Audio - Symbols of the Crucifixion

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The Second Sunday in Lent
Symbols of the Crucifixion
March 8, 2009

TEXT:  (Matthew 27:33-34 NKJ) And when they had come to a place called Golgotha, that is to say, Place of a Skull, 34 they gave Him sour wine mingled with gall to drink. But when He had tasted it, He would not drink.
 
The Place of the Crucifixion
We have few Scriptural details to assist in determining the exact location of Jesus’ crucifixion—we know that by Jewish Law the execution site had to be outside the city walls—there are many examples of stoning to death in the Old Testament Law—consider the example of the son of an Israelite woman and her Egyptian husband—the boy fought with his father and cursed God—he was to be stoned outside the camp
 
(Leviticus 24:13-14 NKJ) And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 14 "Take outside the camp him who has cursed; then let all who heard him lay their hands on his head, and let all the congregation stone him.
 
(Acts 14:5-19 NKJ) And when a violent attempt was made by both the Gentiles and Jews, with their rulers, to abuse and stone them…19 Then Jews from Antioch and Iconium came there; and having persuaded the multitudes, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing him to be dead.
 
Knowing that stoning was a common form of capital punishment by the Jews—and knowing stoning was done outside the city—or in the case of Paul, the excited crowd committed the stoning inside the city and dragged him out thinking he was dead—we can expect that the capital punishment committed against our Lord was outside the city walls
We also know that the walls may have moved several times between the time of Jesus and today—so locating the exact place that Jesus was nailed to the cross would be difficult—let’s continue with what we know—the place of the crucifixion was outside the city, but close to Jerusalem
 
(John 19:20 NKJ) Then many of the Jews read this title, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin.
 
(Hebrews 13:12 NKJ) Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered outside the gate.
 
It was the general practice of the Romans to crucify near a public road—this made an example for other would-be criminals—the Romans wanted the executions to be as public as possible
 
(Matthew 27:39 NKJ) And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads
 
(Mark 15:21 NKJ) Then they compelled a certain man, Simon a Cyrenian, the father of Alexander and Rufus, as he was coming out of the country and passing by, to bear His cross.
 
The place of the crucifixion was such that observers could stand a distance and still see the details of what was happening
 
(Mark 15:40 NKJ) There were also women looking on from afar, among whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the Less and of Joses, and Salome,
 
(Luke 23:49 NKJ) But all His acquaintances, and the women who followed Him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.
 
Jesus was crucified at a place called Golgotha (or in Latin, Calvary)—in both languages the name means place of the skull—when we research Golgotha or Calvary in commentaries, many times a sketch or photograph of a hill outside Jerusalem is provided—the hill slightly resembles a skull, including the eye sockets—but it is interesting to note that the hill in the picture was not suggested as the site of Jesus’ crucifixion until a military map maker, suggested that the shape fit what he believed was the description of the place of Jesus’ death—this suggestion came in 1842—many centuries after the crucifixion—geologists suggest that the hill was probably part of a larger ridge in the time of Jesus—and that the “eye sockets” appear to have been excavated
 
There are several older suggestions based on first through third century tradition that might be more accurate—one tradition held by the Jews suggests that Jesus was crucified at the burial site of Adam—hence the skull of Adam would be the source of the name Golgotha—there is no evidence to support this—but it supposedly originated with the word of Noah after the flood—at least four prominent historical writers record this suggestion as plausible—this suggestion can be traced back to 185 AD and is the oldest idea
 
Another traditional site is the place now occupied by the Church of the Holy Sepulcher—in the third century, Queen Helena (mother of the first Christian Roman Emperor) made a pilgrimage to see the holy land—at that time the Temple of Venus (or Aphrodite) was built over the place thought to be Jesus’ crucifixion site—the queen had the temple torn down to view the site—and the church was constructed
 
