They Crucified Him (Part 1 of 2)

When you think about Jesus' crucifixion, the humility, the cruelty, the brutality, it hardly seems like a display of love and justice. But today on Truth for Life, we follow Jesus to the cross and Alistair Begg explains why this is the place where God ultimately proclaims His love for you and me.

I invite you to turn with me to the Gospel of Mark and to chapter 15, where we'll read from the sixteenth verse to the thirty-second verse. And the soldiers led him away inside the palace, that is, the governor's headquarters. And they called together the whole battalion. And they clothed him in a purple cloak. And twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on him. And they began to salute him, Hail, King of the Jews. And they were striking his head with a reed, and spitting on him, and kneeling down in homage to him. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. And they led him out to crucify him.

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, 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, Aha, you who 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, 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. Thanks be to God for his word. Father, we pray now that with our Bibles before us, you will help us, so that we might look into your Word and discover that it uncovers us and reveals to us your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. May we learn afresh just who he is and what he's come to do, and then live in the light of that truth. For we pray in his name.

Amen. For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. Those words that are in the heart of John chapter 3 are perhaps the most memorable words in all of the New Testament record, affirming for us the essential truth of the love of God for sinners. John is referred to as the disciple of love.

He is the one who seems captured by it, commissioned by it as much as any of his friends and colleagues. And certainly, when we read not only his Gospel but also the letters that he wrote, this theme of the love of God for sinful men and women comes through again and again. So, for example, God is love, writes John. In this, the love of God is demonstrated. How is the love of God demonstrated? In that he sent his only Son into the world to give us life through him. We see real love not in the fact that we love God but that he loved us and that he sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

That's a big word, and we'll come back to it. But I want to begin this morning with this overwhelming, overarching thought in mind that God loves us, that God loved the world, and that when we read the verses that we've read in Mark chapter 15, we must read them in light of this revelation of God himself. Augustine, in the fourth century, remarked that the cross is the pulpit from which God preached his love to the world. That's why we sang the hymn we've just sung, so that we could have in mind the two lines inscribed upon the cross we see in shining letters, God is love.

In the old hymn, Beneath the Cross of Jesus I Fain Would Take My Stand, it has the lines in it, O tristing place, where heaven's love and heaven's justice meet. Quiz. Define triced.

T-r-y-s-t. Don't go for your phone. What is a triced? Have you made a triced? It's a meeting place, but it is more than simply a meeting place. It is an appointed meeting place, and it has particularly to do with a meeting between lovers. So that you may, in your past, have a tristing place that is known to you and the one who is now your companion in life.

Perhaps it was a place by the river, perhaps it was a tree in the woods, perhaps you even went there and took out your penknife and you carved into that tristing place your initials and her initials. A-B. Loves.

S-M-J. It is that picture which the hymn writer picks up, and he says, here in the cross of Jesus Christ, he has inscribed, as it were, a display of his love, and he meets everybody at that place. If you want to meet God, if you want to find out where God is, if you want to know God, if you are wondering about who God is, then the cross is the place to which you go. And we sing about it all the time, Kendrick's words, My Lord, what love is this that pays so dearly that I, the guilty one, may go free? And it really is the privilege and responsibility of a Christian minister, of a pastor-teacher, to seek to persuade men and women about God's love. I wonder, are you persuaded about God's love? Are you persuaded that the love of God for you is entirely undeserved? That the love of God for you proceeds from the sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ himself? These sufferings describe for us now as we come to these final verses in Mark chapter 15 in preparation for Easter.

I was thinking about this very much because the mission that I—the privilege of being part of in London for the last while—was entitled The Crossroads Mission. And so, again and again and again, I found myself saying to people, Jesus brings you to a crossroads. And as you stand at that crossroads, you have to make a decision. Either you accept this Jesus and all that he has provided, or you reject this Jesus and all that he has done.

But neutrality is not an option. And when we were last together, we were thinking about the way in which the question posed by Pilate—a rhetorical question in many ways—is the question of the ages. You remember, he asks, What then am I supposed to do with Jesus, who is called the Christ? What am I going to do with Jesus?

That is the great question. This time last Sunday morning, I was at the first of four different churches in which I spoke last Sunday. And in the first of these services, an evangelical Anglican church, as we had coffee afterwards, I met a number of people.

And one lady that I met was from Turkey. I met her son, and I asked her how she'd come to church and what had drawn her there. Well, she said, I am a Muslim by birth and by background, and we moved to this area, and I found out that in the church building there was a place that you could bring your children for a playgroup.

And so she said, I came to the playgroup, but I wasn't sure what my children would be exposed to when I brought them, so I decided I would stay and make sure that what they were being told was okay. Little did I know, she said, that I would discover in listening to my children being taught that God actually loves me. She said, I lived my whole life, and I had no concept of God ever loving me. I knew that God had every legitimate right to judge me.

