Who is Jesus and Why was He Crucified?

Who is Jesus and Why was He Crucified?

His mind was unquestionably brilliant. He confounded every scholar who questioned Him. His emotions were pure, untarnished by rebellion, pride, jealousy or greed. All of His actions were completely motivated by compassionate love and truth. Not one trace of selfish desire for personal fulfillment marred His concern for others. With loving authority, He fed the hungry, healed the sick, restored sanity to the demonized, set tormented men and women free from addictions and forgave their sins. He gave hope and purpose to the lost and broken and brought the dead back to life. Through death, He remained loyal to faithless friends and forgave the worst of sinners. His compassion broke all human limits for giving. He took advantage of none.

He was sensitive and strong, gentle and lowly. His humility was total, yet this fully humble man held absolute authority over all of the natural and the supernatural realm. His love for God, His Father in Heaven, was unbounded and ruled His life. As a man, He fully agreed with the Holy Spirit in all things and while on earth in a body of flesh, he did only what He saw His Father doing. He revealed the true nature of God to the world. He kept all His Father’s rules and became mercy, meekness, joy, peace, truth, faith, hope and love.  He did nothing wrong. Nothing. Men accused Him falsely. A crowd cried, “Crucify Him!”

He wasn’t surprised. Jesus came to fulfill the words of Israel’s prophets, and He knew it. He knew He had to be killed as an innocent sacrificial passover lamb to atone for men’s rebellion against God. He had prepared His disciples and told them it had to be. His death, to redeem men from sin, was the only way to give them God’s Holy Spirit.

By His words and His works His disciples knew that Jesus was fully God. Yet He lived as a man and fulfilled God’s purpose for Him by the power of the Holy Spirit. Think of it! He humbly laid down His divine rights and powers to be born as a baby. And He rejected every temptation to pick them up again. He repeatedly said that His Kingdom is not of this world and that God’s work isn’t done by human effort or power, but by the power of His Holy Spirit.

Jesus always sought His Father’s glory, never His own. He loved God fully and worshipped Him alone. He always loved others. Through every trial, temptation and choice, He yielded to the Holy Spirit of God. His Kingdom continues to break through upon the earth today whenever, by the power of the Holy Spirit, His truth defeat’s lies and the grace of His love sets men free from the consequences of human pride and rebelliousness against God’s ways.

Thousands were drawn to Him by His teachings, His miracles and His love. Religious men feared His influence would lessen their own control over the people and weaken their political influence, so they plotted to get rid of Him. One of His own disciples betrayed Him. The chief priests derisively mocked Him with scorn and turned him over to the Roman authorities—demanding His death. Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea knew that Jesus had done no wrong; Pilate wanted to set Him free. But, when pressured by a crowd crying,  “Crucify Him,” Pilate washed his hands of the ugly business and turned him over to his Roman soldiers.

Mocking soldiers dressed Him up in royal robes like a king of this world and treated Him with contempt. They spat upon Him. They hit His head till it was tender with welts and set crown of thorns into Hair, scratching and jabbing His scalp with pain. Hardened men struck Him with their hands, stinging and bruising His body. They lashed Him, down to the bone, gouging hunks of flesh from His back with leather thongs laced with metal or bone.  When he was weakened, wounded, and weary from a sleepless night of watchful agonizing prayer for God’s will to be done, a heavy wooden cross was put upon His shoulders. He was forced to drag His own cross as they led Him to a hill called Golgotha (which means the place of the skull). Under the weight, He stumbled and fell. Another was called to carry the cross. Before nailing him to the wooden beams, His clothes were stripped off. He watched men gamble to get them. When offered drugs to dull the pain and dim His mind, He refused. His lacerated back was pressed into the hardness of the cross. Blood ran. His body was stretched, without support. Nails driven through His flesh held Him fast. Agony went through Him.

Strangers stared.  As death by excruciating suffocation began, He heard insults and jeers. Men dared Him to prove that He was God while His mother and closest friend watched His humiliation. As the entire demonic realm rejoiced, as the weight of all the sin in the world broke over His wounded body, His Father turned way. The final insult, when He thirsted—they offered Him the last degradation. He refused. Then, with every prophesy of Scripture fulfilled, He entrusted His Spirit unto His Heavenly Father’s hands, cried out with a loud voice, “It is finished” and exhaled His final breath.

In the most horrible form of capital punishment under Roman law, men of our race became tools of the principalities and powers opposing God and His anointed and killed their own Creator. No evil thought of retaliation or accusation came to His mind or entered His soul. Before He died, He prayed, “Father, forgive them. They don’t know what they’re doing.” He forgave, He trusted, He loved.

Why was He crucified? Because He loved. He loved enough in life and in death to say to you and me, “Let Me die for you. Let Me take the consequence of your unGodly choices. I’ve taken the death you deserve for chasing your own ways rather than following God’s. I’ve made  a way for you to be born again by My  Holy Spirit of life. Please, let Me take away your separation from God.  Believe in Me; turn away from your own ways to follow Mine. I am meek and lowly and my burdens upon you will be light— you will never carry them alone. Let me give you My Holy Spirit to help you. Then You can get close to Me and My Father. You will know Our great love for you. You will be part of Our family and receive Our Holy Spirit’s strength and wisdom and courage.  Accept new life in us, life that will last forever.”

Prayer
Lord, I want that forgiveness; I need Your love. Forgive me for all my unbelief. Forgive me for refusing You. I want to  give my life  to You. Will You live in me?  I want to be close to You to know You. Help me turn away from everything that’s not like You. Help me agree with Your Holy Spirit. Give me Your grace to love and forgive myself and others as You have loved and forgiven me.

 

If you’d like to know more about Jesus, I suggest reading the Christian New Testament Books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

 

An earlier version of “Who is Jesus and Why was He Crucified?” by Ginny Emery, was published as ‘The Crucifixion” in Meet Me at the Cross, Given Word Publishers, Inc. 2000. It is not copyrighted. Reproduction is invited to extend the Kingdom of God.