Life of Christ

Message 189

The Prophecies

Fulfilled by Jesus in His Death

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I. The Placement of the Crucifixion

Matt 27:33-34

33 And when they were come unto a place called Golgotha, that is to say, a place of a skull,

34 They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink. (KJV)

First of all, the placement of the crucifixion was a sort of a fulfillment of prophecy. In the Old Testament the bodies of the animals whose blood was offered in the temple and the parts of their bodies what were not used in sacrifice, and the ashes from the Great Altar were disposed of outside the camp (or city). The writer of Hebrews makes mention of this fact in relation to Jesus.

Heb 13:11-13

11 For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned without the camp.

12 Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.

13 Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach. (KJV)

The concept of ‘outside the camp' to the Jews conveyed the sort of idea as the city dump does to many of us. No one would want to go to church at the dump. No one wants to live next door to it. Very few people would want anything that was brought back from it. He was taken to a disgraceful place, foreviewed by those animals to do a work that was both necessary and unpleasant to behold. This ugly work would not be invited to the city park or the city square of any city, this bleeding and dying, this bearing of sin.

II. There they gave Him vinegar mingled with something called ‘gall' in the English translations.

The composition of the drink is uncertain. According to the Jewish Talmud a person about to be punished was allowed to drink wine laced with narcotic to dull the pain. To this the soldiers apparently added gall to make it bitter and the more unpleasant to the prisoner. Others have suggested that this was a drink that would make the prisoner bleed more freely and cause death to come mercifully more quickly. David had prophesied that this would happen long before these traditions were established. His words must have sounded strange to those who first heard them.

Ps 69:20-21

20 Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none.

21 They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink. (KJV)

In any case, Jesus refused to take anything that would dull the pain or alter His death and we might suggest some reason for that.

1. First of all, His death is clearly chosen from the beginning and not something from which He desires to be delivered except by natural causes.

2. Jesus is doing a work here on behalf of His people. He does not want anything altering His capacity to think of them and pray for them.

3. He has demonstrated courage for millions of martyrs who will come after Him. They will not be allowed to dull their pain, so He will not dull His.

4. Jesus is in communion with His Father up until the point that the Father turns away. Jesus needs His mind clear for that.

III.

Matt 27:35 And they crucified him, and parted his garments, casting lots: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots. (KJV)

Jesus Himself has prophesied of His death by crucifixion. In all reality, death might have come to Him in a number of ways. The Jews stoned people to death. Herod had beheaded John Baptist. Pilate might have had one of his soldiers simply run Him through with a spear. He might have died from the scourge. But Jesus had known and spoken of the cross from the very beginning. The Romans themselves considered the cross one of the more brutal of deaths. They had apparently borrowed it from the Phoenicians and Carthaginians to use only for slaves, foreigners, or criminals of the lowest class. One famous Roman, Cicero, called it "the most cruel and the most horrible torture."

We have already discussed how that the crucified one died of asphyxiation after becoming too tired to push Himself up to breath. Jesus had truly chosen an awful death for Himself. First of all, Jesus had said from the beginning that He would be ‘lifted up' like the serpent in the wilderness (John 3:14). The cross is the only means of execution used in those days that answers to that comparison.

Then, Jesus mentioned the cross often during His teachings.

Matt 10:38-39

38 And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.

39 He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it. (KJV)

Mark 10:21 Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me. (KJV)

Luke 14:27 And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. (KJV)

This is, without doubt, the greatest expression of love that this universe has ever seen. Jesus was the One Who had, in Eternity Past, volunteered to redeem the elect of God. He it was who chose the kind of death which would be appropriate to the crimes for which He was paying. The cross is the ultimate testimony to two things. One is the awfulness of our sins and the other is the incredible compassion and mercy of God.

IV.

It was part of the pay of soldiers to take the clothing of the prisoners. This was a time when a man's wealth was sometimes judged by the number of changes of clothing that he possessed. The amazing thing is that this small and ordinary detail was foreseen by David.

Ps 22:18 18 They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture. (KJV)

The reason that the soldiers decided to cast lots for part of Jesus' clothing is quite unique.

John 19:23-24

23 Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a part; and also his coat: now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout.

