According To Luke: The Crucifixion of Christ

 According To Luke: The Crucifixion of Christ 

Opening Illustration:

I have been a Christian since I was 10 years old. That means that I have been a Christian for 32 years. I have been a Christian longer than I was not a Christian. In that time, I graduated from a Christian high school where I had Bible classes everyday. We had regular chapel services. After high school, I attended Samford University. Samford is also a Christian University, Baptist in fact. While I was there, I majored in Religion. Once I got through my core classes at Samford, my days were spent in the Religion building studying the Bible and considering philosophy. I took Greek and studied Hebrew. For four years, it was Bible day in and day out. After I graduated from Samford, I attended seminary. While I was working as a student pastor in Birmingham, my nights were filled with…you guessed it…more Bible classes. 3 years went by and finally, I graduated. I did not just go to church during that time, I worked at church. Friends for the last 21 years, my working week has not been filled with going to an office like many of you do, I go to church…every day! In 2009 I decided that I needed even more education so I started my doctorate. 5 years later I graduated again. More Bible. I cannot tell you how many times I have read the Bible cover to cover since my freshman year in college. That’s 32 Palm Sundays. That’s 32 Resurrection Sundays. I have read so many books about Jesus, studied hundreds of articles about the cross, and seen so many papers on various aspects of the Bible and Church. When I stop to think about it it makes my head spin. 

Ok, Ok, I can see that all of this talk of reading, studying, and education is putting you all to sleep. That’s the point. I had a fella come to me not to long ago. He sat down in my office and he told met that he was having trouble sleeping. He wanted to know if I had any advice for him to help him finally nod off to sleep. “I sure do” I told the gentlemen. I gave him a copy of my 2015 dissertation, all 312 pages of it, told him to read it when he was ready for bed and that he would fall fast asleep. 

Friends, it is easy to miss the point of faith. It is easy to miss the profound nature of what is contained in the pages of this book. The Bible is the most fascinating, most awe inspiring book ever to be complied. It is the only book ever written that claims to be organic, biological, living and breathing. Sadly, for many this book gathers dust on our book shelves. Our faith has grown stale and we have lost sight of the sheer wonder of what Jesus has done. 

Many of you are older than me. You have been walking with Jesus far longer than I have. You have read the Bible, read all the books, attended all the musicals and seen The Passion of the Christ ever Easter. Brothers and sisters it is easy for Easter to come and go and we miss it. The cross has become commonplace to many believers today. When they look at the cross, they see a sanitized Savior. When they think about His sacrifice, they see a license to sin. Jesus loves me which means I can do whatever I want and He will never judge me. I actually heard that the other day from a prominent news reporter on CNN. Has the cross become familiar to you? Are you not struck with awe when you consider the breadth of His sacrifice? Has the cross become boring for you or do you still find it breathtaking?

Fill that blank in this morning. 

Has the Cross Become Boring or Breathtaking? 

Point:

This morning we will be looking at Luke 23:44-49. Jesus will breath His last. He will give up His Spirit unto His Father. This morning, in order to shake us from the familiar, I want to talk about the crucifixion. I want to reveal to all of us what Jesus endured on the cross for us. Before we read from Luke 23,I want to set up the scene for Christ’s death. 

Jesus has been betrayed by Judas. He is captured by the temple guard and taken to be judged by the Sanhedrin. Jesus is slandered before the court and is found guilty of blasphemy. The Pharisees had no power to execute Jesus so they presented Him to Pilate. They tell Pilate that Jesus has been working to overthrow Rome. Pilate interviews Jesus but finds no fault in Him. He sends Jesus to Herod because Jesus is from Galilee. Herod, believing Jesus to be a court jester or magician, is excited to meet Jesus. He demands for Jesus to perform and Jesus does not comply. This angers Herod. Herod instructs Jesus to be beaten and then returns Jesus back to Pilate. Pilate, having been warned by his wife to have nothing to do with Jesus, tries yet again to have Him freed. Jesus still does not comply with the wishes of Pilate. Pilate then turns to the people hoping that they will set Him free, however the people that cried out Hosanna a few days earlier are now shouting for Jesus to be crucified. During this time, Jesus has been scourged, beaten with rods, tormented by the soldiers, beaten around the face, and had a crown of thrones placed on His head. We will talk about that in a moment. Jesus having been weakened by the torment is forced to carry His cross beam to Calvery. It is here that we meet Simon of Cyrene. Simon is plucked from the crowd and forced to carry the beam for Jesus. Once Jesus arrives at the hill, He is stripped and nailed to the cross. He hangs alive on the cross for 6 hours and dead for what most scholars believe was 1 hour. So 7 hours total. The soldiers do not break Jesus’ legs as we will also discuss in a moment but they do shove a spear into His abdomen to test His viability. Jesus is gone. His Spirit has left His body. It appears that Satan has won. You and I know the truth though don’t we?