I knew that God had every proper reason to punish me for my sins, but it had never once occurred to me that God loved me. And as I listened to that story being told to the children, it opened up a whole vista in my mind. And she said, I then began to come to this church, and for five years I came and listened to the story being told. I listened to the pastor telling about the love of God, and I listened and listened and listened. And then she said, And on the twenty-first of June last year, I accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior and my Friend, and I am now an unashamed follower of Jesus.

What happened to her? She was brought to the crossroads. She discovered that in the cross the love of God is made clear. She realized that although she deserved punishment, that that was a punishment that this Jesus had borne, a concept that was unbelievable to her mind. And as these thoughts finally coalesced, she became a follower of Jesus. Are you a follower of Jesus? Have you discovered the love of God like this? Have you been persuaded of God's love?

I hope, if not, that you will be this morning. Now, what Mark is doing, as we've noted all the way through, in writing his gospel, is making a couple of things very, very clear. First of all, who Jesus is and what Jesus does. You could say, That's the story of the gospel. That's the story of all the gospels. They're telling us who Jesus is, that he is the Son of God, and what he does, he saves sinners. He saves sinners. That's why when you read this story at Christmastime, the announcement concerning the name of Jesus is, Yeshua, it is Jesus, it is the Savior.

You will give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins. And the story of the Bible is the wonderful story about how Jesus saves us and we don't save ourselves—which ought to be a great relief for many of us, because we've been trying desperately to save ourselves and making a royal hash of it. We could never be sure that we'd done enough to finally tip the scales in our favor. And we might always wonder about that dreadful thing that we did in the past, or those seven hundred dreadful things we've done in the past, as they keep coming back and invading our minds.

And what are we ever going to do with those things? And then we make the wonderful discovery that in the cross, Jesus Christ has dealt with all of our despair, and he's dealt with all of our pride. Well, that's the story that Mark is telling. And the identity of Jesus has been revealed earlier in the gospel in a private context. You remember back in chapter 8—and if you don't, you could turn to it—but in chapter 8, Jesus is asking the question of his disciples, Who do people say that I am?

What are people saying about me when you're around and about? Because after all, he was making quite an impact, his miracles were undeniable, and so people were beginning to make decisions about his identity. And their response of his disciples was to tell him that some were saying that he was actually John the Baptist, others said he was Elijah, others said he was one of the prophets. And then he said to them, But what I really am interested in is, Who do you say that I am? And Peter said, Well, you're the Christ! You're the Messiah! And Jesus said, Fantastic!

Now, get out on the streets and tell everybody that that is the case. Now, this is where you see you need to follow it along in your Bible. Because if you don't have your Bible open, you're gonna go away and you're gonna say, Alistair said that after Peter made his great declaration, Jesus said, Go out and tell everybody. And unless your Bible is open and you're looking at it, you'll know that that is a rhetorical device employed by me in order for you to understand that he said the very reverse of that. And he strictly charged them to tell no one about him.

How remarkable is that? The whole thing is building up to a discovery of the identity of Jesus. Who do people say I am?

This, this, and this. Yes, but who am I? You are the Christ. Good. I'm glad you've got that. I don't want you to tell anybody about my identity.

Why was that? Well, it becomes very apparent. It becomes immediately apparent. Because Jesus explains that he's going to go up to Jerusalem and suffer at the hands of cruel people and be nailed to a cross and die, and on the third day to rise again. And Peter, the one who has made the great declaration, he starts to explain to Jesus, No, that's not what it means to be a Messiah. That's not Messiah, Jesus. You know, I just told you, you're the Messiah, and now you're telling me what you're going to do. That's not what messiahs do. Messiahs don't die. So Jesus says to Peter, Get behind me, Satan. Which is remarkable. One minute he's at the top of the class, and then the second minute he's expelled from the entire high school. And that ought to be a great encouragement to many of us.

No. What was revealed privately was kept private until Jesus was able to make clear to people what it meant for him to say he was the Messiah. They understood his identity as Messiah, but they didn't know what Messiah meant.

How could you have a Messiah who dies on the cross? Why do you have a king who rides on a donkey? Why do you have such a strange person when we're oppressed by all these things and he's not doing anything about it? We need these Romans off our backs. We need to be established in our own place.

We need to have a nice little kingdom where we are free from every kind of invasion. And then, of course, Jesus is saying again and again as he goes through, If that's what you're looking for, you're going to be horribly disappointed. Now, my kingdom is not of this world, otherwise my followers would be fighting to establish it.

It's a quite radical thought. And it's only in the last few verses that what had been previously made known privately has now been acknowledged publicly. We're still actually in chapter 14 to get this, but the chief priest was speaking to the folks around him. He stood up in the midst—this is the sixtieth verse of 14 in the midst—and he asked Jesus, Don't you have an answer to make?

