As I read through the Gospel story of Jesus’ last week here on earth, many images pass through my mind. I have toured the Holy Land on multiple occasions. When I read the Bible now it explodes into colors, fragrances, and tastes. You can see the street in which Jesus would have walked and smelled the bread and spices in the air. You can see Golgotha, the place of the skull, and see the garden tomb. And yet, you wonder what it would have looked like in the time of Jesus.
The place of the skull is called that for a reason–the formations of the rock literally look like a face.
Furthermore, Golgotha is located outside the city walls. This is where the Romans crucified people who were sentenced to death. The bodies of criminals would be left to rot upon the cross; therefore, tradition says there were many skulls visible for those who walked by.
The Romans picked this place for crowd control. Golgotha was located near the entrance of Jerusalem, as if to say, “If you get out of line, this could happen to you.”
As we read in Matthew’s gospel, crucifixion was not only a horrific death, but it was also humiliating. They would strip the clothing from prisoners and parade them in front of the crowds. They would mock them, insult them, and beat them as part of the crucifixion process. We read this very chain of events with Jesus.
The soldiers placed the crown on Jesus’s head to ridicule him. In mock worship, they proclaimed, “Hail, King of the Jews!” (Matthew 27:29). It’s well documented that “Hellenistic kings wore the so-called ‘radiant crown’ with protruding thorns. The scarlet color of the robe evoked the military, and the reed stick was his scepter. Together, these symbols invoke the military might of the Roman army and the pervasive power of its empire. Little did the soldiers understand that the power wielded by the man they mocked was far greater than anything they could have imagined.
Likewise, the sign above his head was made to accuse him, but instead it declared him to be exactly who he was: “the King of the Jews.”
Jesus was the King; the King of all creation; the king of heaven and earth; the King of sacrificial love and the Prince of Peace! Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah, but not the one people expected.
Jacob Gartenhaus, founder of the International Board of Jewish Missions, reflects the prevailing Jewish beliefs in the time of Christ: “The Jews awaited the Messiah as the one who would deliver them from Roman oppression . . . the messianic hope was basically for a national liberation.” When Jesus was placed on the cross all hope of liberation was lost. So they thought . . . but the real liberation took place on the cross. When Jesus died upon the cross we were liberated from sin.
As Adam Hamilton puts in The Way, “This is the kind of King we follow, a King whose standard is the cross. Many look at the cross and see Christ’s suffering and death for them, a ‘full and perfect sacrifice for the sins of the world,’ and indeed this is one of the profound and powerful truths of the cross. But there is more. When I look at the cross, I see a divine love story centered on a God who suffered to save the human race. This love is selfless and sacrificial, a parent dying for a child, a lover dying for the beloved. Ultimately, the cross is a sign of the lengths to which God will go to save us from our sin and brokenness. It reminds us that forgiveness came at a great price.”
What do you see when you look at the cross? What kind of King is Jesus in your own life?
This Holy week I encourage you to walk the way of Christ and take up your own cross. May your journey renew your mind and heart as you reflect upon your own story as a follower of Jesus Christ.
