08 — Jesus Crucified

When: Friday, 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Location: Calvary

Read: Matthew 27:31-56; Mark 15:20-41; Luke 23:20-49; John 19:4-30

After beating Jesus, soldiers led him away to Golgotha (aramaic for “skull”), a hill near Jerusalem where criminals were killed. They made him carry his own cross and being weak from being awake all night through the trial and also from being beaten, he collapsed to the ground. The Roman soldiers grabbed a man named Simon from Cyrene from the crowd to carry the cross the rest of the way.

At 9:00 AM (Mark 15:25) they crucified Jesus, driving nails into his hands and feet to hold him on the cross. As a form of mockery, they hung a sign above his head that read, King of the Jews. They continued to taunt him and eventually cast lots (or gambled) for his clothes. Jesus saw his mother, who was near the cross as well as John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, and gave his mother to this disciple for him to care for her (John 19:25).

On both sides of Jesus were criminals. While one was insulting Jesus the other one said, “Jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom” (Luke 23:42). Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

It was now about noon and darkness covered the Earth. The darkness lasted till about 3:00 PM when Jesus cried out, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Knowing his time was almost up Jesus asked for a drink and they offered him vinegar on a hyssop branch (John 19:28-29). He then cried out, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit” (Luke 23:46) and with that Jesus breathed his last and said “Tetelestai” (It is finished) and gave up his spirit (John 19:30). At this moment, the veil in the Temple tore in two right down the middle from top to bottom. Some believed, like the centurion who said, “surely this was the Son of God” (Mark 15:39), but others just walked away. Jesus’s mother, Mary Magdalene, and many other women stayed and watched.

Three key events happened at Jesus' crucifixion: 1) the earth was covered in darkness, 2) the veil in the temple tore, 3) Jesus dying on the cross. The Earth being covered in darkness, whether it was the whole earth or just a large portion of the area, means the darkness would have caused limited visibility in the middle of the day; only God could do such a thing!

Second, the temple veil being torn, especially from the TOP to the bottom, signifies God coming to be with mankind. The veil, which was around 60 feet tall, separated the Holy of Holies, the earthly dwelling place of God, from the rest of the temple where men were allowed to go. Once a year, after cleansing himself from all sin, the high priest would enter the Holy of Holies to make atonement for the sins of all of Israel. But now, because Jesus paid for our sins, he removed the barrier and the veil was torn, so that we no longer need a high priest to make atonement for our sins!

Which leads to the third point, Jesus died on the cross (and spoiler, rose again!). Jesus died as the perfect sacrifice for our sins. This is a message that the Prophet Isaiah declared as well, “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:5-6). This means that if we believe in Jesus Christ and call Him our Lord, he can take away our sins and restore our relationship to God.

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