So, lets read this last piece of Scripture from Jesus’ crucifixion. 

Scripture:

Luke 23:44-49 NLT

“By this time it was about noon, and darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock. The light from the sun was gone. And suddenly, the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn down the middle. Then Jesus shouted, “Father, I entrust my spirit into your hands!” And with those words he breathed his last. When the Roman officer overseeing the execution saw what had happened, he worshiped God and said, “Surely this man was innocent. ” And when all the crowd that came to see the crucifixion saw what had happened, they went home in deep sorrow. But Jesus’ friends, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance watching.”

Lessons Learned From Jesus’ Suffering

I. Sweating 

Luke 22:44 ESV

“And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.”

Point:

There have been many people that have tried to explain away the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Some have said that Jesus never died on the cross. He simply swooned or fainted. Of course we would have to suspend the knowledge that these Roman executioners were bad at their job. It would mean that these men who had performed perhaps thousands of crucifixions would not have been able to tell that Jesus was actually dead. It would mean that these trained killers would suddenly, inextricably, failed to do the one thing that they were tasked to do. Imagine for one second the punishment they would have faced for not completing their job. This man, Jesus, was placed in their hands not by some lower court or nameless judge. This man was turned over to them by Pontius Pilate himself. This man Jesus had met with the Sanhedrin, the Roman governor, Herod the Great, and now he was to be killed in the most horrific fashion ever devised. These Roman soldiers were good at their job. They were brilliant actually. 

Point:

Yet Jesus’ sufferings started long before they hung him to the tree. If you were to rewind back to Luke 22:44 you will remember that “being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.” It is interesting that Luke is the only Gospel that remembers this aspect of Jesus’ life. Recall that Luke was a physician. He was a doctor. Luke’s account of Jesus’ death is by far the most detailed and exact. In fact Luke’s Gospel account of Jesus’ death reads like a medical examiner’s report. Jesus was so anxious, so fearful of the torturous death that He was about to experience that he actually sweat drops of blood. Is that even possible? The answer is “yes”. Though very rare, the phenomenon of Hematidrosis, or bloody sweat, is well documented. Under great emotional stress of the kind our Lord suffered, tiny capillaries in the sweat glands can break, thus mixing blood with sweat. This process might well have produced marked weakness and possible shock. 

Point:

If Jesus was sweating drops of blood, what kept Him from loosing so much blood? The answer is quite simple. Jesus was clothed at the time. His very clothing would have served as an aid to the coagulation process. Not to mention that Jesus was taken at night. The cool of the air would have cooled our Lord’s skin and thus stopped the bleeding. Recall also that His Father sent angels to attend to Jesus before He was arrested. 

Lessons Learned From Jesus’ Suffering

I. Sweating 

II. Striking 

Luke 22:63-65 ESV

“Now the men who were holding Jesus in custody were mocking him as they beat him. They also blindfolded him and kept asking him, “Prophesy! Who is it that struck you?” And they said many other things against him, blaspheming him.”

Point:

Following Jesus time in the garden and losing blood through His sweat glands. Jesus is apprehended by the Sanhedrin. One of the things that is often not discussed in the crucifixion of Jesus is the tremendous amount of mental suffering He endured. It was mental stress that caused the sweating of blood. Now Judas has betrayed Him. His closest friends have scattered and abandoned Him. Jesus is totally alone. Have you ever been alone or felt alone? Have you ever felt that no one cared, no one loved you, that no one would miss you if you were gone? You are not alone. This is the start of the lowest point of Jesus’ life. He is completely alone and soon He will be smeared publicly. Lied about. Slandered. No one would defend Him. No one will come to help. This fulfilled the prophesies in Zechariah, Isaiah, and Psalms. 

