Ya’all know we’re blessed, right? How many people out there are going to die for us? Ain’t nobody I know that’s going to die for me.
There was a man that lived many, many years ago. His name was Jesus. He died for us; me and you. He didn’t even know us and he died for us. That’s a big sacrifice to give up your life for another person. Are we worthy of all that? Are we worth so much that he should have given his life up for us? I’d say no, at least I don’t think I am.
Jesus didn’t just die for us. He died an excruciating, humiliating death, separated from God for us.
Has anyone ever watched The Passion of Christ? I will never forget that movie. I don’t think I ever cried so much or felt so much guilt in my life. I read about Jesus’ death in the Bible, but reading about it was nothing like watching it. That movie brought his death to life and made it real to me. If you watched that movie, you watched a real man who had a real life who didn’t even know you, but died for you.
Jesus’ beginnings were humble. He was raised in a normal Jewish family. His father was a carpenter and his mother raised him and his siblings. Jesus grew up and became a carpenter as well. His whole life changed when he was baptized. This began his public ministry in which he traveled the region of Galilee and Judea spreading God’s word to anyone who wanted to hear it. He worked miracles, raised the dead and healed the sick and blind.
Jesus was hated by the Pharisees for no other reason than because they perceived his teachings and actions as a threat to their authority. Jesus was then betrayed by Judas, a man who was trusted and chosen by Jesus. Judas went to the Pharisees and accepted money to betray him by telling them where he could be found. Jesus knew he would be betrayed and that it would cause his death. Although Jesus was fully God, he was fully human as well. He felt the same things we feel, he loved the same way we do and he hurt the same as we do.
Jesus knew his life was soon to end. Jesus mourned his life at Gethsemane before his arrest. Jesus knew he was born to die and knew his death was only a matter of time. Could you imagine knowing that your purpose in life is to die a horrible death for people that you don’t know? And many of those people that you are laying down your life for will care so little about you that they don’t even respect you in life let alone will they respect the gift you gave them in death?
After his betrayal, Jesus was arrested and faced six trials before his crucifixion. Three before the Jewish authorities; his own people and three before the Roman Authorities. The Bible states that while Jesus was held by the Jewish authorities he was beaten and mocked by them and the Roman soldiers under their supervision.
After these trials, Jesus was handed over to Pontius Pilate. None of the Roman officials, including Pontius Pilate, found guilt in Jesus during his trials. The Jewish leader Caiaphas very much wanted Jesus crucified. Caiaphas went to Pontius Pilate and told him that Jesus claimed to be the King of Jews and that he was to be considered a threat to Roman Authority. He knew that Pontius Pilate was in danger of losing his position and possibly his life. Caiaphus used this as a threat to hold over Pontius Pilate’s head so he could get Jesus crucified. Pontius Pilate was also receiving pressure from the crowds to crucify Jesus and he feared a rebellion.
Pontius Pilate tried to appease the Jewish authorities and the Jewish people by first having Jesus flogged with a scourge, (a leather thong tipped with metal balls and shards of bone.) His skin was flayed by this. The Roman soldiers spit on Jesus and mocked him. They draped him in a purple robe and called him the “King of Jews”. His head dripped with blood from the thorns of the branches fashioned into a crown and pushed down upon his head. After his beatings and torment from the Roman soldiers, Jesus was taken back before Pontius Pilate.
It was portrayed in the Bible that Pontius Pilate did not want to condemn Jesus to death. He even offered up a choice to condemn Jesus or Barabbas, a thief and a murderer. It was customary to release a prisoner as a gesture of Goodwill by the Roman governor during the Feast of Passover. The Jewish people did not choose Barabbas to be crucified so he was released. The Jewish people wanted Jesus to die. They chose Jesus to die; an innocent man over a murdering thief. After the people had made their choice, Pontius Pilate then symbolically washed his hands in front of the crowd that gathered to witness Jesus’ sentencing. The washing of Pilots’ hands symbolized that he accepted no guilt for Jesus’s death. Thus, declaring that Jesus’s death was solely upon the heads of the Jews.
After his sentencing, Jesus was forced to carry his own cross, the means of his execution through the streets of Jerusalem as he went up to Golgotha. Finally After arriving at Golgotha Jesus was stripped of his clothes and nailed to the cross. Jesus hung on the cross and endured long suffering. It took nearly six hours for Jesus to succumb to his death.
Crucifixion causes death by suffocation and exhaustion. The weight of the body is supported by the shoulders. As time progressed, Jesus had a harder time taking breaths.
When Jesus’ time had come, God turned his eyes away from Jesus’ long suffering and Jesus exclaimed, “My God! My God! Why have you forsaken me?” God did not forsake Jesus because he wanted to. Jesus willingly endured the punishment which included separation from God.
We do not deserve a merciful God And it is most certainly not a right to have God’s mercy. We are not good servants to the Lord. We do not take care of each other, we hurt each other and do not care. We do not pray and give thanks to our Lord for all that he has done for us and given us. We let evil thoughts come into our mind and we act upon them hurting one another. And sometimes people hurt each other in unimaginable ways; ways that are only of Satan himself. We use and abuse our bodies for pleasure in ways that goes against God’s natural order. God wants us to overcome the undesirable characteristics and qualities we possess as human beings.
God has not set many rules for us to live by. We are supposed to love each other and help each other and be good to each other. We are supposed to live life giving love and compassion to others and to share in a close relationship with God. All he wants from us is to do unto others as we would want them unto us. Do we do that? Do we treat each other with the same love and respect that we want given to us? If we did, would Jesus have had to be crucified?
Jesus died so we could be forgiven for our sins, perhaps we should try to be the best people that we can so Jesus did not have to die in vain.