Day 43 – The Price He Paid
Matthew 27:27-44 (ESV)
Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor’s headquarters, and they gathered the whole battalion before him. And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they spit on him and took the reed and struck him on the head. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and led him away to crucify him.
As they went out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. They compelled this man to carry his cross. And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull), they offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall, but when he tasted it, he would not drink it.
And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots. Then they sat down and kept watch over him there. ³⁷ And over his head they put the charge against him, which read, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.”
Then two robbers were crucified with him, one on the right and one on the left. And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” So 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.’ ” And the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way.

The crucifixion itself was the most horrible of deaths. The ancient writer Tacitus called it “a despicable death.” Cicero called it “the most cruel and horrifying death.” He simply said it was “incapable of description.” There was the pain of the driven spikes forced through the flesh of his hands and feet or ankles. There was the weight of his body jolting and pulling against the spikes as the cross was lifted and rocked into place. There was the scorching sun and the unquenchable thirst gnawing away at his dry mouth and throat. There was the blood oozing from his scourged back, his thorn crowned brow, his feet, and his stick beaten head. In addition, just imagine the aggravation of flies, gnats, and other insects. There was also the piercing of the spear thrust into his side. On and on the sufferings could be described. There has never been a more cruel form of execution than crucifixion upon a cross.

 

Thought 1. In the simplest of terms, Christ was crucified for our sins in order to bring us to God.

“Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed” (1 Peter 2:24).

“For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit” (1 Peter 3:18).

—Preacher’s Outline and Sermon Bible – Commentary

 

Please consider today the price that Jesus Christ paid for you and for me. 

  

Rev. Andy Bales

President/CEO of Union Rescue Mission