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The death
of the Son of God is one of the most important
events in human history, and it really happened
just as it is written for us here. Unlike the
writings of many other religions, the Holy Scriptures
are true history. The things they record really
happened. They are true. They are real. Yeshua
really died just the way this history tells us
He did. And, He really rose again from the dead,
which has the greatest ramifications for you and
me, and the entire human race. In this section,
we will get a very detailed account of the death
and burial of the Messiah. Every detail is pregnant
with meaning.
They
took Yeshua, therefore, and He went out, bearing
His own cross - after being awake for more
than 24 hours straight, beaten, and whipped by
Romans, and we know from history that many people
didn’t survive a Roman whipping. Pieces of bone,
metal or glass were tied to a leather whip which
cut through the skin and even the muscle. The
whole body was affected, including the face -
after all that, adding insult to injury, Yeshua
is force by the Romans to carry His own cross.
It's like a prisoner who is forced to dig his
own grave, and then shot.
Yeshua
doesn’t refuse to pick up His cross and carry
it to His execution. That’s not surprising in
light of His words, “whoever does not carry his
own cross and come after Me, can’t be My disciple.”
Really Lord? Be willing to carry my own cross?
Be willing to be humiliated by an unbelieving
world, be willing to suffer, and be willing to
die, all so that I will be faithful to follow
after You? Being faithful to You, and not denying
You, is more important than having a comfortable
life, or even having any life in this world? That’s
right! And that is the example that Yeshua Himself
sets for us right here.
This is
not an easy truth, but it is one that we need
to take seriously. We constantly need to ask ourselves,
“Am I really willing to carry my own cross? Be
arrested, humiliated, and die, to be a faithful
disciple of the Lord? Are there things creeping
into my life, the love of this world, or the pleasures
in the world, are there idols in my life that
would prevent me from being faithful to the point
of death?”
He came
to the place called the Place of a Skull (it
could be that the area, or part of the area resembled
a skull), which is called in Hebrew, Gulgotha.
It was a place outside the walls of the city
of Jerusalem. There is no evidence that it was
a hill.
Every
detail of Messiah’s death is significant, and
the book written to the Messianic Jews, the Book
of Hebrews, teaches us the significance of Messiah’s
death outside the city: The High Priest brings
the blood of animals into the Holiest Place as
a sin offering, but their bodies are burned outside
the camp. So too Yeshua suffered death
outside the gate in order to make the people holy
through His own blood. Therefore, let us
go out to Him who is outside the camp and share
His disgrace.
Adolph
Saphir, a Messianic Jew from a previous century,
observes that it was necessary to burn the bodies
of the animals that were sacrificed on Yom Kippur,
outside the camp. On that special day, the animals
were killed in the Temple court, their blood was
brought into the Most Holy Place in the Temple,
but the bodies of the animals were burned outside
the camp.
Messiah
is the fulfillment of the great sacrifices for
sin that was offered up on the Day of Atonement.
Just as the bodies of those special sacrifices
were taken outside of the camp and burned, Yeshua
suffered, was crucified and was buried outside
the city walls of Jerusalem. There, God made Him
a sacrifice for the sins of Israel and for the
transgressions of the entire human race. It is
His death outside the gates of Jerusalem that
opened the gates of Heaven for all of mankind.
The apostle
to the Hebrews concludes, therefore, let us
go out to Him who is outside the camp and share
His disgrace. Yeshua is still outside the
camp, rejected by this world. And, our place is
with Him, outside of the religions and values
of this world. If we want to be joined to Yeshua
in Heaven, we must go to Him outside the camp,
sharing His disgrace. We must share Messiah's
rejection, and meet Him on the ground where He
has chosen, which is outside the camp.
John continues:
There they crucified Him, and with Him two
other men, one on either side, and Yeshua in between.
John only gives us the very shortest description
of the actual crucifixion. John does tell us that
the Son of God was crucified with two other men,
kind of lumped together with them. How ironic
that the One Who Willingly Gave All was considered
to be worthy of the same death as those who lived
by stealing.
Pilate
also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross.
It was written, "Yeshua the Nazarene, the King
of the Jews." Therefore many of the Jews read
this inscription, for the place where Yeshua was
crucified was near the city; and it was written
in Hebrew, Latin and in Greek.
The Roman
governor wrote up the official charge against
Yeshua and placed it on the cross. And what is
the crime for which the good rabbi from Nazareth
is being put to death in such a horrible way?
What is His sin? That Yeshua is the King of the
Jews, and Rome won’t tolerate any rivals to Caesar.
