Today we look at the crucifixion of Jesus. We will explore both what it means and how we should respond.
Here is a link to the livestream video:
Luke 23 – Verse by Verse
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Tag Archives: Jesus Christ
A Prayer Prompted by the Crucifixion in Luke 23
Lord Jesus,
We thank you for enduring the cross in our place so that our sins can be forgiven. We thank you for humbling yourself beyond anything we can imagine for our sake. Teach us now to live for you and teach us to live like you did, to the glory of the Father and for the benefit of others.
Help us to love even as you did, even to the point of death. And help us to forgive those who sin against us, even as we have been forgiven.
We want to be like you, Lord Jesus.
Amen
The (in)justice of the mob in Luke 23
We pick up the story with Jesus before Pontius Pilate,
3 And Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” And he answered him, “You have said so.” 4 Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, “I find no guilt in this man.” 5 But they were urgent, saying, “He stirs up the people, teaching throughout all Judea, from Galilee even to this place.”
Pilate then sent Jesus to Herod, and when Herod was done with him,
13 Pilate then called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people, 14 and said to them, “You brought me this man as one who was misleading the people. And after examining him before you, behold, I did not find this man guilty of any of your charges against him. 15 Neither did Herod, for he sent him back to us. Look, nothing deserving death has been done by him.
The crowd would have nothing of it. They demanded Jesus be crucified. Pilate continued,
22 A third time he said to them, “Why? What evil has he done? I have found in him no guilt deserving death. I will therefore punish and release him.” 23 But they were urgent, demanding with loud cries that he should be crucified. And their voices prevailed. 24 So Pilate decided that their demand should be granted.
You can almost feel sorry for Pilate. It’s hard to resist the mob and maybe hardest of all for a politician to do so, even one as awful as this one. The raging crowd often gets its way, and that is what happens here, but is seldom altogether right in what it demands. Mob scenes are never a good place to carefully debate all the options, but ideal if your goal is to make bad things happen.
Exodus 23:2 says,
You shall not fall in with the many to do evil, nor shall you bear witness in a lawsuit, siding with the many, so as to pervert justice.
In this case the sinless Son of God was sent to his death, a slow, arduous, humiliating, hellish death. Of course, we can be happy for that. It was part of God’s plan to use evil to bring about good. The worst injustice that ever occurred on planet earth accomplished the greatest good for the maximum number of people.
As we read in Romans 8:31-34,
31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33 Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.
Thank you Jesus!
Do this – Luke 22:19-20
19 And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 20 And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.”
The practice of repeating the Lord’s Supper over and over again in church is one of the most basic and defining elements of the Christian faith. We do it, not least, because Jesus told us to do so. In other words, it’s not that some church people from long ago thought it up and kept doing it because they simply liked it. We get the idea from Jesus himself. Why did he think it was so important? It’s a question worth pondering.
The best answer I can come up with is that it forces us to review the story of the gospel time and again. This persistent retelling and, in a sense, reliving the gospel is necessary. Without it, our faith might easily degenerate into something else, which could only be something less.
We might, for example, get lost in theological speculation. Thinking about theology is good and admittedly much needed in a day like ours when theological shallowness is the norm. But Christian theology and its theologians must always come back to the gospel. Without the gospel consistently retold, theology can lose its base, its foundation or its center. What good is theology if the gospel gets lost?
Another error might be found in good works. No Christian can sanely minimize the importance of charitable activity resulting from faith. But faith in what or in whom? Faith in Christ as we see understand him through the gospel. Good works cannot just hang in midair. They are not publicity stunts or ways of adding merit to our account before God. The gospel tells us that the only merit we have is that of Christ. We need to hear that again and again.
A final error might be seen in our private devotional life. Time alone with God is basic to a lively and growing faith. This idea of intimate personal experience is sometimes lost in our cluttered and hyperactive culture. Who has time for it? And yet, as we learn the lessons we need to learn about spending time alone with God, we also need to experience the gospel with others. And we need it on a regular basis.
This week at our church we are celebrating the Lord’s Supper again. Many will do it at home while viewing a livestream service online. All of us will focus on Jesus, taking the bread and the cup, remember him and what he did for us once more.
We need to review that gospel story. We need to hear it again. We need to think about Jesus and his sacrifice, his body torn and his blood poured out. He said it to his disciples and we will say it one more time.
“Do this in remembrance of me.”
Central Reflections 