“CHRIST DIED FOR
OUR SINS”
The death of Jesus is the central
theme of the entire Bible, thus, the central theme of human history. From the time man first sinned, God let him
know of One who would come to save mankind. “I
will put enmity between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed;
He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel” (Genesis
The death of Christ would not be an ordinary death; it would be by crucifixion. The act of putting someone to death by crucifixion is believed to have originated with the Persians, but the Romans modified it in such a way as to make it the most painful form of executing a human being. Under the Roman system only slaves, rebels, hardened criminals, and traitors could be executed in this fashion. A Roman citizen could not be crucified unless he was convicted of being a traitor.
After the sentence of crucifixion was announced, the person to be crucified was usually scourged. The Romans were experts at this, many times beating the one scourged to within an inch of his life. The scourging would leave the flesh of the victim shredded and weakened. The victim was then compelled to carry his own cross to the place of crucifixion where he was nailed to the cross. The cross would then be lifted up and allowed to fall into the hole prepared for it, thus jarring and tearing the body of the one nailed to it. The one crucified was left to hang in agony until he died from loss of blood, heart failure, suffocation, infection, or starvation. Crucifixion was not meant to be a quick execution, but was meant to cause the greatest amount of suffering possible. Often the one crucified would linger for many days with his body convulsing in pain unless something was done to speed his death (breaking the legs). It is little wonder Pilate was amazed when he was told Jesus was already dead, “Pilate marveled that He was already dead; and summoning the centurion, he asked him if He had been dead for some time” (Mark 15:44).
Not only was crucifixion a terribly
painful way to die, it was also a disgraceful way to die. God, in the Old Testament, pronounced that
everyone who dies on the cross was “accursed
of God” (Deuteronomy
When we look at the circumstances surrounding Jesus’ death on the cross we quickly see that everything done was meant to be a reproach. The scourging was a public humiliation. “When they had twisted a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand. And they bowed the knee before Him and mocked Him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews!” (Matthew 27:29).
Jesus was born of the seed of
David. He was a king, but not one who
would rule on a physical throne. Jesus
is the king of a spiritual kingdom. Thus
he told Pilate, “My kingdom is not of
this world. If My kingdom were of this
world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews;
but now My kingdom is not from here” (John
Not only did the soldiers mock
Jesus, “Those who passed by blasphemed
Him, wagging their heads and saying, Aha! You who
destroy the
The humiliation continued when Jesus was crucified between two thieves, which signified Jesus was the worst of the criminals being crucified. Even these thieves reproached Jesus, “Even the robbers who were crucified with Him reviled him with the same thing” (Matthew 27:44).
Why did God allow His Son to be humiliated like this? Why did Jesus allow them to beat Him, mock Him, spit upon Him, and finally nail Him to the cross? He did it because He loved mankind and wanted to provide the only means by which sins could be washed away -- in His blood. Because He did this, like John, all should shout “Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood” (Revelation 1:5).
God’s Plan of Salvation for Man
1. We must hear the truth.
Romans 10:14; Romans 10:17.
2. We must believe Jesus
Christ is the Son of God. Mark
John 8:24.
3. We must repent of our
sins. Luke 13:3; Acts 2:38.
4. We must confess Christ
before men. Matthew 10:32,33;
Romans
10:10.
5. We must be baptized
into Christ. Galatians 3:27; 1 Peter 3:21;
Acts
6. We must continue to
live for Christ Revelation 2:10;
2
Peter 1:10; 2
Peter 3:18.
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