Rome crucified
the King of the Jews as a common criminal. How
insulting, how tragic, how sad, how ironic, because
Yeshua was and is and forever will be the King
of the Jews, and the King of all those who love
God.
Pilate
had the charges written in the three major languages
of that day and area, so that all - Jews and Gentiles,
would be able to understand Yeshua’s crime, and
reject Him. I’m reminded of the prophecy of Isaiah,
“He was despised and rejected by men.” Men despised
and rejected the King in the Garden of Eden. Men
despised and rejected the King before and after
the Flood. Men despised and rejected the King
when Israel worshiped the golden calf. Men despised
and rejected the king during the times of the
prophets.
Men despised
and rejected the King and crucified Him at Gulgotha.
And men and women, Jews and Gentiles, still despise
and reject the King. Don’t be deceived my friends
- there will be a terrible price to pay for every
human being - Jew and Gentile, who has participated
in mankind’s rebellion against the King.
The chief
priests didn’t like the way that the official
charge against Yeshua was phrased. So the chief
priests of the Jews were saying to Pilate, "Do
not write, ' The King of the Jews'; but that He
said, 'I am King of the Jews.'" We don’t believe
that Yeshua is the King of the Jews, Pilate, only
that He claimed that title. Please change the
way the official charge is phrased. But Pilate
is sick of the whole situation, and is not going
to accommodate the Jewish leaders any more. Pilate
has had enough of them. So Pilate answered,
"What I have written I have written." That’s
it.
The four
soldiers who were involved in the actual crucifixion
now find themselves with an opportunity to make
a little extra profit from their day’s work. Then
the soldiers, when they had crucified Yeshua,
took His outer garments and made four parts, a
part to every soldier and also the tunic; now
the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece. So
they said to one another, "Let us not tear it,
but cast lots for it, to decide whose it shall
be."
As if
He hadn’t been mocked and humiliated enough already,
Yeshua is further humiliated and stripped of His
last earthly possessions and crucified naked.
He died naked and poverty stricken so that we
would be eternally rich. This fulfills Psalm 22:19,
which was written a thousand years before. And
John, this great Emissary, this apostle sent from
God to teach us, tells us that this was to
fulfill the Scripture: "they divided My outer
garments among them, and for my clothing they
cast lots." Therefore the soldiers did these things.
God knew that this tragic, yet glorious scene
would happen exactly the way it did, that the
eternal Son of God, the Lord of Glory, who from
eternity shared with His Father the glory of God,
died naked and poverty stricken so that we would
be eternally rich and clothed with garments of
righteousness. And so it happened.
Perhaps
the most significant event in the history of the
universe is taking place. The incarnate Son of
God is allowing Himself to be killed in order
to atone for the sins of the world, and reconcile
us from the God from whom the whole world is estranged.
These soldiers are right there. They are actually
taking part in it. They are nailing Yeshua’s hands
and feet to the cross, and raising Him up on it.
If only they could see! If only they could understand!
They could have received robes of righteousness,
and garments of salvation that would enable them
to be accepted by God and live forever and ever.
But they only saw a dying and despised Jew, and
were satisfied to divide up His clothes.
Jewish
and Roman men arrested Yeshua. Most of the disciples
- men - abandoned Yeshua. Peter - a man - denied
Yeshua. Most of the Jewish leaders - again, men
- rejected Yeshua. Pilate - a man - oppressed
Yeshua. The four soldiers - men - crucified Yeshua.
Now we are introduced to another group who are
there at the King’s death: women - faithful, loyal
women.
But
standing by the cross of Yeshua were His mother,
and His mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas,
and Mary Magdalene. In contrast to the Jewish
leaders, Pilate, the soldiers, are a few faithful
Jewish women, who fearlessly stood by Him to the
bitter end. The women were loyal. They didn't
abandon Him. Thank God for good, faithful women!
When
Yeshua then saw His mother, and the disciple whom
He loved standing nearby (no doubt John, the
author of this book, who was particularly close
to Messiah, and love by Him. And, due to his great
humility, John does not name himself, setting
us an example we should follow), He said to
His mother, "Woman, behold, your son!" Then He
said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother!" From
that hour the disciple took her into his own household.
Even while
on the cross, Yeshua was thinking of others, especially
those in His family for whom He was responsible,
particularly His mother. Joseph is mostly likely
dead by this time, and Yeshua, as the eldest son,
would the head of the family. He makes a decision
that the care of His mother Mary should go, not
to his father, who is probably dead, or to His
brothers, but to John. Why John and not His brothers?
Because those who believe in Him are closer to
Him and better equipped than His physical brothers
who have no faith in Him.
