33 And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull), 34 they offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall, but when he tasted it, he would not drink it. 35 And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots. 36 Then they sat down and kept watch over him there. 37 And over his head they put the charge against him, which read, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” 38 Then two robbers were crucified with him, one on the right and one on the left. 39 And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads 40 and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” 41 So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, 42 “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. 43 He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” 44 And the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way.
45 Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. 46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” 47 And some of the bystanders, hearing it, said, “This man is calling Elijah.” 48 And one of them at once ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine, and put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink. 49 But the others said, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.” 50 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit.
(ESV)
STOP! Think a little 🤔 What is God saying to you?
- What is the writer saying?
- How do I apply this to my life?
They arrived at a place called Golgotha, which means Place of a Skull because of how it looked. There they offered Jesus a drink of wine mixed with gall. It was an unpleasant tasting drink but it was intended to diminish His pain, which is why Jesus refused it. Jesus deliberately experienced full pain and suffering on behalf of the entire human race. Then they crucified Him. Afterwards, the Roman soldiers divided His clothes among them by casting lots (Ps 22:18). An inscription was placed above His head that read “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” He was buried with two robbers, one on either side of Him, which fulfilled yet another prophecy that he would be “numbered with the transgressors” (Isa 53:12). Those who passed by mocked Him, insulted Him and wagged their heads (Ps 22:7). The crowd and the chief priests all mocked Jesus, taunting Him to prove that He was the Son of God by saving Himself. It wasn’t a question of whether He could save Himself. If He had listened to the crowd’s taunts and come down off the cross and had they then believed as they said they would (which they still likely wouldn’t have) there would have been no basis for their salvation. Jesus had to lose His life to save others (1 Cor 15:3-4; Mat 20:28).
The earth responded to Jesus’ experiencing the full wrath of God. The whole land, perhaps the whole earth, went dark for three hours. At the end Jesus called out “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” (Ps 22:1) Almost every other time, Jesus refers to “My Father” but here He engages God in His judicial relationship as the judge over sin and righteousness. Not everyone heard Jesus clearly and some thought He was calling out for Elijah to save him. Some wanted to wait around and see if Elijah would come but Jesus yielded up His spirit. The work of redemption had been completed because Jesus had been obedient to the Father to His death (Phil 2:8). He voluntarily gave up His spirit, He was sovereign even over the time of His death.
Jesus’ love for you was absolute. He endured suffering and voluntarily went all the way to death as a perfect, spotless, Passover lamb to die in your place. At any time He could have stopped everything and changed His mind. The only reason He had to die was because if He didn’t, you would have to.