like this. We'd expect that, wouldn't we? But Jesus takes all of this kindly and then something happens. If you and I had written the Bible, we'd have never come up with what follows next. Because instead of the wrath of God falling on these people who are blaspheming and ridiculing and humiliating the Son of God, something mysterious and terrifying happens. The judgment of God does fall, but not on them. It falls on Jesus of all things.
Wow. My friend, this is Pastor Lutzer. I hope that you understand why it is that I love the gospel. Jesus took our place there on the cross.
He endured the wrath of God so that we don't have to. What a message for the world. I'm holding in my hands a letter from someone who listens in West Africa. My spiritual life is continuously being nourished through your teachings. Running to win has been so influential in my spiritual growth. I'm being transformed each day. And then it goes on to thank us.
And the reason that running to win is heard in West Africa is because of people just like you. Would you consider becoming what we call an endurance partner? Of course, you need more info. You can investigate it by going to rtwoffer.com.
That's rtwoffer.com. Click on the endurance partner button. Or if you prefer, you can call us at 1-888-218-9337. May I thank you in advance for helping us, for praying with us and for us.
We appreciate it because together we're making a difference. Right now, go to rtwoffer.com, click on the endurance partner button, or pick up the phone and call us at 1-888-218-9337. You can write to us at Running to Win, 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, IL 60614. Running to Win is all about helping you find God's roadmap for your race of life. Erwin Lutzer introducing Jesus Crucified for Us, the fourth message in a series marking the events of the last week of Jesus' life on earth. Next time, more on the reactions of those who killed Jesus. For Pastor Erwin Lutzer, this is Dave McAllister. Running to Win is sponsored by the Moody Church.