24 They said therefore among themselves, Let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be: that the scripture might be fulfilled, which saith, They parted my raiment among them, and for my vesture they did cast lots. These things therefore the soldiers did. (KJV)

We are reminded by these words of the total disgrace which Jesus chose to bear on our behalf. They had take all of His clothing from Him. He was left with nothing to cover Himself. It has historically been a custom that when one desires to completely humiliate a prisoner and strip from him his last vestige of dignity, he take his clothing. The humiliation of being put on display in this way is one that few people would want to know. Here was one who for all His life has been the example of modesty and dignity. Here both of those things are taken from Him, and, yet, He has chosen this for you and me. Here we should see ourselves. We should see that our crimes against God put us in a place to suffer in total disgrace. There is no dignity nor modesty in our sins. He chose our humiliation in order to save us.

Matt 27:38 Then were there two thieves crucified with him, one on the right hand, and another on the left. (KJV)

Even the fact that Jesus would be put to death along with wicked men was prophesied in scripture.

Isa 53:12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. (KJV)

In every way, the death of Jesus was one of disgrace. When we see Him there between the two thieves, we see our rightful place. As much as either of those two, and for some of us more, we deserve that central place. We have numbered ourselves with them from the very beginning of our lives.

Rom 3:10-12

10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:

11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.

12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become un- profitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. (KJV)

These are our people, not His. These are our heroes, our friends, our ‘buddies, the ones whose example we would have followed had He not intervened in our lives. And He was able to intervene and still be just because He had taken our place of disgrace among the rebels and died a rebel's death for us. It is here that He shows His compassion even for thieves who deserved to die for their crimes. When one asked Him for forgiveness, He gave it freely and instantly. Such is the mercy of our Savior. It is this ready mercy upon which we depend for our salvation.

VI. Matt 27:39 And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads, (KJV)

Ps 22:7-8

7 All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,

8 He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him. (KJV)

These circumstances carry great weight; for they place before us the extreme abasement of the Son of God, that we may see more clearly how much our salva- tion cost him, and that, reflecting that we justly deserved all the punishments which he endured, we may be more and more excited to repentance. For in this exhibition God hath plainly showed to us how wretched our condition would have been, if we had not a Redeemer. And, indeed, there is nothing that inflicts a more painful wound on pious minds than when ungodly men, in order to shake their faith, upbraid them with being deprived of the assistance and favor of God.

Matt. 27:42. "If he is the King, of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we shall believe him."

For they ought not to embrace as King any one who did not answer to the description given by the prophets. But Isaiah (52:14; 53:2) expressly represents Christ as devoid of comeliness, afflicted, condemned, and accursed, half-dead, poor, and despised, before he ascends the royal throne. If indeed, you and I were put on display and all of our secret sins were read in the hearing of others, they would justly do to us what they wrongly did to Jesus. Here, then, we see Him enduring the reviling that we deserve, so that we may go free.

VII. And, finally, it was prophesied that Jesus would be so disfigured that He would be unrecognizable.

Isa 52:14 As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men: (KJV)

Isa 53:2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. (KJV)

Who could have known how that would be accomplished? He had been beaten in the face in front of the Sanhedrin court. Pilate's soldiers had scourged Him, beaten Him in the face and pounded the crown of thorns upon His head. The Jesus of the cross is a beaten and bloody sight. The work of the artists has diminished in our minds the awfulness of that day. The degree to which we fail to see the reality of it is the degree to which we fail to see the work of the Savior on our behalf and the awfulness of our own sin. So, in the fulfilled prophecies that concern the physical death of Jesus, we see some of the realities of His sacrifice and some of the realities of our sins.

The questions for you and I concern these issues.

He was crucified without the camp, in a place of disgrace. Will you come out of the world with Him and allow yourself to be despised for serving Him?

He would not take anything to hasten or ease His death. What will you suffer for Him?

He was crucified for you. Will you take up your cross and follow Him?

He hung before the world and suffered naked for you. Will you stand before the world clothed and identify yourself with Him?

He was put to death with the wicked on your behalf. Will you live among the godly for Him?

He was reviled for the sins that you committed. Will you not suffer a little mockery, living for Him?

He was completely disfigured as He paid your sin debt. Since any service we give would be less than Him, will you not serve Him?