Mark 15:22-24
“They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull”). Then they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. And they crucified him. Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots to see what each would get.“
Mark 15:22-24 NIV
The cross was a Roman tool of torture, shame, and humiliation. Jesus and His cross were taken to a hill known as the Place of the Skull. Not only did the hill look somewhat like a skull, but it was also a place of death, mockery, and pain.
In this instance, however, it was also a place of redemption, forgiveness, and hope because of Jesus. What began here in horror and inhumanity ended in victory and grace.
Just as the soldiers at the foot of this cross gambled for Jesus clothes, people still gamble on the cross of Christ today. Anytime people refuse to recognize who was crucified on that cross, they gamble with their future, their eternal future assuming that Jesus was only just another man. The stakes of this gamble are incredibly high. Either Jesus offers eternal life with God or He is a delusional, Self Appointed Messiah.
The Place of the Skull where Jesus was crucified leaves no other options for us to place a wager. For those who believe in what Jesus did at this cross and commit their lives to Him, their faith promises them eternal life.
For those who do not believe, there is only a horribly risky gamble that this Jesus was just another man. We will read on later that at least one soldier acknowledged Jesus as God's Son. What have you decided about the identity of this man, Jesus, on this cross?
They crucified Him. So simple, so little detail but in my opinion three of the sharpest cutting words in the whole bible. Because when you look into what it means to be crucified and reasons why people are crucified, you see what Jesus went through.
I had never learned what it meant to be crucified until I understood being intentionally intimate with God through being crucified with Christ. Living out Galatians 2:20.
How Jesus went through that willingly is beyond comprehension. Because He is God, He did it for humanity. I would not go through something like that for someone I loved. Even though I want to say I would I know when it came down to it I probably wouldn’t.
The point of the cross is to show what Jesus willingly went through for us, how He was the Messiah and the true Savior. It is setting up the scene for His resurrection and at the same time showing His love for us. It is a powerful testament to Grace and faith is God, it is a reason for us Christians to believe in God’s love.
It is amazing that God turned something so gruesome and humiliating like the crucifixion of Christ into something so beautiful and victorious. Jesus’ death on that tree made a way for all of mankind to be able to partake of the Tree of Life. Even though man nailed Christ to the cross as a means of humiliation and insult, His resurrection turned His death into a victory over death and broke the chains of sin.
The act of crucifixion became the story of the Gospel, for which all Christians everywhere were called to spread the word. The death and resurrection of Christ turned everything around and upside down.
Jesus submitted to the will of God, He fulfilled the Scriptures and He did what was necessary for our salvation. Because He became our wrath bearing substitute we can know for sure that we are forgiven and that we can die to sin and live to righteousness.
Preach the Gospel to Yourself. The way we can fight the temptations to live in guilt and shame or to underestimate our God given ability to live in obedience is to preach the Gospel to ourselves every day. That’s to say, we need to take time each day to remember the work of Christ, His death and resurrection and to recognize that it’s because of Him that we can be confident of our forgiveness and freedom from sin!!!
Father, thank You for this day and we believe that Jesus died on the cross to save us from our sins. Lord, open up the storehouses of Your Abundance and let it flow over my friend and family today. Lord, we believe You were raised from the dead. We believe we have been baptized to share in Your death, and have been raised to walk in a new life trusting in Your saving power. Lord, help us to remember the grace, power, and victory that are ours because of that cross. Lord, use us to be a bold witness of Your Gospel of redeeming grace to all.Father, we love You. Amen !
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