He is Crucified

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They took Him to a place called Golgotha, "The Skull". It was called the skull because this place was used for all kinds of executions and the bones of the victims were lying everywhere. There were two others that were taken with Him to be crucified also, one on His left and one on His right. These two represented all of mankind. One would believe, one would not. One mocked Jesus and cried out "Are you not the Christ, save yourself and us." Hardened in his heart, even the pain of the cross, he would not humble himself. The other grasped at the opportunity to lay hold of God's mercy even at this last minute and he cried out, "Jesus remember me when you come into your Kingdom."

Notice the remarkable understanding of this "penitent thief.

  1. He condemned the other thief. "Have you no fear of God." "If you were human you would not insult one of your fellow sufferers." "We are all three in the same condition, we are all three dying."
  2. He understood something about justice. He acknowledged that he and the other thief deserved their judgment, "We receive the due reward for our deeds." The truly penitent person acknowledges God's right to punish for sin. "But this man,(Jesus) had done no wrong." He obviously knew more about Jesus than what he had observed here on Golgotha.
  3. He understood something about repentance, certainly this was a gift of the Holy Spirit. He realized the divine nature and mission of Jesus. "Lord, remember me when you come into your Kingdom." The prayer of a dying sinner to a dying Savior.
  4. He understood a great deal about Jesus that had only been briefly touched upon. Notice his gifts:
    1. He was enlightened by the Holy Spirit.
    2. He was aware of his sinfulness.
    3. He was penitent, sorry for his sins.
    4. though perhaps never doing it before, he knew how and what to pray for.
    5. He was given faith enough to believe.
    6. He believed that Jesus was Lord, that He would establish a Kingdom and that, by faith, he could be a part of that Kingdom. He must have been the first to understand the meaning of "justification by faith".

Notice what the penitent thief asked for, "Remember me Lord..." That was the main thing he asked for. Into your hands and memory I commit my soul. To be remembered my Jesus is enough to secure your eternity. Notice Jesus did not let the man die in doubt or without hope, He told him plainly where his eternity would be, "Today you will be with me in Paradise." "This day", not at my Second Coming, but this day, immediately after death, the thief would be with Jesus in Paradise.

But what about the "on lookers", those who had came to mock Him, the travelers that had stopped along the way to observe the execution or the Roman Soldiers who were charged with His death? Some wagged their heads back and forth as a sign that they delighted in His misery. Some taunted Him about His statement that He would rebuild the Temple in three days. If you are that great, save yourself. If you are the Son of God, come down from that cross.

Surly if He could not save Himself, He could not save others. So this was the King of Israel. A fine king He is, dying on the cross. They put an inscription over the cross, "This is the King of the Jews." He was thirsty and the soldiers offered Him vinegar to drink and then they took His garments and gambled amongst themselves for them.

Mark says it was the third hour (9 AM) when they crucified Him. For three hours they tormented and mocked Him, then on the 6th hour (12 noon) darkness came over the whole land, this brought an end to the mocking, fear filled the hearts of those who were there. Darkness covered the whole land for three hours until the 9th. hour (3 PM.) and Jesus cried out with a loud voice, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" which means, "MY God, MY God, why have you forsaken me?"

This question came from David's 22 Psalm and He uttered it with a loud voice. This was a strange complaint to come from the mouth of our Lord Jesus, whom we are sure was God's Son, one in whom He was well pleased. Yet it established for a certain that for a time, the Son was forsaken by the Father. What did this mean?

  1. God delivered Him into the hands of His enemies. He let loose the powers of darkness against Him and allowed them to do their worst.
  2. In the past, when His soul was troubled, the Father was always there to comfort Him. God forsook Him, not as He had forsaken Saul, leaving him to endless despair, but as He had forsaken David, for a short time.
  3. He placed His wrath for man's sin upon the soul of Jesus. Christ was made sin for us. These Jesus was willing to take. He would take upon Himself these afflictions as He had done all the rest, when it was in His power to have avoided them.

The forsaking of the Father was the most grievous of all the sufferings of Christ. He did not ask, "Why am I unjustly condemned?, nor did He ask, "Why am I being scourged?", nor did He ask, "Why am I being nailed to a cross?", nor did He ask of His Disciples, "Why have you forsaken me?", But when His Father stood at a distance, He cried out, "Why have you forsaken Me?" But notice, even in His "forsaken condition", He kept hold of Him as His God, "My God, My God."

Notice how His enemies ridiculed and mis-understood his question. They thought He was crying out for Elijah. Most believe it was the Roman Soldiers that mis-understood this. They had heard the Jews talk about the expected coming of Elijah and did not know the significance of the word "Eli" or "Eloi", meaning God. They assumed He was crying out to Elijah to save Him.


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