What is it that these men testify against you? Jesus remained silent, made no answer. The high priest asked him, Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed? And Jesus said, I am. And furthermore, he said, You will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of power and coming with the clouds of heaven. And the high priest said, That is absolutely super.

No, the high priest tore his garments, said, What further witnesses do we need? He is a blasphemer. What is your decision?

There we go again. What is your decision? It's the crossroads time. What am I going to do with Jesus, who is called the Christ?

You've heard that he's a blasphemer. What is your decision? What is your decision? This is a crossroads. This is not a roundabout.

Some of us, our spiritual experience, it's just that we're going round and round and round. As Americans, we're not very good at roundabouts. You can see that up at Lander Circle. We've only got a couple of them in the entire place. Nobody knows how to get on or how to get off. It's so crazy that they even have a stop sign on the roundabout. That's the whole point of a roundabout. You don't have stop signs. You know, if you don't like our roundabouts, leave them alone.

But if you're going to have them, have them. And so, there the people go. Sometimes I'm sure I've followed a lady around it a couple of times. She doesn't know what she's doing, where she's going. So we're going to shake her.

No, no, here we go. That's some of you, I think, you come to church. I've seen you for years, some of you now.

I know you by name, many of you. You talk to me, oh, religious questions, you've got all kinds of ideas. But you've never apparently… You're banking on the notion of neutrality. Listen. An abstention is a no vote when it comes to Jesus. "'What is your decision?' he asks them."

That's what I'm asking you today. We say, well, fair enough, but let's get to the passage. Okay, I agree with that. Let's summarize the passage by noticing that it is marked, on the one hand, by mockery and cruelty, and from another perspective, by majesty and irony. Mockery, cruelty, majesty, irony.

We'll spend longer on the first than we will on the second. The soldiers are now entrusted with the responsibility of leading him away, and in verse 16 they decide that they will bring together the battalion. And what we have described for us here is this cruel sport where Jesus is the object of their derision. It's amazing, isn't it, how such well-trained soldiers can engage in such grotesque pursuits? I don't want to incur the ire of those of you who have served bravely and effectively and honestly in the forces of our country, but let us not forget that some of the filthiest graffiti, some of the most horrible charges leveled against individuals, are charges leveled against those who have committed themselves to the highest forms of service and personal discipline, and yet who engage in some of the most grotesque forms of inhumanity. That's not a blanket condemnation. It is an observation about the peculiar psychology that is represented in individuals who are trained to be under control—under self-control—and yet who, in a moment such as this, are able to unleash the most disgusting and disdainful dimensions of their humanity on a selfless victim who has no possibility of self-defense.

That's what is described for us here. And they knelt before him in a cruel parody of worship. He could have called ten thousand angels. When they arrested him in the garden and he stepped forward, they fell back before his majesty and his power. He is not to be observed as a pathetic victim here. He has already explained that no one can take his life from him.

He has the power to lay it down, and he has the power to take it up again. So what is he doing here? Why does he endure this? Why would he take this brutality? Why would he take this mockery? Why would he undergo these scourges? Because he loves sinners.

Because he loves to save. We're learning about the amazing love of Jesus on Truth for Life with Alistair Begg. We'll hear more tomorrow. Here at Truth for Life, we regularly receive requests from listeners who want us to make books available that can help you share the gospel with unbelieving friends or family members. And today we have a book we'd like to recommend that's perfect for giving away.

It's titled, Is Easter Unbelievable? Four Questions Everyone Should Ask About the Resurrection Story. In fact, when you request this book, we'll send you three copies, one to keep and two to give away. This is a quick book to read through.

It's just 60 pages. And as you read, you'll examine the historical evidence of Jesus' life and ministry. You'll also learn why he died, why the crucifixion was God's display of love and justice, and why Jesus' resurrection is believable. Ask for the three book bundle when you donate today to support the gospel sharing ministry of Truth for Life.

You can give a one-time gift at truthforlife.org slash donate, or you can arrange to set up an automatic monthly donation when you visit truthforlife.org slash truth partner, or call us at 888-588-7884. Before we go, let me remind you there's still time to join Alistair and me on the deeper faith cruise, November 10th through the 20th. It's a 10-day adventure, departs out of Lisbon, Portugal, and includes stops in the Azores, the Canary Islands, Casablanca, Morocco, Seville, Spain, and of course along the way Alistair will be opening God's Word. You can find out more or book your cabin at deeperfaithcruise.com. Thanks for studying the Bible with us. The crucifixion story is told not to provoke our sympathy, but to demand a response. We'll hear more tomorrow. The Bible teaching of Alistair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life, where the Learning is for Living.