WHAT DO WE SEE AT CALVARY? (1)

Victor M. Eskew

 

INTRODUCTION

 

A.   It was a cool morning in the city of Jerusalem.

 

B.   The site was located just outside the gates of the city.

1.    The Jews knew the place as Golgotha.

2.    The Romans called it Calvary.

3.    Both terms mean:  “the place of the skull.”

 

C.   Just before nine o’clock, the Roman soldiers escorted three men toward Calvary.

1.    Two of the men were common thieves.

2.    The other was being put to death for blasphemy according to the Jewish authorities.  The charge of the Romans authorities would have been insurrection.

 

D.   The one charged with blasphemy was well known to many in Jerusalem and Judea.

1.    He was Jesus of Nazareth.

2.    His parents were Joseph and Mary.

3.    He was the son of a carpenter and a carpenter Himself.

4.    He was a rabbi, a teacher.

5.    He was a miracle worker.

6.    He called Himself, the Son of God.

7.    He also referred to Himself as the King of the Jews.

 

E.   At nine o-clock on a Friday morning, Jesus was hung upon a tree on Golgotha (John 19:16-18).

 

Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified.  And they took Jesus, and led him away.  And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of the skull, which is called in Hebrew Golgotha:  where they crucified him, and two others with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst.

 

F.    None of us was there.  However, because of the divine revelation of God to man, we can see that event through the eye of faith.  In this lesson, we want to ask a question:  “What Do We See at Calvary?”

 

I.             INJUSTICE AND JUSTICE

 

A.   If we followed the case of Jesus closely, we would know that a great injustice ensued in what were supposed to be “the halls of justice.”  Injustice simply means not doing that which is right, equitable, and moral.

1.    Jesus was an innocent man.

a.    His claims about Himself were true.

b.    False witnesses were raised up against Him.

c.    The judge, Pontius Pilate, declared him to be a just man (Luke 23:4)

 

Then said Pilate to the chief priests and to the people, I find no fault in this man.

 

d.    The judge allowed an innocent man to be crucified.  This was the very thing Pilate was not supposed to allow to happen as the governor.

2.    The trials were deeply flawed. 

a.    Jesus was arrested without any charges being brought against Him.

b.    The trials of Jesus were conducted at night.  There were to be no legal proceedings among the Jews until after the morning sacrifice.

c.    If a sentence of death was issued, the trial could not conclude on the same day it began. 

d.    It was the enemies of Jesus who were conducting the court proceedings.

 

B.   Yet, there was also justice being served that day.

1.    Jesus was offered as a sacrifice for the sins of the world.

a.    Hebrews 9:26

 

…but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.

 

b.    Hebrews 9:28

 

So Christ was one offered to bear the sins of man…

 

c.    Hebrews 10:12

 

But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God.

 

2.    Jesus paid the ransom price to release men from the bondage of sin.

a.    Isaiah 53:5

 

But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities:  the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

 

b.    Mark 10:45

 

For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

 

c.    1 Timothy 2:6

 

Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.

 

3.    Man had sinned and stood guilty before God. 

Man either had to die himself, or, a sacrifice had to be offered.

Jesus offered the perfect sacrifice.  He was a sinless man.

The Father looked upon the Lamb of God on Calvary, saw the travail of His soul, and was satisfied (Isa. 53:11).

 

II.           THE CHILDREN OF ABRAHAM AND THE ONLY BEGOTTEN SON OF GOD

 

A.   The Jews were the children of Abraham.

1.    In Genesis 12:2, we read these words from God to Abram:  “And I will make of thee a great nation…”

2.    That nation came into existence at the foot of Mount Sinai when God made His covenant with Israel (Exo. 19:5-6a).

 

Now therefore, if ye will obey my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people:  for all the earth is mine:  and ye shall be a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation…

 

3.    Every Jew was a descendant of Abraham.  They prided themselves on the fact that they were the children of Abraham (John 8:39a).

 

They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father.

 

4.    They were in a covenant relationship with God.

They had the law.

They had been separated from all the other kingdoms.

They were in expectation of a Messiah.

5.    NOTE:  The fact that they were the holy nation of God did not protect them from their rejection of the Christ (John 1:11).

 

He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

 

B.   Jesus came as not only a Jew, but as the Son of God.

1.    The angel’s words to Mary (Luke 1:35)

 

And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee:  therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

 

2.    Jesus didn’t just make the claim for Himself.  He proved His claim by his works (Acts 2:22).

 

Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know.

 

3.    This was one of the primary reasons the Jews had Jesus put on the cross (Matt. 27:39-40).

 

And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads, and saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself.  If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross.

 

III.         HATE AND LOVE

 

A.   The Jews manifested a deep hatred of Jesus.

1.    Hate:  “to dislike intensely or passionately; feel extreme aversion for or extreme hostility toward; detest” (Dictionary.com).

2.    Hatred manifested:

a.    Constantly seeking to entrap Jesus

b.    A plot to have Jesus killed

c.    Paying off a betrayer

d.    Putting false witnesses before the court

e.    Teaming with Rome to bring about the crucifixion

f.     Raising false charges before Pilate

g.    Choosing Barabbas over Jesus

h.    Crucifying Jesus

i.     Stirring up the multitudes against Jesus

j.     The taunts and name-calling done at the foot of the cross

3.    Proverbs 29:10

 

The bloodthirsty hate the upright…

 

4.    Their hatred was coupled with other things that fueled their hatred of Jesus Christ.

a.    Ignorance (Luke 23:34; Acts 3:17)

b.    Envy (Mark 15:10)

c.    Dishonesty (John 10:37-38)

d.    Pride (Luke 18:11)

e.    Self-righteous (Luke 18:9)

f.     Exalting traditions over God’s word (Matt. 15:9)

 

B.   Love

1.    In the midst of all the hatred that was being manifested by the Jews, the love of God was crying out from the cross.

2.    Passages:

a.    “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son…” (John 3:16).

b.    “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13).

c.    “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8).

d.    “Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us…” (1 John 3:16).

e.    “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10).

3.    That tragic day was filled with darkness:

a.    The darkness of betrayal and denial

b.    The darkness of injustice

c.    The darkness of sin

d.    The darkness of hate

e.    The physical darkness was found in Gethsemane and that came upon the land for three hours during the crucifixion (Mark 27:45).

4.    It is against the backdrop of darkness that God’s love shined with intensity into the world.

 

 

CONCLUSION

 

A.   No, we were not at Calvary, but we can see some things very clearly as we look upon that hill.

 

B.   Injustice and justice were there.

The children of Abraham and the Son of God was there.

Hate and love were there.

 

C.   There are several other things that we can see, and we will look at them in upcoming lessons.

 

D.   As I contemplated these contrasts, I ask myself:  “Upon which side would I have found myself that day?”  Whose side are you on today?