Let me first say that although the title seems a little irreverent, sometimes, the purpose of a title is not just to tell you what something is about but also to catch the eye of any looky-loos that might be passing by.
I think that this ‘sports cliché’ adequately sums up the incredible shift that occurred during the week that we call “the Passion Week.” I want to take a brief look at the events preceding Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion and then focus on the “Passion of Christ.” We will begin our journey in Matthew 21:6-11.
As they drew close to Jerusalem, Jesus told the disciples exactly where to get the donkey on which He was to enter Jerusalem. Things were just as He had said they would be. Now we pick up the story in verse 6:
The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Hosanna in the highest heaven!” When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?” The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”
This event is what is known is the Triumphal Entry. Imagine yourself back in time, possibly shopping in the outdoor market, when you hear that the man that has been healing people all over Judea is riding a donkey into Jerusalem. “This is the man that raised someone from the dead just a week ago,” someone says to you. “He’s riding a donkey,” another says. We all know what that means, you think to yourself. He is fulfilling Zechariah’s prophecy about the Messiah (Zechariah 9:9):
Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
Jesus knew the Scriptures intimately and made sure that He accomplished the things that were set before Him hundreds of years prior to His birth.
The crowd was ‘very large’ and pressed into the narrow streets of Jerusalem to see the man that just might be the Messiah that they had been waiting for. They began shouting Hosanna. They laid palm leaves down, which is why we call this Palm Sunday. They were celebrating the arrival of the one that would lead them out of Roman oppression and free them from their captivity. They had no concept of the true King they were lauding. This was the ‘Thrill of Victory” that the disciples must have felt as they entered Jerusalem with Jesus.
So with all this celebration about Him, Jesus made a great speech to the people, right? No. The first thing Jesus does is to enter the Temple and overturn the money changers tables and upset a lot of people. This angered the Pharisees and the other leaders of the people, but the crowd was constantly around Him, so they could do nothing about it.
It was Passover week, and the leaders finally found a way to put Jesus out of their misery. One of His disciples, Judas, agreed to betray Him for them.
In our Good Friday service, we will focus more on the Passover meal that Jesus had with His disciples the night before His death and the time that He spent in the Garden of Gethsemane. This morning, we are going to look at the cross.
The Jewish leaders arrested Jesus and accused Him of Blasphemy. However, they did not want to be the ones that actually put Jesus to death, so they created charges of Treason, which only the Roman governor could convict and sentence.
Now, I have to tell you that I have always felt a little sorry for Pontius Pilate. He didn’t want to convict Jesus but was forced to give in to the Jewish leaders in order to keep peace in Jerusalem.
I want us to better understand what Jesus went through leading up to His crucifixion and on the cross itself.
The prophet Isaiah says that Jesus was beaten beyond recognition as a human being (Isaiah 52:14). When they took Jesus out to be beaten they stripped Him of His clothes and beat Him with a ‘flagram.’ Imagine a short-handled mop. This whip was made of leather strips that were tipped with metal and covered with a type of glue and then dipped in broken glass and bone. The historian Josephus said that rebel Jews were occasionally torn to pieces by this instrument, designed to extract information. I cannot fathom a modern-day equivalent to this horrendous torture device. Nor would I want to.
The Romans had already beaten Jesus with their fists. They hated the Jews and this was their chance to beat one to a pulp without possible reprisals from other Jews. Then, they placed a crown of thorns on His head. These thorns were of thick Judean thorns that would have bored into His head, only stopping when reaching bone. This would have started Jesus’ blood loss. Once they began ripping His flesh out with the flagram, the loss of blood was significant.
After the beating, the Romans put a robe on Jesus and paraded Him around, laughing at Him, spitting on Him, and beating Him further with their fists. After a while, they took off those robes, which would have stuck to all of His wounds. When they took them off, all of those wounds would have reopened, causing further blood loss.
Jesus’ wounds and blood loss made it virtually impossible for Him to carry His own cross for any length of time, so Simon of Cyrene was forced to carry the cross for Jesus.
Golgotha. The Place of the Scull. Calvary. It is here that Jesus would complete that which He came for. He was put between two thieves like a common criminal.
A person could normally live for days on a cross. This was the reason that it was such a torturous way to die. Most people that were crucified died of asphyxiation. You see, the person was stretched so violently that the diaphragm was completely extended. The only way to breath while hanging on the cross was to put the entire weight of your body onto the nail or nails in the feet and raise yourself up to take in a breath. However, most criminals sentenced to crucifixion were not tortured and brutalized the way that Jesus had been. Once they were too exhausted to raise themselves up anymore, they suffocated. Jesus was already close to death when He was raised on the cross.
By now, it was around noon, and “darkness came over the whole land.” This could not have been a normal eclipse because Matthew states that it stayed dark until around 3pm. No eclipse lasts 3 hours.
I believe that the two most momentous things that Jesus uttered on the cross were “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do,” and “It is finished.” Even as He was brutally murdered, mercy and love poured out from the Lamb of God. He asked that His own death not be held against those that brought it about. When Jesus said “it is finished,” He was speaking to the single most important act in all of human history. He was talking about the sacrifice of His own life for the souls of everyone who believe on Him.
It was at this time that the curtain in the Temple that divided the holy place from the Holy of Holies tore in two. Then the only begotten Son of God, the Lamb of God worthy to be slain, our Redeemer and Advocate before God, Jesus, uttered His last words: “Father, into Your hands I commend my spirit,” and He died.
It was Passover time and the Jews did not want anyone staying on the cross during Passover, so the guards broke the legs of the thieves to hasten their death. But when they came to Jesus, they saw that He was already dead. One of them pierced Jesus’ side with a spear in order to make sure that He was dead. It was truly finished. This is the agony of defeat that those that loved their Lord must have felt. But whose defeat was it really? Come back next Sunday morning to find that out.
Why would anyone go through what Jesus went through? Jesus told His disciples “no greater love has a man, than he lays down His life for his friends.” Jesus did exactly that. He willingly gave up His life so that you can have eternal life with Him in heaven. Don’t be fooled by what the world is dishing out. Jesus is exactly who He says He is and He was willing to be tortured and killed for you. It was personal to Jesus and it must be personal to you.
I don’t know if you have ever come to that place where you ask Jesus into your heart and truly accept the gift that He freely gives you. That give of grace that is eternal life with Him. I do know that it must be personal. You don’t get this gift just because your parents are Christians. You don’t get it because you go to church, even if it’s more than Christmas and Easter. You can’t receive it by being a good person. You can’t earn it. There’s only one way to receive it. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.”
With all heads bowed and all eyes closed, I want to tell you that salvation must also be shared. It should not be kept a secret. Jesus said “if you confess Me before men, so will I confess you before my Father, which is in heaven.” If you are at this point today, I would ask you to come down and talk to me right now.
Most of you, in the sanctuary today have accepted Christ as your Savior, but maybe you have not been single-minded in your service to Him. Jesus said that you cannot serve two masters. You must either serve God or Satan. Sitting on the fence is a very dangerous place to be. As Bob Dylan said, “you gotta serve somebody.” Who are you serving today? Are you serving God wholeheartedly or have you continued to hold back parts of you that cause you to never feel like you fully belong in this great Family of God? Surrender today. Tell Jesus that you’re ready for Him to take the wheel and lead you where He will…
(Prayer)
*All scriptures in NIV unless otherwise stated.