Zechariah 13:7 ESV

““Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, against the man who stands next to me,” declares the Lord of hosts. “Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered; I will turn my hand against the little ones.”

Isaiah 53:7 ESV

“He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.”

Psalm 22:16 ESV

“For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet —”

When Jesus is captured, Scripture tells us that He is questioned by Caiphus. Jesus refuses to answer His questions and a soldier strikes Jesus across the face for remaining silent. The palace guards then blind-folded Him and mockingly taunted Him to identify them as they each passed by, spat upon Him, and struck Him in the face. It is easy to think that Jesus’ eyes would have been beaten so badly that they were nearly swollen shut. Scholars do believe that His vision was somewhat impaired because He stumbled so badly walking down the road to Calvery. Yet, He could see somewhat because He was able to recognize John and His mother Mary at the cross. No doubt though that the beatings around the face spit open Jesus forehead and potentially opened cuts on His face. 

In the early morning, battered and bruised, dehydrated, and exhausted from a sleepless night, Jesus is taken across the Praetorium of the Fortress Antonia, the seat of government of the Procurator of Judea, Pontius Pilate. You are, of course, familiar with Pilate’s action in attempting to pass responsibility to Herod Antipas, the Tetrarch of Judea. Jesus apparently suffered no physical mistreatment at the hands of Herod and was returned to Pilate.

Lessons Learned From Jesus’ Suffering

I. Sweating 

II. Striking 

III. Scourging

Matthew 27:26 ESV

Then he released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, delivered him to be crucified.

John 19:1 ESV

Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged him.

Mark 15:15 ESV

So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified.

Point:

Jesus has endured sever mental anxiety to the point of sweating blood. He has been stricken multiple times across the head and face. He has spent a sleepless night in the Sanhedrin, been before Pilate, Herod and now back to Pilate. Jesus stand next before His countrymen. The same people that clamored for Him as He entered Jerusalem days earlier now cry out for Him to be killed. Pilate washes His hands of Jesus and turns Him over to be executed. He free Barabbas. Pilate gives Jesus one more parting gift. He has Him beaten, whipped, and scourged. 

Point:

Scourging was possibly the worst kind of flogging administered by ancient courts. While the Jews administered whippings in the synagogues for certain offenses, these were mild in comparison to scourging. Scourging was not normally a form of execution, but it certainly was brutal enough to be fatal in many cases. A person certainly could be beaten to death by the scourge if that was desired. Its purpose was not only to cause great pain, but to humiliate as well. To scourge a man was to beat him worse than one would beat a stupid animal. It was belittling, debasing, and demeaning. It was considered such a degrading form of punishment that Roman citizens were exempt from it. It was, therefore, the punishment appropriate only for slaves and non-Romans, those who were viewed as the lesser elements in Roman society. To make it as humiliating as possible, scourging was carried out in public.

The instrument used to deliver this form of punishment was called in Latin a flagellum or a flagrum. This was much different from the bull whip that is more common in our culture. It was instead more like the old British cat o’ nine tails, except that the flagellum was not designed merely to bruise or leave welts on the victim. The flagellum was a whip with several (at least three) thongs or strands, each perhaps as much as three feet long, and the strands were weighted with lead balls or pieces of bone. This instrument was designed to lacerate. The weighed thongs struck the skin so violently that it broke open. 

The victim of a scourging was bound to a post or frame, stripped of his clothing, and beaten with the flagellum from the shoulders to the loins. The beating left the victim bloody and weak, in unimaginable pain, and near the point of death. It is no doubt that weakness from his scourging was largely the reason Jesus was unable to carry his cross all the way to Golgotha. 

Point:

Theologians believe that Jesus was scourged 39 times on the front and the back of His body. As Jesus beaten, small part of skeletal muscle would have been pulled from His frame. One whip from the cat of nine tails would have made a laceration into Jesus’ skin about 3 inches long and about a quarter inch deep. With each whip Jesus would not have had one laceration but upwards of 6 to probably 9 lacerations. Medical professionals believe that after the end of Jesus scourging that He would have need upwards of 2000 stitches to close all the wounds. 

