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Archives For March 2012

The Death of Jesus, Part 5: The Crown of Thorns and Mock Robe

March 28, 2012 — 1 Comment

O sacred Head, now wounded,
With grief and shame weighed down,
Now scornfully surrounded
With thorns, Thine only crown;

- Ber­nard of Clair­vaux

Introduction

As we continue our series, it is important to keep in mind what we mentioned in the first post: To ponder the death of Jesus is to probe the loving heart of God. It was Jesus himself who connected the two: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son” (John 3:16a). This divine giving encompassed the cross.

During the season of Lent, believers around the world give deep thought to the sufferings of Christ. Our purpose in doing so is not to be macabre but to increase our gratitude and enhance our generosity. It’s part of our discipleship. It’s one of the ways we renew our minds.

Believers are especially challenged when we realize that Jesus was tortured by religious people as well as irreligious people. Believers and unbelievers alike totally missed the fact that “God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself” (2 Cor 5:19). Therefore, it is the believer more than anyone else who needs to contemplate the cross and relinquish any self-righteousness in the process.  Continue Reading…

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The Death of Jesus, Part 4: Pontius Pilate and the Flogging

March 27, 2012 — 1 Comment

He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed.

- Isaiah 53:5

Biblical Account

After his trials before Jewish and Roman authorities, Jesus is ordered by Pontius Pilate to be flogged (Matt 27:26 || Mark 15:15 || John 19:21). Flogging (or scourging) was the normal preliminary to crucifixion, and it was a horrible torture in itself. Josephus, the 1st-century Jewish historian, wrote of a certain man who was “flayed to the bone with scourges” (War 6.304). Men sometimes died under flogging, or, at the very least, they were severely weakened by the punishment.  Continue Reading…

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Shadows of the Cross, Part 6: The Final Substitute (Select Scriptures)

March 26, 2012 — Leave a comment

Throughout our series we have seen the language of substitution. From the ram caught in the thicket in Genesis 22 to the Suffering Servant in Isaiah 53, one creature routinely takes the place of another. A firstborn Jewish son could say, for example, on the morning after the first Passover: “That lamb died for me. In every Egyptian home today, there is a dead son, but in our house, there is a dead lamb. When the angel of death came to our house last night, he saw blood on our doorposts—indicating that a death had already occurred. So he passed over us, and I was spared.” Substitution is the language and the rhythm of Scripture.  Continue Reading…

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The Death of Jesus, Part 3: Initial Torment and Trial before Caiaphas

March 24, 2012 — 2 Comments

See the Lamb in full submission.
Hear the silence in His soul.
No complaints and no defenses;
See the victim in control.

While their God is bound and bleeding,
Hear their blind and desperate scorn.
Feel His weight of grief and anguish,
Bowed and battered, bruised and torn.

- Ken Bible, “The Trial”

Biblical Account

Jesus’ ordeal continues with (1) his betrayal by Judas and arrest in Gethsemane, (2) his trial before the Sanhedrin and high priest, Caiaphas, and (3) his denials by Peter in the courtyard (Matt 26:47-75 || Mark 14:43-72 || Luke 22:47-65 || John 18:4-27). During this time Jesus is bound, led away, abandoned by most of his followers, spit upon, blindfolded, beaten, slapped, punched, mocked, and rejected as a false messiah.

Medical Analysis

The psychological torment that Jesus experienced in Gethsemane is now accompanied by the physical torment he endures from the soldiers. The initial beatings and rough treatment intensify his bodily pain, somatic trauma, and loss of blood. “The cutaneous irritations caused by the blows, owing to their accumulation, produce little vesicles, which break and spread sero-sanguineous exudation all over the body” (Barbet, 1953).  Continue Reading…

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The Death of Jesus, Part 2: Bloody Sweat?

March 21, 2012 — 4 Comments

For me it was in the garden
He prayed, ‘Not My will, but Thine.’
He had no tears for His own griefs,
But sweat drops of blood for mine.

- Charles H. Gabriel, “I Stand Amazed in the Presence”

Our series, “The Death of Jesus,” continues with the phenomenon of bloody sweat. In our last post, we argued that the multiple, independent attestation of Jesus’ sufferings and death argues for authenticity. Specifically, we noted that:

1.  Jesus’ execution is referenced in all four gospels.
2. Jesus’ execution is referenced in the earliest writings of the church.
3. Jesus’ execution is referenced in extra-biblical, non-Christian sources.

