Author: Calleen Hough

Calvary

The place where Jesus was crucified was known as “a place of a skull” (Matthew 27:33). The Apostle John noted that it was “called in Hebrew Golgotha” (John 19:17) and Luke’s gospel provided the Latin version of this word, calvaria which is where the English term Calvary comes from. The exact location of this spot is unknown, but some think it “may have been a small hill (though the Gospels say nothing of a hill) that looked like a skull, or it may have been so named because of the many executions that took place there” (note on Mark 15:22). The name of the site was probably given so that there would be no confusion about the fact that a public execution actually took place. It is possible that Jesus knew of the site before he was taken there and had mentally prepared himself for the inevitable crucifixion that was going to take place.

Crucifixion was “a Roman means of execution in which the victim was nailed to a cross. Men condemned to death were usually forced to carry a beam of the cross often weighing 30 or 40 pounds, to the place of crucifixion. A cross might be shaped like a T, an X, a Y, or an I, as well as like the traditional form. A condemned man would normally carry a beam of it to the place of execution. Somewhere along the way Simon of Cyrene took Jesus’ cross (Mark 15:21), probably because Jesus was weakened by the flogging. Heavy wrought-iron nails were driven through the wrists and the heel bones. If the life of the victim lingered too long, death was hastened by breaking his legs (see John 19:33). Archeologists have discovered the bones of a crucified man, near Jerusalem, dating between A.D. 7 and 66, which shed light on the position of the victim when nailed to the cross. Only slaves, the basest of criminals, and offenders who were not Roman citizens were executed in this manner. First-century authors vividly describe the agony and disgrace of being crucified” (notes on Mark 15-21, 24 and John 19:17).

Luke’s record of Jesus’ crucifixion contains details that are not found in the other three gospels. Luke opened his letter with this statement:

Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us, even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word; it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus, that thou mightiest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed. (Luke 1:1-4)

Luke’s motivation for writing his letter to Theophilus was to explain what had happened to Jesus in terms that were understandable to a non-Jewish Roman citizen. Luke was a physician and had spent a considerable amount of time traveling with the Apostle Paul. His education was probably an advantage in translating the Jewish records into modern language that could be understood by the general population. Luke’s use of the term calvaria, or in English Calvary, as the name of the place where Jesus was crucified has made it a well-known landmark that is still visited some 2000 years later.

 

Mockery

The treatment Jesus received from the Jewish religious leaders and Roman government officials made a mockery of the fact that he was not only the Savior of the world, but the Creator of the universe. It says in Mark 14:65 that after Jesus was accused of blasphemy, some of the Jewish counsel “began to spit on him, and to cover his face, and to buffet him, and to say unto him, Prophesy: and the servants did strike him with the palms of their hands.” At one point, a crown of thorns was fastened to Jesus’ skull in order to mock him about the title the Roman governor, Pilate had assigned to him, “King of the Jews” (Mark 15:18). Matthew’s description of the incident stated:

Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the common hall, and gathered unto him the whole band of soldiers. And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe. And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews! And they spit upon him, and took the reed, and smote him on the head. And after they had mocked him, they took the robe off him, and put his own raiment on him, and led him away to crucify him. (Matthew 27:27-31)

The two Greek words that are translated mocked in this passage of scripture, en (G1722)and paizo (paheed´-zo) (G3815), suggest that the Roman soldiers were bullying Jesus, treating him as if he were a child on a playground that they could easily take advantage of. An interesting thing to note about this situation was that Jesus had previously told Peter in the garden of Gethsemane to put away his sword and said, “Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels?” (Matthew 26:53, ESV).

The apparent disadvantage Jesus had in dealing with the Roman soldiers was not because he lacked physical or spiritual resources. Jesus intentionally allowed himself to be mocked and tortured because it was necessary for him to do so in order to fulfill his role as Israel’s Messiah. In his final conversation with Jesus, Pilate indicated he was willing to release Jesus if he would cooperate with his interrogation (John 19:10). It was only because Jesus refused to answer his questions and the Jews insisted on his crucifixion that Pilate decided to wash his hands of the matter and do what the people wanted him to. According to John’s gospel, it was the day of Preparation of the Passover and it was about the sixth hour” when Pilate said to the Jews, “Behold your King!” (John 19:14). Then, they cried out, “Away with him, away with him, crucify him…So he delivered him over to them to be crucified” (John 19:15-16).

