Chapter 106
JESUS’ SCOURGING AND CRUCIFIXION
Matthew 27:26-43
Before we begin this study let us pray.
Dear Heavenly Father, Almighty God,
We come before You in the name of Your only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Father God, as we go through this study please open our spiritual ears, eyes and heart. Please Father, cause us to truly hear, see and understand that the humiliation and crucifixion Jesus suffered and endured was so He could save us from our sins. Please move upon us to understand and receive the great love that You, Jesus and the Holy Spirit has for us. We ask this in Jesus’ name.
Amen
INTRODUCTION
To receive a more complete picture of what transpired during Jesus’ humiliation, scourging and crucifixion we will again use an integrated account of all the Gospels. As it was done earlier for Chapters 104 and 105, portions of “The Narrated Bible” by F. LaGard Smith were used as a guide.
With this in mind, this study is partitioned into the following two major sections.
1. An integrated account of Jesus’ scourging and crucifixion.
2. Five lessons or points to remember.
With this in mind we begin with,
AN INTEGRATED ACCOUNT OF JESUS’ SCOURGING AND CRUCIFIXION
It is noted that this portion of our study is divided into the following three sections,
1. The Scourging
2. The Walk to Calvary
3. The Crucifixion
With this preview in mind we begin with,
THE SCOURGING
To read about the humiliation and scourging of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ we go to the time when Pontus Pilate released Barabbas and delivered Jesus to be crucified. To read what occurred we go to,
Matthew 27:26-31
[26] Then he released Barabbas to them; and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered Him to be crucified. [27] Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole garrison around Him. [28] And they stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him. [29] When they had twisted a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand. And they bowed the knee before Him and mocked Him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” [30] Then they spat on Him, and took the reed and struck Him on the head. [31] And when they had mocked Him, they took the robe off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him away to be crucified.
This brings us to,
THE WALK TO CALVARY
To read what occurred during Jesus’ walk to Calvary we go to,
Luke 23:26-32
[26] Now as they led Him away, they laid hold of a certain man, Simon a Cyrenian, who was coming from the country, and on him they laid the cross that he might bear it after Jesus. [27] And a great multitude of the people followed Him, and women who also mourned and lamented Him. [28] But Jesus, turning to them, said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. [29] For indeed the days are coming in which they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, wombs that never bore, and breasts which never nursed!’ [30] Then they will begin ‘to say to the mountains, “Fall on us!” and to the hills, “Cover us!”’ [31] For if they do these things in the green wood, what will be done in the dry?” [32] There were also two others, criminals, led with Him to be put to death.
Let us notice the following verses,
28-29 … In these verses we read how Jesus repeated His prophecy for the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple. To see this we go to the time when Jesus responded to His disciple’s question as to when will the Temple be destroyed. The Scriptures of interest are recorded in,
Luke 21:20-24
[20] “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near. [21] Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those who are in the midst of her depart, and let not those who are in the country enter her. [22] For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. [23] But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! For there will be great distress in the land and wrath upon this people. [24] And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
From the historical record documented in many encyclopedias we find that Jesus’ prophecy for the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple was fulfilled in 70AD under the leadership of the Roman General Titus.
Let us now return to Chapter 23 of the Gospel according to Luke and notice verse,
30 … This is also a foreshadowing of one of the horrors that will happen during the “Last Days of the tribulation period.” To see this we go to the future event when Jesus will open the 6th seal of God’s wrath. The Scriptures of interest are recorded in,
Revelation 6:15-17
[6] And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, [16] and said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! [17] For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”
Let us now return to Chapter 23 of the Gospel according to Luke and notice verse,
31 … As the people were watching the horrific sight of Jesus’ journey to Calvary He reminded His disciples then and now us of what may happen to those who belong to Him. In other words, if non-believers scourged, beaten and crucified Jesus when He was physically upon this earth, do not be surprised if they also persecute and humiliate you, a true born-again believer in Jesus Christ.
To expand upon this subject, let us read what Jesus previously said to His disciples. To do this we go to,
John 15:18-21
[18] “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. [19] If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. [20] Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also. [21] But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me.
Let us now read about,
THE CRUCIFIXION
To do this we begin by reading from,
Luke 23: 33-34a
[33] And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left. [34a] Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.”
Let us notice the following verse,
33 … According to the Gospel of Mark, Calvary was another name for Golgotha. To see this let us read from,
Mark 15:22
[22] And they brought Him to the place Golgotha, which is translated, Place of a Skull.
