Devastation to hope

 

One of my favourite songs is O Praise the Name of the Lord our God and I was listening to it, the line:

His body bound and drenched in tears

They laid him down in Joseph’s tomb

I was struck afresh at the terrible devastation the disciples and the women must have felt as Jesus hung on the cross and then died. His body would indeed have been drenched in tears as those close to him wept inconsolably over him. The agony and complete incomprehension of what they were witnessing, must have left them overwhelmed with grief.  

Only a week before, Jesus had been welcomed into Jerusalem with shouts and palm branches – a royal welcome to the King coming into his city. Now, those same people had turned on him and bayed for him to be crucified. Imagine the horror his friends must have felt as Jesus had an unfair trial and then their precious Messiah was flogged, mocked and forced to carry his own cross. All through the six hours that Jesus hung there, I am sure they were praying, willing him to come down off the cross and show those mockers that he is the King, the Messiah.

Instead, he died. ‘I just don’t get it,’ would have been the understatement they felt. Jesus had told them several times that this would happen, but they had either forgotten or not believed him. Certainly no one was expecting a resurrection on that first day of the week. The women went to the tomb to anoint a precious but dead body, not to see a risen Jesus. Even when he appeared to the women, the disciples were slow to believe, because it just seemed unbelievable. 

Enter the two men on the road to Emmaus, later that same resurrection day (Luke 24: 13 – 35). They were discussing all that had gone on and trying to make sense of the perplexing circumstances. My favourite part of their incomprehension is, but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. Jesus, unknown to them, had joined them and explained to them what had been prophesied and what they had just witnessed. They had put their hope in the right place, even though it didn’t look like it.

I then wondered what would have happened if these two disciples had not urged Jesus strongly to stay with them? Suppose when Jesus continued as if he were going further, they had just wished him well, thanked him for the fellowship on the road and gone indoors. Jesus didn’t push himself on them but if they hadn’t urged him, they would never have experienced the grande finale of their day. They would have missed Jesus opening their eyes to see who he was and the reality that he was indeed risen from the dead, alive and well and breaking bread with them. All their hopes of Jesus being the Messiah, the risen Lord that had been dashed over the weekend, were restored.

Now, filled with the excitement of knowing for themselves that Jesus was indeed the Messiah and was risen from the dead, they didn’t hang around in Emmaus. They hot-footed it back the seven miles to Jerusalem, the place of disappointment but with their hearts full of expectancy and hope, to share the good news with the disciples.

Jesus never forces relationship on us whether it be when our hearts are first turned to him at salvation, or when we have been saved umpteen years, but are still burning to know him better. As we urge him to stay, he will linger and have communion with us.

We may have experienced the most awful tragedy in our life, but we always have hope with Jesus. When we urge him to remain and abide with us, to speak to us, to have fellowship with us, to explain, he never disappoints. He will always stay, comfort and give us hope. The devastation of our Good Friday can turn into the hope and new life of Easter Sunday. 

The resurrection - restoring relationship with Man

Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying.

He (Jesus) asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”

Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”

 Jesus said to her, “Mary.”

She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” John 20: 13, 15 - 16

The Gospel accounts of the resurrection vary but the basic facts are consistent. Jesus appeared first to the faithful women who had gone to the tomb, not sure what they would do as they could never move the stone, but they had to be there. 

John’s Gospel is my favourite account. Jesus met Mary who only recognised him when he called her name. How precious. 

As I was pondering again the terrible account of the death by crucifixion of our Saviour, I came back to the original thought ‘Why? Why would Jesus do it?’ The answer has to be love and love of a magnitude that we have no comprehension of. 

If we consider all other ‘gods’, and many other leaders only interested in power, all they demand is slavish obedience, fearful worship. They only want people who will bow down and do their will. They may sit in fake grandeur, high and distant from their subjects surrounded by obsequious attendants and ‘ministers’ but all they engender in these people is fear. There is no relationship.  

Instead, our wonderful, magnificent God created a beautiful world with Man as the pinnacle of his creation, made in his image, with whom he desires to walk in the cool of the day. Ever since Man rebelled from God’s plan, He has been working towards restoring the original design and the only way for Man to be redeemed from his sin and rebellion was for His precious, sinless son to pay the penalty in our place. 

The reason he would do this is love. God doesn’t want slavish obedience, he wants relationship based on love, his love for us and our love and adoration in return, freely given. We have only to read the accounts in the Bible of God’s presence and we see clouds of glory, majesty that creates such awe in sinful man that they fall flat upon their faces. Anyone who has come face to face with God in any measure whether Moses, Isaiah, Daniel, Ezekiel, Peter becomes overwhelmed by their sinfulness. Yet God wants to breach that gap between sinful man and holy, holy, holy God and the price was high, extremely high. 

Love always finds a way because love grieves over separation, love wants relationship - face to face relationship and the only way was the death of the sinless, perfect, beautiful Jesus.

