Word for Today, Fri, 18 Apr 2003: The Crucifixion

#1 · April 18, 2003, 8:38 pm

Quote from Forum Archives on April 18, 2003, 8:38 pm
Posted by: masinick <masinick@...>

Dear friends,

Today I'd like to share with you a message about the day Jesus
was hung on the Cross and killed, not for anything that He had
done, but to be the propitiation (that's a big word that simply
means the satisfaction or payment) for our sins. In other words,
sin had to be accounted for in some way. God, being a Holy,
Just, Pure God, cannot simply ignore sin. That wouldn't be just.
But loving us, neither could God leave us lost in our sin. So He
had to somehow account for our sin. But who could ever pay the
price? No sacrifice would be flawless enough or valuable enough,
except for the perfect sacrifice, the perfect Son of God, Jesus
Christ Himself!

Jesus was willing to do that for us. He was our substitute, He
went in our place. But nothing could possibly keep the God-Man
from His Father forever, nor could anyone except Jesus - God in
the flesh, conquer both sin and the power of death.

Today, we remember His death. On Sunday, we remember His final
triumph over death, the day Christ rose again from the dead,
conquering the power of sin and death forever.

Your Brother in Christ,
Brian

____________________________________________________________

Wishing you a blessed and holy Lent! You have received this
message because you have signed up to receive daily devotions
from Christianbook.com during Lent. We have chosen excerpts
from one of the array of devotionals available at
Christianbook.com. We hope that this service enhances your
journey through the season of Lent and prepares you for the
festal shout on Easter morning: He is risen!

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"Jesus' Lonely Road, Devotional Guides for Lent and Holy Week"
by Robert C. Bankhead (CSS Publishing Company, 2001).
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

April 18, 2003
Good Friday
The Crowds Demanded Jesus' Death
Mark 15:1-39

Early in the morning, as soon as the first rays of the sun began
to appear, the Jewish council turned Jesus over to Pontius
Pilate, the Roman governor. The Sanhedrin had examined him
through the long night and they were determined that he be
executed. It was quite early, since the trial before Pilate,
the preparations for crucifixion, and the trek to Calvary were
completed before 9 a.m. Jesus was nailed to the cross by the
third hour of the day (9 a.m.).

Pilate was convinced that Jesus was innocent of the charges
brought against him. He realized that the chief priests had
condemned Jesus out of spite and jealousy. Pilate tried to find
a way to set Jesus free. There was a custom that allowed him to
declare amnesty for one prisoner during the festival. Pilate
proposed that he release Jesus. But the chief priests, working
the mob, stirred up the crowd to demand another prisoner,
Barabbas. Barabbas was a murderer who had been arrested in an
attempted rebellion. When Pilate asked what they wanted him to
do with Jesus, they shouted, "Crucify him!" Pilate, afraid of a
riot, and wanting to appease the mob, sentenced Jesus to die.

It was an unruly, boisterous crowd, goaded on by the chief
priests, and incited by the false accusations, hyperemotional
over the festival. The mob fed on its own excitement, becoming
more and more uncontrollable, wandering through the streets,
standing outside the Praetorian, shouting and demanding Jesus'
death. It was a classic example of mob psychology dominating the
crowd and inciting a riot.

These were the same people who five days earlier had followed
Jesus in triumph into the city, singing his praise, ready to
crown him their king. They were the same multitudes who
gathered each day at the Temple, listening intently, astonished
and amazed at his wisdom and authority. They were the ones whom
the Jewish authorities feared because they believed Jesus to be
a prophet. So quickly they had turned against him. They
demanded his death, and Pilate granted it.

One further scene illustrates the crowd's angry, rebellious
spirit against Jesus. They followed the execution squad along
the road, retracing the steps they had walked during the
Triumphal Entry. Again it was a festive procession. On the way
to watch an execution, they were being entertained, shouting
and laughing and making ribald jokes. They jeered at Jesus and
taunted him when he was too weak to carry his own cross, and
Simon of Cyrene was jerked out of the crowd and forced to carry
it. Arriving at the mount of crucifixion they watched as the
soldiers nailed Jesus to the cross. Then they sat down to watch
him die. They dared him to come down from the cross. Crowds of
pilgrims passing by joined in the mocking derision. The chief
priests and the scribes moved among the mob, continuing to mock
him, inciting their anger and hate. Amid the macabre scene,
Jesus died. The road from coronation to crucifixion had come to
its inevitable end.

If you had been in the crowd, would you have been able to
dissuade Pilate from sentencing Jesus to death? Would you have
tried to turn the crowd's fierce anger away from Jesus? Would
you have resisted the Jewish authorities seeking Jesus' death?
Imagine yourself caught in the swelling tide of mob violence.
How would you have tried to defend Jesus?

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

If you enjoyed the abridged version of today's devotional, you
may want to purchase " Jesus' Lonely Road" at:

www.christianbook.com/html/static/18612.html?p=1016727

Sincerely,
Your Friends at Christianbook.com
www.christianbook.com

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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-----------------------------------------------------------------------

=====
--
Brian Masinick, mailto:masinick@yahoo.com
Home page: www.geocities.com/masinick/

__________________________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
The New Yahoo! Search - Faster. Easier. Bingo
search.yahoo.com

Posted by: masinick <masinick@...>

Dear friends,

Today I'd like to share with you a message about the day Jesus
was hung on the Cross and killed, not for anything that He had
done, but to be the propitiation (that's a big word that simply
means the satisfaction or payment) for our sins. In other words,
sin had to be accounted for in some way. God, being a Holy,
Just, Pure God, cannot simply ignore sin. That wouldn't be just.
But loving us, neither could God leave us lost in our sin. So He
had to somehow account for our sin. But who could ever pay the
price? No sacrifice would be flawless enough or valuable enough,
except for the perfect sacrifice, the perfect Son of God, Jesus
Christ Himself!

