Nearly two thousand years ago the city of Jerusalem was in a tumult. Men, women and children were running about, yelling and leering, crowding closer and closer so as not to miss any of the excitement. In the very center of the storm, the center of that shouting, swirling mob, there was a Man. Who was this Man?
This Man was one who had healed many and fed multitudes. Some among the crowd had known Him quite a while and had been touched by His compassion and gentleness. And some had even wept as He healed a loved one. But there were others who claimed that this Man has “a devil, and is mad.”
The crowd was a mixed one that morning. Some were common folk; others were men of high esteem. There were religious people too. The most religious people of that day were known as Pharisees and Sadducees, and they were the most vocal in condemning this Man. It was well-known to some of them—even the governor himself knew—that this Man was delivered to be crucified out of envy. They wanted only death for Him. “Crucify Him,” they cried; “crucify Him!”
This gentle Man slowly made His way out of the city and up the hill to die. He was bleeding and in pain and the wooden cross was heavy, so that He stooped as He walked. The crowd knew well that the Roman soldiers were cruel, and this morning they seemed specially so. They inflicted many blows on Him; His face was terribly marred, and a crown of thorns was placed on His head.
They came to the place called Calvary. He was laid on the cross, and soldiers took iron spikes and drove them into His hands and into His feet. The cross was lifted up while the people jeered and mocked at this Man hanging there between heaven and earth.
What a sight that was! This Man hanging there was full of compassion for the multitude. He was in such suffering, yet He asked His Father to forgive the crowd— “for they know not what they do.”
At about the sixth hour of the day the sun was darkened, and until the ninth hour He suffered in the darkness. He cried out, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?”
At last He cried with a loud voice, “It is finished!” This portion of God’s Word is familiar to most people, but what about you? Do you know who this Man was? He was the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Do you know that He died for you? God “made Him to be sin for us,” and He bore the penalty of sin so that anyone believing on Him and His finished work on the cross will never have to bear the wrath of God against sin. In other words, He took our place—my place, and your place if you believe on Him.