A great company of people followed when the soldiers took Jesus from the judgment hall to a bare hill outside the city of Jerusalem where the cross was to be set up. The men who hated Jesus had said not to take Him on the feast day “lest there be an uproar of the people;” and they hurried through the trial in the night and went to Pilate very early in the morning that the crowd of people would not know.
Yet it was witnessed by those of Galilee, Jerusalem, and many other places, for, after all, it was a feast day, the first day of unleavened bread when all the Jewish people were to meet in the temple to praise God (Leviticus 23:6-76And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the Lord: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread. 7In the first day ye shall have an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein. (Leviticus 23:6‑7)). But there could have been no rejoicing, for it was the saddest day of all time, when the One who came to do good to all was nailed on a cross to die. Pilate made it very plain who it was that hung on the center cross that day. He had a board or scroll fastened above with the name “Jesus of Nazareth the King of the Jews.” It was written in Hebrew for the Jews to read, in Latin for the Romans, and in Greek for those of that language.
The men who had wanted Jesus put to death stood about His cross to ridicule Him as He suffered. They said, “He saved others; let Him save Himself.” The soldiers also ridiculed that He was a king and said, “If Thou be the king of the Jews, save Thyself.”
Two Others
There were two men, who had done wrong, crucified the same time, each on a cross beside Jesus. Even one of those men spoke angrily to Him to save Himself and them, if He were the Christ (Messiah). But the other man said that was wrong, that they deserved to die, but that Jesus had “done nothing amiss.”
That man must have known the promise of a King from God. By the words and presence of Jesus that day, he believed Him to be the Holy One who would yet rule, and he said, “Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy kingdom.”
Jesus answered him, “Verily, I say unto you, [meaning, what is to be told is with authority and sure], Today shalt thou be with Me in paradise.”
That was far more than the man asked. His soul would that day be with the Lord in the place of joy, not to wait for His kingdom on earth, for Jesus was more than the King. He was the Saviour of mens’ souls, and the Lord of glory.
A Life Yielded
The last three hours that Jesus was on the cross there was darkness over all the land; then He called with a loud voice, “Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit.”
Jesus had given up His life Himself when His work of suffering for men’s sins was finished. That work no one could see, but was the perfect sacrifice known to God. We can believe the Lord’s words as the thief and others did that day, and wonder at His love that gave Him to be crucified for us.
There was one man named Joseph who was in the council, but who believed Jesus to be the Messiah; he went to Pilate and obtained permission to take down the body of Jesus and, wrapping it with linen, placed Him in a new tomb.
Further Meditation
1. Why was the inscription above the cross written in more than one language?
2. How many different testimonies to the Lord’s innocence can you find in Luke 22 and 23?
3. The sufferings of the Lord are a deep and essential subject. If you are up for a challenging and deep introduction to this vast topic you might read the pamphlet The Sufferings of Christ by J. N. Darby.