I look at myself and wonder if I have picked up the cross. Personally, I think I was seized and had it laid on me. Not that I mind, but I think that if left to myself I probably would have hesitated or turned away. Picking up the cross voluntarily is very hard to do. Few do. I imagine that the cross was not constructed of fine, finished wood. I think of it as rough, splintery and very heavy. It is changing my life. I thank God for seizing me and laying the cross on my shoulders. I pray it doesn’t fall off or get dropped by the way.
“I spoke of Christ’s hanging upon the cross. He said to the thief, ‘I say unto you today,’—while hanging right there helpless and a criminal— ‘I say unto thee today, thou shalt be with me in paradise.’ [Luke 23:43.] That was the death knell of Satan, to think that he ever should obtain the victory. He had set men to mocking Christ. He had set even the Jews to mock Christ and to oppose Him, ‘You that will destroy—.’ [Matthew 27:40.] That insult and reproach, what did it do? Christ bore it right upon the cross; He was carrying it out for you and me. What cross are you bearing? What crosses are you bearing here in . . .? Every one, we want to be a living witness for Christ. Every one of us, we want to arouse from our stupidity and backsliding.” 22LtMs, Ms 180, 1907, par. 23.
When troubles, annoyances, irritations and problems arise in my life, there are way too many times when I want to lash out. I am thankful I don’t have the power to solve the problems “my way”. When the anger builds up within me, and the frustration wants to overflow in a negative vain, I’m learning to “see” Jesus being beaten, scourged and nailed to the cross. The difference between us and Jesus, He had the power to solve the problem “His way”. He could have wiped them all out and returned to Heaven. Yet because of His love for you and me, He stood there and took it. We must have that same love if we plan on being with Him in “Paradise”.
Luke 23:26 to Luke 23:56
And as they led him away, they seized one Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and laid on him the cross, to carry it behind Jesus.
Most of us have been wandering around in the country of sin for a very long time. Do we resist or accept the cross when Jesus lays it on our shoulders? Do we look for a resting place to put it down? Do we look around to make sure no one is watching when we lay it down? Do we try to get others to carry it with or for us? I have. Even though each of us has our own cross to lift and bear, there are times when we can help each other carry their cross. Even though Jesus bore His cross, there came a time when He was unable to bare it and another had to carry it for Him. Jesus didn’t resist carrying the cross, it was impossible for His human nature to carry it any farther. I have been very thankful when someone stepped up and helped me carry my cross. I am thankful that Jesus is willing to help bare our crosses. True Christianity is helping each other carry the cross.
“and laid on Him the cross, to carry it behind Jesus.” Interesting that he did not carry it in front of Jesus, but “behind Jesus”. I suppose too many of us are carrying “a” cross in front of Jesus. That way we don’t have to look at Jesus or go in His direction. Probably the “cross” we are carrying is of our own making: smooth, clean, light and fancy so as not to interfere with our worldly pursuits.
Maybe we should pick up the cross of Christ and follow Him. Churches, denominations, priests, pastors and church members carry the “idol” of a cross. They have it slung around the neck, hanging on a wall in their home or dangling from the rear-view mirror in their car. Few have the cross in their heart and on their shoulder. Most don’t want the cross. They truly don’t want Jesus. He is nothing more than a “rabbit’s foot” to carry around and kiss for good luck.
And there followed him a great multitude of the people and of women who were mourning and lamenting for him.
I would assume that in the crowd there were those whom Jesus had healed. Maybe those whom Jesus had raised from the dead. They were probably confused. They were not able to understand why the church was treating Jesus so cruelly when He had only brought joy, healing and peace to those who accepted Him into their lives.
Yet, there they were, “a great multitude” following Jesus. Other than the women, this great multitude was there for the show. This was the greatest excitement since the tower fell on people at Siloam. (Luke 13:4). I’m wondering if most were following to see when this Miracle Worker would disappear, as He had done on numerous occasions before. No different from people today. Many are “following” Jesus to see the miracles and be part of the entertainment and show. Few are mourning and lamenting for the suffering of Jesus, their sins and the sins of the world.
And of course, that is why the church was putting Jesus to death. Great multitudes were following Him. That was not permitted by the church. You must follow the church, not Jesus.