Jesus was willing to do that for us. He was our substitute, He
went in our place. But nothing could possibly keep the God-Man
from His Father forever, nor could anyone except Jesus - God in
the flesh, conquer both sin and the power of death.

Today, we remember His death. On Sunday, we remember His final
triumph over death, the day Christ rose again from the dead,
conquering the power of sin and death forever.

Your Brother in Christ,
Brian

____________________________________________________________

Wishing you a blessed and holy Lent! You have received this
message because you have signed up to receive daily devotions
from Christianbook.com during Lent. We have chosen excerpts
from one of the array of devotionals available at
Christianbook.com. We hope that this service enhances your
journey through the season of Lent and prepares you for the
festal shout on Easter morning: He is risen!

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"Jesus' Lonely Road, Devotional Guides for Lent and Holy Week"
by Robert C. Bankhead (CSS Publishing Company, 2001).
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

April 18, 2003
Good Friday
The Crowds Demanded Jesus' Death
Mark 15:1-39

Early in the morning, as soon as the first rays of the sun began
to appear, the Jewish council turned Jesus over to Pontius
Pilate, the Roman governor. The Sanhedrin had examined him
through the long night and they were determined that he be
executed. It was quite early, since the trial before Pilate,
the preparations for crucifixion, and the trek to Calvary were
completed before 9 a.m. Jesus was nailed to the cross by the
third hour of the day (9 a.m.).

Pilate was convinced that Jesus was innocent of the charges
brought against him. He realized that the chief priests had
condemned Jesus out of spite and jealousy. Pilate tried to find
a way to set Jesus free. There was a custom that allowed him to
declare amnesty for one prisoner during the festival. Pilate
proposed that he release Jesus. But the chief priests, working
the mob, stirred up the crowd to demand another prisoner,
Barabbas. Barabbas was a murderer who had been arrested in an
attempted rebellion. When Pilate asked what they wanted him to
do with Jesus, they shouted, "Crucify him!" Pilate, afraid of a
riot, and wanting to appease the mob, sentenced Jesus to die.

It was an unruly, boisterous crowd, goaded on by the chief
priests, and incited by the false accusations, hyperemotional
over the festival. The mob fed on its own excitement, becoming
more and more uncontrollable, wandering through the streets,
standing outside the Praetorian, shouting and demanding Jesus'
death. It was a classic example of mob psychology dominating the
crowd and inciting a riot.

These were the same people who five days earlier had followed
Jesus in triumph into the city, singing his praise, ready to
crown him their king. They were the same multitudes who
gathered each day at the Temple, listening intently, astonished
and amazed at his wisdom and authority. They were the ones whom
the Jewish authorities feared because they believed Jesus to be
a prophet. So quickly they had turned against him. They
demanded his death, and Pilate granted it.

One further scene illustrates the crowd's angry, rebellious
spirit against Jesus. They followed the execution squad along
the road, retracing the steps they had walked during the
Triumphal Entry. Again it was a festive procession. On the way
to watch an execution, they were being entertained, shouting
and laughing and making ribald jokes. They jeered at Jesus and
taunted him when he was too weak to carry his own cross, and
Simon of Cyrene was jerked out of the crowd and forced to carry
it. Arriving at the mount of crucifixion they watched as the
soldiers nailed Jesus to the cross. Then they sat down to watch
him die. They dared him to come down from the cross. Crowds of
pilgrims passing by joined in the mocking derision. The chief
priests and the scribes moved among the mob, continuing to mock
him, inciting their anger and hate. Amid the macabre scene,
Jesus died. The road from coronation to crucifixion had come to
its inevitable end.

If you had been in the crowd, would you have been able to
dissuade Pilate from sentencing Jesus to death? Would you have
tried to turn the crowd's fierce anger away from Jesus? Would
you have resisted the Jewish authorities seeking Jesus' death?
Imagine yourself caught in the swelling tide of mob violence.
How would you have tried to defend Jesus?

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

If you enjoyed the abridged version of today's devotional, you
may want to purchase " Jesus' Lonely Road" at:

http://www.christianbook.com/html/static/18612.html?p=1016727

Sincerely,
Your Friends at Christianbook.com
http://www.christianbook.com

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
P.S. Do you enjoy hearing about great deals and what's hot off
the presses? If so, we hope you'll forward this email to your
friends and share the good news. For even more good news, sign
up for our fun, free newsletters and get the scoop on your
favorite areas of interest:
http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/newsletter

We try to keep our customers informed about things we think
they may find interesting, like new products, special sales,
and new pages and features on our site. We hope you enjoy
hearing from us, but if for any reason you'd rather not receive
email from us in the future, just click on this link:
http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/unsubscribe_email

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

=====
--
Brian Masinick, mailto:masinick@yahoo.com
Home page: http://www.geocities.com/masinick/

__________________________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
The New Yahoo! Search - Faster. Easier. Bingo
search.yahoo.com