Journey to the Cross -- Finished Work

As we drink our morning coffee and plan where we’ll dine this evening, let us prayerfully consider Jesus’ final twenty-four hours: during the night He’s been moved from the garden to Annas to Caiphas to Pilate to Herod then back to Pilate, bound and severely beaten, and deprived of sleep and rest.  Driven by political ambition and public outcry, Pilate finally condemns Jesus to death by crucifixion, reserved for the vilest of criminals. The Romans did not invent crucifixion but perfected it to a slow, painful, and tortuous means to die.  Although weak from severe flogging, Jesus began the journey from the Praetorium (Pilate’s palace) to Golgotha, an established place of crucifixion.  Weakened from severe floggings, Jesus fell beneath the weight of the horizontal beam of the cross and Simon of Cyrene was ordered to carry it the rest of the way. Secured to the cross by Roman spikes driven through His hands (wrists) and feet, Jesus was offered wine mixed with myrrh (gall), a mild analgesic, which He refused.  His open wounds and decaying flesh exposed to swarming insects and birds, arms extended unable to sustain His own weight, Jesus struggled for each breath while soldiers and bystanders taunted Him.  From noon to three o’clock, darkness covered Jerusalem and in one final arduous gasp and cry, those standing nearby would surely have recognized Jesus’ moment of death. The Jewish Sabbath approaching, Joseph of Arimathea, “a good and righteous man,” asked Pilate for Jesus’ body; he wrapped The Savior in linen and laid Him in a tomb cut from rock “where no one had ever lain.”  Women who had come with Jesus from Galilee witnessed His burial and prepared the customary burial spices and perfumes.  A heavy circular stone was rolled in place to cover entrance to the tomb.  There may have been an eerie silence at the garden tomb but I imagine quite a disturbance in the temple: the Passover lambs had been offered but the temple curtain was torn completely in two [from top to bottom] fully exposing the holiest of temple chambers, ONCE AND FOR ALL TIME giving man access to Almighty God through a newly declared and perfect High Priest – Jesus Christ!  We are familiar with the rest of the blessed events – The Father did not forsake His Son and the tomb could not contain The Messiah.  As promised, He rose victorious over death in three days. Likewise, He will [keep His promise to] come again and take us to that place He has prepared for us to reign victoriously with Him eternally.  Well, we may be living in a world that resembles “Good Friday,” but those who profess Christ are gloriously declared Easter People!  We can and do rejoice in the finished work of Jesus Christ – the Risen Lord!  Hallelujah! Praise the Lamb!