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Christ's Divine Sacrifice
by Lani W. Finley
There is an exchange
that took place upon the cross and it is offered to all those who
earnestly seek it. Jesus received the curses due us, that we might
receive the blessings due Him. The apostle Paul reminds us of this
exchange in his epistle to the church at
Galatia, "Christ
hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for
us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree"
(Gal 3:13).
The curses that
Paul is referring to began with the fall of man and are described
in Deuteronomy 28:15-68. They affect every part of a human being's
life and are the results of disobeying God's commandments. God shared
His counsel with the nation of Israel and encouraged them to choose
blessings and life.
Behold,
I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; 27A blessing,
if ye obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command
you this day: 28And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments
of the LORD your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command
you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known
(Deut 11:26-28).
I
call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have
set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore
choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live (Deut 30:19).
However, man
has chosen to ignore God's counsel and is struggling under the burden
of curses and death. Jesus came to free us from this bondage and to
suffer all the curses that we deserve.
The
Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed
me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the
brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives, and release
from darkness for the prisoners (Isa 61:1 NIV)
We are offered
this freedom by the exchange that took place during Christ's crucifixion.
The words of the prophet Isaiah will help us understand how this took
place. They are recorded in Isaiah, Chapter 53, which is known as
the Redemption chapter. Please notice how the prophet explains the
personal nature of the crucifixion of our Savior and how many times
the words our and he are used when speaking of the aspects of this
exchange.
3
He is despised, and left of
men,
A man of pains, and acquainted with sickness,
And as one hiding the face from us, He is despised,
and we esteemed him not.
4
Surely our sicknesses he hath borne, And our pains
--he hath carried them, And we--we have esteemed him
plagued, Smitten of God, and afflicted.
5
And he is pierced for our transgressions, Bruised
for our iniquities,
The chastisement of our peace is on
him, And
by his bruise there is healing
to us.
6
All of us like sheep have wandered, Each to his own way we have
turned, And Jehovah hath caused to meet on him, The punishment
of us all.
10 And Jehovah hath delighted to
bruise him, He hath
made him sick...
12
...And with transgressors he was numbered, And he the
sin of many hath
borne, And for transgressors he intercedeth (Young's Literal
Translation)
Isaiah sums up
the reason for the cross in verse 6, when he states that, Jesus suffered
"the punishment of us all." These scriptures should make
it obvious that Christ died for
"Our
transgressions"
"Our healing" (by his stripes we are healed)
"Our separation from God"
"Our
shame, rejection and humiliation"
"Our unrighteousness"
"Our weaknesses of the flesh"
Only the sacrificial
offering of the Lord Jesus can remove every curse and partition that
stands between man and God. It is only through the atoning death of
our Savior that man's relationship with God can be restored.
The
cross left nothing undone. It was so complete in nature,
that nothing can be added to, nor taken away from it.
The following
account of Christ's crucifixion will help us understand the impact
of our punishment upon the body and spirit of Jesus. The Lord's last
Passover meal had ended and His spirit became overwhelmed as He pondered
the events of the next eighteen hours. He knew every horrifying detail
of the gruesome murder that He was to suffer. For it was Jesus Himself,
who had revealed them to the Old Testament prophets. The fate of mankind
was upon His shoulders and God's desire for a family was at stake.
It had to be accomplished in pure love; no human feelings of hate
or revenge could be allowed to enter His heart. The hour had come,
and the weight of the words of the Old Testament prophets would begin
to torment the spirit of Jesus. Mark's account of this Passover evening
describes the oppression of our Lord's heart.
And
they came to a place which was named Gethsemane: and he saith to
his disciples, Sit ye here, while I shall pray. 33And he taketh
with him Peter and James and John, and began to be sore amazed,
and to be very heavy; 34And saith unto them, My soul is exceeding
sorrowful unto death: tarry ye here, and watch. 35And he went forward
a little, and fell on the ground, and prayed that, if it were possible,
the hour might pass from him. 36And he said, Abba, Father, all things
are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless
not what I will, but what thou wilt (Mark 14:32-36).
Luke continues
to explain the awesome weight that was upon the spirit of Jesus, "And
being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it
were great drops of blood falling down to
the ground" (Luke" 22:44). Jesus began to suffer from a
medical conditions
known as, "hemophidrosis" or "hematidrosis". According
to the Christian physician, Dr. David Terasaka, this condition has
been seen in patients who have experienced extreme stress, or shock
to their system. The capillaries around the sweat pores become fragile
and leak blood into the sweat. A case history is recorded in which
a young girl, who had a fear of air raids in WW1, developed this conditions
after a gas explosion occurred in the house next door.1
Dr. Terasaka
goes on to describe the great agony that Jesus was experiencing, "It
is here that Jesus agonized in prayer over what was to occur. It is
significant that this is the only place in the KJV where the word
"agony" is mentioned. The Greek word for agony means to
be "engaged in combat". Jesus agonizes over what He is to
go through, feeling that He is at the point of death (Mark 14:34)."
The last recorded prayer of Christ's human life would be answered
by the touch of an angel. "And there appeared an angel unto him
from heaven, strengthening him" (Luke 22:43).
The tranquility
of the garden was soon shattered as Judas led a multitude of armed
citizens to seize Jesus and take Him to the Roman leader, Pontius
Pilate (Mark 14:43). Although Pilate could find no fault with Jesus,
he allowed his guards to beat, abuse and humiliate the very Son of
God. The soldiers blindfolded Jesus and ridiculed His divinity. A
mock crown was made of thorns and placed upon His head. The guards
began to pound the two-inch thorns into Christ's scalp and skull.
