The Bible Course Muestra

The Trial, the Cross, and the Tomb – the death of Jesus 

Reflect 

The cross would be a strange marketing brand choice. No major corporation would buy into it. But a symbol of execution has now become the brand of a global movement. The cross tells us that God so loved the world that his son was crucified for us. 

What do we learn about Jesus at his trial?  

Pilate’s view of Jesus was clear. He had nothing on him. He also had the power to free him, but Jesus made no defense. Jesus knew what had to happen; Isaiah had said it centuries earlier:  

He was oppressed and afflicted,  

     yet he did not open his mouth; 

 he was led like a lamb to the slaughter. (53.7) 

This was the way things had to be. No word and no defense were necessary. Jesus made sure nothing was going to hinder him. For sinful people to be made clean, a sinless man had to die in their place.  

What are the implications of the cross for us and our world today?  

From midday to 3 pm, darkness falls. The curtain of the temple was torn in two as Jesus gave up his spirit. These are not random details; they communicate what the cross is about. At the cross, Jesus soaks up all of God’s righteous anger towards evil. At the cross, Jesus was banished into deepest, darkest exile. He went there so that we don’t have to. At the cross, God’s restricted presence was made accessible. For at the cross the greatest swap takes place: Jesus is treated as one of us so we might be treated like Jesus.  

In John Bunyan's Pilgrim’s Progress, the pilgrim – whose name is Christian – makes his way up a hill, with a cross at the bottom and a grave at the top. He has got used to carrying a heavy rucksack of sin. But as he comes up to the cross, the burden falls off his shoulders and rolls down the hill and into the grave. He's forgiven and freed, and Bunyan says he 'gave three leaps for joy, and went on singing'. 

Respond 

Are you struggling today? Remember that for us to go free, Jesus had to die. If he was faithful to us then, do we think he’ll abandon us if we suffer now? He will not.