#191 Lu. 23:32-38 THE CRUCIFIXION OF JESUS Introduction: In our previous text Jesus was led out of the city of Jerusalem to be crucified. A great multitude of people followed after them. As our text begins today they have not yet reached the place where the crucifixion would occur. I. The malefactors who were with Jesus V. 32, "And there were also two other, malefactors, led with him to be put to death." Up to this point Luke has said nothing about anybody else being crucified. Now he informs us that there are two other people who will be crucified along with Jesus. Luke calls them "malefactors." This means that these are malicious men. They have done bad things -- evil things. Both Matthew and Mark call them thieves. They are lawbreakers. They are criminals. They were to be put to death because of their thievery. I cannot imagine such a penalty being placed on thieves today. They would either be given a probated sentence or released after only a short stay in prison. II. Arrival at the place called Calvary V. 33, "And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary..." You will note that Luke calls the place "Calvary." Both Matthew and Mark call it "Golgotha." There is no difference in meaning. The word, Golgotha, is a Hebrew word which means "skull." Calvary is a Latin word which also means "skull." Both words mean "skull." The place was given this name, not because people were executed here and were found on the ground. The Israelite people would never leave skulls laying around. They buried their dead including the skulls. This place was called "skull" because it was a large bare rock which was rounded at the top like a skull. It is believed that it may have also had sunken places resembling III. The crucifixion (V. 33), "...there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left." It was there on the top of the skull that they crucified Jesus and the other two prisoners. Luke, like Matthew and Mark, says nothing about the horrors of crucifixion. It surely could not be that these writers of Holy Scripture would have us to believe that death by crucifixion is not very painful. Rather, it seems that death by crucifixion was so very painful that it was too painful for them to write about it. It seems that it hurt them too much to describe it in their writings. Secular writers, however, have written much about the crucifixions of those times and they describe it as a horrible event. The victim was either tied or nailed to a cross. Psalm 22:16 foretold the crucifixion of Jesus, saying, "...they pierced my hands and my feet." The Apostle Thomas, after the crucifixion, said, "Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails ....... I will not believe," John 20:25. Therefore we know that Jesus was nailed to the cross. The arms of Jesus were stretched outward and nailed to the crossbar. This was a very painful thing, not only because of the nails piercing through the hands, but also because the weight of His body would continue to tear at the flesh and bone structure of His hands. Additionally, historical records indicate that the shoulders would come out of joint when the cross was dropped into the hole in the ground. Historical writers indicate that the feet would be bent forward and crossed. Then a huge spike would be nailed through both feet into the wood. Both the arms and the legs would become very feverish and the muscles would knot into painful cramps. Soon the whole body would be feverish and in severe pain. There would be no position in which the victim could get to find relief. To try to relieve the hands, arms and shoulders would put more weight on the feet and legs. To try to relieve the feet and legs would put more weight on the hands, arms and shoulders. From His head to His feet Jesus was in great pain. His head would still be hurting from the thorns which had been beaten into His brow. The pain would be increased to migraine type headache by the fever and perhaps by increased blood pressure. His hands were hurting from the wounds in His hands and the weight of His body pulling against the nails. The ligaments in His hands become inflamed and would cause pain to extend up both arms. His shoulders would pull out of joint when the cross was dropped into the hole and this would leave the weight of His body pulling downward on the shoulders without the support of the bone structure. His back, sore from the scourging, would rub against the rough post of the cross. His chest would be hurting from the awkward strained position that He was in and from the high fever. It must have been equal to the intense chest pain of a heart attack. The muscles of His stomach were tied in tied in knots with cramps and that brought much pain. His leg muscles were also tied in knots and were in excruciating pain. His feet, which had been driven through with the spike were in agonizing pain. I am sure that I have not pictured His suffering to you even half as bad as it really was. There is just no way that we can understand how much pain Jesus endured on the cross. And it got worse as the minutes went by. Every minute -- every second -- on that cross must have seemed like an eternity. IV. Words of forgiveness But now listen to this! Listen to the words that came out of His mouth there on that cross. V. 34, "Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them..." Can you imagine that? "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do!" Oh, what love Jesus had for those Jews who had demanded His crucifixion. Oh, what love Jesus had for those chief priests and elders who hated Him so! Oh, what love Jesus had for Pilate, who ordered the crucifixion. Oh, what love Jesus had for the Roman soldiers who carried out the scourging and the crucifixion and participated in the mockery. Oh, what love Jesus had for that mob of common people who had joined their leaders in demanding His crucifixion and had also joined in the cruel! Oh, what love Jesus had for every man, woman, boy and girl who would spend eternity in the fires of hell except He die on the Cross! Oh, what love Jesus had for you and me, because He could look down through the years and know about us and know that we would need a Savior! (V. 34), "...for they know not what they