"In Route to Calvary”

Is it not totally ironic that even at this final stage of His life, as the Lord Jesus is paraded about in public humiliation, we observe that there were yet large crowds following Him?

In Luke 23:27 we read, “And there followed him a great company of people, and of women, which also bewailed and lamented him.”

But, on this occasion they are not singing His praises or applauding His miraculous deeds. There were no more joyfully affirmations of “Hosanna” being exclaimed, but only utterances of disappointing ridicule and contempt.

All of those earlier climatic moments were now a part of forgotten history, and when they were asked the pivotal, judicial question by Pontius Pilate regarding what should be done with Him, they collectively responded, “Let him be crucified.” (Matt. 27:23b).

Then subsequently in the aftermath of the sentence of death being passed upon Him, they had followed behind Him in procession to the place of execution, to the familiar hill site location of “Golgatha;” also called “a place of a skull.” (Matt. 27:33)

If such a public event would have occurred in this age of advanced technological communication, undoubtedly the world would be watching the event on televisions, cell phones, tablets, computers or listening to the unfolding of events on the radio as the major broadcast reporters deployed to the execution site in order to transmit their breaking news feed live.

Moreover, if they were on site requesting to hear final words from Him prior to His pending demise, they would be given the same foreboding admonition that was spoken to the trailing group of causal mourners.

The Lord turned to them and declared, “Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children.  For, behold, the days are coming, in the which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the paps which never gave suck.

“Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us.  For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?” Luke 23:28-31 (KJV)

"THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO"

Before the events of Calvary began to escalate and expand in their fullness, at the outset of the unfolding, we read in verse 34a: “Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”

Was this not mercifully typical of the person of the Lord Jesus? To our utter astonishment, do we not observe that the Savior preemptively petitioned Heaven to pardon those that had already proved that they were His staunchest of enemies?

And equally, He prayed not for just those who were activity and violently hostile towards Him, but also for those that were default enemies because of their unbelief of indifference. Like Pilate, we may believe that our hands are clean because we are mere nonparticipating bystanders, just standing in the crowd.

But let us not be mistaken, there is no such a position of being a “nonparticipating bystanders.”

We may be prompted to erroneously argue, “If I was there, I would have responded differently!” However, whether this fact is consciously recognized and acknowledged or not, it is mournfully true that we “were there in the number.”

Moreover, it is equally true that our responses would not have been any different from those found in the crowds and groups that were in attendance.

Totally and universally encompassing the entire generational span of the human-heart’s perspective of opinion expressed by “fallen” humanity regarding the Lord of Glory, the prophet Isaiah rightly foretold: “He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.” Isaiah 53:3 (KJV)

Too, can we honestly claim that when we first heard the message of the Gospel that we repented of our sins and accepted Christ as our Savior? Indeed, we cannot deny that our heart’s were convicted by the power of the Holy Ghost, and some of us sought consolation by deciding to attend church for a time, until our hearts were sufficiently “deaden” to the message of the Gospel.

But, was it not actually true that for a period of time, we “despised and rejected Him;” and resisted His wooing, loving Call of Salvation made toward us?

Even now, there are some who are presently reading these words, and yet resist and refuse to submit to the convicting power of the Holy Spirit that is beckoning your heart to repent and humbly embrace the person of the Son of God as Savior and Lord.

But, God mercifully intervened on our behalf, because for a season in each of our lives (despite our individual unique “story”), our response to the saving message Gospel of Jesus Christ reflectively mirrored that declared by the Suffering Savior (i.e. “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”), who also petitioned the Court of Heaven until “saving grace” was mercifully bestowed upon us.

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March 9, 2018

Luke 23:32-39 (KJV)

32) And there were also two other, malefactors, led with him to be put to death. 33) And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left. 34) Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots. 35) And the people stood beholding. And the rulers also with them derided him, saying, He saved others; let him save himself, if he be Christ, the chosen of God. 36) And the soldiers also mocked him, coming to him, and offering him vinegar, 37) And saying, If thou be the king of the Jews, save thyself. 38) And a superscription also was written over him in letters of Greek, and Latin, and Hebrew, THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS. 39) And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us.

FRAGMENTS-BSA 2018

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