E118 - Hope’s Harbor Gritty Bible Devotions - Jesus at the Cross - Part 1 of 4

Hope’s Harbor

Gritty Bible Devotions

Episode # 118

Title: Jesus at the Cross – Part 1 of 4

Date: July 31, 2023

Contact: info@hopesharbor.net

Key verse: John 19:17 – ‘And He, bearing His cross, went out to a place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha…’

Note: Before going into this episode I need to announce that I am suspending this podcast of Bible devotions indefinitely after episode 120. The reason for this is my primary calling is a writer and teaching is secondary to that.

I have another book in the works but haven’t been able to devote enough time to complete the manuscript and get it published.

I will keep the devotions available on Buzzsprout. Thank you for listening.

Intro: This four-part series, Jesus at the Cross, On the Cross, Off the Cross, and Beyond the Cross, will examine the day of Jesus’s death by crucifixion, His burial, and resurrection, and what it all means for us.

Devotion focus: Jesus sentenced to Death

Even though innocent Jesus was sentenced to death by the Roman governor at the urging of the religious elite in Jerusalem. And why did Jesus’s own people turn against him enough to enlist the help of the hated Romans? Well, essentially because He told them their religion would not get them favor with GOD. This meant they were hell-bound. Few things get religious people riled up like telling them their works are useless for their eternal destiny.

He accused them of this in Matthew 23:15 - "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.”

So Jesus offended the religious rulers to the point they plotted His death and told the Roman governor in John 19:7 - ‘The Jews answered him, "We have a law, and according to our law He ought to die because He made Himself the Son of God."

Now get this: Jesus proved He is the Son of GOD by displaying power only GOD holds, that is He raised the dead; He healed the sick, the crippled, the blind, and the deaf. He cast out legions of demons as recorded in Mark 5:9 and Luke 8:30. Here is the account from Mark 5:9 – ‘Then He asked him, "What is your name?" And he answered, saying, "My name is Legion; for we are many."’

At times members of the religious crowd were present when Jesus performed His miracles.

Even then the hierarchy of religion in Jerusalem was threatened by Jesus’s power and they feared losing control and the power and wealth that went along with their willingness to serve the brutal Roman occupiers.  

But wait… could not Jesus, as Son of GOD, call down angels to deliver him? Yes. Listen to Matthew 13:41 – “The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness…” This verse reveals Jesus had command of the angels.

And then, when the mob came to arrest Jesus the night before His crucifixion, Peter pulled out his sword and swung it at the head of one of the mob. The man obviously ducked, but still, Peter cut off his ear. Jesus told him to put away his sword, then reminded Peter of His authority over the angels. This is found in Matthew 26:53 – “Or do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels?”

With the angelic army standing ready, why did Jesus allow godless men to beat him without mercy, with a whip? Why did He not fight back instead of submitting to the torture, even to the point of carrying His cross to the place of execution?

Jesus explained this earlier in His ministry, found in  John 10:17 - "Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again.”

This verse takes us to the heart of the gospel. Not the plan of salvation which is a part of the outworking of the gospel. But the heart of the gospel. Do you know what it is? When Jesus said in Luke 4:18 He was anointed to preach the gospel to the poor, what did He mean?

Briefly, the gospel is the work of Jesus to reconcile the human race, the whole human race, back to GOD. Dying on the cross was GOD’s chosen way to bring this about. That is why Jesus said He would lay down His life. In John 10:11 Jesus tells us - "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.”

In fact, it is worth the time and effort to read the entire passage found in John 10:1-18, especially vs 18.

In John 10:18 Jesus declared His power to lay down His life and power to take it up again. And He meant to take it up from the grave. By this declaration, Jesus reveals His willingness to die. But why would He be willing to die, even though He knew He would live again?

Because only by dying in our place and having the wrath of GOD poured out on Him as punishment for our sins could He provide atonement for our guilt before GOD. With sin paid for in full, He is now free to offer redemption to the human race. But even then, we must choose to receive the forgiveness offered by praying to GOD to forgive us, and then repenting from known sin the best we can as we learn from reading the Bible. And this is where the ‘plan of salvation’ comes in if you want to call it that.

So now we come to the cross where Jesus carried it. And listen, He had help. A man named Simon of Cyrene carried Jesus’s cross. Some scholars believe Simon carried either one crossbeam or the foot. Regardless, John 19:17 informs us Jesus carried His cross to Golgotha, the place of a Skull.

Summary: Jesus went to the cross voluntarily even though He prayed to His Father if there were another way, to take from Him the coming crucifixion. This was Jesus praying as fully man, then He submitted to GOD by saying ‘nevertheless, Your will be done.” This account is found in Matthew 26:39 & Luke 22:42.

Jesus arrived at the scene of His execution wounded already from the whip and a beating with rods. And the worst was yet to come.

Action to consider: Read the account of Jesus’s death in John 19 in its entirety. Pause as you read segments and think about the scene as if you’re standing there, watching. Keep in mind this event secured your eternal destiny if you have asked forgiveness from GOD based on Jesus’s death for your sin.

Let this magnificent act of Love go beyond your intellect and down into your heart.

Next week’s devotion: Jesus on the Cross