The culmination of Holy Week leads us to the final three days of Jesus, beginning at sundown on Thursday and concluding at sundown on Easter Sunday. Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter Morning are the major players. The crucifixion, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus form the heart of our meditations.
If you hover above the gospel of Luke, you’ll look down and see Luke make some variation of this statement over and over again: “he set his face to go toward Jerusalem,” “he was on his way to Jerusalem,” “he was going up to Jerusalem,” etc. The structure of Luke’s gospel is formed around Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem. And in chapter 9, he tells his disciples why they’re on the road to the holy city: “The Son of Man must suffer many things…and be killed, and on the third day be raised” (Lk 9:22).
Some look at Jesus and see a great man. He’s crafty and creative with his parables and he’s good with children. Who wouldn’t like him? But those who only see a nice man and a great teacher can only see in the cross a tragedy. Yet Luke leaves no room for doubt. Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem to die. And the whole gospel takes us with him as he walks to the cross.
So the question is WHY? Why did he come to die? You could spend a lifetime searching the Scriptures to answer that question. And it would be a well-spent life. But the whole storyline of the Bible and the great doctrines of sacrifice, substitution, forgiveness, divine wrath and love and compassion are pithily summed up in Jesus’ last 7 sayings as he hangs on the tree.
The Cross is About God
Both Matthew and Mark only record one thing that Jesus says. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me” (Matt 27:46; Mk 15:34). Jesus is quoting Psalm 22:1. He’s in despair, exile, darkness, the valley of the shadow of death. He feels the crushing weight of sin. He is dying as a sacrifice in our place. He’s bearing the wrath of God in our place. And it was the decision of God. It takes us back to Isaiah 53. “It was the will of the Lord to crush him.”
Now, we do not believe that the Father had uncontrollable anger that he decided to take out on Jesus. Rather, God the Father, Son, and Spirit together in their holiness, and goodness, and justice would not leave sin unpunished. They would not sweep it under the rug. So the Triune God determined that the Son would come, take on human flesh, to live as fully God and fully man, and to die as a substitute for us. He willingly laid down his life and felt the crushing weight of divine wrath against our sin, corruption, and brokenness. The Triune God’s punishment of sin, grounded in his perfection and justice, fell on Jesus, the willing Lamb.
And yet, behind the justice and holiness of God is love. In order that God might lavish mercy, grace, and forgiveness upon us while maintaining his justice, the cross was necessary. Yet why did God desire to lavish that mercy, grace, and forgiveness? Sheer love. No one twisted the arm of God. “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8). “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us…” (Eph 2:4). “For God so loved the world that he gave his only son” (Jn 3:16). The unforced love of God determined to make a way for sinners to become the bride of Christ. Mercy and forgiveness would make a bride fit for the Son. And justice would be upheld through the substitutionary sacrifice of the infinitely perfect Lamb of God. God’s burning wrath and righteous anger against sin, mercy towards sinners, love for his creation, and perfection in justice and holiness all collide at the cross. Justice was upheld while mercy was freely given.
The Cross is for Sinners
Luke records three more sayings of Jesus on the cross. The first one, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Lk 23:34). So we see that even as Jesus feels the weight of divine wrath, he is also still in perfect communion with his Father. He prays. He looks down from that cross, and he sees poor wretched sinners. Father, forgive them. The selfless love, compassion, and mercy of Jesus are on inconceivable display. He prays for his enemies.
On the left side of Jesus, and on the right, two criminals hang on their own crosses, who actually deserve to die, unlike Jesus. One of them believes in Jesus. He believes that Jesus is a king, ready to inherit his kingdom. So he turns to Jesus with his dying breath and says, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom” (Lk 23:42).
Jesus responds, “Truly, I say unto you, today you will be with me in paradise” (Lk 23:43). Jesus’ general prayer that God will forgive the sinners around him is answered in his specific encounter with the thief. And what comfort to know that Jesus saves those who cry out to him, any time, any where, at any stage of life, even to their dying breath.
The final word of Jesus in Luke, “Father, into your hands I commend my Spirit” (Lk 23:46). Jesus quotes Psalm 31. He fulfills the Scriptures. He dies in the hands of his Father. We see another glimpse into the unity of Father and Son. The cross was their plan, and it was for our salvation. Jesus dies in the unfailing grip of his Father-Shepherd.
The Cross Reveals the Heart of Jesus
So we turn to John. Jesus looked down and saw his mother and his beloved disciple. And he said, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” (Jn 19:26-27). Even while Jesus is hanging on the cross dying, he is caring for his friends and family. Again we see the total selflessness of Jesus even as he dies. He left us an example of unmatchable love in both his life and his death.
Then he says, “I thirst” (Jn 19:28). They filled a sponge with vinegar wine and lifted it to his lips. The same pattern was prophesied in Psalm 69. Jesus fulfills the Scriptures. He is the Messiah-Savior that all the prophecies pointed to. We’re reminded as well of the humanity of Jesus. His thirst in death reveals the desperation he experienced in dying as a man. He assumed our human flesh that he might suffer and die and so sympathize with our every weakness and anguish.
The last words of Jesus, “it is finished” (Jn 19:30). The mission of the Son is finished. He came for us and for our salvation. Take these seven words together and see the tapestry of heaven’s grace, angel’s food for our nourishment on this Holy Saturday. He came to die for the sins of the world, to bear the wrath and forsakenness of God in our place as our substitute, to demonstrate his amazing love and grace, his mercy and compassion, and to leave us an example, to take up our crosses and follow behind him who dies praying for his enemies. Because he has made atonement and saved us by grace through faith, like that thief beside him, and because he has died in our place, like Barabbas who goes free, we are freed from guilt and given confidence to walk in his steps. Sit beneath Jesus on the cross and feast on the words from his mouth.
Morning Renewal 