I told you so

 

And he said, "Yes, it was written long ago that the Messiah would suffer and die and rise from the dead on the third day." (Luke 24:46 NLT)

 Last week there were headlines about a potential public execution in the United States. The man known as "The Fort Hood Shooter" has been sentenced to death for his crimes. Since he was a member of the military when the crimes were committed, the military has decided that his execution should be done in a very military fashion: he must stand before a firing squad.

Neither the death sentence nor the method of execution is news. What grabbed the headlines last week was the notion that the execution should take place in front of a camera, and that the images be live streamed so that the public could witness the event. Apparently, the government official who had proposed the first public execution in the US since 1936 thought that it would serve as a deterrent to those who might wish harm to the service men and women who serve this country with distinction.

Due to public outcry, and the idea that the live stream may backfire and may motivate our enemies to commit more acts of violence against US citizens, the execution will not be broadcast in this way. The perpetrator will perish for his purported crimes, but it will no longer be public.

Throughout history, however, public executions were common. They were thought to deter crime, but they were definitely a public spectacle. In the days before television and movies, people would gather in the public square to observe hangings, beheadings, and yes, even crucifixions. The charges filed against the accused would either be read aloud or written on a placard and prominently placed, so that all would know their crimes.

We see this play out in the 19th chapter of John's gospel, where the public crucifixion of Jesus was described.

And He, bearing His cross, went out to a place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha, where they crucified Him, and two others with Him, one on either side, and Jesus in the center. Now Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross. And the writing was: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS. Then many of the Jews read this title, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. Therefore the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, "Do not write, 'The King of the Jews,' but, 'He said, "I am the King of the Jews."'" Pilate answered, What I have written, I have written." Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His garments and made four parts, to each soldier a part, and also the tunic. Now the tunic was without seam, woven from the top in one piece. They said therefore among themselves, "Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be," that the Scripture might be fulfilled which says: "They divided My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots." Therefore the soldiers did these things (John 19:17-24).

Commentator David Guzik writes, "According to Roman custom Jesus carried His cross from the place of sentencing to the place of crucifixion." This had been foreshadowed in the Old Testament, when Abraham was commanded by God to sacrifice his son Isaac. Abraham told Isaac that there would be a sacrifice, and it was Isaac who carried the wood for the fire.

The thieves crucified alongside Jesus were likely associates of Barabbas, whose place Jesus had taken. In this way, Jesus was identified with sinners in His death. One commentator wrote, "The whole of humanity was represented there: the sinless Savior, the saved penitent, and the condemned impenitent." 

Historians say that Crucifixion was the appropriate punishment for slaves (Cicero), bandits (Josephus), prisoners of war (Josephus), and revolutionaries (Josephus). Jesus could not be accused of being a disobedient slave, although He came as a Servant (Mark 10:45; Matthew 20:28). He was not accused of being a common thief, although He had stolen attention away from the high priests and Pharisees. He was definitely not a prisoner of war, although the Jews in Rome were treated as a conquered race of people. The only accusation that Pilate could level against Jesus that would justify a Roman crucifixion was public insurrection. This may be why Pilate wrote the charge against Him as, "King of the Jews." NT Wright puts it this way:

When Pilate places a notice above Jesus' head on the cross [it was meant to] rub in the point to the people who were watching: that's what will happen if you get up to this sort of thing. 'The sort of thing' in question was actions or teachings which the government interpreted as being revolutionary. Sometimes condemned Roman prisoners carried the notice around their neck on the way to the place of execution, so that all the more people could see, and take warning. The notice itself is full of irony. The chief priests are furious with Pilate. He doesn't believe Jesus is the King of the Jews any more than they do, and they don't want him making fun of them in this way. Pilate, of course, is getting back at them. It's a calculated snub. "You wanted Him crucified, didn't you?" we can feel him thinking. "Well, I've done it. And I reserve the right to say what I want on the public notice. As far as I'm concerned, He really is 'The King of the Jews'--the only sort of king you crazy people deserve! This is what I've done to Him, and this is what I'd be happy to do to the whole lot of you!"

Wright continues:

Once again we must listen to what John is telling us, as Jesus goes to His death. Remember how Caiaphas had said more than he had known when he spoke, callously, about one man dying for the people (John 11:49-50). Remember how Jesus had been approaches by some Greeks, and how in His comment on their request He had said that when He was "lifted up from the earth" He would "draw all people to Himself" (John 12:32). Remember how Peter had declared that he would lay down his life for Jesus, and how Jesus had gently questioned whether he'd got that idea the right way round (John 13:37-38). Bring all that together, stand at the foot of the cross and look up at the notice that Pilate had written. What do you see?

Warren Wiersbe, in his The Bible Exposition Commentary, answers that question this way: "Pilate wrote a "gospel tract" when he prepared this title, for one of the thieves discovered that Jesus was King, and he asked entrance into His kingdom."

The second part of this narrative describes the soldiers gambling for Jesus' belongings. A Roman squad of four soldiers was responsible for overseeing the crucifixion. William Barclay writes, "Every Jew wore five articles of apparel--his shoes, his turban, his girdle (or belt), his tunic and his outer robe. There were four soldiers and there were five articles. They diced for them, each had his pick and the inner tunic was left. To have cut it into four pieces would have been to render it useless, and so they diced again to see who would possess it."

An astute student of Scripture will immediately see a fulfillment of the prophecy in Psalm 22. Centuries before the Jewish people had even heard of crucifixion, David wrote these words: "They pierced My hands and My feet; I can count all My bones. They look and stare at Me. They divide My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots" (Psalm 22: 16b-18).

Do you see the theme here? All throughout Scripture there are clues, snippets of things to come, predictions of suffering and death, all culminating in the death of God's own Son. I think William Barclay puts it best:

But there is something half-hidden here (in John's account). Jesus' tunic is described as being without seam, woven in one piece from top to bottom. That is the precise description of the linen tunic which the High Priest wore. Let us remember that the function of the priest was to be a liaison between God and man. The Latin for priest is pontifex, which means bridge-builder, and the priest was to build a bridge between God and man. No one ever did that as Jesus did. He is the High Priest through whom men come to God. Again and again we have seen that there are two meanings in so many of John's statements, a meaning which lies on the surface, and a deeper inner meaning. When John tells us of the seamless tunic of Jesus it is not just a description of the kind of clothes that Jesus wore; it is something which tells us that Jesus is the perfect priest, opening the perfect way for all men to the presence of God.

When the Jews protested to Pilate to change the wording on the charge, he refused. Pilate said, "I have written what I have written." From this side of history, we can hear the Word of God echoing through time, "I told you so."

NT Wright says this:

John doesn't need to do more than give the briefest description of the gambling at the foot of the cross, and to draw our attention to the psalm in question. He leaves us to think through the implication. Jesus is the fulfillment of prophecy and sacred song. He is the righteous sufferer. He is the true King. He is the one through whose shameful death the weight of Israel's sin, and behind that the sin of the whole world, is being dealt with. The King of the Jews is God's chosen sacrifice, not merely to rule the world but to redeem it.

This is what is meant by the words Lamb of God. John's gospel begins by describing Jesus as the Word. He quotes John the Baptist as saying of Jesus, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world." A lamb is born for sacrifice. God sent His own Son to be that sacrifice for us. We need only to place our faith and trust in Him to save us from our sins.

Jesus was crucified between two sinners. One believed and was saved. The other ridiculed and was lost for all eternity. These two men represent all of humanity. Which one are you?