Friday, March 18, 2011
Luke 23:33 When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there.
WHO CRUCIFIED CHRIST?
The Romans nailed the crucified to their crosses. Jesus was no exception. So the question "Who Crucified Christ?" -- often asked in newspaper articles during this time of the year -- seems to be an easy one to answer.
But when we reread the Bible record we end up with an unusually long list of people whose "fingerprints were left at the scene." The executioner. The centurion in charge of the detail. Pontius Pilate, who ordered this man put to death. The Jewish leaders who first sentenced Him to death and inflamed the mob to pressure the Roman procurator to issue his verdict. The members of those crowds that cried for His blood. Judas who betrayed Him.
So no one person, no one sin is solely responsible. It is the doing of many, this nailing up of the Son of God. Also guilty of joining in are those standing at the foot of the cross and those unconcernedly going about their business in the city ... in Jerusalem ... and in Detroit ... in Minneapolis ... and in Seattle. Those sitting in pews ... and those standing in pulpits.
Annas and Caiphas, Pilate and the soldiers, Peter and the apostles. They were guilty of selfishness, pride and envy, of hatred, cruelty, slander and greed, of thoughtlessness and disloyalty. These sins nailed Christ to His cross. Sins of men long ago and today. Their sins and ours.
"Ah! I also and my sin wrought Thy deep affliction. This indeed the cause hath been of Thy crucifixion."
Jesus suffered and died to atone for our sins too. Our sins also nailed Him to that cross. The thought is terrible and true. Yet the cross of Christ does not fill us with despair and terror. Instead of shuddering, we sing:
We sing the praise of Him who died,
Of Him who died upon the tree
Here we see that God is love,
Christ bears our sins -- brings us mercy from above.