But turning to them Jesus said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For behold, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?”
Jesus still offered forgiveness and salvation to any who would accept Him. But a day would come, not too far distant, when that offer would be closed forever. Through my study of the Bible I have come to the realization that each of us has a “closing” period. Cain had his. Those before the flood had theirs. Sodom and the surrounding cities had theirs. King Saul had his. The nation of Israel had its “closing” period. The Jews at the time of Christ had theirs. Herod and Pilate had theirs. The scary thing is, none knew at what moment their “closing” period came. Yet, they lived on thinking they were “OK”. And then, retribution arrived and people will long for and search for the forgiveness of God, but it will no longer be available. And when He comes in His glory, the enormity of their guilt will come up before them and they will cry for the mountains to fall on them and cover them from the face they hated, abused and turned away from. Your church will not be able to save you. Do you know Jesus?
As I write this, California is being ripped apart by storms. Fortunately, God has His ministry protected behind the mountains. Yes, we are getting hurricane force winds and have had to replace a few shingles. But we are being protected by the angels of God. We still have our power. As soon as we are out of debt I plan on putting in batteries and then we will be self-sufficient when things get worse. We are at the time of “all these are but the beginning of the birth pains.” Matthew 24:8.
Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him.
The whole world is condemned as criminal. We have all been led away to be put to death. But if we accept Jesus into our lives, being willing to die with Him, then we will also be raised with Him.
And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left.
In the midst of a world of criminals Jesus was not ashamed to be counted one of them. He came to save sinners. Where do you stand? Who is on your right and left? Are you standing with the “good” church people? Or are you standing with “criminals”, some with “the skull” tattooed on them, and bringing them the Words of Life.
And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments.
I believe that His prayer included far more than those who put Him on the cross. If we truly believe that “my” sins put Jesus on the cross, that prayer is for “me”. As I look back upon my childhood and upbringing, I now understand that prayer in clearer detail. Jesus forgave me because I did not know what I was doing. My sins were totally outside of my comprehension of sin. Now that I have a better understanding, I praise God for His love a mercy in forgiving my unknown sins. His grace has given me time to know, understand, repent and turn away from them.
And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!”
I think all too often we stand by and watch people who have been chosen by God be scoffed at. We judge by their appearances, how much money they have, how much honor they receive from the world and other worldly standards. How sad they refused to understand that if He saved Himself, they would all be lost. By refusing to save Himself, all of us have the opportunity to be saved.
The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!”
“Save yourself”! The devil was doing all he could to goad Jesus into saving Himself. That was the only way the devil could secure his own eternal life. For the devil to have eternal life, we all had to die. But if Jesus died so we could have eternal life, then the devil would have to die. Now you see who loves you. That is why I have thrown in my lot with Jesus.
There was also an inscription over him, “This is the King of the Jews.”
Yes, He was!
One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!”
Many of our churches have the same attitude. It is all selfishness. “Save me!”. “I am saved by grace”. “God wouldn’t dare destroy me. I go to church.” Or some other “I do . . .”. Jesus didn’t come to save Himself. If we plan on going to Heaven we are not to think of ourselves, but those we can “save” by living as Jesus commands us to live. Never are we to think of ourselves.
But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?
There are few of us left who rebuke the wicked. Most just go along keeping their heads down. We are all under the “same sentence of condemnation.” We have all sinned and the wages of sin is death. So that is the question, “Do you not fear God?” Not many do. It is all about church, as it was back then. However, please keep in mind, rebuking is not the same as condemning. I suppose most do not “rebuke” because they refuse to live as Jesus commands. It is much easier to condemn.
And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.”
How true. In the end we will receive “the due reward of our deeds”. Over and over again in the Bible we are told that. But not many believe it. Why? Because of our churches. In the end we will acknowledge that “this Man has done nothing wrong.” We will admit that we deserve the reward we are earning: either eternal life or eternal death. No one to blame but ourselves.
And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
Those who stand up for Jesus can ask to be remembered when He comes. Not because they are worthy, but because they have surrendered their lives to Jesus. They were able to see past the church and world nonsense and see Jesus for who He really is in their lives.
