|
suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was
buried; |
Well documented
in the gospels and non-Christian documents. Supposition that Jesus “didn’t really
die” are frankly laughable – the Romans knew how to kill people! |
This
is the part of the creed dealing with Jesus’ death. The gospels tell of his
betrayal to the Temple authorities, and His blasphemy trial by them (illegal
because it happened by night). As they were not permitted to put a man to
death, they had to invent a charge that Pilate (the procurator) would accept –
blasphemy was not one of these. So they accused him of first kingship, then
rebellion against Caesar – Pilate found Jesus not guilty, as did Herod (the
tetrarch of Galilee, who was in Jerusalem at the time). Pilate tried all sorts
of ways to release Jesus, starting with the custom of freeing one prisoned at
Passover-time.
Another
way was to have Him scourged (“disciplined”!). The Roman scourging was
familiarly called the “half-death”, with good reason – many did not survive it,
and those that did were half dead at the end; the lash was a wooden handle,
with several strands of leather at the end, into which were woven lumps of
metal and small bones, so that they lashed, bruised and cut the skin. It went
on as long as the soldiers pleased (unlike a Jewish whipping, which was limited
to 39 strokes). The main point was that it was never used in addition to
a death sentence, so Pilate would have thought that doing that would silence
the crowds. It did not.
At
the mob’s insistence, Pilate weakened, and Jesus was condemned to death. The
Romans did not invent crucifixion, but they had “perfected” it to cause maximum
suffering and maximum shame. A crucified man had two choices – press down on
the impaled feet in order to breathe, and suffer agony to the feet, or sag down
to rest the feet and suffer agony to the wrists and an inability to breathe;
everyone alternated. In the end, they became too weak to push up to breathe,
and died from asphyxiation.
The
best account is in John’s gospel – he was standing there. He records that Jesus
dismissed his spirit, and that a spear was pushed up through the ribcage and
into the heart (blood and water came out). The often-touted idea that Jesus
“didn’t really die” is untenable in the light of the earlier scourging, and
this evidence.
The
accounts tell of a 3-hour unnatural darkness (a solar eclipse only lasts a few
minutes; historical accounts of this long event appear in several places in the
world), and that the large, heavy curtain in the temple, that separated people
from the place where God “dwelt”, was torn open from the top to the bottom (so
not by human hand – a human tear would have started at the bottom).
The
accounts record that Jesus was buried in a borrowed tomb, belonging to Joseph
of Arimathea, a well-off but secret follower (the idea that he was Jesus’ uncle
appears only in the Glastonbury myths). The gospels record a hasty burial, just
before the Sabbath started (6pm), and that the women planned to return after
the Sabbath to anoint the body properly.
What
can we argue from all this?
·
His
death was prophesied, in the Old Testament (see for example Psalm 22, which some 400 years before it
was invented is a vivid description of crucifixion) and by Jesus Himself (e.g.
John 12,20+).
·
It
was the fulfilment of the entire Old Testament sacrificial system. The
resurrection of Jesus proved that His self-sacrifice had been accepted by God.
·
To
the Jews, it “proved” that Jesus was NOT divine (God can’t die, he died, so he
can’t be God); to the disciples, it was a catastrophe ..
until the Sunday morning.
Why
is this important?
·
The
stress placed on Jesus’ death isn’t a “sob story” to gain sympathy. It is
because when Jesus died, He paid the penalty for sin. There isn’t space here to
catalogue the Old Testament sacrificial system, except to say that the emphasis
was on a “spotless” sacrifice. Had Jesus been a mortal sinner, his death would
have paid the penalty for his sin; but as He was not, His death could pay the
penalty for our sin. If Jesus died for you, it would be totally unfair to
Jesus, for God to punish you as well!
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