On The Crucifixion

Stricken, smitten, and afflicted,
See Him dying on the tree!
’Tis the Christ by man rejected;
Yes, my soul, ’tis He, ’tis He!

This past Sunday my Pastor preached on the crucifixion of Christ from the Gospel account of Matthew. I was struck by a few things in the account and Tim’s sermon that I think it worth dwelling on.

Darkness

For three hours while the Lord of Glory hung on that cross there was darkness over the land. This was no ordinary man who lay dying on a cross. Similarly it was no ordinary suffering that he experienced. We tend to dwell on the physical suffering of Christ which are drawn out more in the other gospels. We focus on the agony of the scourging and I’m sure many preachers have rightly expounded on the nature of scouring or the brutality of it in Roman punishment. We agonize over our Lord’s suffering and bleeding as he carried the cross after such rough treatment until Simon of Cyrene was made to help him.

Then we get to the actual crucifixion. The horror of having nails driven through hands and feet in order to affix Christ to a wooden cross. Can you imagine the agony? I wince at paper cuts or smashing my thumb with a hammer. How much more had I been nailed to a piece of wood? And then… as they raise the cross and it drops into a hole in the rock, to have your body tugging at those nails as your weight comes crashing down on them. I cannot bear the thought of it!

Yet that doesn’t scratch the surface of what Christ suffered that day. In ways we don’t fully understand or comprehend, Christ bore the wrath of God for the sins of all who would believe. If you have repented and believed on Christ, he bore your sins. He bore my sins. Whereas we deserve eternal punishment, he took the wrath reserved for us. I think that darkness signifies the wrath of God being poured out on Christ. A supernatural phenomena that could be observed that pointed to a spiritual event that could not.

Impact

Then, Christ died. The very Son of God physically died. Again, this was no ordinary death! God shook the Earth and split rocks. Has that ever happened when anyone you knew died? Don’t overlook it!

The curtain in the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. God tore the curtain which separated the holy of holies, God’s earthly throne, from the domain of man. The separation from God had been torn down! Christ, our great High Priest, opened the very presence of God to us through his atoning death. No longer do we need Earthly high priests who need atonement for their own sin to be our mediator with sacrifices that could not atone for our sin. Now, our High Priest, Jesus Christ the righteous, has atoned for our sins once for all and ever lives to intercede for us. (Read the book of Hebrews!)

The Centurion standing watch and those with him saw the events of that day and confessed.. “Truly this was the Son of God!” (Matt. 27:54) No man ever before or since has died this way. All of creation attested by the mighty hand of God that this was the Son of God.

So What?

John Stott has three applications that are worth musing over. In light of the Cross;

Our sin must be extremely horrible.
- Our sin necessitated a punishment that we cannot bear and live. It is horrible. Do you hate your sin? Do you see what Jesus Christ endured to atone for it?
God’s love must be wonderful beyond our comprehension.
- How amazing that God endured it! He did not have to. What love! that our God bore our sins in his body on the tree.
Christ’s salvation must be a free gift.
- If it is not free, then why must he suffer and die for us? If we can earn it, why did he do anything on our behalf? We cannot earn it because he earned it. “It is finished.”

Do you believe?

Ye who think of sin but lightly,
Nor suppose the evil great,
Here may view its nature rightly,
Here its guilt may estimate.
Mark the Sacrifice appointed!
See Who bears the awful load!
’Tis the Word, the Lord’s Anointed,
Son of Man, and Son of God.

Here we have a firm foundation,
Here the refuge of the lost.
Christ the Rock of our salvation,
Christ the Name of which we boast.
Lamb of God for sinners wounded!
Sacrifice to cancel guilt!
None shall ever be confounded
Who on Him their hope have built.