In the next several posts, we will contend that the description we have in Scripture of Jesus’ physical sufferings is historically, medically, geographically, and archaeologically credible, which also argues for authenticity. Our first consideration will be what happened to Jesus moments before he was arrested.  Continue Reading…

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The Death of Jesus, Part 1: Authentic History?

March 19, 2012 — 2 Comments

Did you mean to die like that?
Was that a mistake or
Did you know your messy death
Would be a record breaker?
Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ
Who are you? What have you sacrificed?

- Tim Rice, Jesus Christ Superstar

To ponder the death of Jesus is to probe the loving heart of God. It was Jesus himself who connected the two: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son” (John 3:16a). This divine giving encompassed the cross.

In large measure, the Old Testament anticipates the cross, the Gospel documents the cross, and the rest of the New Testament explains the cross. During the season of Lent, believers around the world give deep thought to the death of Christ. Our purpose in doing so is not to be macabre but to increase our gratitude and enhance our generosity. It’s part of our discipleship.

But did the crucifixion of Jesus really take place as described in Scripture? Various “swoon” theories and “mistaken identity” theories have been proposed over the years by skeptics. The former claim that Jesus didn’t actually die on the cross, and the latter claim that the man who did die on the cross wasn’t really Jesus. What are we to make of such competing and contradictory theories?  Continue Reading…

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Shadows of the Cross, Part 5: The Crushed Servant (Isaiah 52:13-53:12)

March 18, 2012 — Leave a comment

In the 8th century B.C., the prophet Isaiah issued a series of visions about an extraordinary man he called “the Servant of the Lord”—a mysterious figure who would come in the future and bring the salvation of God. The last of these four visions is the most famous, and it’s not hard to see why. It’s a passage that has captured the hearts and minds of Bible students like few other texts in Scripture.

Kyle Yates, an Old Testament professor, called it, “the Mount Everest of Old Testament prophecy.” Polycarp, a 2nd-century bishop and martyr, called it, “the golden passional of the Old Testament evangelist.” Charles Spurgeon, a 19th-century Baptist preacher, called it, “a Bible in miniature, the gospel in its essence.”  Continue Reading…

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Remembering Mom, Seven Years Later

March 15, 2012 — 8 Comments

“She didn’t give us her blood, but she gave us her love, and so we called her ‘Mom.’ It’s every orphan’s dream to be hand-picked and placed into a good home. But to be hand-picked by Cherie Valentino—that was beyond a dream because she was the embodiment of motherly love.”

That’s how I began the eulogy for my mother, Cherie G. Valentino, who died seven years ago today. I knew that if I could just get past those first few sentences, I’d be able to finish the message. By the grace of God I did, but even now those words meddle softly with this grateful heart.  Continue Reading…

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Shadows of the Cross, Part 4: The Scarlet Worm (Psalm 22:1-31)

March 12, 2012 — Leave a comment

“God forsaken of God? Who can understand it?” And with that, Martin Luther threw his Bible across the room in frustration as he tried to get his mind around the opening line of Psalm 22, which Jesus quoted from the cross. But the mystery doesn’t stop there. The suffering king says, “I am a worm and not a man” (v. 6). Royalty could not sink any lower than this.

Yet the psalm is filled with hope, too. The suffering king recognizes that his God “has not despised or disdained the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help” (v. 24). He also believes that God is sovereign over, and is now superintending his entire ordeal: “You lay me in the dust of death” (v. 15c). He even envisions a worldwide revival in which all peoples bow down before the God he cannot find right now (v. 27).  Continue Reading…

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Shadows of the Cross, Part 3: The Passover Lamb (Exodus 12:1-13)

March 4, 2012 — 2 Comments

“Why is this night different from all other nights?” Because even God counts to ten when he gets angry! After nine plagues of warning upon Egypt and its hard-hearted Pharaoh—whose ruling class has kept Israel in enslaved for more than 400 years—God finally puts an end to the oppression. He was reluctant to get to this point of judgment because he is “slow to anger, abounding in love,” not wanting any to perish. But after four centuries of bondage, things needed to change in a dramatic way.  Continue Reading…

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