Tag: crucifixion

What If He Wanted YOU Hung There?

Neal Pollard

What would happen if God changed the “plan of salvation” in this dramatic way? What if the voice of God parted the skies and spoke a new revelation to us, saying, “If you are crucified on a cross for your sins, you will be eternally saved!” Would you do it? Assuming that every human living heard and understood His mighty voice, don’t you suppose countless millions would line up to fulfill this requirement?

The Bible says with Divine credibility that death on the cross was absolutely necessary for the saving of mankind. Many may scoff at that, but that truth must be believed. Yet, no one could save himself by dying on a cross for his own sins. God would reject that sacrifice! Such a sacrifice is blemished and flawed by the filth and disease of sin. The only spotless and unblemished sacrifice that could ever be offered was Jesus (1 Pet. 1:18), who condemned sin in the flesh (Rom. 8:3) and “put away sin by the sacrificing of himself” (Heb. 9:26). He was “once offered to bear the sins of many” (Heb. 9:28) upon the cross.

If Christ had taken the mockers’ challenge to come down from the cross to prove His deity (Mk. 15:32), all mankind would have lost all hope of heaven. He endured the shame and pain of Calvary (Heb. 12:2) to make heaven possible for all who obey Him (Heb. 5:9).

Now, consider this. Through the Bible, the voice of God rings out, demanding that we figuratively crucify our desires and lives on Jesus’ cross through sincere obedience (Gal. 2:20). He tells us to obey the Sacrificial Lamb, Jesus, in order to have sins forgiven (Rom. 6:17). No one has to die the death of a thousand deaths, nailed to a literal cross, to be saved. No one could! But if we come to the One who did so die, we can avoid the only fate that is worse than crucifixion (see Rev. 14:10-11)!

God does not call you to get up on a cross for your sins. He calls you to take up the cross of self-denial, following Him (Mt. 16:24). In this way, may we crucify ourselves!

The Man Attached To That Hand

Neal Pollard

Something occurred to me that I never stopped to consider as I read about Jesus’ mistreatment in John 18.  An officer for the Sanhedrin, forever anonymous, is memorialized with only these words: “One of the officers who stood by struck Jesus with the palm of his hand…” (22).  Was it sheer irreverence?  Was it misguided religious fervor?  Was it hotheaded impetuosity? No matter how one might rationalize it, this man slapped the Savior!  While Roman soldiers struck Him with their hands, no less an offense to Almighty God, the man in John 18 was presumably a religious man.  He expressed indignation on behalf of the High Priest, though Jesus said nothing at all offensive to Him.

What a terrible and difficult thing it is to read and consider, with an open heart, the physical pain and mistreatment Jesus suffered en route to the cross.  But how much worse would it be to be able to understand that you had a hand in it.  Several have conjectured that some of those who heard Peter preached on Pentecost may well have lent their voice to the fracas, clamoring and yelling for Jesus’ crucifixion.  What a burden of guilt to bear!  But, to be the man who slapped his own Creator in apparent contempt?  What a stigma to own!

While it would be impossible for you and me to be a part of that specific physical brutality, it is possible, as the writer of Hebrews later states, to crucify Jesus again and put Him to an open shame (6:6).  To know that my conduct, speech, attitudes, and interactions in this world might not only bring shame but outright assault on my Lord humbles and challenges me.  At the very least, it ought to make us careful about what choices we make, habits we form, entities we support, and causes we champion.  How helpful it would be if I take the time to examine my circumstances of the moment and ask, “Is this a slap in the face of my Savior?” If I know it is, I will flee it.  If I am not sure, I will think long and hard before I do it!  I don’t want to be co-immortalized with that unnamed officer!  I want those who see me to say that I am carefully, lovingly handling Christ!