JESUS & THE CROSS

Join your Calvary Chapel family tomorrow (Sunday, 4/6, 10:00 a.m.) in the main sanctuary or on our website (www.calvaryinv.com), Facebook, and YouTube (Calvary Inverness) as we continue our study in Matthew's Gospel (27:26-44).

Jesus was hungry, thirsty, and sleep-deprived. He stood before Pilate as an unrecognizable man due to the numerous beatings He had endured. He knew the purpose of His coming would finally reach its completion. He was going to die.

Crucifixion was created by the Persians, who believed the earth was sacred, so they conceived a way to punish their criminals without offending their patron god, Ormuzd. The Romans took what the Persians did and created a way to lengthen the condemned's lives and add to their torture and torment.

The cross was so horrendous that no Roman could be condemned to die on it unless by direct orders from Caesar. It was reserved for the vilest of murderers and those who threatened the Empire.

The path to the cross was a long and tortuous path for the Savior. He was flogged with forty lashes, punched in the face countless times, had His beard plucked out, a crown of three-inch thorns embedded on His brow, deprived of water, food, and sleep, and forced to carry the beam of the cross that weighed approximately three hundred pounds, through the streets of Jerusalem as a warning of what happens to the enemies of Rome.

Yet, Jesus did not have to be forced to the cross. He went willingly because He knew and understood the purpose of His coming. Through His death, burial, and resurrection, a way would be provided for all those who come to Him by faith.

The thief next to Him on the cross understood why Jesus had come. He knew that Jesus was innocent, and he and the other crucified on the other side of Jesus were guilty. While his fellow criminal cursed and blasphemed Jesus, he, in the final moments of his miserable and wretched life, asked Jesus to remember him when He came into His kingdom. And right before he took his last breath and went into eternity, he heard, "Today you will be with me in paradise."

May Jesus' teaching fill our hearts with the knowledge of His word, prepare us to receive Him, equip us to share the gospel with anyone who will listen, and keep our eyes and hearts open to His imminent return.

In His Strong Love,

Pastor