SATAN ACTIVE AT THE CROSS 2 CHRIST
TRIUMPHANT IN DEATH.
In Luke 22:22,
Pilate boasted he would chastise our Lord, implying he would mould the
character of the glorious Son of God, even as a child in the home.
What arrogance!
Pitiless, they pressured
Pilate, for ‘they were insistent‘; that is, they poured burning coals on the
fire of their hatred, or they provoked a violent tempest, which threatened to
sink the vessel of justice. (v23) This
resulted in ‘their demanding that HE be crucified. And the voices of these men and (sadly) of the
vicious, chief priests prevailed.’ Hellish forces propelled the governor to a
damning decision of the Lord Jesus‘guilt. Peter told
that ‘HE was the Lamb without blemish or spot.’
Pilate wilted
under mob pressure, sentencing the innocent that it should be as they
requested.
The lame Pilate
faltered, releasing a murderer and rioter for the altogether lovely One, even
our Lord Jesus Christ. He yielded to their pressure, ’When he delivered Jesus
to their will.’ Again, satan appeared triumphant at every
stage of these judicial proceedings.
However, Isaiah prophesied, ’That it pleased
the LORD to bruise Him. (53:10) He has put Him to grief. When you make His soul
an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, and the pleasure of the Lord shall
prosper in His hand.’ God achieved your perfect redemption in the gruelling struggle with the enemy of souls.
Though worthy
of a heavenly escort of angels, our Lord accompanied two criminals, ‘who were
led with HIM to be put to death.’ The
destination was Calvary, the place of a skull, (whose degradation arose from
memories of numerous crucifixions, with blood-stained soil and atmosphere
polluted with the oaths of the victims).
Military,
depraved ruthlessness delighted the soldiers, for ‘there they crucified Him,
and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left ‘My wife and
I have recently reviewed THE PASSION by Mel Gibson. Callously and light-heartedly, they ’wounded
Him for our transgressions and bruised Him for our iniquities.’ (Isaiah
53) Satan inflicted the wounds and the
bruises, while the Lord bore our sin in HIS own body on the tree. Redemption!
Praise the LORD.
He cried,
‘Father, forgive them. For they know not
what they do. And they divided His garments, and cast lots.’ (v34) Our Lord fought for every breath, pushing
with HIS feet on the wood of the cross, to fill His lungs. Every word of His
spoken pardon was therefore, infinitely costly. The religious, ungodly leaders mocked HIM,
while HIS gentleness softened the centurion‘s heart, who found salvation while
presiding over this travesty of justice.
The captain announced. ‘Truly this MAN was the Son of God.’ Satan’s
fleeting hey-day was Christ’s eternal triumph.
The observers
were puzzled, ‘The people looked on,’ mystified that the Creator of the
universe hung in utter agony on the bare cross. The coldly-religious princes
rejected even their Messiah, ‘while the rulers with them sneered, saying, ‘He
saved others, let HIM save Himself, if He be the Christ, the chosen of
God.’ The simple reason was: Because he
was the CHRIST, and dying for the sins of the world, He could not save
Himself. They jeered at HIM, debasing
their King; they hurled unlimited insults at their Lord, while they unleashed
such devilish fury.
The solders
increased the Lord’s anguish by offering HIM sour wine, scorching His parched
throat and lips. No one alleviated the Saviour’s suffering, nor offered consolation to the King
eternal. In contrast, we ease the dying pain of loved ones in hospital, who are
comforted by the death of their beloved Lord.
The high
priests challenged Pilate when he accurately prescribed a caption over the
cross, ‘THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS.’
They sought to ruin our Lord’s name.
Hundreds of languages tell in their Scriptures how a heathen governor
resolved to let all Jerusalem know that the Anointed of Israel had been strung
on the cross. Lord Jesus, we prostrate
ourselves at your feet.
Unbelievingly,
the criminals, though strung up on their crosses, played into satan’s hands. They blasphemed HIM, saying ’If you are the
Christ, save yourself and us.’ One later changed his stance, answering, ’Do you
not even fear God, seeing you are in the same condemnation?’ (v40) Satan empowered a dying man to blaspheme the
holy Name of our Lord. And our Wonderful
saviour brought salvation to the other dying thief,
assuring him ‘That today, you will be with ME in paradise. ‘Righteousness won
over evil. We inherit the virtue of that success
‘Darkness
covered all the earth about the sixth hour (that is,
Summoning all
His strength, the Lord Jesus cried out with a loud voice, ’Father, into your
hands I commend My spirit. And having said that He breathed His last.’
Jubilantly HE
cried ’It is finished’: the work of redemption was accomplished. The atonement was complete. The Everest of eternal salvation has been
climbed by the dear Son. The battle was
won. Millions upon millions have inherited eternal life because of that triumphant
victory on the cross. Satan had been
eternally quashed, and his power totally broken. ’ Bless the Lord, oh, my soul;
and all that is within me, bless His holy Name.‘ We
worship our dear Saviour, enthroned in heaven.
The tempter tricked
Adam and Eve, where God promised the Redeemer. (Gen 3:15)
The enemy
sorely tried Christ in the 40 days in the desert. Our Lord won with ‘IT IS
WRITTEN.’ (Luke 4) In the Revelation
5:12-13, we comfortingly read while
Satan forced
the crucifixion of our Lord, HE is eternally the LAMB on the throne.