After
this, Yeshua, knowing that all things had already
been accomplished (Yeshua knew that He had
successfully accomplished everything that God
had sent Him to do. He had said everything that
needed to be said, taught everything that needed
to be taught, touched all those who needed to
be touched, healed all those whom God wanted Him
to heal, resisted all the temptations that came
His way, witnessed to all those He needed to witness
to, interacted with all those He needed to interact
with) to fulfill the Scripture, said, "I am
thirsty."
He probably
had not drunk anything since the evening before,
at the Passover Seder. It’s now the afternoon
of the next day, and Yeshua, has been up all night,
moving from place to place, beaten, whipped, carrying
a heavy cross, exposed to the sun of a Israel
April day. Yeshua was a Man with a body like ours,
and He was thirsty. A jar full of sour wine
was standing there; so they put a sponge full
of the sour wine upon a branch of hyssop and brought
it up to His mouth. Yeshua was thirsty. Yeshua
thirsted so that we might be able to drink the
water of life, that within us we can have a well
of water that springs up to eternal life, that
when we are in the New Jerusalem, we can drink
from the river of the water of life, which comes
from the throne of God and the throne of the Messiah
who died, which is clear as crystal, refreshing,
invigorating, eternally life giving and sustaining.
Yeshua
thirsted so we can sing, “Behold, God is my salvation.
I will trust, and not be afraid; for the Lord
my God is my strength and my song; and He has
become my salvation. Therefore You will joyously
draw water from the springs of salvation.” Is
the Lord your God? He is if Yeshua is your Lord.
Are you joyously drawing water from the springs
of salvation? Is your thirst for God, thirst for
meaning, thirst for truth, thirst for security,
thirst for peace, thirst for life quenched, or
are you still thirsting?
Therefore
when Yeshua had received the sour wine, He said,
"It is finished!" The great work of mankind’s
salvation was at that moment, finished; the great
work of atonement, reconciling us to God, our
Source of life, happiness, and blessing, is finished;
the great work of reconciling the world to God,
of reestablishing peace between God and man, is
finished; the great work of reversing the curse,
redeeming us from sin and death, that God sent
Messiah to accomplish, the plan that was formulated
between God and His Son before one atom in the
universe was even made, is finished!
And, if
it is finished, how can you, a puny, sinful mortal,
whose best deeds are tainted by sin, and are like
filthy rags, how can you improve upon that finished
work? What good deed of yours can you add to it
to make it better? What prayer that you pray,
what money that you give, what religious activities
that you undertake, can add to atonement of the
Son of God, when it is already finished? If it
is finished, how dare you come up with some other
religious system? If it is finished, why would
you offer Him up again on some Catholic altar?
If it is finished, how dare you assert that it
is unfinished?
It is
finished, and He bowed His head and gave up
His spirit. Yeshua gave up His spirit. Even
in death He was Lord. He had authority over His
life and over His death. No one took His life.
He willing gave it up, so that we might live.
Are you? He who has the Son has His life. He who
does not have the Son of God does not have eternal
life. Do you know for sure? You can. You should.
Now we
come to the events immediately following His death.
Then the Jews, because it was the day of preparation,
so that the bodies would not remain on the cross
on the Sabbath for that Sabbath was a high day,
asked Pilate that their legs might be broken,
and that they might be taken away. It seems
to be Yom Sh’lee-shee, the sixth day of the week
(Friday), the day Jewish people prepare for the
Sabbath. The Jewish leaders wanted Yeshua and
the two thieves to die quickly, before Shabbat
began at sunset, so that they wouldn't have to
be bothered with burying these men on Shabbat.
Breaking
the legs of one who was being crucified speeded
up death. He could no longer raise himself up
by putting pressure on the nail in his feet, and
so he couldn’t breathe, and suffocated.
Again,
what a warning this should be to us about the
danger of religion apart from a true relationship
with God! These Jewish leaders don’t want to violate
the Sabbath, meanwhile they are committing one
of the greatest sins in history, putting to death
the Messiah, who is the Lord of the Sabbath, the
One who can truly give the human soul true spiritual
rest!
So
the soldiers came, and broke the legs of the first
man and of the other who was crucified with Him;
but coming to Yeshua, when they saw that He was
already dead, they did not break His legs. Yeshua
didn't need to have His legs broken to speed up
His death, because He was already dead. But
one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear,
and immediately blood and water came out -
I don’t know if this means that Yeshua’s lungs
or body cavity contained watery fluid that flowed
along with some blood, or that His blood had begun
separating into a reddish mixture and a clearer
fluid, but I do know that John was there, and
he is trying to tell us that Yeshua was really
and truly dead. There is no way, for example,
that He merely fainted on the cross, and then
was revived later on.
