Lesson 9
Calvary or Golgotha
Matthew 27: 31-54,
Mark 15: 20-41
Luke 23: 26-46, John
19: 16-30
We have now
experienced Pontius Pilate proclaim the order to crucify Jesus. In the crowds the Jews, headed by the Sanhedrin,
have shouted that Caesar is their only King and declared against Jesus and
saying “Crucify him!” Jesus is standing with a purple robe enveloping his
shoulders and a crown of thorns on his head.
He is taken back to the Praetorium, and again mocked and abused by the
Roman soldiers. He is a demeaned king.
Then he is taken by the Roman soldiers and stripped of the purple robe
and His own clothes are put back on Him.
Then He is lead with the cross on His back, to Golgotha.
It was the
custom of the Romans that the convicted person carry his own cross to the place
of crucifixion. Jesus started through
the streets of Jerusalem bearing His heavy cross. “The terrible strain of the preceding hours,
the agony in Gethsemane, the barbarous treatment He had suffered in the palace
of the high priest, the humiliation and cruel usage to which He had been
subjected before Herod, the frightful scourging under Pilates' order, the
brutal treatment by the inhuman soldiery, together with the extreme humiliation
and the mental agony of it all, had so weakened His physical organism that He
moved but slowly under the burden of the cross.” (Talmage, p. 605-606)
The Roman
soldiers were impatient as the burden of the cross was so immense for Jesus, His
load physically and mentally so heavy, that a man was taken from the crowds
watching the procession of Jesus, Jesus flanked with four Roman soldiers, as
were the two condemned criminals that followed Jesus in the procession, and
compelled him to carry the cross. Simon
of Cyrene, who is identified by Mark as the “father of Alexander and Rufus,”
carries the cross for Jesus. “Showing
that at a later date at least the members of his family were disciples of
renown whose names were familiar to the saints....at this hour another
believing soul who would rejoice in days to come that he had been privileged to
lift some of the fatiguing burden from him whose burdens were greater than
mortal man can bear.” (McConkie, B.4, p.207)
What a privilege, what a service to the Son of God!
It is not
known, who carried the sign of condemnation, the Roman soldiers, or Jesus
around his neck, but as the procession was observed by the crowds, the sign
read, “Jesus of Nazareth, The King of the Jews.”
The men in the
crowd showed no sympathy for Jesus as he climbed his way to Golgotha, but the
women, “beat upon their breasts, and rent the air with lamentations, til Jesus
himself hushed their cries with words of solemn warning.(McConkie, B.4, p.208)
“Jesus
turning to them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for
yourselves, and for your children.
For, behold,
the days are coming, in the which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and
the wombs that never bare, and the paps which never gave suck. Then shall they begin to say to the
mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us, For if they do these things
in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?” (Luke 23: 28-31)
“It was the
Lord's last testimony of the impeding holocaust of destruction that was to
follow the nation's rejection of her King.
Although motherhood was the glory of every Jewish woman's life, yet in
the terrible scenes which many of those weeping would live to witness,
barrenness would be accounted a blessing; for the childless would have fewer to
weep over, and at least would be spared the horror of seeing their offspring
die of starvation or by violence; for so dreadful would be that day that people
would fain welcome the falling of the mountains upon them to end their sufferings.”
(Talmage, p.606-607) Jerusalem would
fall in 40 years, and those women watching Jesus climb the road to Calvary and
their families would be subject to Jerusalem's great fall.
At the third
hour, about 9 am the procession arrived at Golgotha, which is Calvary, a place
of burial or the place of a skull. There
the Roman soldiers prepared the cross, and put Jesus on the cross and nailed
his hands and feet to the wood. Talmage,
McConkie, Edershiem, and Farrar go to great extents in explaining the cruelties
of the crucifixion, the brutality of it, and the suffering that took
place. Please reference these authors if
you want to go further into this part of Calvary.
In the
movie, The Muppet's Christmas Carol, Rizzo the rat, and Gonzo the narrator say
as the Ghost of Christmas yet to come takes Scrooge to his future, “Rizzo: This is too scary. I don't think I
want to see any more. Gonzo: When you're
right, you're right. Your on you're own
folks. We'll see you at the finale.”
This is how I was feeling as I studied for the day of brutality on the
cross. I've been at a level of
comprehension at which I could not put
in words these terrible things. My
feelings have been so tender, my soul so spent on the emotions of this terrible
act of injustice. There is much written about the cross. Again please read
these authors for further enlightenment on the cross.
