THE PLACE OF A SKULL Jn. 19:16 Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took

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1 THE PLACE OF A SKULL Jn. 19:16 Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led him away. 17 And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha: 18 Where they crucified him, and two other with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst. (If you haven t been there, I m sure you have seen pictures of the rock outside the city walls of Jerusalem with what clearly looks like two eyes peering at you, and with a nose. Since the mid-nineteenth century it has been identified by evangelical Christians as Golgotha, the place of a skull.) The words we read contain nothing of the dramatic. John does not write about the blood flowing from the wounds of the Saviour, and the agony He was suffering. Instead, he shows to us the deity of Christ His majesty as declared in accordance with the Old Testament prophecies. Even on the cross, we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father (Jn. 1:14). In the previous verses the Roman Governor of Judea, Pontius Pilate, had been battling in vain against the Jewish leaders to save the life of Jesus. It sounds absurd that He needed saving and yet, that is what Pilate tried to do He tried to save Jesus the Saviour. The Sanhedrin and the rabbis threatened Pilate If you don t do as we say and execute that man, we ll report you to your superiors for failing to defend the dignity of the Roman empire. And Pilate panicked... And his wife was at him as well, Have thou nothing to do with that just man: for I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him (Mt. 27:19). What a carry-on! There she was while Pilate didn t know what way to look, she found time to lie down in the daytime and sleep! But, already, do you see the disarray in the enemy s camp?! And yet, look at the dignity and composure of Jesus in the midst of it all He continued as the Master, the Lord, the Sovereign God. His glory remained intact. His Father was in control of it all. There was nothing happening outside the Divine and eternal will. Look at how John described what Pilate finally did with Jesus, Jn. 19:16 Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. He delivered the Saviour to be crucified. There is the weakling of the primary Roman official in the land He had been battered by the demands of the Jewish leaders. He had been compelled and forced to make a decision against his own conscience because he did not believe Jesus deserved death and yet we read he delivered Him to be crucified. Let s look at that further.

2 2 Ultimately, though, not the governor of Judea, but the God in Whose hands all things exist, gave His Son to be crucified for Is. 53:10 it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief. Paul wrote, Rom. 8:32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all That is God Who delivered Jesus up for us. Does that mean Pilate wasn t responsible for delivering Jesus to the Jewish death squad? No, it doesn t mean that. He could have put his foot down and told the religious leaders it wasn t going to happen he had the authority, but he was too scared to use it. He was too afraid. He was trapped, Prov. 29:25 The fear of man bringeth a snare. He surrendered to their demands. Pilate was a sinner, surrounded by sinners, and he gave in to sinners. What does this mean then? Does it mean Pilate and God were both responsible for Christ s death? Yes, that s what it means for such was the plan of God to sacrifice His Son at the hands of evil men, to whom the cowardly Pilate surrendered. Pilate had no knowledge of what was truly going on He didn t know it but he was working along with what had been foretold throughout the ages concerning Jesus. God s plans continue on schedule whether they are operating through sinners or saints and at the cross God used sinful men to fulfil His purposes for He was in control! Regardless of how it seemed to the onlooker, God had not lost any of His power. Neither had He miscalculated. He had everything exactly working in accordance with His eternal word to present the majesty of Christ, even at the cross. Pilate delivered Jesus to the Jewish leaders, but it was God the Father Who had delivered God the Son into the hands of the Roman governor. Jesus, Rom. 4:25 Who was delivered for our offences. Actually, it wasn t God Who had lost control at Calvary it was Satan! The devil knew that if Jesus died on the cross, the people for whom the Saviour died would be lost to him forever Satan would never get them back! That is why from the earliest pages of Scripture he tried to stop it from happening. He had hoped the Egyptian Pharaoh would exterminate every Hebrew so that there would be no people of Israel out of which Jesus the Saviour would be born. That is why he filled their heads with wanting to be like the other pagan nations and deny them the hope of their Messiah. Satan did not want Jesus to die on the cross It was a disaster for Him and he had lost control at Golgotha because Pontius Pilate was unknowingly working in accordance with the will of God! God is in control!

3 3 Satan thinks he is the god of this world, and in a manner of speaking he is but, at the same time, he is not and he never will be! Any triumph he has enjoyed has been given to him in order to serve God s purposes and that is what is happening today as well. We look around us, and it seems as if the devil is getting it all his own way but he is not, for God is in control! Read and study His Word and you ll very quickly realise we are living in times that God has already described will take place prior to the return of His Son. No, the devil is not in control, God is, for He worketh all things after the counsel of his own will (Eph. 1:11). Indeed, Jn. 19:16 Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified after the counsel of his own will (Eph. 1:11). And Jesus knew it for when they led him away He didn t argue with them, or put a struggle He went willingly, for previously He had said, Jn. 6:38 I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And Peter explained on the Day of Pentecost, Acts 2:22 Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: 23 Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. It wasn t the devil who delivered Jesus and even behind Pilate handing Jesus over was the plan and will of God. He is in control! That s the only reason the Jewish leaders succeeded in leading Jesus away. He willingly and without resistance went with them, just as the prophecy had promised, Is. 53:7 He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. He was led away, just like a sheep. Cows are herded, sheep are led, and that is how Jesus went, as it was prophesied concerning Him. There is something else in these verses In Roman law, the prisoner would be taken from his prison, - as Jesus was, - to appear in the court of judgment, - as Jesus was. When they would be found guilty of a crime worthy of death they would be returned to the prison for two days so that final preparations would be made for their execution but not in Jesus case. You will remember Barabbas, Mk. 15:7 And there was one named Barabbas, which lay bound with them [i.e. in a prison cell] that had made insurrection with him, who had committed murder in the insurrection. Barabbas had been found guilty and condemned to die, but he had not been taken straightaway to be executed for he had been given this normal forty-eight hour period to make an appeal or to complete any of his business that needed to be completed. Jesus wasn t given that, though.