Who are you?

Jesus’ identity was still being questioned when he was brought before the high priest and elders of the Jewish religion the night before he was crucified. After he refused to defend himself against the charges that were being made, the high priest said to Jesus, “I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God” (Matthew 26:63). Jesus’ response was understood by these religious leaders to be a declaration of his deity. He stated, “I am: and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven. Then the high priest rent his clothes, and saith, What need have we any further of witnesses? Ye have heard the blasphemy: what think ye? And they all condemned him to be guilty of death” (Mark 14:62-64).

The high priest’s accusation of blasphemy indicated that he thought Jesus was lying about his identity. The primary issue the religious leaders had was that they knew Jesus was a man like themselves. Even though Jesus was human, he was also God. Jesus never explained how he existed before he was born into the world, but stated emphatically, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58). The Apostle John identified Jesus as the Word and said of him, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him: and without him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1:1-3). The Apostle Paul expanded on John’s description by stating that Jesus “is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature” (Colossians 1:15).

Jesus’ conversation with the Roman governor Pontius Pilate revealed the dilemma he faced in keeping his identity from being the central focus of his interrogation. The Apostle John’s record of the Roman phase of Jesus’ trial suggests that he was present in the Praetorium, the governor’s official residence, for this trial (note on John 18:28). He stated:

So Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?” Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me. What have you done?” Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” (John 18:33-36, ESV)

Jesus’ declaration that his kingdom is not of this world was probably meant to bring to Pilate’s attention the fact that he was more than just a human being. According to John’s record, Pilate never asked Jesus about his origin or the physical location of his kingdom, but Jesus made it clear to him that he came from a place outside the physical structure of Earth (John 18:37).

Abandoned

Jesus was abandoned by everyone that knew him on the night he was arrested in the garden of Gethsemane. Matthew reported, “Then all the disciples left him and fled” (Matthew 26:56, ESV). During a series of interrogations, Jesus stood alone before the religious and political officials that condemned him to death. One of the unusual aspects of Jesus’ trial was that he was never convicted of a crime. After being questioned by Pilate, the Roman governor declared, “I find no guilt in him” (John 18:38). In spite of his innocence, Pilate ordered that Jesus be crucified to pacify the crowd that kept shouting, “Crucify, crucify him” (Luke 23:21-25, ESV).

The apparent hatred displayed toward Jesus on the day he was crucified might be explained by the behavior of Peter who denied three times that he even knew Jesus (Matthew 26:69-75). Matthew stated, “Then those who had seized Jesus led him to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and elders had gathered. And Peter was following him at a distance, as far as the courtyard of the high priest, and going inside he sat with the guards to see the end” (Matthew 26:57-58, ESV). Peter detached himself from what was happening to Jesus. It was as if he was watching the end of a movie that was playing out the life of someone he had never met. It seems likely that Peter disassociated himself from Jesus because he was afraid he would be killed if he admitted being his disciple.

Peter’s abandonment of Jesus was probably a result of his lack of faith. When he was confronted, Peter adamantly denied having any association with “the man” (Matthew 26:72). Matthew recorded, “After a little while the bystanders came up and said to Peter, ‘Certainly you too are one of them, for your accent betrays you.’ Then he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, ‘I do not know the man'” (Matthew 26:73-74, ESV). Peter’s public denial of Jesus was in a sense the opposite of a profession of faith. Peter was willing to give up his salvation in order to prevent himself from being crucified with Jesus. Afterward, Peter “went out and wept bitterly” (Matthew 26:75), most likely because he realized he had given up the most important thing he had gained from his previous three-year commitment to the Lord.