The soldiers
sit at the feet of the condemned men and cast lots for Jesus' clothing. The
onlookers are able to mock, hit and abuse Him, as the cross is at a level where
this can be done.
While He is
on the cross there are seven recorded statements. These statements represent His compassion,
His love, and how very, very hard this process was.
1.
“Father, forgive them; for they know not what
they do” (Luke 23:34)
2.
“To day shalt thou be with me in paradise” (Luke
23:43)
3.
“Woman, behold thy son!.... Behold thy mother!”
(John 19: 26-27)
4.
“My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”
(Matthew 27:46)
5.
“I thurst” (John 19:28)
6.
“It is finished” (John 19:30) “Father it is
finished, thy will is done” (JST Matthew 27:54)
7.
“Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit”
(Luke 23:46)
Twice in His
last statements on the cross He is concerned about others. He is taunted by one
of the thieves, and is defended by the other thief, and He tells the one,
“Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.” He is saying, “This day shalt thou
be with me in the world of spirits.
There you can learn of me and my gospel; there you can begin to work out
your salvation with fear and trembling before me.” (McConkie, B.4, p.222)
And then in
concern for His beloved mother, “It is clear that Joseph, the husband of Mary,
has passed on; it appears also that Mary's other sons had not yet joined the
household of faith and accepted Jesus, their brother, as the Son of God; and we
are led to believe that the apostle John had a home in Jerusalem....Thus to his
mother he says: Woman, behold thy son!” And to John the word is given: “Behold
thy mother!” (McConkie, B.4, p. 223-224)
There is
darkness that covers the land during the 6th hour through the 9th
hour. “Then the heavens grew black. Darkness covered the land for the space of
three house, as it did among the Nephites.
There was a mighty storm, as though the very God of Nature was in
agony. And truly he was, for while he
was hanging on the cross for another three hours, from noon to 3:00 P.M., all
the infinite agonies and merciless pains of Gethsemane recurred. And finally,
when the atoning agonies had taken their toll—when the victory had been won,
when the Son of God had fulfilled the will of his Father in all things—then he said, 'It is
finished' (John 19:30), and he voluntarily gave up the ghost.” (McConkie, The Purifying Power of Gethsemane)
After He dies,
close to the ninth hour, there is an earthquake and the veil of the temple is
torn (rent). “As to the rending of the veil of the temple, it was the one thing
that would symbolize, in power, the end of the old Jewish dispensation and the
beginning of the new Christian day. The
veil itself—shielding the Holy of Holies from the gaze of any but the high
priest, and from him except once a year, on the day of atonement, when he
entered the sacred portal to atone for the sins of the people—the veil is said
to have been sixty feet long, thirty feet wide, “of the thickness of the palm
of the hand, and wrought in 72 squares which were joined together.” It was so heavy that it took hundreds of
priests to manipulate it.... Indeed, everything seems to indicate that although
the earthquake might furnish the physical basis, the rent of the Temple-Veil
was—with reverence be it said—really made by the hand of God.... the Veil of
the Holy Place rent from top to bottom.” (McConkie, B.4, p. 229)
“Thus did
Jesus, the Atoning One, through whose blood all men may freely pass through the
veil into the presence of the Lord, thus did he, by the rending of the veil of
the old temple, signify that its ordinances of atonement and forgiveness were
done away in him. Thus did he, making
his own body a new temple, as it were, signify that his atonement, and the
forgiveness of sins made possible thereby, shall admit all true
believers into his eternal Holy of Holies.” (McConkie, B.4, p. 230) “For Christ
is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of
the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for
us.” (Hebrews 9:24 italics added)
“In Paul's
symbolic interpretation of the tearing of the veil, the veil represented the
physical body, the flesh, of Jesus Christ.
The tearing of the veil from top to bottom represented the physical suffering, the atoning sacrifice, the tearing of
the Savior's flesh to open the way for all to enter God's presence, to be
justified or approved of God, without the yearly mediation of the Aaronic high
priest. Christ was the great and last
mediator, the great and last sacrifice. His spilt blood was the fulfillment of
the blood of animal sacrifices that the high priest sprinkled in the Holy of Holies....
