Silence
In silence you came to this world from Heaven’s paradise.
In obedience to the will of God, you led a sinless life.
You came in love, a servant, who would give sight to the blind.
The hatred of a blinded world could not accept in kind.
In silence you were brought to trial where blameless you would stand,
Yet you alone would bear the judgment for the sins of man.
You were the Holy Lamb in whom no blemish could be found,
But you would stand condemned to die before the angry crowd.
In silence you would hang upon the cross of Calvary;
The burden of our sins more sharp than any nail could be.
The judgment of a righteous God you would in whole fulfill,
Parted from the love of God according to his will.
Forsaken and rejected, your heart in anguish cried,
And Heaven replied. . . in silence.
Matthew 26-27, Mark 14-15, Luke 22-23, John 12-19: The Crucifixion
Before we discuss the crucifixion of Christ, let us turn back for a moment to the beginning of our journey through the Bible. Look back at the second song in our series – “Free Will”. In this message, we saw how mankind rebelled against God, and how sinful nature was brought into the human race. We discovered that the first man and woman were sent out of the Garden of Eden so that they could not eat from the tree of life and would be forced to spend eternity in sin. But there is another part of that message that is often overlooked. It is found in Genesis 3:21 and it reads, “The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.” There is a very important point in this verse. God made the garments out of skin. In order to make those garments, there had to be a sacrifice. Blood had to be spilled. The first life was sacrificed in order to cover the sin of the first humans.
Why is the shedding of blood necessary to cover sin? Why can’t God just say, “Forget about it! Let’s pretend it never happened!”? God is holy. He is all that is good, pure, and true. God is perfect. We were created in the image of God, and thus our souls are immortal. We were created to live forever in Paradise with God, but we sinned.
Sin never enters the room alone but is always accompanied by Pain. When Pain enters, Paradise and Perfection are forced out, as they cannot coexist. God sent Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden so that they would not have to live forever in sin, which equates to living forever in pain. Further, because God is holy, sin cannot dwell in his presence. Therefore, sin also equals separation from God.
In the Old Testament, God set up a sacrificial system for the remission of sin so that we would understand the serious nature of sin. Animals were sacrificed and their blood spilled on the altar to atone for sin. This was demonstrated earlier as well when the blood of the lamb was painted on the doorframe so that the Angel of Death would pass over the Israelite homes during the days prior to the Exodus with Moses. This became the first Passover, an important Jewish celebration of remembrance. When Jesus was crucified, he took on the role of the sacrificial lamb. He was the perfect Lamb of God and his sacrifice did what no amount of animal sacrifice could.
During His earthly lifetime, Jesus committed no sin. When Jesus went to the cross, He went to once and for all pay the price for the sins of all mankind. There would be no more need for the sacrifice of animals or the shedding of blood on the altar. He became sin for us. During that time on the cross, Jesus Christ took upon himself every single sin of every single human being that ever walked or would walk on the face of the earth. All of the ugliness, guilt, fear, doubt, and desperation that has ever resulted from the human condition was piled onto his shoulders in those three hours of darkness. Because he became sin, he was, for the first time in all of eternity, separated from God the Father.
Matthew 27: 45-46 describes this.
At noon, darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock. At about three o’clock, Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” which means “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”
Matthew 27: 45-46
Jesus felt the pain of separation from God. In desperation, he cried out, but Heaven could only answer with silence. It had to be done in order for us to be redeemed.
Crucifixion was the most brutal of all death sentences. The Romans were masters of pain and death. They knew exactly how much pain could be inflicted on the human body while still keeping the person alive, and then when the time was right, how to end that life expediently. Jesus was beaten, whipped, crowned with thorns, had nails driven through his hands and feet, and was left to hang in physical agony until his death. Then, just to make sure that he was dead, the Roman soldiers pierced his side allowing bodily fluids to run out. Yet in spite of this horrific torture, the most acute pain that he felt was taking on our sin and the resulting separation from God. Because of his sacrifice, we no longer need to cry out to Heaven only to receive silence.
Some have tried to discredit Christianity by stating that Jesus did not really die that day on the cross – that it was all some elaborate hoax. Some have even claimed that Jesus went on to marry and have children. These are satanically-originated deceptions. In addition to eyewitness reports, both from the Bible and secular literature, the nature of crucifixion makes this impossible. Hanging the body in such a way prevents a person from breathing unless they push up with their legs. John 19:31-32 tells us that the Jewish leaders asked Pilate to hasten their deaths so that the bodies would not be hanging there on the Sabbath. By breaking their legs, they would be unable to get air into their lungs, and they would perish. They did not break the legs of Jesus, because he appeared to be already dead. But the Romans were not willing to guess at this, because their lives depended on it. In order to ensure that he was dead, they pierced his side with a spear. John 19:34 says, “One of the soldiers, however, pierced his side with a spear, and immediately blood and water flowed out.” This was medical proof that he was dead.1 We can be sure that Jesus most certainly did physically die on that cross that day.
Jesus was placed in the grave of a rich man, just as Isaiah said he would be. “He had done no wrong and had never deceived anyone. But he was buried like a criminal; he was put in a rich man’s grave.” (Isaiah 53:9) That rich man was Joseph of Arimathea, a high counselor and member of the Jewish high counsel who had secretly followed Jesus. But it is what happened after all of this that creates the foundation of our faith and our salvation. That will be covered in the next section.
Related Devotional
Resources
Max Lucado wrote a book called “He Chose the Nails” that brings the message of the cross to life.
“The Resurrection: Myth or History” by Norman L. Geisler reviews some of the evidence for both the death and resurrection of our Lord. The Resurrection: Myth or History
Lee Strobel was an avowed atheist who set out to disprove Christianity. What he discovered changed his way of thinking. Since then he has written several books, including “Evidence that Demands a Verdict”, “The Case for Christ” and “The Case for Faith”. You can find more information about him here: leestrobel.com.
Josh McDowell has written several books on the truth of the Bible. You can find articles and information on his site at www.josh.org. If you prefer videos to reading, he has also made several videos which can be found at https://www.josh.org/resources/apologetics/videos/.
Citations:
Music and lyrics by LuAnne Barnet. Copyright (c) 2003 LuAnne Barnet. All Rights Reserved
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, a Division of Tyndale House Ministries, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Royalty-free images from Videoblocks.com
Information on the Creation Museum can be found at https://answersingenesis.org/