And
he who has seen has testified, and his testimony
is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth,
so that you also may believe. This is accurate,
true eyewitness testimony, from someone of the
very best character, who was right there. It is
reliable information, true knowledge, that we
should believe, that we must believe.
And, the
inspired apostle, sent to us from God and Messiah
to teach us the truth, tells us that these
things came to pass to fulfill the Scripture,
"not a bone of him shall be broken." Just
as none of the bones of the Passover lambs were
broken (see Exodus 12:46), so none of the bones
of the Messiah were broken, telling us that Yeshua
is the fulfillment of the Passover Lamb - the
One through whom we are redeemed from slavery
to sin and death. Just as the Lord protects the
bones of the righteous man from being broken (see
Psalm 34:20), so none of Yeshua’s bones were broken,
telling us that He is the perfectly Righteous
One who can make us right with our God. None of
His bones were broken, but He was pierced by nails
and by a spear.
And, this
fulfills another Scripture as well: And again
another Scripture says, "They shall look on Him
whom they pierced" (see Zechariah 12:10).
This is an amazing prophecy, one that I find myself
thinking of frequently these days. It’s connected
to the Second Coming of Yeshua, when the nation
of Israel, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, find
themselves surrounded by all the nations of the
world - a coalition of united nations intent on
destroying our people has gathered against us.
It looks to the world that we will be completely
destroyed, A great battle ensues, and God helps
little Israel have a miraculous, maccabean victory
over these vastly superior forces.
At that
point God reveals Himself to Israel in a powerful
and dramatic way, and the entire nation looks
upon Him whom we have pierced - the righteous
Son of God, the King of Israel, our Messiah and
Savior who still loves us, and we realize that
we made a terrible, terrible mistake, and have
perpetuated that mistake for so many centuries.
The entire nation turns to Yeshua and we acknowledge
Him, and we welcome Him, and we say, Baruch HaBa
b’Shem Adonai - blessed is He who comes in the
name of the Lord. And, when we turn to Him, He
receives us, and forgives us, just as Joseph’s
brothers were forgiven and received when their
brother, whom they thought was dead, was finally
revealed to them.
After
these things Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple
of Yeshua, but a secret one for fear of the Jews,
asked Pilate that he might take away the body
of Yeshua; and Pilate granted permission. So he
came and took away His body. Nicodemus, who had
first come to Him by night, also came, bringing
a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred
pounds weight.
Joseph
was a prominent member of the Sanhedrin (Mark
15:42-47). He had been a secret admirer of Yeshua,
a so-called "secret believer." But in a very difficult
situation, when he could have suffered for showing
that admiration for Yeshua, Joseph publicly identifies
himself with Yeshua. He is no longer a secret
believer, but one who loved the young miracle
working Rabbi. At this crucial time, Nicodemus
also rises to the occasion. The one who came to
him by night, now, in the light of day, comes
and helps Joseph bury Yeshua’s body.
Now, let
me be very clear: I have no tolerance for so called
secret believers. A true disciple must publicly
identify with Yeshua, and confess his faith in
Him before men, and be willing to take risks in
order to advance Yeshua’s cause, otherwise he
is not a true believer, and the frightening words
of Yeshua will come to pass, “he who denies Me
before men, I will deny before My Father in Heaven.”
So
they took the body of Yeshua and bound it in linen
wrappings with the spices, as is the burial custom
of the Jews. Yeshua’s body was encased in
linen wrappings, dipped in spices and aloes, which
are sticky, forming a kind of cocoon. Yeshua is
truly dead, and He is buried in the tomb of Joseph,
a rich man, who out of love for the young rabbi,
allows Him to be buried in his own, new tomb.
Now
in the place where He was crucified there was
a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which
no one had yet been laid. Therefore because
of the Jewish day of preparation, since the tomb
was nearby, they laid Yeshua there. All this
fulfills the prophecy in Isaiah 53, that the Messiah
would be with a rich man in His death.
Messiah
died so that we may live forever. Yeshua died,
and we must die too - die to everything that displeases
God, die to the world, to that we might be forever
alive to God. Are you?
Yeshua
was buried, so that we might be raised, that our
mortal bodies might be resurrected, glorified,
and be immortal!
Messiah’s
death and burial were foreknown by God, and predicted
in Israel’s Holy Scriptures. This lets us know
that these things were part of the preordained
plan of God, conceived in the foreknowledge of
the all-wise all-good, all-powerful God!
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