And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
We must remember, there were no punctuations when the Bible was written. The above punctuation was done by man. As it is above, it makes a liar out of the Bible. But if we move the comma over one word, it makes perfect sense. It should read, “Truly, I say to you today, you will be with me in paradise.” What a difference a comma makes. For most, their lives are built around misplaced commas and texts taken out of context. Why? In order to sin and believe they are still “worthy” of eternal life. Churches and denominations and religions are built around misplaced commas and texts.
It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, while the sun’s light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two.
It was now 3 o’clock in the afternoon and time for the evening sacrifice. The lamb was on the altar and about to be slain. The priest raises his hand with the knife to slay the lamb when there is an earthquake and the knife falls from the hand of the priest. The lamb escapes and the curtain separating the Holy from the Most Holy compartments of the temple is torn from top to bottom. The Lamb of God has now died. We can now look upon the true sacrifice of God for our sins.
Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last.
Jesus knew He would rise from the tomb before the cross. But when His Father hid His face from Jesus, laying on Him the sins of the whole world, past, present and future, Jesus had to face death as we all must face it: trusting God. Since He had committed His spirit into the Father’s hands for over thirty-three years, He was simply continuing His habit. But that didn’t make it any easier. If it was His Father’s will that He should not be raised from the tomb, so be it. He died in faith in His Father and in love for us.
Now when the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God, saying, “Certainly this man was innocent!”
He was the first one on earth to be converted after the cross. The angels, and beings of the other unfallen planets, stood in amazement at the treatment of Jesus. Not just because He was a holder of the God title, but that any people, those created by Jesus, could treat another person in such a shameful way. They understood now why God had to eject Satan from Heaven. Who would want to live eternally with such hate and brutality?
And all the crowds that had assembled for this spectacle, when they saw what had taken place, returned home beating their breasts.
Poor humans. Always looking for a “spectacle” to amuse their lives. I sometimes wonder if we are doing the same in our churches. Are we assembling for a spectacle, or do we return home beating our breasts to put away sin?
And all his acquaintances and the women who had followed him from Galilee stood at a distance watching these things.
Many see but do not understand. Many leave because they do not want to understand. The women stood “watching these things” because they wanted to understand. God honored their desire to understand by revealing the resurrection first to the women. They were the last to leave and the first to come. Are we as willing to “watch”? Jesus has told us to “watch” for His coming. We are not to go around yelling and screaming or posting, “Jesus is coming”. What we are to be teaching are the teachings of Jesus to be perfect, stop sinning and to keep the Ten Commandments to get your eternal life. Then you will be prepared when He comes. Just as the women were prepared for the resurrection, unknowingly, by “watching these things”.
Now there was a man named Joseph, from the Jewish town of Arimathea. He was a member of the council, a good and righteous man, who had not consented to their decision and action; and he was looking for the kingdom of God.
God is placing good people in positions of power and influence who will come to our defense at just the right time. He is doing it now in our governments and in the media in order to bring about justice and righteousness that has been trampled in the dust. Do not worry. Do not fret. Prepare your character for Heaven.
This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then he took it down and wrapped it in a linen shroud and laid him in a tomb cut in stone, where no one had ever yet been laid.
There are many who are waiting on the sidelines watching. But they lose much by not being close to Jesus. He was afraid he might lose his influence by outwardly acknowledging his love for Jesus. Eventually he learned the lesson, don’t be afraid, just do your duty and God will take care of the rest.
It was the day of Preparation, and the Sabbath was beginning.
It was Friday, and the 7th-day, Saturday-Sabbath was beginning. Friday mornings I spend several hours cleaning and preparing for the Sabbath. Since I do not know what the rest of the day may entail, I make sure that everything is ready for the presence of Jesus when the sun sets. Sabbath is such a blessing. I praise God for the Sabbath. This also puts to rest all the conspiracy theories about when Jesus died or rose. It was the day of Preparation, and the Sabbath was beginning.
The women who had come with him from Galilee followed and saw the tomb and how his body was laid. Then they returned and prepared spices and ointments. On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.
Approximately 50 years after the death of Christ, the Christians still understood the importance and holiness of the 7th-day Sabbath. Since there was no “New” Testament as we know it today until 300 years after Christ, the early Christian still observed the Sabbath as commanded by Jesus in the Ten Commandments.