The Crucified Christ
Scripture Reading: Matthew 27:27-44
Meditation
Rome reserved the cross for only the worst of criminals. It was a slow, painful, and degrading way to die.
When Jesus reached Golgotha, the Place of the Skull, the Governor’s soldiers stripped him of his clothes. They threw him to the ground, spread his arms, and nailed each hand to the crossbeam that Simon of Cyrene had carried.
Then they hoisted him into the air, lined his body up with an upright, stationary beam, and—when the two beams were fastened in place—they nailed his feet. His body hangs contorted, twisted, and disfigured. He is the man from whom men hide their faces. (Isaiah 53:3)
In order to open his chest cavity to breathe, Jesus has to push up with his legs while pulling up and out with his arms. With every breath comes a violent and excruciating seizure of pain. And, though his wounds are painful, they aren’t fatal.
His agony could last for days.
“When they had crucified him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots. And sitting down, they kept watch over him there. Above his head they placed the written charge against him: THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS.
Two robbers were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, ‘You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!’ ”
Crucifixion is a public form of execution but it also serves as a public warning.
Right above the head of the crucified, the crime is always posted, as if to say to all who pass by,
“Do this crime. Receive this punishment.”
The sign above Jesus reads,
“THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS”.
Though the statement is true, the accompanying death sentence is false. The sign says he’s innocent but the cross says he’s guilty. On the Place of the Skull, the only testimony to Jesus’ innocence is the sign. As it stands at the top of the cross, it trumpets to all who pass by,
“Hail to the King of the Jews. Hail King Jesus!”
But the crowds don’t listen. To add injury to injustice, they insult the King.
“In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. ‘He saved others,’ they said, ‘but he can’t save himself! He’s the King of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, I am the Son of God.’ ”
They don’t bow their heads or bend their knees; instead, they pick up rocks of ridicule and hurl them at his spirit. They have bloodied his body and now they want to bruise his soul.
Blow after blow, they mock, insult, and deride him. What the mockers don’t know is that though they reject the King, he still remains a King. Whether he hangs from a cross or sits on a throne, whether he wears a twisted circle of thorns or a crown of gold, whether he clothes himself in the crimson blood of righteousness or a mantle of glory, the Messianic King will still rule.
He will reign.
And so, the crux of the crucifixion is not whether or not the King is a king. Instead, it is found in what Jesus chooses to do when faced with death. As he hangs on the cross, will he choose to save himself, as he saved so many others, or will he choose to save his world? Will it be his death or their death?
He can only choose one. Justice won’t let him have both. A payment is demanded. Either he would have to pay the penalty for sin or his world would. It was either his blood or theirs.
With eternity in mind and all of humanity in his sight, he makes his choice.
He clings fast to the nails. He chooses to stay high and lifted up. He chooses to suffer agony, endure mockery, and bear blasphemy. He grips the cross. And when he finally breathes his last, he gasps, lets go of the cross, opens his hands, and gives his parting gift—grace.
“Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.
We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:4-6)
Prayer
Father,
After your Son was sentenced, he accepted the curse of the cross.
When the hammer of sin’s punishment was raised, he opened his hands and received the nails. And though the spikes fastened his flesh to the cross, it was his love that kept him there.
When he was stripped, exposed, and humiliated, he didn’t cover himself with the righteous robe of his innocence. Rather, he cloaked himself with the shroud of sin and wrapped himself in the rags of the world’s iniquities.
When the evil one derided him through the taunts and insults of the crowd, when he challenged him to prove himself to be the Son of God, and tempted him to forsake the suffering and come down from the cross, your Son clung fast to the nails.
He chose to stay high and lifted up. He chose to suffer agony, endure mockery, and bear blasphemy.
He chose the cross.
During this day let me live in the sober reality of the crucifixion. Help me understand that, though the sacrifice of the Crucified Christ was universal, it was also personal. It was for me. My nails. My sins. My punishment.
And as I embrace this humbling gift of grace, burn into my heart the truth that the greatest act of sacrifice was not the fact that the Crucified Christ was fastened to the cross, but that he chose to stay there—for me.
It’s in the Crucified Christ’s name that I pray. Amen.
Reflection
What kept the Crucified Christ hanging on the cross?
Why did Jesus have to endure such a painful death?
In what ways have you stood in the crowd and insulted the Crucified Christ?
What does it mean when the prophet Isaiah says that the Crucified Christ was, “pierced for our transgressions” and “crushed for our iniquities”?
All Scripture references in the meditation are marked by italics and are taken from the Gospel reading for the day (Matthew 27:27-44). Those verses quoted outside of the chosen reading for the day are noted in parenthesis. All Scripture quoted on this site is taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
