Lucas 23

Lucas 23

Maclaren - The cross is the centre of the world’s history. The incarnation of Christ and the crucifixion of our Lord are the pivot round which all the events of the ages revolve. H. C. Trumbull - Calvary shows how far men will go in sin, and how far God will go for man’s salvation. Rogers - There were three of them there that day. Three crosses. One of those men on the cross died in his sin and went to hell. Another man died to his sin and went to heaven because of the middle man who died for both....Three crosses, a cross of redemption, a cross of rejection, and a cross of reception. (Sound Theology) There they crucified Him and the criminals - Without fanfare Luke describes the most monumental event in all eternity! The Roman writer Cicero described crucifixion as “the cruelest and most hideous punishment possible.” The origin of this brutal mode of killing men apparently originated in Persia and was adopted by the Carthaginians, then the Greeks and finally the Romans who had as their goal that those who witnessed this brutal, agonizing death would be deterred from crime. By the time of Christ, it is estimated that the Romans had crucified 30,000 people in Israel alone! Secular records tell us that after the Jewish revolt and destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, there were actually so many crucifixions that the Roman government ran short of wood for the crosses! THOUGHT - One of the most amazing truths of the crucifixion of Christ is that there were not just two criminals crucified with Him on that day, but there were in fact literally millions and millions of criminals (evil doers) crucified with Him that day! If you are a genuine believer in Christ, then as mysterious and miraculous as it sounds, you were crucified with Him on the Cross as Paul explains in Romans 6 Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into (NOT WATER BUT SPIRITUAL IDENTIFICATION WITH) Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death (IDENTIFIED WITH HIM ON THE CROSS)? 4 Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness (BRAND NEW QUALITY YOU DID NOT POSSESS PRIOR TO DYING WITH CHRIST) of life. 5 For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our old self (OLD MAN) was crucified with (SEE THIS VERB sustauroo) Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with (MADE INEFFECTIVE), so that we would no longer be slaves to sin (EVERY USE IN ROMANS 6-7 OF THE WORD SIN IS PERSONIFIED AS A "MASTER" OR "KING" NOT AN INANIMATE ENTITY!); 7 for he who has died is freed from sin. 8 Now if (SINCE) we have died with Christ (CO-CRUCIFIXION!), we believe that we shall also live with Him (CHRIST IS NOW OUR LIFE, THRU HIS SPIRIT- Col 3:3-4, Ro 8:13), 9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. 10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. 11 Even so consider yourselves (PRESENT IMPERATIVE = RECALL THE TRUTHS OF ROMANS 6:1-10 TO YOUR MIND FREQUENTLY) to be dead to sin (THE POWER OF SIN PERSONIFIED), but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore (NOW APPLY THE TRUTH THAT YOU WERE CO-CRUCIFIED WITH CHRIST AND ARE DEAD TO THE POWER OF SIN) do not let sin reign (PRESENT IMPERATIVE WITH NEGATIVE) in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts (THIS COMMAND CAN ONLY BE OBEYED AS WE RELY ON AND ARE ENABLED BY THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST), 13 and do not go on presenting (PRESENT IMPERATIVE WITH NEGATIVE) the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present (AORIST IMPERATIVE) yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 14 For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace. (Romans 6:2-14+) Neither Luke nor John record the offer to Jesus of something to drink before the crucifixion. Mt 27:34 says that "they gave Him wine to drink mixed with gall (means something bitter = myrrh in Mark); and after tasting it, He was unwilling to drink." Mark 15: 23 says "They tried to give Him wine mixed with myrrh (Gk - smyrnizo - only here in NT; see dictionary entry); but He did not take it." It is a bit ironic and interesting that today myrrh is used as an antiseptic in mouthwashes, gargles, and toothpastes! Jesus the perfect Son of God was unwilling to drink from the cup offered by the godless Romans, but as He had earlier told Peter "the cup which the Father has given Me, shall I not drink it?" (Jn 18:11, cf Mt 26:39) Of course the Roman cup was literal, while the Father's cup was metaphorical, describing the God's full wrath filling up the cup which would then be poured out fully on His only Son, making "Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." (2 Cor 5:21+) Amazing love how can it be!