In our own day, the torn flesh of the Savior is symbolized in the torn bread of
the sacrament. By means of this tangible
emblem, we remember the Savior's physical, redemptive suffering in Gethsemane
and on the cross at Golgotha. (Skinner, Golgotha, p. 169-170)
While on the
cross the atonement is completed, grace is completely given. “That which began in Gethsemane was finished
on the cross and crowned in the resurrection.
Jesus took upon himself the sins of all men when he suffered and sweat great
drops of blood from every pore in Gethsemane.
It was then that his suffering caused himself, even God, to suffer both
body and spirit in a way which is totally beyond mortal comprehension. Then again on the cross—in addition to all
the physical pain of that horrifying ordeal—he felt the spiritual agonies of
the sins of others....How the resurrection ties in to the atonement, we do not
know and cannot tell, only that the scriptures testify that the effects of the
resurrection of Christ passed upon all men so that, because he rose from death,
all are raised in immortality. In some
way, incomprehensible to us, Gethsemane, the cross, and the empty tomb join
into one grand and eternal drama, in the course of which Jesus abolishes death,
and out of which comes immortality for all and eternal life for the righteous.”
(McConkie, B.4, p.224)
Next, after
the 9th hour, the Roman soldiers come to break the legs of those who
were crucified. They could see that Jesus is already dead; “they brake not his
legs,” and so fulfilled prophecy that the Pascal Lamb would not have a broken
bone or bones. “Just as no bone of the
Passover lamb was to be broken before it was slaughtered, so
no bone of Jesus was broken.....Jesus remained without blemish, as the lamb set
aside for the Passover sacrifice was required to be.
“Then one of
the Roman soldiers who was tending the victims thrust his spear into the side
of Jesus, probably to reassure himself that He really was dead. In so doing, the soldier also fulfilled more
ancient prophecy and symbolism. Out of
the Savior's side wound flowed blood and water, indicative of a ruptured
heart. Elder James E. Talmage declares
his conviction that the Lord Jesus died of a “physical rupture of the heart”
and provides ample evidence of this rare but recognized medical condition. He concludes: Great mental stress, poignant
emotion either of grief or joy, and intense spiritual struggle are among the
recognized causes of heart rupture. The present writer believes that the Lord Jesus
died of a broken heart” (Jesus the Christ, 669).... When Jesus completed the
Atonement, he died of a broken heart, which involved blood and water. If we are to be born again, we must offer a
broken heart, accept the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ, and come up out of
the water of baptism.” (Skinner, Golgotha, p.173-174)
The Roman
soldiers recognized this was not a death/crucifixion of any ordinary man. “The actual death of Jesus appeared to all
who were present to be a miracle, as in fact it was. This marvel, coupled with the earthquake and
its attendant horrors, so impressed the centurion that he prayed to God, and
solemnly declared: 'Certainly this was a righteous man.' Others joined in fearsome averment: 'Truly
this was the Son of God'.” (Talmage, p. 615, Luke 23:47)
This ends
the events that take place before Joseph of Arimathea is given permission to
take the Saviors' body for burial. It is late in the day and the body of Jesus
must be taken before the Sabbath day begins.
Oh, that I
could not have added to this immense burden that was taken on by our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ.
My salvation is through Him, I pray that I might live worthy someday to
stand in His presence and kiss His feet!
Calvary and Golgotha
Prepare
Matthew 27: 31-54,
Mark 15: 20-41
Luke 23: 26-46, John
19: 16-30
Tell
the about the day the Savior takes the journey
to
Golgotha with the cross. What were the conditions?
What
did Pilate succumb to on this morning.
Who
carries the cross for Jesus. Was he a
disciple?
What
is the sign that is carried by the Roman soldiers?
At
what hour was Jesus nailed to the cross?
Was he crucified
alone? What were the last things Jesus said? What happened
between
the 6th hour and the 9th hour?
After
Jesus died, what happened? What happened
to the
veil
of the temple and what is its importance?
Why
was it so important that the Pascal Lamb was pure? Who
did
the Pascal Lamb symbolize? What did
Jesus experience
on
the cross that he had already experienced in Gethsemane?
What
happened when the the
Roman
soldier pierced Jesus' side, and what did
that
mean?
Remembering
Find
a large piece of wood, 4x4 or 6x6, display it
with
very large nails.
A
broken heart is also a great representation of
what happened
on the cross.
Act of Service
What
act of service can you do to represent Calvary?
Remember
Simon of Cyrene. What did he do?
What
did Jesus do on the cross? Was it the
service
of
all services? What can you give to the
Savior this Easter?
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