'An Independent Baptist Church'

THE PASSION OF CHRIST

Who is responsible for Jesus' Death?

What happened at the Crucifixion?

What was a Roman Flogging?

Was Jesus nailed to the cross?

Who killed Jesus?  Is the Bible anti-Semitic?

The guilt can be laid at the feet of anyone of us.

The Jewish Religious Leaders -Caiaphas, the High Priest  & Sanhedrin - The Nation of Israel's Supreme court & The Pharisees - John 11:53 "Then from that day on they plotted to put him to death"

Pontius Pilate - A Gentile Roman Governor SENTENCED Jesus to death

Furthermore - crucifixion was a Roman method of execution, AUTHORIZED AND CARRIED OUT by Roman, not Jewish, authorities.
 
Roman soldiers drove the nails into Jesus' hands

Roman Soldiers erected the cross and took the spear and pierced Jesus' side

Gentile (Non-Jewish) hands played an even more prominent role in the actual murder of Jesus than the Jews did.

In fact the murder of Jesus was a vast conspiracy involving Rome, Herod, The Gentiles, the Jewish Sanhedrin, and the people of Israel according to Acts 4:27!

(the Only event in history here all of those factions worked together to achieve a common goal.)

Acts 4:27  "For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,
28  For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done."

The Jews as a race were no more or less blameworthy than the Gentiles.

In fact, you and I sitting here today are just as much to blame as anyone else, because it is our sins that caused Jesus to go to the cross.....so He could pay for our sins!

But let's make no mistake.....no one actually took Jesus' life against His Will......He voluntarily gave His life....

John 10:17-18.....because I lay down my life, ...........  No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.

Let's look at death of Jesus in Matthew 27:26 and see why Jesus went to the cross for you and me.

1) At the Cross our sin was judged

2) His death at the cross Satan was defeated

3) Our salvation was purchased (with His precious blood)

Matthew 27:26 -
"Then released he Barabbas unto them: and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified.
 

Josh McDowell describes a Roman Flogging in his Book THE RESURRECTION FACTOR on page 43, 43.

The Jews had a law forbidding more than 40 lashings, but the Romans had no such law and probably went well beyond this number on of lashes on Jesus' back.

A whip consisted of leather thongs with sharp pieces of bone and lead in the end which would actually rip pieces of flesh off the bone when it struck the back.

The victim's back would be a mass of bleeding wounds  and quivering muscles.  

What was crucifixion like?

Crucifixion was a most cruel form of execution that the Romans had learned from the Persians.  It would not only put the victim out in public display for humiliation, but it was a torturous  slow death.

~THE MOCKERY

Hebrews 12:2 ... endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Matthew 27:27
27  Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the common hall, and gathered unto him the whole band of soldiers.
28  And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe.

Imagine the public shame of the Son of God being stripped naked before everybody..

They further mocked Him to put a Scarlet faded purple robe on Him.....making fun of His claim to be a KING.

29  And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews!

The thorns which grew in Jerusalem could grow to 2 inches long and were sharp as needles......and imagine how deep they could penetrate into His head as the crown was pressed hard upon Him...

30  And they spit upon him, and took the reed, and smote him on the head.

This reed would have been firm enough to inflict great pain
on His already battered head.  (John 19:3 says the soldiers also struck with their hands.)

31  And after that they had mocked him, they took the robe off from him, and put his own raiment on him, and led him away to crucify him.

Victims of crucifixion were made to wear a placard around the neck  listing the crime they were guilty of as they had to carry their own cross to the place of execution.

(Remember Jesus saying to his followers "Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me")    A man carrying a cross was going to his death.  Are you and I willing to die to your own desires if necessary to follow the Lord and be a committed follower of His?

(Not to be saved.......but to be a committed disciple of His.....)

They were led thru the streets in a publicly humiliating way in a procession in order to maximize the humiliation of the spectacle.

Some have suggested maybe Jesus only carried the lateral crossbeam which was later attached to the vertical beam which was already in the ground at the place of execution.  

But the Bible seems to indicate that Jesus was bearing the entire cross, which could weigh about 200 lbs.....a tremendous load to bear for a strong man in any circumstances....but someone in Jesus' already BEATEN and WEAKENED CONDITION ..it would be virtually impossible to drag from city hall outside of the city walls.  In fact Matthew says Jesus needed help carrying His cross..

32  And as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name: him they compelled to bear his cross.

Imagine how exhausted Jesus was....the previous day had been so grueling that the disciples fell asleep and were unable to stay away while Jesus prayed in the garden....but that was only the beginning of Jesus' agony as He sweated as it were great drops of blood...

It was there in the night that Jesus was arrested, beaten, flogged, held without sleep all night.....after all this, combined with blood loss and shock, it is no wonder He was too weak to carry a 200lb cross later that morning.

Jesus needed help every step of the way from the Roman soldiers.

Simon a man from Cyrene, a city in Africa, was compelled to
help Jesus...He would have likely been a black skinned man.

