Hello, friend! I’m Mack Lyon. The program’s a Bible study program In Search of the Lord’s Way, presented by some churches of Christ in the broadcast area of this station. The old spiritual asks, “Were you there when they crucified my Lord?” In our rush to judgment over who was responsible for the death of Christ, we often overlook our own role. Christ died for each of us. Phil Sanders asks today, were you there? Please listen.
Thanks, Mack. Hello, I’m Phil Sanders and this is In Search of the Lord’s Way, where we search the Scriptures as Mack Lyon says to find the Lord’s way to be saved and to live the Christian life. Thanks for taking time to be with us today. We love hearing that you are watching or listening; and we want to be a part of your life each week.
I’ve always loved the old spiritual song, “Were you there when they crucified my Lord? Were you there when they crucified my Lord? Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble. Were you there when they crucified my Lord?” Nothing in life reaches into my soul as does the story of Jesus Christ dying upon the cross. I cannot think of it without several emotions bubbling up inside of me.
When I think of the cruelty of the scourging and the crucifixion, I become angry and ask “how could they treat an innocent, good person like that?” When I think of Judas, I wonder how he could betray the Lord Jesus. When I think of Pilate, I wonder why he did what was easy and wash his hands of my Lord. Where was his courage? Then I look at myself. When I think of my Lord, I wonder how He could love me; love me enough to bear such agony for my sins. I’m utterly grateful that He loved me so much and was willing to redeem me with His blood. And yet, I’m ashamed for all my sins. I’m so sorry for all the evil things I have said and done, all the pain I’ve caused, and all the times I’ve failed to do the right thing. Going to the cross humbles me and blesses me at the same time.
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Ken Helterbrand’s going to lead us now, as we sing. Then we’ll read from Acts 2, verses 22 to 24.
Our reading today comes from the book of Acts chapter 2, verses 22 to 24. “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know—Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it.” May the Lord bless the reading of His Holy Word. Let’s pray together. O Father, we are so sorry that Jesus had to go to the cross for our sins; but we are so thankful that He loved us enough to do that. And help us to love You and to love each other. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Oh, I hope we never forget Calvary. I like to recommend to people often that we take a very long look at the cross and that’s what we’re going to do today. The four gospel accounts: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are inspired by the Holy Spirit and they describe the events that are surrounding the crucifixion of Jesus. Now, what I’ve done is taken these and combined them, these accounts, to give their words a little fuller picture of what happened on that day.
As they went out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus. They compelled this man to carry his cross. And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull), they offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall, but when he tasted it, he would not drink.
Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and they divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier; also his tunic. But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom, so they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.” This was to fulfill the Scripture which says, “They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.” Then they sat down and kept watch over him there.
Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” Many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Aramaic or Hebrew, in Latin, and in Greek. So the chief priests of the Hebrews said to Pilate, “Do not write, The King of the Jews, but rather, This man said, I am the King of the Jews.” Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.”
But standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, that is Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.
Then two robbers were crucified with him, one on the right and one on the left. And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.”
So also the chief priests, and the scribes and elders mocked him, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, I am the Son of God.” And the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way. And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, “Aha! You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself, and come down from the cross!”
One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”
Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” And some of the bystanders, hearing it, said, “Well, this man is calling Elijah.” And one of them at once ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine, and put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink. But the others said, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.”
Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” Well, a jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. And when Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
Now when the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God, saying, “This man was innocent!” And all the crowds that had assembled for this spectacle, when they saw what had taken place, returned home and they were beating their breasts.
And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn from top to bottom. The earth shook, and the rocks were split. The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went out into the holy city and appeared to many. When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!”
Since it was the day of Preparation, and so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away. So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they didn’t break his legs. But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. He who saw it has borne witness and his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth—that you also may believe. For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken.” And again another Scripture says, “They will look on him whom they have pierced.”
The death of Jesus on the cross was unlike any execution ever known. He was innocent, but bore the sins of the guilty. While being nailed down, He prayed for His Father to forgive his executioners, because they did not know what they were doing. The Lord Jesus, because He was Divine, could see what we cannot see and know what we cannot know. He knew His Father’s plan to offer His body as a sacrifice for their sins, but they didn’t know. First Corinthians 2, verse 8 says that, “None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.”
