32Now as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. Him they compelled to bear His cross. 33And when they had come to a place called Golgotha, that is to say, Place of a Skull, 34they gave Him sour wine mingled with gall to drink. But when He had tasted it, He would not drink.
35Then they crucified Him, and divided His garments, casting lots, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet:
| "They divided My garments among them, And for My clothing they cast lots." |
36Sitting down, they kept watch over Him there. 37And they put up over His head the accusation written against Him:
| THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS. |
38Then two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right and another on the left.
39And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads 40and saying, "You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross."
41Likewise the chief priests also, mocking with the scribes and elders, said, 42"He saved others; Himself He cannot save. If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him. 43He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him; for He said, "I am the Son of God."'
44Even the robbers who were crucified with Him reviled Him with the same thing.
What is the significance of them getting Simon, a man of Cyrene, to bear the cross for Jesus? Was the one being crucified normally expected to carry his own cross? Was Jesus so beaten and weak that He could not carry it himself? Was Simon someone who knew of Jesus? Where were all the people who knew Jesus? Were Jesus’ friends still scattered, unable to be here to help Jesus? They compelled Simon to carry the cross. That doesn’t sound like someone who was doing it as a favor to help the suffering Jesus, but only because the soldiers made him do it. I get such a strong sense of aloneness in what Jesus is going through.
I remember hearing before about the soldiers offering Jesus sour wine. I had always thought that was just another way to taunt Jesus, to give a thirsting man something he wouldn’t be able to tolerate. But I have since read that it was customary to give the one being crucified the wine laced with a drug (probably the gall mentioned here) to help deaden the senses before being crucified. So the offer of this sour wine mingled with gall was actually a kindness they were showing Him.
Why would Jesus reject it? It would be just one little thing to help ease the suffering that was ahead. But Jesus seemed to desire going into this with full awareness about Him. He was going to die for our sins and feel every moment of it.
I read that the taking of the garments of the one being crucified was normal procedure for a crucifixion. The soldiers could keep what they took. Here they cast lots to see who would get the garments.
I’m surprised they sat down and kept watch over Him. What would have been the purpose of this? To be aware of when death arrived? To make sure no one tried bringing Him down from the cross? To keep peace and order with the spectators?
These soldiers had their own king. They were not done mocking Jesus as the King of the Jews. They showed everyone what they thought of the King of the Jews, this lowly beaten man, who hung helplessly on a cross. It probably also served as warning that no one should try to become King of the Jews, for it will be punishable by the same death they were putting Jesus through.
I had wondered if the reason they crucified one robber on the right and one robber on the left was to make some sort of mocking statement of this being Jesus’ throne, with nothing better than robbers to sit on His right and on His left -- all crucified. But there is no mention that the two robbers’ punishment were thought to be in any relation to Jesus’ punishment. They titled Jesus as King of the Jews, but no mention was made that these two robbers may have been Jews. This seemed to be just another ordinary day that happened to need three crucifixions. And all three were crucified in the same place. Crucifixion was not just for those who tried to be king, but even for robbers. Jesus’ crucifixion was an ordinary crucifixion.
But even while hanging on the cross, His rejection by the people continued. These are the people Jesus was trying to save. How easy it would have been for Him to come down from that cross, to show them that yes, He is the Son of God, and can save Himself. But if He did that He wouldn’t be able to save us. So He remained on the cross, took that taunting that was cast to Him, and followed God’s plan.
Many times the chief priests and Pharisees had tested Jesus for proof that He was the Son of God. But Jesus would never do as they asked. I don’t know if they really felt this was the ultimate test, that if Jesus saved Himself that they would truly believe He was the Son of God. Somehow I don’t believe tests would ever convince them that Jesus was the Son of God.
They could not recognize the ultimate kingly thing Jesus was doing by remaining on that cross for them. They could only believe that the Son of God would save Himself.
But don’t we often fall into that same trap? Don’t we sometimes feel like God cannot possibly be there? How can God let certain things happen? Why doesn’t God remove these things which cause so much pain and suffering in the world? If there is a God who loves us, why aren’t things better? Like these chief priests and elders, do we have such expectations of what God would do that we cannot recognize the miraculous things God is doing?
Yes, we can look back now and see what Jesus was really doing for us when He did not save Himself from the cross. But when we look at what is going on around us today, we cannot possibly see what God’s real plan is. If we do not see what we would expect God to be doing around us, that does not mean God is not there. It just means that our expectations are wrong. Don’t let what is happening or not happening around you change whether or not you believe in God like these chief priests and elders did. Instead, believe in God and observe, so you can recognize God without expectations. For God is there, and His plan is wonderful, more than we could possibly expect.