WEEK EIGHT
CRUCIFIXION, DEATH AND BURIAL OF JESUS
a. The crucifixion, death and burial – Matthew 27:32-66, Mark 15:16-47; Luke 23:26-56
Crucifixion refers to the death on the cross. Crucifixion is an execution of a person by being nailed or tied to an upright cross and left to hang there until death. In Rome, this form of execution is used as a deterrent and standard for the vilest crimes.
According to Matthew’s account in Matthew 27:32-66, as Jesus was led to be crucified, they met a man called Simon of Cyrene. He was compelled to carry the cross for Jesus. As they were going, a multitude of people followed Him, wailing and lamenting. But Jesus turned to them and 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 gave suck!’ Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us’; and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ For if they do this when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?” (Luke 23:27-31). When they got to a place called Golgotha, which means “the place of the skull”, they offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall. He tasted it but refused to drink. There He was crucified and the soldiers divided His garments among themselves by casting lots.
They sat there to watch over him. They put a charge over His head with an inscription, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews”. Two robbers were also crucified with Him; one on the right and one on the left. Jesus then said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Luke 23: 34. Those who passed by derided Him saying, “You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” Also, the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him; for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.” The robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way. Mark 15:16-32
In Luke 23:39 – 43, it was recorded that one of the criminals railed at him saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God? We are being punished for our sin but this man has done nothing wrong.” Then he turned to Jesus and said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus looked at him and he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”
Immediately it was the sixth hour, there was darkness over the land until the ninth hour. Then Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, la′ma sabach-tha′ni?” which means, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” The bystanders, who heard Him said, “This man is calling Eli′jah.” One of them at once ran and took a sponge, filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave it to him to drink. But the others said, “Wait, let us see whether Eli′jah will come to save him.” After a while Jesus cried again with a loud voice again saying, “Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit!” and yielded up his spirit.
Immediately Jesus breathed his last, the following things happened;
1. the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom;
2. the earth shook, and the rocks were split;
3. the tombs also were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had died were raised, and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.
When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe, and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!”
The Seven statements of Jesus on the cross were recorded in the four gospels which include John 19:26-30 which include:
1. “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
2. “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”
3. Woman, behold thy son; son, behold thy mother.
4. “Eli, Eli, la′ma sabach-tha′ni?”
5. I thirst
6. “Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit!”
7. It is finished
The Burial of Jesus
When it was evening, a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph who was also a disciple of Jesus went to Pilate to ask for the body of Jesus. Pilate granted him his request after he had confirmed that he was dead. Joseph of Arimathea wrapped Jesus in a clean linen shroud and laid Him in his own tomb which he had hewn in a rock. He rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb and departed. The following day, the chief priest and the Pharisees gathered together to meet with Pilate and said to him, “Sir, we remember how that imposter said, while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ Therefore order the sepulchre to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away, and tell the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last fraud will be worse than the first.” Pilate gave them a guard of soldiers to do as they please. So they went and made the sepulchre secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard. Mark 15:16-47, Luke 23:26-56
On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.
b. The significance of Jesus’ death on the cross on humanity
1. Jesus was the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of all men
2. He became the scapegoat – the one that was punished for the sins of others
3. The cross provides the perfect atoning for sin, a cross over from sin to life
4. He recreated the link between man and God
Unprecedented 