In our passage today, we will observe "Jesus Christ and him crucified" (1 Cor. 2:2), a stunning event. Christianity is not centered upon tenets, doctrines, beliefs, or behaviors but on the events of Jesus Christ's death, burial, and resurrection. These events lead to tenets, doctrines, beliefs, and behaviors, but the events are the starting place. Without Jesus' cross, there is no Christianity. Without his resurrection, there is no hope. Why was Jesus crucified? 1. To Fulfill God's Plan

16 And the soldiers led him away inside the palace (that is, the governor’s headquarters), and they called together the whole battalion. 17 And they clothed him in a purple cloak, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on him. 18 And they began to salute him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 19 And they were striking his head with a reed and spitting on him and kneeling down in homage to him. 20 And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. And they led him out to crucify him. 21 And they compelled a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross.

Crucifixion Procession The crucifixion routine the Romans developed was down to a science. It was a major intimidation tool over the nations they had subjugated. So when they crucified someone, they were sure to get their money's worth. After flogging Jesus and mocking his kingship by giving him a fake scepter, a crown of thorns, and royal colors on his back (18-19, Matthew 27:29), they proceeded to the site where he would be crucified. One thing they did was take the long route to the crucifixion site, forcing the condemned to carry their crossbeam. The upright post was permanently fixed at the crucifixion site, but the horizontal beam, which could have weighed around a hundred pounds, had to be carried by the convicted criminal. And, as they carried the crossbeam, surrounded by a four-man Roman death squad, they took the long way to their death. They traversed every side street and forgotten alleyway in an attempt to preach the message of Rome's power. Simon, the Disciple Mark tells us the crucifixion squad had to compel Simon of Cyrene to carry Jesus' cross when they saw that he was too weak to. A Jewish pilgrim from a faraway land, this might have been Simon’s one Passover in Jerusalem, a dream come true. But what appeared as an annoying inconvenience to Simon—a disruption to his dream vacation—ended up being the greatest blessing. Mark calls Simon the father of Alexander and Rufus, indicating that the Roman church knew both figures (21, Romans 16:13). From this, we can deduce that something powerful happened to Simon that day. Up close and personal with the suffering savior, Simon submitted his life to Christ, eventually leading his sons into the faith. It makes me wonder how often we are interrupted and inconvenienced for Christ, but in ways that are good for our souls. How often does he allow a divine interruption to align us with his will?

22 And they brought him to the place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull). 23 And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. 24 And they crucified him and divided his garments among them, casting lots for them, to decide what each should take. 25 And it was the third hour when they crucified him. 26 And the inscription of the charge against him read, “The King of the Jews.” 27 And with him they crucified two robbers, one on his right and one on his left. ([NASB95] 28 And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And He was numbered with transgressors.”)

It was the third hour when they crucified Jesus, which means it was 9 AM. They had to post a criminal charge against him on the cross, so they made a sign that said he was "The King of the Jews" (26). He was crucified for the fable of insurrection. Two robbers were also crucified with him (27). 1. To Fulfill God's Plan This all fulfilled God's plan according to various prophecies from the Old Testament. They crucified him because Psalm 22 said they would kill him by piercing his hands and feet (Psalm 22:16). He was crucified between two criminals because Isaiah 53 said he would be counted among the rebels (Isaiah 53:12). He was offered drinks while on the cross because Psalm 69 said they would give him vinegar to drink (Psalm 69:21). The soldiers rolled dice for his clothing because Psalm 22 said they would divide his garments by casting lots (Psalm 22:18). Later in our passage, people will challenge him to come down from the cross because Psalm 22 had also prophesied people would challenge him to deliver himself by God's power while on the cross (Psalm 22:6-8). As we will see, the sun would darken during Jesus' death because Amos had said the sun would go down at noon the day the Messiah died (Amos 8:9). And a wealthy man would bury him because Isaiah 53 said he would be buried with the rich in his death (Isaiah 53:9). All this is meant to help us recall that Jesus was fulfilling God's plan when he went to the cross. Immediately after our forefather Adam introduced sin to our species, God told Satan that he would:

Genesis 3:15 (ESV) — 15: "...put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” That promise kicked off many more over the years—to Seth, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, and David that the deliverer would come one day. The events surrounding Jesus' crucifixion help us know Jesus is the promised figure. He was crucified to fulfill God's plan. 2. To Save Us

29 And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, “Aha! You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, 30 save yourself, and come down from the cross!” 31 So also the chief priests with the scribes mocked him to one another, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. 32 Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe.” Those who were crucified with him also reviled him.

Paul called Jesus' crucifixion a stumbling block -- and here we see why (1 Corinthians 1:23). How could the God of all flesh, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the Ultimate Sovereign, and Judge of all mankind, be pinned naked to a Roman cross to suffer and die alone? The religious leaders said Jesus saved others, but that he could not save himself (30, 32). They wanted him to prove he was the Christ by coming down from the cross so they could see and believe (32). But if Jesus had come down from the cross to save himself, he could not save them. If Jesus rescued himself, he could not rescue you. If he'd called upon legions of angels to destroy the seen and unseen authorities and powers of that day, we would still be bound by the authorities and powers of our day. There would be nothing to see and believe if Jesus got off the cross. But -- praise be to God -- he endured on his cross. Jesus died to save us. Until you believe humanity needs salvation, you will have nothing to do with the real Jesus. You might like his example or miracles or a surface understanding of his teachings, but you won't like the cross. And the cross is why he came. He came to save. Mankind is dead in trespasses and sins, lost and wandering from God's original intentions, and blinded to the truth regarding God, ourselves, and our destiny. We are eternally separated from God by our sinful imperfection because he is sinless and perfect. And, due to all this, our destiny is fraught with danger and peril. We are doomed. Jesus came to save us from looming destruction. Trust in him. 3. To Consume Our Darkness

33 And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. 34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Mark tells us there were three hours of darkness while Jesus was on the cross. He had already been on the cross for three hours when darkness descended upon the land from noon to 3 o'clock. Many have debated this darkness, excusing it as a solar eclipse or a dust storm. But a three-hour eclipse, especially during the full moon of the Passover, is impossible, and a dust storm seems unlikely. God brought supernatural darkness upon Egypt in the Old Testament and will bring it again in the end times' tribulation (Revelation 16:10). So it isn't hard to imagine he brought darkness upon the land while the Son died on the cross. And this darkness fits. When God brought the plagues upon Egypt in Exodus, darkness was the next-to-last plague, followed by the Passover. Who died in the Passover? All firstborn sons whose homes had no blood of the sacrificial lamb on their door. On this night, right before Jesus gave up his spirit, right before the firstborn Son of God died, right before the Lamb of God there to take away the sin of the world died, darkness came upon the land. When Jesus cried out, he was praying the first sentence of Psalm 22 (Psalm 22:1), a Messianic psalm about the cross. I think he was alerting his disciples to go and read it, where they would find the specific details of his crucifixion predicted by a bygone era. But Jesus was also praying. The words of the Psalm perfectly captured his experience in that moment. For eternity, the Father, Son, and Spirit had danced in unison and unity. Love flowed. Joy enveloped. The rhythm of heaven was one of oneness. But now that oneness was no more. Abruptly, enduring the darkness of that day, Jesus felt alone, cut out of the dance. But why? For you and me. Jesus was betrayed in the dark, his trials were in the dark, and now we see that his cross was in the dark. And Jesus was consuming our darkness when he experienced that darkness. For the first and only time, he was separated from the Father God so God could become our Father. The Bible often alludes to hell as a place of complete darkness (Jude 13) -- and Jesus consumed our hell so he could bring us to his heaven. He took our darkness so we could be transferred to God's light. Next week, we will examine three more reasons in our passage that Jesus was crucified.