Darkness covers the land. Those not on the hill of Calvary must have wondered what was going on. Even without social media or live news coverage, you can imagine everyone in Jerusalem at that time had heard that Jesus was to be crucified that day. When the sun hid and the earth shook, you can imagine the terror and panic that spread. Some must have questioned the decision to kill Jesus; others must have thought the world was ending.
While most turned their faces away or joined the throng baying for blood, the celestial bodies themselves bore witness to Jesus’ importance in the cosmos and the significance of this event.
For those of us living 2000 years distant, it can be hard to understand the terror and humiliation of the cross. Few, if any of us have ever seen a public execution, been in a blood thirsty mob or smelt the blood and fear of a crucifixion. And then we need to understand what it means. So, we lean on cliches and abstract explanations that have the unintended side-effect of sanitising and distancing us from the cross.
Yet the death of the Son of God and His subsequent victory over death through resurrection are at the centre of the Christian faith. We must spend time reflecting and wrestling with their meaning and significance.
Paul acknowledges the cross of Christ as a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles (1 Corinthians 1:23). He often refers to the gospel as a mystery—the idea that through Jesus’ death, sinners could be reconciled to God (Romans 5:10) and also to each other (Ephesians 3:6).
By reflecting on the scene together, perhaps we can be filled again with wonder at the great love of God.
We can see the compassion He held for humankind, in that even on the cross He was thinking of others not Himself. “In Christ’s humiliation, he, as a prophet, had addressed the daughters of Jerusalem; as priest and Advocate, he had pleaded with the Father to forgive the sins of his destroyers; as a loving Saviour, he had forgiven the iniquity of the penitent thief who called upon him. Many who witnessed those scenes upon Calvary were afterward established by them in the faith of Christ” (Ellen White, Desire of Ages). He asked John to take care of His mother. While He was suffering almost the worst fate known to man, His thoughts were for others, including us. Such compassion is a model for us and can encourage us.
We can see the forgiveness He prayed over us.
“That prayer of Christ for his enemies embraced the world. It took in every Sinner that had lived or should live from the beginning of the world to the end of time. Upon all rests the guilt of crucifying the son of God. To all forgiveness is freely offered. ‘Whosoever will’ may have peace with God and inherit eternal life” (Desire of Ages).
We can see the breaking of the curse on humanity and the power of evil in this present age. Galatians 3:13 tells us that “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us.” What curse is this? The curse of Adam and all flesh after him. Death, sin, sorrow and separation from God.
And we see a suffering God, who understands what we are going through. He was naked, beaten, humiliated, falsely accused, afflicted, poor, abandoned, abused and betrayed.
There is no hardship that we experience in life that He hasn’t tasted and doesn’t understand. And yet Isaiah (chapter 53) predicted that the suffering Servant would be abused but ultimately justified and justify man, being allotted “a portion with the great”. Paul can proclaim that “death has been swallowed up in victory” (1 Corinthians 15:54) and whatever pain and suffering we experience in life will be set right.
While it may be hard to imagine the scene at Calvary, reflecting on it from time to time is necessary for a robust and complete faith. It reminds us that the One who spoke everything into existence thought you and I were worth fighting and dying for, in order to restore us to a right relationship with Him.
