Passion Week – What Good is a Dead Messiah?

After Pilate handed down his sentence, the Messiah was turned over to the Roman soldiers to be crucified, the most painful death ever created by mankind. Many people were present to witness His final breath.  Some of them cheered and mocked His demise.  Others stood helpless as their friend took His last breath. 

Simon, the father of Rufus and Alexander, was forced to carry Christ’s cross.  We know little about him, so we can’t say whether he knew Christ or if he was just caught up in the moment.  Two robbers, legitimately sentenced for their crimes, were on crosses to the right and left of Jesus.  One mocked Him. The other begged for mercy. 

The crowd was filled with onlookers who hurled insults at Jesus, challenging Him to save Himself.  I wonder if some of them were there six days earlier, cheering His triumphal entry into Jerusalem.  The chief priests, teachers of the law, and elders wouldn’t have missed this event for anything.  It was the moment they had been dreaming of for three years.  They added their insults and protested when Pilate placed a sign that read, “King of the Jews”. Not all the crowd was negative.  Even one of the soldiers who had earlier beaten and mocked Him, ultimately proclaimed, “Surely, he was the Son of God!” (Matthew 27:54b NIV84).

There were also mourners, people who had loved and followed Jesus, and who believed that He was the Son of God.  Jesus’ mother, Mary, was present.  Did she recall the words of Simeon, “and a sword will pierce your own soul too” (Luke 2:35b NIV84) as she watched her son in pain and agony?  John was the only apostle present, and as he watched in horror, Jesus entrusted His mother’s care to His friend.  Many women who had traveled with Jesus and the disciples were also present: Mary Magdalene, Mary, the mother of James and Joses, the mother of James and John, Salome, and others   

All these people, except for the soldiers, had spent their entire lives looking for the Messiah.  Some of them had come to believe that Jesus was the Christ; others did everything they could to disprove that possibility.  Now, as He hung on that cross with the life draining out of Him, the utmost thought in most of their minds may have been, “What good is a dead Messiah?”

Read: Matthew 27:32 – 61; Mark 15:21 – 47; Luke 23:26 – 56; & John 19:17 – 42

Food for Thought:

• As you read the accounts of the crucifixion, what are your thoughts about Jesus’ sacrifice for us?
• Jesus’ followers had no hope that day, only grief.  Give thanks that we know that “Sunday’s coming” and have the hope that Jesus’ resurrection brings.

For one fictional perspective of an onlooker to the crucifixion, read Chapter 18 of The Shepherd’s Quest by Elaine C. Duncan, available on Amazon.