The Romans usually littered their execution site with the bones and skulls of those executed—animals could easily carry off the bones—but the skulls would seem to be cumbersome to carry—could the name Golgotha simply be a reference to the place littered with skulls?—we don’t know—and does it really matter?—the point of this discussion is not that there are several plausible theories of where Jesus was crucified—and if we are not careful, we will please the devil by being distracted from the sacrifice—and becoming attracted to the mystery of where the sacrifice was offered—generally, commentators agree that Jesus was sacrificed at the same general location as Abraham was willing to offer Isaac—and that symbolism of the Bible is all we really need to appreciate the message of God
 
The Roman Soldiers Offer Jesus Gall to Drink
 
Jesus was offered a death drink by His executioners…”they gave Him sour wine mingled with gall to drink”—this is fulfillment of Old Testament Scripture
 
(Psalm 69:21 NKJ) They also gave me gall for my food, And for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
 
This drink was a typical drink offered as part of a Jewish crucifixion—it was administered as a sedative to provide humanitarian comfort to the person being crucified—Jesus refused the drink—He came to suffer and die—it was part of God’s plan—consider these verses of Proverbs
 
(Proverbs 31:6-7 NKJ) Give strong drink to him who is perishing, And wine to those who are bitter of heart. 7 Let him drink and forget his poverty, And remember his misery no more.
 
When we consider the details provided in God’s Word pertaining to the crucifixion of our Lord—we find that information like the exact location of the event and the gory details of His attachment to the cross—are missing!—yet we are told that He was offered this drink of bitter gall and vinegar—every detail that God provides has a lesson—what is the lesson of the drink?
 
Gall—or in Hebrew, ROSH—in the time of Jesus, had several definitions—it could be a poisonous secretion of a plant—it could be a poisonous plant—it could be a body fluid generally called bile—it could be the venom of a poisonous snake (the Romans believed that snake venom was a bile from within the snake)—most of the details of the crucifixion would be common knowledge to the Jews—and the providing of this drink would also be generally known—perhaps God includes this detail to show the fulfillment of the prophecy of Psalm 69—or perhaps we are to make the connection between the Old Testament and the New Testament
 
In the Old Testament when the people of Israel spoke out against God—He placed poisonous snakes into their camp—and God instructed Moses to build a brass serpent and place it on a pole—those that were struck by the venomous snakes could look upon the brass serpent held high on the wooden pole—and they would live—those that did not trust in God—those that did not have sufficient faith—would die!
 
(Numbers 21:5-9 NKJ) And the people spoke against God and against Moses: "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and our soul loathes this worthless bread." 6 So the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many of the people of Israel died. 7 Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, "We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD and against you; pray to the LORD that He take away the serpents from us." So Moses prayed for the people. 8 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live." 9 So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.
 
Therefore the fiery serpents were harmless against God’s people who had faith enough to look upon the brass serpent—in accordance with God’s Words—and those people who obeyed God and looked—lived!—they were saved not by the brass serpent—but they were saved by the promise of God
 
 
It is no different today—the serpents made by God to live among God’s people could cause pain and suffering to God’s people—but they were prevented from taking the lives of the faithful—when Adam and Eve fell into sin—the great serpent—the devil—was able to cause suffering and pain to God’s people—but Satan cannot take eternal life from believers unless God permits him—Jesus, the man, came to destroy the devil’s power over God’s people—if we obey God—and if we look to Christ as the only hope we have to live in the Garden Paradise called heaven
 
In the New Testament God provides the Ultimate Sacrifice—Jesus, the Christ—to defeat the Law—to defeat death on our behalf—and to defeat the devil—through Christ we believers have the power to defeat the devil ourselves—and we can see that in the symbolism of the tree—the symbolism of the wood of Isaac and Abraham’s sacrifice—or the symbolism of the brass serpent compared to the Lord Jesus, our Savior who was elevated on His cross so our faith could save us
 
(John 3:14-18 NKJ) "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 "that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. 16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. 18 "He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
 
The mocking of Jesus continued through the entire crucifixion—and the mocking of Jesus continues today—the disciples and believers looked to their Lord on the cross for the only hope they knew—that hasn’t changed—our only hope is Christ—look to the symbols associated with the cross to understand the power of the events
 
ALL GLORY BE TO GOD!