Luke 23:33
And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left.
Such terible things as a public death took place outside the city. In this case the place was Calvary (Latin), or Golgotha (Hebrew), or Cranium (Greek), or Skull (English). The place of the event isn’t our focus today.
It was in that place that Jesus was crucified. An event that was foretold in several ways in old testament scriptures. There was a law that said a man hung on a tree was cursed. The body was not to be left out overnight, not for the sake of the man, but so the land itself would not become cursed. (see Deuteronomy 21:23).
In other places such as Psalms 22 it describes how Jesus must have felt while on the cross. In Zechariah 12:10 there is a mention of a pierced one who will be mourned over. A picture of God pouring out his grace over Jerusalem (the place Jesus died), and the house of David (Jesus himself). The people will see this and grive as over a firstborn son.
Jesus himself foretold of his death at several times, both to his disciples and to a crowd. He specifically told of being delivered to the Jewish leaders to be condemned, being delivered to the gentiles to bee mocked, spit on, beaten, and crucified. He named all the things that he was to suffer. He made such predictions right up to two days before the Passover that would mark his death.
It wasn’t the place, or the two others who were there that is significant. Those markers help to identify and place the event. It is that tiny little phrase, “there they crucified him.” That little statement fulfills all the promises that God had made that the price of sins would be paid for. All the strange, and seemingly conflicting prophecies come together. Jesus was to be lifted up, hung on a tree, cursed. He would take on our sins. Not to even mention all the other humiliating behavior. The Jews had trouble reconciling the teaching that Messiah would live forever, and now this man was being killed. They were missing the fact that Jesus claimed he would be raised on the third day.
To just stop at the moment of crucifixion, it leaves us in a spiritual flat spot. It’s tragic, but it is just the beginning of power that is just about to come.
Jesus did die, because that was the way God had planned to offer him as a sacrifice and pay for sins. He was raised and now lives forever. He may not be on earth in bodily form, but his spirit has been sent, his teachings are still alive. Through the written record of his life, we can know him. By living a life modeled after his, and the heart of the teachings in the Bible, we can be connected with him on a spiritual level.
Through the absolute tragedy of his death, wonderful promises are to be fulfilled. Be part of it.