Based on John 19:17-24 (King James Version)
“And He, bearing His cross, went out to a place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha, where they crucified Him, and two others with Him, one on either side, and Jesus in the center. Now Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross. And the writing was: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS. Then many of the Jews read this title, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. Therefore the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, ‘Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but, ‘He said, ‘I am the King of the Jews.’ ’ ’ Pilate answered, ‘What I have written, I have written.’ Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His garments and made four parts, to each soldier a part, and also the tunic. Now the tunic was without seam, woven from the top in one piece. They said therefore among themselves, ‘Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be,’ that the Scripture might be fulfilled which says: ‘They divided My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots.’ Therefore the soldiers did these things.”
Do we understand well the sacrifice the Lord did for us? I believe we all understand in general what happened (although there are many that profess to be believe in Christ, but they don’t believe this in its entirety), but many need to understand the depth of what really happened. To understand what the Lord did for us is like a person crossing the Pacific Ocean on a great ship, that they see only as far as their eyes can see the extent of the water’s surface and its waves, but they don’t have a clue of the depth they are crossing nor everything that the great sea contains while traveling comfortably on that ship, without any effort, ignoring the reality they are traveling on.
For starters (and we have seen this before), we must always try to understand as clearly as possible the “Who” of the event. Jesus was a man, but He was (and is) God. The God of the universe allowed Himself to be nailed on that cross. And here is where not only gentiles have issues, but also, the majority of the Jews also, that Jesus was the same Jehovah (or Lord) of the Old Testament. He was the One that was at the creation as part of the Trinity, where Genesis relates a plural God, or in other words, a God that is comprised of more than one being. The God that Genesis 1 and 2 talks about is the Trinity. The Apostle John starts precisely with this concept, explaining the deity of Jesus, as it is written: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.” John 1:1-3. Historically speaking, John is precisely believed to have written his gospel with the purpose to clearly establish to the later-formed churches, to leave completely determined that Jesus is God, as he tried to counteract a movement that started during that time where they were putting in question that very fact. So then, this same Jesus was the One that was involved in the creation of everything, including the creation of man, when God said, “let us make”. This same Jesus was the One that was with Abraham, with Jacob, with Moses, with David, with Elijah, and with all others. This same Jesus is the reason why we can exist today, because God is the One that makes possible the existence of everything through His presence. The Apostle Paul explained it like this: “For by Him [speaking of the Lord] all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.” Colossians 1:16-17. So then, even though it may be repetitive, it is ultra-necessary to understand the “Who” of the situation.
The other aspect that we need to understand in particular so that a person can genuinely come to salvation or to be born again like the Bible explains involves repentance, which is what the sacrifice of the cross is all about. To be able to understand this concept, we need to go back to the origins of the sacrifices, what God Himself would use to demonstrate what would happen after with the Lord. When a person would bring the innocent victim (an animal without blemish, as the law dictated) to be sacrificed as the atonement or covering of sin before God, the priest would take the victim, position and tie it to the altar, but the person for whom the sacrifice was being done for needed to put their hand on the head of the victim while the priest sacrificed it as a sign that the innocent was dying to cover (because before Christ, there was no forgiveness of sins, nor washing of sins. It was a temporary cover for the responsibility of sin) their sin before God. By putting their hand on the head of the victim, they were acknowledging before God the responsibility for their death.
And this is what is crucial for each of us to understand. There are many that might say, “If I would have been present, I would not have been in agreement with the death of the Lord.” But, the reality is that, if you don’t take responsibility for the Lord’s death on the cross, you have no salvation. You need to assume complete responsibility for the death of the Innocent on the cross, because He took your place to pay for your sins. Just as the sacrifice in the law, you need to put your hand on Christ’s head to take responsibility for His death before God so that all of your sins could be more than just covered, but rather, washed and forgiven. And this is what happens through repentance and conversion, that when you come before God with a humble and contrite heart, acknowledging everything you have done wrong, and clinging on to the Lord’s sacrifice on the cross, where He poured out His blood and gave up His life, so that you could have forgiveness, then the miracle can happen. Without that, there is no conversion. Without that, there is no eternal life or salvation. That is why that what is foolishness to many is the all of the gospel that we preach, the gospel of a crucified Christ. Just as the Apostle Paul said: “For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” 1 Corinthians 1:22-24. In its exactness, the passage that we are looking at today practically relates the all of our salvation: that God, while being God, took the form of man and the Sacred Victim so that we could have complete remission of sins.
So, it is completely necessary to understand just “Who” precisely was the One on the cross, and what happened at the cross so that there could be salvation. Without this acknowledgement and complete faith in this great act, you will never experience God’s forgiveness, nor God Himself. Without that, you turn what is most precious in the universe into one more sad and poor religion, into something lifeless and without hope. So then, do you understand that God died for you on the cross, and accept complete responsibility for what happened, so you can have the life that the Lord desires so much for you to have through Him? Lord bless! John