Matthew 27: 39-43
(1) And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads (Cp. Psalms 109: 25) and saying, (2) “You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days
(Cp. 26: 61; John 2: 19), (3)save Yourself! You are (4) the Son of God, (5) come down from the cross.” Likewise the chief priests also, mocking with the scribes and elders, said, (6) “He saved others; Himself He cannot save. [If He is (7) the King of Israel, let Him (5) come down from the cross, and we will believe in Him. (8) He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him (Cp. Psalms 22: 18); for He said, “I am (4)the Son of God.”]
Mark 15: 19-22
(1) And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads (Cp. Psalms 109: 25) saying, “Aha! (2) You who destroy the temple and build it in three days (Cp. 26: 61; John 2: 19), (3) save Yourself, and (5) come down from the cross!” Likewise the chief priests also, mocking among themselves with the scribes, said, (6) “He saved others; Himself He cannot save. “Let Christ, (7) the King of Israel, (5) descend now from the cross that we may see and believe.”
Luke 23: 35-37
And the people stood looking on. But even the rulers with them sneered, saying,
(6) “He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is the Christ, the chosen of God.” The soldiers also mocked Him, coming and offering Him sour wine, and saying, “If you are (7) the King of the Jews, (3)save Yourself.”
The last thing anyone wants to hear before they die are words laced with disdain, scorn, ridicule, insult, and rejection. The Lord of Heaven and Earth, bloodied, as His face was beaten almost beyond recognition from the constant pummeling by the fists of the Roman soldiers. He was spat upon, a crown of thorns placed around His forehead, and His limbs were stretched out on a living tree of wood in the form of a crucifix (‘T’ shaped) whereby His hands and feet were pierced with metal spikes, then His body was raised upon this beam and made secure.
With the full weight of Jesus’ body now uncomfortably supported by the extremities of His arms, shoulders, and upper back, the pain must have been excruciating and almost beyond human endurance as the sinews and tendons began to strain and tear away; not to mention the enormous pressure on His heart and lungs. Jesus endured this torture for six hours but it must have felt like an eternity to Him, and when God the Father’s Plan was finally accomplished for the Salvation of mankind and reconciling all creation back to Himself, in John 19: 30b, it reads: He [‘Jesus’] said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.
Although MATTHEW, MARK, and LUKE give slightly different variations of Jesus’ actual last words or those of His blasphemers, the one constant theme in all these accounts was when they derided Jesus by saying that He couldn’t save Himself; mocking Him in their words of poisonous envy, spiritual blindness, vacillation and ignorance. When Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane and in act of violence, one of the disciples cut off the ear of the high priest’s servant in order to protect Jesus from His destiny or mission, Jesus said in Matthew 26: 53-54: “Or do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will not provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels? “How then could the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must happen thus?”
In John 3: 14; 12: 32, it reads: And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up. “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people unto Me.” Jesus said in John 10: 17-18: “Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it [up] again. “No one takes it from Me." I have power [Gr. ‘exousia, dunamis’] to lay it down, and I have ‘power’ to take it [up] again. This command I have received from My Father.
So, the answer to Jesus’ accusers and those who don’t fully understand why the Lord of Glory and our Blessed Savior would undergo such an ordeal, Hebrews 12: 2, gives a little hint of that as it reads: Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, Who for the joy set before Him endured the Cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Now, what is this ‘joy’ so enormous and compelling that Jesus would freely and lovingly sacrifice Himself?
Hebrews 2: 9-11, 14-15
But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, should taste death for everyone {NOTE: It does Not say “like” }. For it was fitting for Him [‘Jesus’], for Whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory (Cp. 12: 2), to make the captain of their salvation perfect [complete] through suffering. For both He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren. Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil (Cp. I Corinthians 15: 5), and release those who through fear of death were their entire lifetime subject to bondage.
Lastly, the final triumphal victory that we have in Jesus is summed up in Revelation 20: 14; 21: 4: Then Death and Hell were cast into the Lake of Fire. This is the Second Death. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away [‘forever’].
Robert Randle
776 Commerce St. #B-11
Tacoma, WA 98402
June 7, 2009
pbks@hotmail.com