Submission

Jesus’ commitment to doing his Father’s will meant that he had to fight against his human desire to live a normal life. On the eve of his crucifixion, Jesus went to the garden of Gethsemane with eleven of his twelve apostles. When he took Peter, James, and John to a private spot to pray, “he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, ‘My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.’ And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed saying, ‘My Father, If it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will'” (Matthew 26:37-39, ESV). Jesus’ human nature was no different than anyone else’. He didn’t want to die on the cross, but his divine nature made it possible for him to submit to his Father and do what no other human was capable of, voluntarily dying for the sins of all humanity.

After praying a second, and then a third time that his Father’s will would be accomplished, Jesus went to meet his betrayer, Judas Iscariot who had arranged for him to be arrested while he was away from the crowd of followers that typically surrounded him. It says in Matthew 26:47-50:

While he was still speaking, Judas came, one of the twelve, and with him a great crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the elders of the people. Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “The one I will kiss is the man; seize him.” And he came up to Jesus at once and said, “Greetings Rabbi!” And he kissed him. Jesus said to him, “Friend, do what you came to do.” Then they came up and laid hands on Jesus and seized him. (ESV)

Jesus’ reference to Judas as his friend was not a sarcastic remark, but his way of communicating that Judas wasn’t doing him any harm by turning him over to the religious authorities. Jesus knew that it was his Father’s will for him to be taken into custody that night and crucified the next morning. Everything was happening according to a predestined plan for Israel’s Messiah to be killed like the lamb that was eaten during their Passover celebration. The irony was that Jesus’ death would actually do what the annual animal sacrifice could not. John the Baptist declared about him the first time he saw Jesus, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).

Jesus made it perfectly clear that he was acting according to his Father’s will when he told Peter to put away his sword because “all who take the sword will perish by the sword” (Matthew 26:52). In other words, Peter could not defeat Satan with physical force. Jesus then asked Peter two rhetorical questions to ignite his spiritual insight into the situation. He said, “Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, And he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?” (Matthew 26:53-54, ESV). Jesus’ fulfillment of prophecy was the ultimate goal of his ministry on Earth. Were it not for his submission to his Father’s will, Jesus would have accomplished nothing more than a short period of communion with his human counterparts and then spent eternity in Heaven alone.

We are one

Jesus’ final prayer for his disciples included a petition for his Father to keep them intimately connected to each other. He said, “And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one” (John 17:11). Jesus’ spiritual connection with his Father while he was on Earth made it possible for them to operate as if they were a single person. There was essentially no differentiation between the thoughts of the Father and the thoughts of the Son. Jesus’ request that his followers be one just as he and his Father were one meant that the totality of Christian believers would be acting as if they were a single entity, what is sometimes referred to today as the “body of Christ” or “the church.”

The primary reason Jesus wanted his disciples to experience the same kind of unity he had with his Father may have been so that they would work together to build God’s kingdom rather than through individual efforts. In order to understand the oneness that Jesus was praying for his disciples to receive, you would have to look at the result of the Holy Spirit’s coming on the day of Pentecost. It says in Acts 2:1-8:

And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord and in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold are not all these which speak Galilaeans? And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?

The supernatural filling of the Holy Spirit resulted in a type of communication that was much more effective than what is possible today through language translation. In essence, what was happening was that the words were being spoken and heard without any translation being necessary. The meaning was understood perfectly as if there was no language barrier, even though the people came from different countries and spoke different languages.

Jesus explained that the reason he was asking his Father for the unification of all believers was so that they would be a testimony to everyone that he had indeed been sent by God to save the world (John 17:21). Jesus went on to say that unity would lead to the completion of his ministry and be a sign of God’s love for all who have accepted him as their savior (John 17:23). Jesus concluded his prayer with a petition for his disciples to be with him in heaven. He said, “Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world” (John 17:24). This particular request was probably motivated by Jesus’ close connection with his apostles. Rather than making them wait until he returned to Earth, Jesus wanted his disciples to be reunited with him as soon as they were deceased. The apostle Paul suggested this would be the case when he said, “We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8).