The Roman soldiers see a great joke in this provincial Jew claiming to be king. They throw a robe across His shoulders and place a stick in His hand for a scepter. They still need a crown to make their travesty complete. Flexible branches covered with long thorns (commonly used in bundles for firewood) are plaited into the shape of a crown and this is pressed into His scalp. Again there is copious bleeding, the scalp being one of the most vascular areas of the body. 

Point:

Again, how could Jesus have endured such punishment? Remember that Jesus was stripped of His clothing at this point. Remember also that these beatings were not meant to kill, it was meant to mark. The markings on Jesus’ skin would forever remind people of His crimes against the state. Following the scourging, Jesus clothing would have been put back on. The clothing would have cringed to Jesus’ body and prevent further amounts of bloodloss. Nevertheless, Jesus was badly weakened by this treatment as we see Him walking the road to Calvery unable to carry His cross. 

Point:

This portion of Jesus’ punishment brings new definition to Isaiah 50:6 ESV

Isaiah 50:6 ESV

“I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard; I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting.”

Lessons Learned From Jesus’ Suffering

I. Sweating 

II. Striking 

III. Scourging

IV. Stumbling

Luke 23:26-27 ESV

“And as they led him away, they seized one Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and laid on him the cross, to carry it behind Jesus. And there followed him a great multitude of the people and of women who were mourning and lamenting for him.”

Point:

Jesus is fitted with a cross. Our best understanding is that Jesus did not carry the entire cross but rather the cross beam that was fitted for the pole that Jesus would be hung. Jesus carried the cross for a couple hundred yards before His body succumbed to exhaustion. The weight of the heavy wooden beam, together with the shock produced by copious blood loss, is too much. He stumbles and falls. The rough wood of the beam gouges into the lacerated skin and muscles of the shoulders. He tries to rise, but human muscles have been pushed beyond their endurance.  The centurion, anxious to get on with the crucifixion, selects a stalwart North African onlooker, Simon of Cyrene, to carry the cross. Jesus follows, still bleeding and sweating the cold, clammy sweat of shock, until the 650 yard journey from the fortress Antonia to Golgotha is finally completed. 

Lessons Learned From Jesus’ Suffering

I. Sweating 

II. Striking 

III. Scourging

IV. Stumbling

VI. Spiking 

Luke 23:33 ESV

“And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left.”

Point:

Simon has done what he was conscripted to do. He has carried the cross of Christ to the finishing line. Jesus is stripped of His clothing once more. Roman soldiers place him hands and feet on the cross. They stretch out His hands and cross His feet one over the other. The legionnaire feels for the depression at the front of the wrist. He drives a heavy, square, wrought-iron nail through the wrist and deep into the wood. Quickly, he moves to the other side and repeats the action, being careful not to pull the arms too tightly, but to allow some flexion and movement. The patibulum is then lifted in place at the top of the stipes and the titulus reading, “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews,” is nailed in place. The left foot is now pressed backward against the right foot, and with both feet extended, toes down, a nail is driven through the arch of each, leaving the knees moderately flexed. The Victim is now crucified. As He slowly sags down with more weight on the nails in the wrists, excruciating pain shoots along the fingers and up the arms to explode in the brain — the nails in the wrists are putting pressure on the median nerves.

As He pushes Himself upward to avoid this stretching torment, He places His full weight on the nail through His feet. Again there is the searing agony of the nail tearing through the nerves between the metatarsal bones of the feet.  At this point, as the arms fatigue, great waves of cramps sweep over the muscles, knotting them in deep, relentless, throbbing pain. With these cramps comes the inability to push Himself upward. Hanging by his arms, the pectoral muscles are paralyzed and the intercostal muscles are unable to act. Air can be drawn into the lungs, but cannot be exhaled. Jesus fights to raise Himself in order to get even one short breath. Finally, carbon dioxide builds up in the lungs and in the blood stream and the cramps partially subside. Spasmodically, he is able to push Himself upward to exhale and bring in the life-giving oxygen.