They also spit upon the Lord and struck Him on the face with their
hands and a reed (Matt. 27:27-31 & Luke 22:63-65).
Bloody, humiliated
and exhausted, Jesus would continue to be mocked and beaten throughout
the night (Luke 22:66). The next morning He was led to the site of
His execution. The ordeal of the night before would pale in comparison
to the events that were about to take place.
It was customary
to strip the clothing from the one who was to be crucified. Most likely,
Jesus was also stripped of his clothing before He was nailed to the
wooden members. The cross was laid upon the ground, and the Savior's
torn and bloody back was pressed into the splinters of the rough-sawn
wooden beams. His body was attached to the cross by driving six-inch
spikes through His wrists and ankles. The pain that He was suffering
would be multiplied as the cross was raised into place and His weight
came crashing down upon the spikes that were driven through His body.
Ashamed and naked, the Lamb of God was made a disgrace for all humanity.
The Roman soldiers
began to scourge Jesus with great fury. His flesh became so ripped
and torn that He could look upon His bones and internal organs.
...the
assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and
my feet. 17I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me
(Ps 22:16-17).
His executioners
were so cruel and ruthless that they even tore the beard from His
face. The countless lashes from the soldier's whips mutilated and
disfigured the face and body of Jesus. He received so many
stripes
that He could not be recognized as a human being.
I
offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled
out my beard; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting (Isa
50:6 NIV).
As many were astonished at him-- his appearance
was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that
of the sons of men Isa 52:14 RSV).
Our Savior's blood pressure almost certainly begun to plummet as the
blood drained from His multiple wounds. His heart most likely began
to race and pound as it tried to supply oxygen to His body. All of Christ's
bones had been dislocated from their joints and He was suffering from
dehydration. His strength had been exhausted and Jesus was approaching
death.
I
am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my
heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels. 15 My
strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to
my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death.
Alone and forsaken,
Jesus endured all the pain and punishment due mankind. He had been
abandoned by His countrymen, as a blasphemer
(Matt. 26:64-65). His fearful disciples had deserted Him and even
Peter denied knowing Him (Matt 26:70).
His own creation abhorred Him and
the
demonic world celebrated as they watched the execution
of God's Son.
However, the ultimate pain was yet to come. During the crucifixion,
Jesus became so identified and filled with the sins of man, that God
had to abandon His own Son. This is confirmed by His agonizing cry
upon the cross, "... My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me"
(Matt 27:46)? Do we realize the impact of ours sins upon our Savior?
For the first time during His life on earth, Jesus was no longer able
to address God as His Father. God is no respecter of persons (Acts
10:34) and the words of Isaiah were also applied to Jesus. "But
your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your
sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear" (Isa
59:2). Becoming filled with the sins of man had shattered Christ's
relationship with His Heavenly Father, and turned the face of God
away from His only Son.
While Jesus was
being held captive to the cross, darkness covered the earth (Luke
23:44). His soul was being crushed by the tremendous weight of man's
sins and guilt. The last ounces of His blood were flowing from His
wounds. Heaven and earth had forsaken Him and He knew that the end
was near. Jesus made one last gesture to insure that
we
could have full confidence, that He had consumed all of our sins.
He said, "I thirst."
After
this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that
the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst. 29 Now there
was set a vessel full of vinegar: and they filled a spunge with
vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth (John 19:28-29).
The significance
of this act should not be overlooked, because it symbolizes Jesus
taking the fullness of our sins into His body. It also fulfilled the
prophetic symbols of the Old Testament Passover. Dr. Terasaka gives
additional insight into the fulfillment of these symbols.
The
drink was given on the "stalk of a hyssop plant".
Remember that these events occurred at the Feast of the Passover.
During this feast, (Exod. 12:22) hyssop was used to apply the blood
of the Passover lamb to the wooden doorposts of the Jews. It is
interesting the end of this hyssop stalk pointed to the blood of
the Perfect Lamb which was applied to the wooden cross for the salvation
of all mankind. In addition, the wine vinegar is a product of fermentation,
which is made from grape juice and yeast. The word literally means
"that which is soured" and is related to the Hebrew
term for "that which is leavened". Yeast or leaven,
is the Biblical symbol of sin. When Jesus took this drink, (i.e.
a drink which was "leavened") it is thus symbolic of His
taking the sins of the world into His body.2
When Jesus had
received the vinegar, He gathered His last ounce of strength, raised
Himself upon the cross, gasped for one last breath of life and cried
out, "IT IS FINISHED"!
"When
Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished:
and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost" (John 19:30).
The last words
that Jesus spoke as a human being were, "It is finished".
This phrase has been translated from the single Greek word "teleo."
In English, the truest sense of the word can be understood by the
phrase, "completely complete," as in the discharge
of a debt. The spirit and body of Jesus had absorbed
all the punishment due mankind. The sacrifice of Jesus
was perfect and complete. Nothing more could be absorbed.
Nothing more can be added.
The means for
our eternal salvation and the healing of our physical bodies were
finished in Christ. We are now free to exchange our curses
for the blessings that were due Jesus, because of His sinless life
of obedience. These blessings are now available to all
those who will open their hearts and accept them in simple and unquestioning
faith.
What a tremendous
price Jesus paid in order for us to become the children of God and
to receive physical healing for our sick and diseased bodies. Without
doubt, the exchange has been made, the ultimate price
has been paid and the victory is ours. The
faithful Christian can rest assured that he is now reconciled to God,
and made His child, according to His promises.
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