Trading places

Jesus’ departure from Earth must have caused his disciples to wonder how they could continue their work without him. Jesus talked about a person that would take his place whom he referred to as the “Helper” or “Comforter” (John 15:26, 16:7). He told his disciples, “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning” (John 15:26-27, ESV). Jesus went on to explain that it was necessary for him to leave in order for the Helper to take his place. He said, “Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you” (John 16:7, ESV).

Jesus’ declaration that the Holy Spirit would come from the Father in his name (John 14:26) was meant to explain why there was a need for a third person to be involved in the execution of God’s plan of salvation. Even though Jesus substitutionary death on the cross was sufficient enough to pay the penalty for every person’s sins that would accept him as their savior, there was still a need for individual repentance and personal acceptance of God’s free gift of salvation. Therefore, Jesus told his disciples that the Helper a.k.a. Holy Spirit would “convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment” (John 16:8) and went on to say, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come” (John 16:13, ESV).

Jesus indicated the Holy Spirit would be with believers forever and said, “You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you” (John 14:17, ESV). The intimacy Jesus shared with his followers was expected to be enhanced by the indwelling capability of the Spirit that would come into the world after his departure. Jesus said, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you” (John 14:26, ESV). In other words, the Holy Spirit would act somewhat like a memory bank of the words Jesus spoke while he was on Earth. Whenever there was a question about Jesus’ directions concerning the work that needed to be done, the Holy Spirit would remind his disciples of the instructions they had received from him. In the same way that Jesus had lived among and communicated with his disciples, so the Holy Spirit would be directly involved in the work that they were doing.

Jesus’ description of the process whereby the Holy Spirit would enter into the world that he was departing was that of a woman giving birth to a child. He said, “When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for the joy that a human being has been born into the world” (John 16:21, ESV). From that standpoint, Jesus made it sound like the Holy Spirit was his Son, in the same or similar way that he was the Son of God. Although the Bible makes it clear that all three persons of God were present at the creation of the world, we know that Jesus was not in the form of a physical man when Earth came into existence. Therefore, it seems likely that the Holy Spirit was also in a different form in the beginning. The Holy Spirit had to enter into the world just as Jesus did through some type of material process, but instead of a human birth, Jesus indicated the Holy Spirit would be born through his human death.

Abiding in Christ

Jesus used the analogy of a vine and branches to describe his relationship with his followers. The main point Jesus was trying to communicate was the importance of sticking together. Jesus used the words abide and remain to convey his message, as well as the term husbandman to describe God’s role in the process. In the second and third verses of John 15, Jesus said, “I am the true vine and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away, and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.”

The word translated purgeth in John 15:2 is representative of the pruning process, but it actually means to cleanse and metaphorically, Jesus spoke of purging his worshippers of guilt (G2508). To be clean means that we are free from guilt. Jesus said in John 15:3, “Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.” In other words, reading our Bibles and hearing its content preached to us takes away our guilt. We grow closer to Jesus and show visible signs of spiritual health when we spend time studying the Bible.

Jesus linked our ability to abide in him with love and obeying his commandments. He said in John 15:10, “If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.” The word translated love in this verse is agape (ag-ah´-pay), which is sometimes referred to as Christian love. “Christian love has God for its primary object, and expresses itself first of all in implicit obedience to His commandments. Self-will, that is, self-pleasing, is the negation of love to God” (G26).

If you think of agape love as doing what God wants us to do rather than what we ourselves want to do, then abiding in Jesus’ love means that we are always doing the will of God. Jesus said, “This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:12-13). Jesus did God’s will by dying on the cross for us, so we should show our love for others by doing God’s will for them. This could be as simple as praying for a friend that is sick or giving away our time by serving in a church ministry.

One of the keys to abiding in Christ and bearing fruit is the realization that we have been chosen by God and appointed to serve him (John 15:16). We are knit together by close spiritual bonds that form us into the family of God and separate us from the world (John 15:19). The separation we experience is actually evidence that we belong to God. The farther we get from the world, the adornment and decoration of temporal possessions, the closer we get to Jesus and the will of God.