When a person was executed, the Romans posted the charge against the man on the cross to warn others not to commit the same crime. His accusers charged Him falsely with blasphemy in saying that He was the Messiah, the King of the Jews, and yet they resented the sign that proclaimed Him the King of the Jews. Pilate sought to offend the Jews with the statement, but he spoke more of the truth than he knew.
Peter speaks of the remarkable courage and the inner strength of the Lord Jesus in His suffering. The Bible says in 1 Peter 2:21 to 25, “For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but he continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.”
There’s no wonder the centurion who saw the crucifixion proclaimed “Truly this man was innocent.” Because, you see, guilty men don’t act the way Jesus acted. They don’t refuse a drink that would help them with the pain. They don’t ask God to forgive their executioners. They don’t keep quiet when being mocked. They don’t have the sun darkened and the earth shaking. The Jews were indeed looking at Him and knowing that He was righteous and innocent.
When Pilate said that he could not find any guilt in Jesus, that was true. Pilate offered Barabbas, you remember, hoping to free Jesus; but the high priests and the scribes incited the people to insist that Jesus be crucified. Pilate then washed his hands in front of the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this Man’s blood; see to that yourselves.” And all the people that were present said, “His blood shall be on us and on our children!”
Pilate then took Jesus and scourged Him. And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on His head. They put a purple robe on Him; and they began to come up to Him and say, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and to give Him slaps in the face. Pilate came out again and said to them, “Behold, I am bringing Him out to you so that you may know that I find no guilt in Him.” Jesus then came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. You would think that the people would be broken hearted to see that. And Pilate said to them, “Behold, the Man!” So when the chief priests and the officers saw Him, they cried out saying, “Crucify, crucify!” And Pilate said to them, “Take Him yourselves and crucify Him, for I find no guilt in Him.” Jesus was no ordinary person. The Jews delivered Jesus up to Pilate, not because He was guilty, but because they were envious of Jesus.
At the sixth hour the sun became dark. The sun was not darkened for a few minutes, as it is in an eclipse. This was different; the sun was darkened for three full hours. The earth shook so violently that it split the rocks. God did this.
The veil in the temple was torn from top to bottom. Now, the temple veils were 60 feet long, 30 feet wide, and four inches thick. They were so heavy that we are told that 300 priests were needed to move each one. The veil being rent from top to bottom suggests that God’s Own Hand had torn it in two. That veil separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies; and once the veil was torn, that place ceased to be separated or holy.
You see, in His death the Lord Jesus opened a new and living way to enter the Holy of Holies. Hebrews 9, verse 12 says that, “He entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of bulls and goats but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.”
Jesus died a cruel, agonizing death for you and me because of His great love. God was in Christ at the cross offering us redemption, forgiveness, and reconciliation. God showed his amazing, wonderful love in the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus upon the cross. And He did this in order to reach into our hearts and bring us back into a right relationship with Him. I tell you, no one will ever love you like this. Nobody will ever love you like Jesus. Let’s pray. O Father, as we think of the cross may it touch our hearts and move us to a deeper devotion to serve You fully, and freely, and completely. This is our prayer in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen!
My friend, you were there when they crucified the Lord. No, not physically but spiritually! Remember Jesus died for you to save you from sin and to open a way to have a relationship with you. He died so you could be reconciled to God in a new covenant, so you could have a loving relationship with God that would last forever. In that sense you were in His heart.
God took the initiative to show His love in the hope that we would respond to it with a total commitment of our own love. We should love the Lord our God with all our hearts, with all our souls, all our minds, and all our strength (Mark 12 and verse 30). Committed love is willing to go to any length to comply with what the Lord desires.
We’re saved by God’s goodness and grace, and God offered our salvation to us through the cross and that extends to every person. We can’t earn our salvation, but we can meet God’s conditions for salvation. God wants everyone to respond to His love, but He knows that not everyone will. We hope and pray that you will respond to Him.
And you can respond to the remarkable love of God with a love of your own. And that love leads you to believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, repent of your sins, confess Jesus before others, and be baptized. Christian baptism is the immersion of a penitent believer in water in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2 and verse 38). Now, these you must do if you wish to show your love for God and become a Christian.
If the cross means anything to you and if you realize that your sins were involved in sending Jesus to the cross, you won’t wait even one day until you come to the Lord in love and obedience. Won’t you do that today?
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Please visit one of the churches of Christ in the area that is served by this station or network. We just want you to know that we’ll be back next week; and from all of us here In Search of the Lord’s Way, Mack and I both, God bless you and we love you.
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