4 4 The Jews wanted Him dead as quickly as possible! Get rid of Him quick! The Passover is coming but if the Passover wasn t coming, they still would have gotten rid of Him quick! And when Pilate gave them the choice of whether Jesus or Barabbas should go free, they instantly, - without a second thought, - chose against Jesus and such is always man s choice for he always chooses against God. It is only when the Holy Spirit directs the sinner that he/she will choose for Christ. So, completely against normal practice, they ignored the protocol of returning the prisoner Jesus to the prison cell and instead they brought Him immediately to the cross and He went willingly, Jn. 19:16 And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha. In fact, that is exactly how Isaiah, - over six hundred years earlier, - had prophesied it would take place, 53:8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living from the prison, to the judgment, and to the cross. God is in control! Yes, He bore the cross Himself, kai. basta,zwn to.n stauro.n auvtou/ John emphasised how He carried it Himself. Later on, when He was so weak, Simon of Cyrene helped Him, but at the commencement He bore the cross Himself. Such a heavy burden, but these cruel men made Him carry it through the streets of Jerusalem and it was the Jews that made Him. His arms and legs and shoulders were bleeding from the beating He received on His head was the crown of thorns, he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull. And the words echoed throughout Heaven He went forth where from? Well, first of all, He went forth from out of Heaven, Jn. 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son. And on this particular day He went forth from out of Jerusalem. He wasn t allowed to be put to death inside the city walls He had to go outside, and beyond them. This He willingly did in obedience to His Father s instruction. There were previous occasions when the Jews thought they could stone Him any time they wanted, but it never happened because God wouldn t allow it for it wasn t how He had prophesied it in the Old Testament where it was a recurring theme. Ex. 29:14 But the flesh of the bullock, and his skin, and his dung, shalt thou burn with fire without the camp: it is a sin offering... Lev. 4:12 Even the whole bullock shall he carry forth without the camp unto a clean place, where the ashes are poured out, and burn him on the wood with fire: where the ashes are poured out shall he be burnt 16:27 And the bullock

5 5 for the sin offering, and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the holy place, shall one carry forth without the camp And that is what Heb. 13:11 refers to, For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned without the camp. 12 Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate. 13 Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach. Take a look at Jn. 1:14 again, And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us He camped among His people, but when He was delivered up to be crucified, they banished Him. That is why they crucified Jesus outside the camp in fulfilment of prophecy. God is in control! And even the fact they crucified Jesus is the clear fulfilment of prophecy. Crucifixion was a Roman form of execution, whereas stoning someone was the Jewish form of capital punishment, as proscribed in the Law of Moses (e.g. Lev. 20:10; Dt. 22:22-24). Normally the Jews would have stoned a condemned Jew to death, for example, Jn. 8:1 Jesus went unto the mount of Olives. 2 And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them. 3 And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, 4 They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. 5 Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned Acts 7: 58 And cast him [Stephen] out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul. 59 And they stoned Stephen Acts 14: 19 And there came thither certain Jews from Antioch and Iconium, who persuaded the people, and, having stoned Paul, drew him out of the city, supposing he had been dead. That was the Jewish thing to do, as legitimized in the Law of Moses! However, the Old Testament prophecies prophesied Jesus would die on a cross, Ps. 22:16 they pierced my hands and my feet Zech. 12:10 they shall look upon me whom they have pierced. Once again, God is in control. Everything at Golgotha happened in accordance with His eternal will. It is an ugly picture of the precious Son of God suffering and dying and yet, at the same time, everything about His death tells us God is in control. Even the fact He was accompanied by the two criminals, Is. 53:9 And he made his grave with the wicked 12 He was numbered with the transgressors.

6 6 The place of a skull was a place of death and hopelessness. It was a place bereft of decency and morality. And yet, it was where God brought His Son to die for the sins of His people, and to die in accordance with His Father s plan. In the design of God, it was a glorious fulfilment of a detailed prophecy for we see not a humiliated Christ dying with criminals, but an exalted Christ fulfilling God s eternal purpose of our salvation. And here is another part of God s everlasting plan One of those men crucified beside Him became a sinner saved by grace, - He changed from being a sinner, to a sinner saved by grace a saint!. That man met Jesus at the cross. In God s glorious will he entered Heaven with Jesus, for the Saviour assured Him, Lk. 23:43 To day shalt thou be with me in paradise. There is a hymn that says, My Father planned it all and so He did. Every intricate detail, before the foundation of the world, He planned it all. Nothing was left to man s intuition or invention. He kept His word just as He presented it. Does that not give you confidence when you read the other promises He gives to us in the Bible the promises that are yet to be fulfilled?! This is God keeping His Word. This is the God we adore and Who we are privileged through grace to know as our Heavenly Father. How it all speaks of His wonderful and inestimable eternal and timeless glory! Jn. 19:16 Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led him away. 17 And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha: 18 Where they crucified him, and two other with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst. And so we remember to shew the Lord's death till he come (I Cor. 11:26). Amen.