Let us now return to Chapter 23 of Luke and notice the following verse,
34a … While hanging on the cross Jesus asked God the Father to forgive them for they truly did not know what they were doing. It is interesting to note that even Steven, who was one of the first deacons of the church, after he presented the Gospel to the Sanhedrin and while he was being stoned, prayed a similar prayer. To read what he said we go to,
Acts 7:57-60
[57] Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord; [58] and they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. [59] And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” [60] Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
It is interesting to note that in this situation, no one came to apologize or ask for forgiveness for what they did and were doing. However, Jesus and Steven asked God the Father to forgive them.
With this in mind, the question may arise as to; “What is the point or message for us?” The answer to this question is provided in the following Scripture,
Matthew 6:14-15
"[14] For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. [15] But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins."
Let us now continue our reading about what happened on Golgotha. To do this we go to,
Matthew 27:34-35
[34] they gave Him sour wine mingled with gall to drink. But when He had tasted it, He would not drink. [35] Then they crucified Him, and divided His garments, casting lots, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet:
“They divided My garments among them,
And for My clothing they cast lots.”
Let us notice the following verse,
34 … This portion of Jesus’ crucifixion was foretold within the Old Testament prophetic prayer of Jesus Christ’s conversation with God the Father. The excerpt of interest is in,
Psalm 69:19-21
[19] You know my reproach, my shame, and my dishonor;
My adversaries are all before You.
[20] Reproach has broken my heart,
And I am full of heaviness;
I looked for someone to take pity, but there was none;
And for comforters, but I found none.
[21] They also gave me gall for my food,
And for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
Let us now return to Chapter 27 of the Gospel according to Matthew and notice verse,
35 … This portion of Jesus’ crucifixion was also foretold in,
Psalm 22:16-18
[16] For dogs have surrounded Me;
The congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me.
They pierced My hands and My feet;
[17] I can count all My bones.
They look and stare at Me.
[18] They divide My garments among them,
And for My clothing they cast lots.
As a side note, it is pointed out that, as we just saw above, within many of the Old Testament Psalms we have the great privilege to read prophetic dialogs between God the Father and God the Son, Jesus Christ.
Let us now return to Matthew and continue our reading from,
Matthew 27:36-43
[36] Sitting down, they kept watch over Him there. [37] And they put up over His head the accusation written against Him:
THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
[38] Then two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right and another on the left. [39] And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads [40] and saying, “You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” [41] Likewise the chief priests also, mocking with the scribes and elders, said, [42] “He saved others; Himself He cannot save. If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him. [43] He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him; for He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”
Let us notice the following verse,
43 … Again, we are reminded that Jesus made it very clear to His accusers that He was the Son of God. Notice, that Jesus did not say He was a Son of God. Instead Jesus said He was the Son of God.
To continue reading what occurred during Jesus’ crucifixion we now return to the Gospel according to Luke and read from,
Luke 23:39-43
[39] Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, “If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.” [40] But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? [41] And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.” [42] Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” [43] And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”
Let us notice the following verses,
40-43 … This conversation between Jesus and the one criminal provides us two major truths.
First,
It is by faith in Jesus Christ and who He is and not the mere act of baptism that saves us from the penalty of our sins.
To see this, let us notice the following verses,
40 … Basically the thief was professing his reverent fear of God, in other words he believed in God.
41 … The thief, by stating that Jesus did no wrong, was saying that Jesus’ claim to be the Son of God, which was why He is being crucified, is true. In other words he was proclaiming Jesus to be Lord.
42 … The thief, with belief and faith, recognized Jesus was not from a kingdom of this earth. Consequently, he called out to Jesus to save him.
43 … Jesus assured the thief he will be with Him in paradise. In other words Jesus told the thief that he will not be doomed to the Lake of Fire (Hell) but instead will be with Him in Paradise.
Secondly,
Contrary to the many versions of the so called “Apostle’s Creed”, after Jesus’ death, Jesus did not descend into Hell or Hades. Instead, verse 43 teaches us that,
Jesus went to Paradise
To gain more insight to this fact it is noted that according to: “The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible” the place where the dead dwell was usually identified by the Hebrew word “Sheol”1.
In addition, Jesus revealed to us that in the Old Testament days Sheol was divided into the following two sections. The first section was identified as Hades2. Sometimes Hades was also referred to as Gehenna3 or the Lake of Fire. However, according to: The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible” Hades, until the final judgment, was a temporary place for the ungodly. Then, at the final judgment, both Death and Hades will be cast into the Lake of Fire, which is Gehenna (Revelation 20:14).