Point:

We know this to be the case because the normally talkative Jesus is now speaking in shortened sentences. He speaks only as long as He can intake air, thus keeping His sentences short. Listen to the short messages of Jesus on the cross. Listen to how concise and succinct they spoken.

The first, looking down at the Roman soldiers throwing dice for His seamless garment, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” 

The second, to the penitent thief, “Today thou shalt be with me in Paradise.”

 

The third, looking down at the terrified, grief-stricken adolescent John — the beloved Apostle — he said, “Behold thy mother.” Then, looking to His mother Mary, “Woman behold thy son.” 

The fourth cry is from the beginning of the 22nd Psalm, “My God, my God, why has thou forsaken me?” 

Point:

Jesus experienced hours of limitless pain, cycles of twisting, joint-rending cramps, intermittent partial asphyxiation, searing pain where tissue is torn from His lacerated back as He moves up and down against the rough timber. Then another agony begins -- a terrible crushing pain deep in the chest as the pericardium slowly fills with serum and begins to compress the heart.  One remembers again the 22nd Psalm, the 14th verse: “I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.” 

With one last surge of strength, he once again presses His torn feet against the nail, straightens His legs, takes a deeper breath, and utters His seventh and last cry, “Father! Into thy hands I commit my spirit.” 

Point:

Brothers and sisters it is in this moment that Jesus’ work on earth is finished. Everything that was necessary for our forgiveness and salvation is completed on the cross. Jesus, in this last moment of breathing gives full meaning to His words captured in John 10:18.

John 10:18 ESV

No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”

You see brothers and sisters, Jesus laid down His life on the cross. He gave up His spirit. He did it in God like fashion. We do not have the ability to choose when we will die but Jesus did. We do not get to declare that it is finished but Jesus did. We do not have the ability to lay our lives down only to pick it up again but Jesus does. Jesus, God incarnate, God personified, died for me and suffered for us all and in doing so paid the penalty of sin, all sin, forever. 

Ephesians 1:7 ESV

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace…

I Peter 2:24 ESV

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

Lessons Learned From Jesus’ Suffering

I. Sweating 

II. Striking 

III. Scourging

IV. Stumbling

VI. Spiking 

VII. Spearing

John 19:34 ESV

“But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water.”

Point:

Apparently, to make doubly sure of death, the legionnaire drove his lance through the fifth interspace between the ribs, upward through the pericardium and into the heart. The 34th verse of the 19th chapter of the Gospel according to St. John reports: “And immediately there came out blood and water.” That is, there was an escape of water fluid from the sac surrounding the heart, giving postmortem evidence that Our Lord died not the usual crucifixion death by suffocation, but of heart failure (a broken heart) due to shock and constriction of the heart by fluid in the pericardium. 

Thus we have had our glimpse — including the medical evidence — of that epitome of evil which man has exhibited toward Man and toward God. It has been a terrible sight, and more than enough to leave us despondent and depressed. How grateful we can be that we have the great sequel in the infinite mercy of God toward man — at once the miracle of the atonement (at one ment) and the expectation of the triumphant Easter morning.

Are you moved by what Jesus did for you on the cross? Do you want to receive the salvation Jesus purchased for you at Calvary with His own blood?

ADMIT THAT YOU'RE A SINNER. This is where that godly sorrow leads to genuine repentance for sinning against the righteous god and there is a change of heart, we change our mind and God changes our hearts and regenerates us from the inside out.

BELIEVE IN YOUR HEART THAT JESUS CHRIST DIED FOR YOUR SINS, WAS BURIED, AND THAT GOD RAISED JESUS FROM THE DEAD. Believe in your heart that Jesus Christ died for your sins, was buried, and that God raised Jesus from the dead. This is trusting with all of your heart that Jesus Christ is who he said he was.

CALL UPON THE NAME OF THE LORD. This is trusting with all of your heart that Jesus Christ is who he said he was. Every single person who ever lived since Adam will bend their knee and confess with their mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord, the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings.

The Sinners Prayer

"God, I know that I am a sinner. I know that I deserve the consequences of my sin. However, I am trusting in Jesus Christ as my Savior. I believe that His death and resurrection provided for my forgiveness. I trust in Jesus and Jesus alone as my personal Lord and Savior. Thank you Lord, for saving me and forgiving me! Amen!"

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