~The Crucifixion
33  And when they were come unto a place called Golgotha, that is to say, a place of a skull,

There is such a place known as Gordon's Calvary, just North of Jerusalem's city walls.  It can still be seen to day and still bears an uncanny resemblance to a human skull.

34  They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink.

Mark 15:23 says the bitter or gall substance was myrrh...which would act as a mild narcotic to dull the senses and numb the pain.
Jesus refused it because he came to the cross to bear our sins and He would endure the full measure of the pain and feel the full effect of paying for our sin on the cross.

35  And they crucified him, and parted his garments, casting lots: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots.

Crucifixion victims were stripped naked....think of the humility and shame for the Son of God
Our Precious Savior, to be publicly exposed like that!  (Heb 12:2 endured the cross, despising the shame)


The exact process of Jesus' crucifixion is matter of debate among some, but with a careful look at the Scripture accounts we can glean a lot of information.

For example, some suggest Jesus was tied to the cross with leather straps, but John 20:25 we learn that Jesus was nailed to the cross...


But he (Thomas said to them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.

36  And sitting down they watched him there;
37  And set up over his head his accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

From this we learn that the cross Jesus had was the regular cross we think of today, with beam extending up above his head, because it says OVER HIS HEAD was written the accusation THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.  

It was not the T-shaped St Anthony's cross.

 ******See page 199 THE MURDER OF JESUS (MacArthur)

Jesus would have been nailed to the cross as it lay flat on the ground.
The nails used were long sharp iron spikes, much like modern railroad spikes, but much sharper.  

The nails had to be driven thru the wrist part of the hand in order to hold up a man's body weight.....

Nails in the palm would not hold the weight of a 200lb man normal man...

This would crush the bones in the wrist and tear the nerves in the wrist, causing intense pain....on top of pain already there!
A single nail would be driven thru both feet, usually thru the Achilles' tendons.

The cross & victim would then be elevated to slide down into the deep posthole.....and as it hit bottom the jolt would cause the full weight of the victim to be immediately borne by the nails in the wrists and the feet.  

That would cause a bone-wrenching pain thru the entire body of the victim, as major joints were suddenly twisted out of their natural position

This is probably what Jesus meant when He referred to Psalms 22:v14
" 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."

The victim of crucifixion would experience waves of nausea, fever, intense thirst, constant cramps, and incessant, throbbing pain from all parts of the body.  Sleeplessness, hunger, dehydrations, and worsening infection all took their toll on the victim's body and spirit as the process of crucifixion dragged on...usually in most cases for 3 days or so.  The feeling of utter helplessness, the public shame, made death something that the victim now desired more than anything!

Death normally came from slow suffocation, because as the legs tired from fatigue, they could not push up to free the diaphragm to breath, and the person would soon suffocate due to lack of oxygen.

That is why Romans sometimes practiced Crucifracture... the breaking of the legs below the knees....when they wanted to speed up or hasten the process. (John 19:31 says when they came to Jesus He was already dead)

38  Then were there two thieves crucified with him, one on the right hand, and another on the left.
39  And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads,
40  And saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross.
41  Likewise also the chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders, said,
42  He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him.
43  He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God.
44  The thieves also, which were crucified with him, cast the same in his teeth.
45  Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour.

As Jesus' suffered for 3 hours from 12 noon to 3 pm (Jewish time 6 - 9th hour)...there was darkness in the middle of day.  It was as if The Father's Judgment on our sins was falling upon Christ as He bore IN HIS PERSON our guilt.

****My friend, all the pain and torture we have described so far are beyond our ability to fathom, but this was nothing compared to the wrath of God against the sin He bore.

46  And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
47  Some of them that stood there, when they heard that, said, This man calleth for Elias.
48  And straightway one of them ran, and took a spunge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink.
49  The rest said, Let be, let us see whether Elias will come to save him.
50  Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost.
51  And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;
52  And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,
53  And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.
54  Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God.

In John 19:32-26 we're told that the soldiers pierced his side with a spear and blood and water came out separately.....a sure sign of death medical authorities tell us.......

Psalms 34:20 says when they came to break his legs to hasten death they saw He was already dead so they did not break his legs..fulfilling the prophecy of this passage that said no bones would be broken

"He  keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken."

Joseph of Arimathaea came at at the evening (Wednesday) because the next day Thursday was a HIGH SABBATH......sometimes Sabbaths were on days other than Saturday and this was one of those special sabbaths.  bodies were not to hang on these sabbaths or any other regular sabbaths, so the body was taken down and Joseph prepared the body for burial in a borrowed tomb and it was placed in that tomb Wed evening......leaving it in the grave as the Bible says for 3 days and 3 nights.......

Thursday - day and Thursday - night;
Friday - day and Friday - night;
Saturday - day and Saturday - night;
and then early Sunday morning Jesus rose from that grave victorious and appeared to many...

He is alive!

Thru His Death, God judged our sins;  He defeated the Devil, and He purchased our salvation!

You and I must accept that payment and trust the Lord Jesus as our Savior!

Would you do that today?