The second section in Sheol was presumably identified to be Paradise. This is where the faithful Old Testament believers in God, such as Abraham resided. To see this, we go to where Jesus teaches us about these two sections in His parable of the Lazarus and the rich man. This parable is recorded in,
Luke 16:19-26
[19] There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. [20] But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, [21] desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. [22] So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. [23] And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. [24] “Then he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.’ [25] But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented. [26] And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.’
In addition to teaching us about the two partitions within the Sheol, Jesus also teaches us that once we have passed away from this world our fate is sealed. In other words, there is no second chance to come to Jesus Christ and be saved from the penalty of our sins. To see this let us consider the following Scripture,
Hebrews 9:27
[27] … it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,
Consequently, when Jesus descended into Sheol He went to Paradise. He did this to gather the faithful and true Old Testament believers in God, such as Abraham, who were waiting and longing for their Messiah. After Jesus came to Paradise He brought those who belong to Him to Heaven with Him. To see this we go to Kenneth S. Wuest’s Greek New Testament translation titled; “The New Testament An Expanded Translation.”
But to each one of us there was given the grace in the measure of the gift of the Christ. Wherefore He says, having ascended on high, He led away captive those taken captive and gave gifts to men. Now, the fact that He ascended, what is it except that also He descended into the nether parts of the earth? The one who descended himself is also the One who ascended above all the heavens, in order that He might fill all things
To complete our reading about Jesus’ crucifixion we go to,
John 19:25-30
[25] Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. [26] When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, “Woman, behold your son!” [27] Then He said to the disciple, “Behold your mother!” And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home. [28] After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, “I thirst!” [29] Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth. [30] So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.
It is noted that there is great significance within Jesus’ statement: “It is finished.” Thus, a detailed discussion is presented in Chapter 107, titled: “Jesus’ Death and Burial”.
In reflecting upon the above account of Jesus’ scourging and crucifixion there are at least the following,
FIVE MAJOR LESSONS OR POINTS TO REMEMBER
The first lesson to remember comes from,
Luke 23:23-31
[31] For if they do these things in the green wood, what will be done in the dry?”
In other words, if the non-believers did all the above things to Jesus while He was physically on this earth, can you imagine what they may do to the true believers while He is in Heaven?
A testimony for the validity and significance of Jesus’ question can be found in the preface of James & Marti Hefley’s book titled: “By Their Blood” where we find the following statistic,
“The World Mission Digest”, published by the Foreign Mission Board of the Southern California Convention, cites the World Evangelization Database as accounting for the martyrdom of 119 million Christians during the 20th century.”
The second lesson or point to remember comes from,
Luke 23:34
[34] Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.
Jesus’ example of asking God the Father to forgive those who scourged and nailed Him to the cross, reminds us of the importance for us to forgive those who sin against us. To refresh our memory, let us again read from,
Matthew 6:14-15
"[14] For if you forgive men when they sin against you; your heavenly Father will also forgive you. [15] But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins."
The third lesson or point to remember comes from,
Matthew 27:35
[35] Then they crucified Him, and divided His garments, casting lots, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet:
“They divided My garments among them,
And for My clothing they cast lots.”
It is noted that many of the events and activities that occurred during Jesus’ scourging and crucifixion were foretold by the Old Testament prophets. Some examples of this truth can be found in: Isaiah 53:1-10, Psalm 22:1-21 and Psalm 69:16-21.
The fourth lesson or point to remember comes from,
Luke 23:39-43
[39] Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, “If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.” [40] But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? [41] And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.” [42] Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” [43] And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”
In other words, It is by faith in Jesus Christ and who He is and not the mere act of baptism that saves us from the penalty of our sins.
Finally, the fifth lesson or point to be remembered also comes from,
Luke 23:43
[43] And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”
Specifically, contrary to the many versions of the so called “Apostle’s Creed”, after Jesus’ death, Jesus did not descend into Hell. The Bible, as we read in above, teaches us that Jesus went to Paradise.
CLOSING
Now some may ask:”Why did Jesus allow Himself to go through all this horrific humiliation, suffering and torture?” To answer this question let us first read the following words Jesus once said to His disciples. To do this we go to,
John 15:13
[15] Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.
Let us now read from,
1 Peter 2:21-25
[21] For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps:
[22] “Who committed no sin, Nor was deceit found in His mouth”; [23] who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously; [24] who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed. [25] For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
Blessed be the Lord forever,
Amen and Amen