As we celebrate again the victory of Easter – not just the death but the glorious resurrection conquering death, sin and all its attendant woes, let us be those who walk in the victory that Jesus won for us, not wallowing in our sin, guilt and shame but letting the work of the cross, the body and blood of Jesus do the work God intended to set us free, to walk in beautiful relationship with him. He loves us and all he wants is our hearts, our love and everything follows on from that. Our salvation and freedom came at a terrible cost, but Jesus says again, ‘I love you. It was worth it.’ 

The burial - God's perfect provision

57 As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. 58 Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him. 59 Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, 60 and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away. Matthew 27: 57 - 60

We can imagine the terrible shock that the disciples, Mary and the other women felt when they realised Jesus was going to die. He wasn’t going to miraculously come down from the cross. That shock would have probably overwhelmed every other thought such as how were they going to get Jesus’s body down from the cross and where would they take it? If that thought had occurred to anyone, they might have been even more overcome. Often crucified bodies were left on the ground unburied or deposited in a dishonoured place in a pauper’s field. That couldn’t happen to their precious Jesus, but what could they do? 

Mary could have asked Pilate for the body, but she had no resources to deal with it. The disciples might have asked but it would take great courage to go to the Roman governor as a disciple in case he put them in prison or worse. But God had made perfect provision for his Son. He would not be buried in dishonour; everything would be taken care of.

As I pondered the logistics of dealing with the body of a crucified man, let alone the Son of God, I realised it was not a straightforward procedure. It needed planning, wealth and manpower. 

Joseph of Arimathea stepped up to take on this onerous but honoured responsibility. This was a brave act for a Pharisee, who was a secret believer, but Joseph had all the necessary credentials, was well-connected and a wealthy man. It took courage to ask for the body, but Pilate permitted him to take charge. Was he relieved that an innocent man was going to get a decent burial? 

As a wealthy man, Joseph he would have had the manpower to lift Jesus’s body down from the cross, an awkward, heavy task and remove the nails. They would then have to wrap the body in linen, carry it to Joseph’s unused and empty tomb nearby, and cover it with an enormously costly amount of spices, according to Jewish burial rites. Everything had to be done reverently and in proper order. Having placed the body in the tomb, it would again need manpower to push the massive stone in place over the door.

I’m not sure what would have happened without Joseph, but God provided for every detail for the burial of his son. The perfect sacrifice, unblemished needed everything in the burial to be unused and ceremonially clean. God had his man to provide the manpower, the linen, the spices and the tomb. All was in order. 

Romans 8: 32 says, He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?  Indeed, God knows our needs and he will provide for us, just as he provided for his son.

Michael Angelo's pieta (Mary holding Jesus's body) in St Peter's Cathedral, Rome 
It is the most beautiful marble sculpture. 

The mockery of the crucifixion

16 The soldiers led Jesus away into the palace … and called together the whole company of soldiers. 17 They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him. 18 And they began to call out to him, “Hail, king of the Jews!” 19 Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him. Falling on their knees, they paid homage to him. Mark 15: 16 – 19 

The extreme cruelty and barbarity of being flogged and crucified is a well testified fact. Flogging, 39 lashes with a leather thong embedded with stone or metal chips to flay the skin to the bone is unbelievably cruel, but so too is crucifixion. None of the Gospel writers dwell on the details but it is known that it involved driving long nails into a man’s wrists and ankles onto a wooden cross, lifting the cross into a vertical position and waiting till the condemned died from asphyxiation, dehydration or exhaustion. 

In Jesus’s case it was much more than physical, it was also the humiliation and mockery that he had to endure. Crucifixion was only inflicted on the basest criminals and was considered incredibly shameful and disgraceful. 

First the whole company of the Roman soldiers mocked him. Everything was a parody and insult of Jesus’s royalty. A purple robe and a crown of thorns. The scornful, false homage ‘Hail King of the Jews’, the chant given to Caesar. Jesus was beaten with a staff signifying a royal sceptre. The soldiers fell to their knees in false reverence and spat on him instead of giving him the kiss of homage used when greeting royalty and they mocked him with their words (Psalm 22: 7). The psalmists frequently agonised over the torture of verbal abuse. 

The mockery continued all through those long six hours of crucifixion from the passers-by and even one of the thieves hanging next to him. They called on him to save himself, believing him incapable, not realising his mission was to save the world, not himself. 

And of course, the chief priests and religious leaders joined in the derision. “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.’” Matthew 27: 42 – 43. Jesus, despite the agony, the humiliation, the shame, the insults remained focussed on his mission. 

After three hours, darkness settled over the land. The greatest crime in eternity had to be done in darkness, the devil believing he could kill the Son of God. You could not put the Prince of Light to death in anything but darkness.  About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”). The agony of being separated from the love and presence of God as the sins of the world were placed on him and he took the cup of the wrath of God. What happened next in the spiritual realm is a mystery. All we do know is that when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit Matthew 27: 50. No matter what scientific or medical reason you give for the actual cause of death, the one thing that is certain is you do not give what I believe was a faith-filled victory shout, ‘it is finished’ (John 19: 30). It was so unusual, indeed unique, that the Roman centurion responsible for the crucifixion was convinced ‘Surely he was the Son of God.’ 

