Jesus Placed Between Two Criminals

Lesson #315

We ended the last lesson with Pilate delivering Jesus over to the soldiers to be crucified. “So they took Jesus, and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha” (John 19:17 ESV). The soldiers took Jesus from Pilate, but John doesn’t give much detail about what happened. John simply tells us that they placed the cross on Jesus and he went to the place called The Place of a Skull. We are not told that along the way Jesus collapses and Simon of Cyrene was taken from those who lined the way to the cross and forced him to carry the cross (Matthew 27:32). John says, “he went out”. This going out was in keeping with the Jewish requirement that executions take place outside the camp or city (Leviticus 24:14, Numbers 15:35-36, Hebrews 13:12). So, the place of the skull was near the city, but outside the walls. The exact location is becoming clearer as information is being discovered.

Wherever the location was, “There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them” (John 19:18 ESV). Jesus was not crucified alone, but with two other convicted criminals. Jesus was numbered and reckoned among transgressors, but he was not a transgressor of the law of God as charged by men and treated as such. He was nailed to the cross, but he was without sin and as a result he was qualified and willing to take our place by taking on himself our sin and dying because of its curse. His death provided justice for us, allowing God to have mercy on us and by grace provide the gift of salvation.

Having been nailed to the cross Pilate added an inscription: “Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.”” (John 19:19 ESV). It may have been customary to affix a sign on the cross describing the offence, however, the sign placed on the cross of Jesus did not imply any offence or disgrace. The title Pilate chose, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews”, does not imply guilt, but seemed to be an attempt to avenge himself indirectly on the Jews because they had just extorted an unjust sentence of death from him for an innocent man. The title Pilate wrote was not based on his belief, but on the charge the Jews brought against him; it was God who guided Pilate to write what he did to announce who Jesus really was. To emphasize the importance of that title, the Spirit caused the title to be written in three languages as we will see in the next lesson. 

Prayer

Father, how meaningful the journey has been to this point, to see your hand guide events and people, to see the tension between the sinless Son of God and sinful men, and to see your plan for our salvation stay on course. Before humans were created, you had a perfect plan for our salvation. Likewise, before we were ever born you had a plan for each of our lives, which you will carry our just as you did the plan for our salvation. All of the people you chose, each with a plan as to how they would develop to form a perfect body of Christ. We are many members, but we make up one body indwelt with the Spirit. Father, we really need to take time and try to wrap our mind around this.