Good Friday

April 18

JESUS IS CRUCIFIED

Each of the four Gospels is completely true and reliable although there are differences among the human scribes regarding the telling of the crucifixion story because each is written from the point of view of the individual who penned the words as they were inspired by God. This was by divine design.

With the human limitations posed by my knowledge and intelligence, I could not handle the overload of knowing all that Jesus said and did in His earthly life and ministry. Each Gospel writer presents the truth from a slightly different perspective, giving us an important slice of the truth. John indicates that he has selectively recorded a number of significant signs, so that the reader might come to “believe” in Jesus as the promised Messiah, thereby obtaining eternal life (see John 20:30-31).

In their accounts of our Lord’s crucifixion and death, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, the Synoptic Gospels, all mention Simon of Cyrene. They describe the mockery of Jesus by the crowd, by the Jewish religious leaders, and by the two robbers who were crucified beside our Lord.

They tell us about the three hours of darkness, and Matthew and Mark record the cry of our Lord, “My God, My God, Why hast Thou forsaken Me?” The Synoptic Gospels refer to the women who kept their vigil at the cross, as close to their Lord as they could get. In the Synoptics, we read of the curtain of the temple being torn in two, from top to bottom, and of the soldiers casting lots for our Lord’s garments.

Each Gospel has its own unique contribution to the overall picture of what took place when our Lord suffered and died on the cross of Calvary. Matthew gets our attention with his account of the earthquake, which followed our Lord’s death, so that the tombs of some in the vicinity of Jerusalem were opened, and these resurrected folks made appearances in Jerusalem, Matthew 27:52-54.

An additional fact found in Mark 15:21 informs us that Simon of Cyrene is the father of Alexander and Rufus.

In Luke 23:34 the physician lends his perspective to the story by telling of Jesus on the road to Calvary. Luke also tells of Jesus' prayer that God forgive those who were crucifying Him. Luke tells of the Lord’s conversation with the one of the two thieves who believed in Him and received His assurance that He would attain paradise. In 23:46 Luke shares a record of the Lord’s words, “Father, into Your hands I commit my spirit!” Perhaps Luke’s most unique contribution is his account in 23:48 of the people leaving the scene of our Lord’s execution, “beating their breasts.”

John’s Gospel is truly unique in its portrayal of our Lord’s death. John may have been the only Gospel writer to have been an eye-witness of the crucifixion (see John 19:35). John omits much that is recorded in the Synoptic Gospels, including:

Any reference to Simon of Cyrene
Everything but a brief reference to the two others being crucified beside Jesus
The mockery of the crowd, the Jewish religious leaders

The two thieves
The cry, “My God, My God, Why have you forsaken Me?”
The three hours of darkness
The torn veil of the temple
The testimony of the centurion

John’s material in our text can be summarized in this way:

Verses 17-22: Yet another “sign” in John: The “King of the Jews”
Verses 23-27 Lottery and loyalty: four men and four women, at the foot of the cross
Verses 28-30 Two statements made by Jesus on the cross: “I thirst.”; “It is finished!”
Verses 31-37 No bones broken, but a pierced side

In all these accounts we see the depth of the suffering that the sinless, holy Christ endured for us. Every time we sin, whether willfully or by being overtaken with a relentless fault that will not easily release us from its grasp, we know we can bow before Him again and ask His forgiveness again. We know we can be bathed afresh in the font of Emmanuel’s veins.

On this day of all days may we reflect upon the goodness and mercy of our God and His “unspeakable Gift,” II Corinthians 9:15. On this day, may we deeply ponder the significance of one Man dying for the sins of all men, I Timothy 2:4, and may we renew our commitment to Jesus and bow humbly before Him as our Savior and soon-coming King.