Holy Spirit

The triune nature of God made it possible for Jesus to leave Earth and yet remain present with his followers. Jesus described his connection with his followers this way:

Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him. (John 14:19-21, ESV)

The Greek word translated manifest in John 14:21, emphanizo (em-fan-id´-zo) means “to exihibit (in person) or disclose (by words)” (G1718). Emphanizo is also translated as appear and show. The root word of emphanizo is emphanes (em-fan-ace´) which means to be “apparent in self” (G1717). What Jesus likely meant when he said he would manifest himself was that he would be seen in the behavior of the believer that is living according to his commandments. In other words, believers that act like him are making it seem as if Jesus is still living with us in this world.

Jesus told his disciples that his absence would not prevent them from continuing his work. In fact, Jesus promised them they would be able to do even more than they had before. He said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye ask any thing in my name, I will do it” (John 14:12). The work Jesus was referring to was probably the spreading of the gospel. During his three-year ministry, Jesus visited much of the territory that was promised to Abraham and his descendants, but the goal of his ministry was to spread the gospel throughout the entire world (Matthew 28:19). Even today, some 2000 years later, there are still people that do not have the Bible available to them in their native language.

Jesus indicated another person was going to come and help his disciples achieve their mission. He said, “If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you” (John 14:15-17). The indwelling of the Holy Spirit was a completely new and different way of connecting with God. Before Jesus died, the Holy Spirit was not living in the world. The possibility that God could live inside a person was a phenomenal breakthrough that Jesus’ disciples were most likely unable to comprehend.

Jesus briefly explained to his disciples how this new relationship was going to work. He told them, “These things I have spoken unto you, being yet present with you. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you” (John 14:25-26). In a nut shell, what Jesus was telling his disciples was that they didn’t have to worry about forgetting the things he had taught them. Jesus’ identification of the Holy Spirit as the “Spirit of truth” (John 14:17) meant that he was the essence of God’s word being brought to life within the born again believer. With the exception of John, this fantastic revelation likely went over the heads of all of Jesus’ apostles. It probably wasn’t until after the day of Pentacost, when the Holy Spirit arrived on the scene (Acts 2:1-4), that the reality of Jesus’ promise actually set in.

Washing feet

The Apostle John’s account of Jesus’ last night with his disciples focused primarily on the message Jesus delivered in the upper room where he and his twelve apostles celebrated the Passover Feast. John began by stating, “And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him; Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God; he riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself. After that he poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded” (John 13:2-5).

John was the only person that recorded Jesus’ humble act of washing his disciples feet. It could be that John was particularly impressed by this action because Jesus’ betrayer, Judas was still in the room when Jesus performed this task. John may have wondered afterward why Jesus would go to such great lengths to show kindness to a man that was possessed by the devil, but his account of the conversation that took place showed that Jesus was intentionally trying to teach his disciples a lesson even if they didn’t completely understand it. John stated, “So after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments, and was set down again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you?” (John 13:12).

Jesus’ explanation of his act of washing his disciples feet pointed to the fulfillment of prophecy about his betrayer (John 13:18). Evidently, Judas could have resisted the devil’s attempts to make him a traitor. None of the other disciples suspected Judas of any wrong doing. When Jesus told Judas, “What you are going to do, do quickly” (John 13:27), John stated, “No one at the table knew why he said this to him” (John 13:28). After Judas left the room, Jesus told his disciples, “Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him” (John 13:31). It could be that Judas’ act of betrayal was the final step in God’s plan of salvation. Although Satan intended to stop Jesus from becoming the Savior of the World, he actually helped him by turning him over to the authorities that were able to have him crucified.

In connection with the New Testament that was established during The Last Supper (Matthew 26:28), Jesus told his disciples, “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another” (John 13:34-35). This commandment might not seem very extraordinary in the light of all that has happened since Jesus died 2000 years ago, but it was what we might call today a game changer. Love was not a characteristic that was typically associated with God or his people. In response to Peter’s claim that he would lay down his life for him (John 13:37), Jesus told Peter, “Verily I say unto thee, That this day, even in this night, before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny my thrice” (Mark 14:30).