We read too that Jesus did not die from natural causes, he gave up his spirit. He decided when he would die. What a terrible, glorious day that first Good Friday was. The disciples and the women must have been devastated, the Roman soldiers terrified and the religious leaders unmoved. Our wonderful Saviour died in the most humiliating, shameful way mocked by all except his few disciples to save the very people who had committed this tragic act. 

The trial of Jesus - self interest

59 The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for false evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death. 60 But they did not find any, though many false witnesses came forward.

Finally two came forward 61 and declared, “This fellow said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days.’”

62 Then the high priest stood up and said to Jesus, “Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?” 63 But Jesus remained silent.

The high priest said to him, “I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.”

64 “You have said so,” Jesus replied. “But I say to all of you: From now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.” 

65 Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, “He has spoken blasphemy! Why do we need any more witnesses? Look, now you have heard the blasphemy. 66 What do you think?”

“He is worthy of death,” they answered. Matthew 26: 59 – 66

The trial of Jesus was dominated by self-interest, that of the chief priests, Pilate and the crowd. However, without these vested interests, Jesus would never have been crucified. 

Right from the start, the chief priests had no interest in justice, they wanted a conviction, a death penalty, their tools accusation and condemnation, the work of the devil. They hated that Jesus was leading the crowds away with his new teaching undermining their authority. There was nothing ‘just’ about this trial. From the beginning ‘they were looking for false evidence,’ knowing there was no other evidence which would convict. Various false witnesses came forward but to no avail. The greatest injustice in history was accomplished not by false witnesses but by the silence of the one condemned.

Frustrated by his silence, Jesus was charged under oath, and his own words achieved the chief priest’s aims. The Sanhedrin must have been delighted, the condemned convicted by his own words. The difficulty now was that the Jews were not permitted to execute anyone – only Romans could do that. 

We can understand why, with kangaroo courts like this, unpopular Roman citizens could easily be convicted and executed. Instead, the Jews had to take Jesus to Pilate to get their desired outcome. Pilate took quite a bit more convincing because he could easily see that Jesus had done nothing wrong but rather ‘he knew it was out of self-interest that they had handed Jesus over to him’. (Matthew 27: 18). Pilate too was amazed that Jesus remained silent to the charges believing wrongly that he had the power to condemn or release Jesus. 

So, in time honoured tradition Pilate passed the buck and asked the crowd who they would like released and who put to death. The crowd, easily led, also caved into self-interest. The chief priests and elders persuaded them, and they knew that not following their leaders would mean excommunication from the synagogue, exclusion from the social life, not the worship, of the community. 

Pilate gave them one more chance, after all his wife had warned him, “Don’t have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him.” (Matthew 27: 19). The crowd declined the opportunity and Pilate’s last chance to do the right thing passed. Isn’t it fascinating that God gives even those convicting his innocent son to death a chance to turn back and do the right thing? No one can ever say to God, ‘I didn’t know. I had no choice.’ 

So, Pilate caved in 'When (he) saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. “I am innocent of this man’s blood,” he said. “It is your responsibility!” Matthew 27: 24.  Uproar or riot on his watch would mean a recall to Rome in disgrace, and self- interest dictated the outcome. 

A fair trial and Jesus would never have been convicted and put to death. Instead, self-interest won the day and Jesus was handed over to be flogged and crucified. 

Gethsemane - the cost

39 Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. 40 On reaching the place, he said to them, “Pray that you will not fall into temptation.” 41 He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, 42 “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” 43 An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. 44 And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. Luke 22: 39 - 44

There was no other way, no other way for us to be free. Jesus loves us so much and wants us to be free, to spend forever with him, so there was no other way. Only a perfect sacrifice, only a man could make the way for sinful people like you and me to be saved from our sinfulness, shame and guilt. And I hear Jesus say, ‘It was worth it.’  

The victory of Calvary was first won in Gethsemane, that place of ultimate submission to the will of God. It was a garden of prayer, somewhere Jesus and his disciples had used before but here, on that night, the full weight of yielding to the will of God, to fulfil his destiny as Saviour of the world rested on Jesus, and it was a weight almost too heavy to bear. 

Everyone in first century Palestine would have known and seen crucifixion, the most barbaric form of execution. The weight of that on any man would have been crushing but to know that his death would mean taking the sin of the world on himself, the wrath of God falling on him. That terrible punishment, freely taken in our place, would lead to separation from his heavenly Father that was so excruciating that Jesus sweated drops like blood. Jesus begged for this cup to be taken from him but knowing it had to be done, he yielded to the Father’s will. 

Jesus knew the cost and he did it. He didn’t make excuses. He knew he was about to be betrayed, abandoned, and denied by those closest to him and still he surrendered because it was for people just like his disciples that he was doing it. Those he loved, weak and vulnerable people like you and me. The depth of love that took Jesus to the cross is almost incomprehensible. 

Our only response has to be, ‘thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for all eternity, thank you.’ Again, I see him smile with such love and hear him say, ‘It was worth it.’