do..." Jesus said that they did not know what they were doing. They did not know that they were crucifying the Christ, the Son of God. They did not know that they had scourged the Christ. They did not know that they were mocking the Christ. They should have known. They had every reason to know that He is the Christ, but they didn't. They were ignorant of who He really is. They were willingly ignorant, but still they were ignorant. They would not have crucified Him if they had known that He is the Christ. (V. 34), "...And they parted his raiment, and cast lots." The word "parted" means "divided up." The soldiers divided up His garments. But they did not divide the outer cloak or robe. It was a one-piece garment and so they did not divide it. Instead, they cast lots --- or gambled --- over it. The winner got the whole robe. The Father would hear and answer this prayer. Now one would go to hell because he crucified the Christ. Rather, because He went to the cross all of them would have opportunity to be saved. V. More mockery V. 35, "And the people stood beholding. And the rulers also with them derided him, saying, He saved others; let him save himself, if he be Christ, the chosen of God." The word, derided, tells us that they continued to mock Him. One of the things they said in their derision was, "He saved others; let him save himself, if he be Christ, the chosen of God." Just listen to what they say. They acknowledge that He has saved others. I'm sure they are not talking about the salvation of the soul, but they did know that He saved others from dread disease and from tormenting demon spirits. They should have known that He is the Christ. They acknowledged that He had saved others, but they thought He was powerless to save Himself. No such thing! He could have spoken the word and a legion of angels would have instantly come to His rescue. But He would give no such order. He would make no such appeal. He was there to pay the redemption price that all mankind might be saved. He was not there to save Himself. Even the soldiers joined in the mockery. They joined in --- not because they were influenced to do so by the Jewish leaders. They could care less for the Jewish leaders. They joined in --- not because of any animosity toward Jesus. They joined in for the sheer delight of it. They joined in because of their own depraved cruelty. V. 36-37, "And the soldiers also mocked him, coming to him, and offering him vinegar, And saying, If thou be the king of the Jews, save thyself." VI. The superscription V. 38, "And a superscription also was written over him in letters of Greek, and Latin, and Hebrew, THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS." Roman law required that when a man was crucified, the crime which he had done was to be written above him. The purpose of this law was so that the death of this man would serve as a warning to others not to be guilty of the same crime. This posed a problem for Pilate because Jesus had done no crime. He was supposed to write the crime of Jesus above Him and he couldn't because Jesus had done no crime. So Pilate just had one of the accusations made by the Jews written above Him. The Jews had said that Jesus claimed to be the king of the Jews and so Pilate had it written above His head in three languages: "THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS." Pilate had it written in Greek, which was the language of the common people throughout the empire. He had it written in Latin, which was the official language of the empire. He had it also written in Hebrew, the language of the people of Israel. Ironically, what He wrote is true. Jesus is the King of the Jews. He will rule Israel in the millennium. He will also rule the entire world. He is the KING OF KINGS and THE LORD OF LORDS. Even in the heaven ages He will sit upon the throne in the Holy City, New Jerusalem and will rule. VII. The situation today Listen, I want to point out to you that the world as a whole was against Jesus. He had come to His own world and the world as a whole did not receive Him. He had come to His own nation, Israel, and His own nation people did not receive Him. The world rejected Him and crucified Him. And the attitude of the world toward Jesus has not changed. In Russia a picture of Jesus was put on public display in which the vultures were eating His body. The picture was entitled, "The Last Supper." In the United States thousands of dollars was paid out of tax payers funds by the National Endowment of Arts to an artist who painted a man urinating in the face of Jesus. The world still hates Jesus. If Jesus were here today and if the world had opportunity, they would crucify Jesus anew. But neither has the attitude of Jesus toward the world changed. Jesus still loves the people of the world and wants every lost sinner in all the world to be saved. He wants every man, woman, boy and girl in the world to be saved. Jesus does not want anybody to go to hell. If there is anyone here today who is unsaved I want to present to you some reasons why you should get saved and why you should be saved today. First, I want to point out to you that you are a sinner. The Bible teaches that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God and that includes you. If you fail to get saved you will die in your sins and you will suffer for your sins. That brings up the to the fact that you are going to die. You are not going to spend eternity in East Texas. You are a sinner and the wages of sin is death. You are going to die and you have no way of knowing just how soon that is going to be. We know this much: We know that it is appointed unto all men once to die and that includes us. If you are lost, you are a lost sinner and unless you get saved you will die in your sins. Furthermore, if you die in your sins and go out of this world unprepared to meet God, you will go into the fires of hell and you will suffer in hell fire forever and ever. If you die unsaved, that will be like jumping out of the frying pan into the fire. In addition, I make the assumption that you want to go to heaven when you die. If you want to go to heaven that means that you must repent of your sins and you must trust Jesus Christ before it is too late. Conclusion