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by Sandy Shaw
We are in John Chapter 19 at verse 16 where Pilate hands Jesus Christ over to them to be crucified. Over to them? Over to whom? To those in the hands of the enemy of Almighty God – religious leaders they may be, but men of God they certainly are not!
We often wonder why people do such things and why people say such things, but it is only as we read and study the Word of God that we come to understand these questions which can arise in any of our hearts at times. Once a man gets on the wrong road it can be very difficult to get off that road.
Having read of the trial of Jesus Christ we read on to read The Crucifixion – that which lies right at the very heart and core of our faith.
That political weakling, Pilate gives way to the demands of the people, and anxious Herod must have rival king killed, and the Jewish leaders want this troublesome Jesus out of the way, silenced for ever, and then things can return to normal.
But, that can never be – not after a man has met Jesus Christ. After a man has been confronted by the Lord Jesus Christ, a man can never be the same again, no matter how that man might react, by receiving or rejecting.
There are consequences - good and bad - wonderful and tragic - a man like Peter - or a man like Judas.
When you meet Jesus, it can never be as though you had never met Him.
The physically exhausted Jesus is led away to be crucified, along the narrow compacted streets of Jerusalem, across the busy thoroughfare, to the hill.
It has been a long 24 hours - very long - for Jesus. He has been teaching - breaking bread and sharing that cup at the Passover Meal - praying and wrestling and struggling and battling in the Garden amidst the olive trees.
Jesus has been betrayed - arrested - denied by one of his key disciples - put on trial - taken here and there - mocked - ridiculed - scourged - and now they compel someone to carry His Cross.
This is not very pretty. How did people ever come to present it as being respectable and dignified? And why has man tried to present His birth, as being respectable and dignified? Why does man want to dress things up, and have them appear nice?
He set His Face to go to Jerusalem, and now having been to Gethsemane and the Gabbatha (Pavement), Jesus makes His way to Golgotha.
Luke tells us that they force a dark skinned man from Tripoli to carry this heavy wooden beam. No Roman would carry the cross, and the Romans would not ask a Jew - not in this situation, in the middle of a Religious Festival - it was the Passover. So Simon of Cyrene carries the cross of Jesus, and this man received a mighty reward.
It appears from Mark 15 and verse 21 that he and his wife and two sons became disciples of Jesus.
No man carries the cross of Jesus faithfully without receiving a work of God in his own life, and on occasions, through his life into the lives of his family.
Alexander 'Sandy' Shaw is pastor of Nairn Christian Fellowship in Nairn, Scotland. Nairn is 17 miles east of Inverness - on the Moray Firth Coast - not far from the Loch Ness Monster!
Gifted as a Biblical teacher, Sandy is firmly committed to making sure that his teachings are firmly grounded in the Word.
Sandy has a weekly radio talk which can be heard via the Internet on Saturday at 11:40am, New Orleans time, at wsho.com.
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