A passerby named Simon, who was from Cyrene, was coming in from the countryside just then, and the soldiers forced him to carry Jesus’ cross. (Simon was the father of Alexander and Rufus.) And they brought Jesus to a place called Golgotha (which means “Place of the Skull”). They offered him wine drugged with myrrh, but he refused it.
Then the soldiers nailed him to the cross. They divided his clothes and threw dice to decide who would get each piece. It was nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified him. A sign was fastened to the cross, announcing the charge against him. It read, “The King of the Jews.” Two revolutionaries were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left.
The people passing by shouted abuse, shaking their heads in mockery. “Ha! Look at you now!” they yelled at him. “You said you were going to destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days. Well then, save yourself and come down from the cross!”
The leading priests and teachers of religious law also mocked Jesus. “He saved others,” they scoffed, “but he can’t save himself! Let this Messiah, this King of Israel, come down from the cross so we can see it and believe him!” Even the men who were crucified with Jesus ridiculed him.
Prove it!I remember arguing with my brothers when I was younger about who was stronger, who was the better basketball player, et al. We would rattle off our stats or pick up a ball and see who could throw it the farthest or the hardest or hit the mark on the wall the most. In essence every debate about who was better came down to a challenge. Prove it! Arm wrestling, free throws, one on one games, all were designed not just for fun, but to establish who was better, at least for that day or moment.
The end result of each of our contest, or proofs of who was better, seldom yielded a confession of inferiority by the one who lost. There was always an excuse, a challenge to go best out of 3, 5, 7, or a delay in the proceedings that kept the rivalry alive for another day. Eventually, when I realized my brother was actually getting stronger than I was, I just refused to accept his challenges and referred him to his last defeat.
It really does not matter what someone does to prove you wrong when you have already made up your mind about that person. If Jesus had come down off the cross, the religious leaders would not have suddenly believed, they would have found some excuse. Look what they do to cover up the resurrection. They had already determined they were not going to believe the mountain of evidence Jesus had already provided concerning his identity.
Before we blame the Pharisees again though, I wonder how many times we fail to believe the promises of God and demand a new sign to convince us. How many times does God have to prove His faithfulness? His love for us? His Sovereignty? His presence with us? His wisdom?
What if we stopped asking God to prove it and instead believed in Jesus based on what He has already done? Jesus told Thomas, you believe because you have seen, blessed are they who believe and have not seen. There is plenty of evidence in Scripture, creation, and yes even our lives to give us strong reasons to believe Jesus is God, our Saviour, our Friend, our Redeemer, our Sustainer, our Messiah, our Hope, and our King.
Jesus, you are God and have demonstrated this fact over and over in Scripture and in my life. I confess my faith is weak and ask your forgiveness for asking you to prove yourself over again to me. Help my unbelief to become strong faith. - Dan Jones
Plain sight secretHe hung their for everyone to see. They gawked at his broken body. They tisked the obvious criminal overtones to this death. They threw his own claims back at him. They saw the “what” but were blind to the “why.”
Here God identified with the ultimate consequence of rebellion against himself – death. Here he loved his rebel creation by suffering their just penalty. Here God absorbed all the violence humanity could create to break it stranglehold.
How often does God work out his amazing plans for me and my race right in front of my eyes? But because it comes in such strange packages, at least to my earth-bound mind, I miss God’s amazing action!
Eternal Life and Light, give me eyes to see what my earth bound existence cannot comprehend. Give me spiritual eyes to see eternal activity going on before my seeing, but clueless, physical eyes. - Mike Leamon
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