Lesson 64 - Junior

Memory Verse

"God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).

Notes

The Procession to Calvary

Jesus was condemned to death by crucifixion, the most cruel and shameful manner of death His enemies could think of. He had done nothing worthy of death; but because the Jews were jealous of Him, they took this means of removing Him from their midst.

The world has never seen another such procession as wended its way out of the city to Mount Calvary. The Son of God, despised by men, went out "bearing his cross." He was followed by a mob of men who hated, mocked, and beat Him. There were also some, mostly women, who followed Him in mourning. They wept because of the shameful treatment that was being accorded the Lord; and when He saw them, Jesus told them not to weep over Him, but to consider the terrible suffering that was going to come upon the Israelites because of this grievous crime.

Jesus was worn out because of all that He had suffered, and fell under the weight of the cross. If you had been there, would you not have wanted to help Him bear the cross? No one came to lend Him aid, so Simon, a man from another country, who was passing by, was forced to carry the cross up the hill. May we bear His Cross gladly!

When the mob reached the top of the hill, Jesus was laid upon the cross, and nails were driven through His hands and feet; then the cross was lifted for everyone to see Christ's humiliation. Two thieves were crucified at the same time, fulfilling the Scripture: "And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death" (Isaiah 53:9).

Scriptures Fulfilled

It is an inspiration to see how perfectly Christ fulfilled the prophecies that had been made about Him. We shall list a few. A disciple betrayed Him: "Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me" (Psalm 41:9). He was betrayed for thirty pieces of silver, and the money was returned and used as a burying ground for the poor: "So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver. . . . And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the LORD" (Zechariah 11:12, 13). Jesus was beaten with the lash and abused: "I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting" (Isaiah 50:6). He did not answer His accusers nor try to defend Himself: "He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth" (Isaiah 53:7). Nails were driven through His hands and feet: "They pierced my hands and my feet" (Psalm 22:16). The Jews, His own people, crucified Him: "And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends" (Zechariah 13:6). Even the vinegar He was given to drink while on the cross had been predicted: "They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink" (Psalm 69:21). There are many other such prophecies; and if the scribes and Pharisees had wanted to believe on Jesus, they would have known that He was the Messiah, for He said, "Search the scriptures; . . . they are they which testify of me" (John 5:39).

Convulsions of Nature

Jesus was nailed to the cross at nine o'clock in the morning, and at noon darkness came upon the earth. From noon until three in the afternoon it was very dark. People who passed and saw the sign on the cross "THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS," laughed at Him and taunted Him with the words, "He saved others; himself he cannot save." Jesus had the power to save Himself, but He would not have fulfilled redemptions plan if He had come down from the cross. Jesus was the Son of God, and for that reason He stayed on the cross to pay the price to redeem us to God. He alone could pay that price.

At three o'clock, the time of the evening sacrifice, there was an earthquake, and great rocks were broken. All nature became agitated as its Creator hung between Heaven and earth, suffering cruel death at the hands of wicked men. Then people began to realise that Jesus was more than a man, but it was too late to take Him down He had already breathed His last. In that final hour He suffered His greatest agony.

The Father turned His face because He could not look upon the sins of the world the Son was bearing there. Jesus cried out, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"

The Veil Rent

At the moment Christ died, the veil of the Temple was rent from the top to the bottom. This veil is said to have been woven an inch thick, and could never have been torn except by supernatural hands. The veil was hung at the entrance into the Holy of Holies, an inner room that only the High Priest could enter, and he only once a year, on the day of Atonement. He must bear the blood of a lamb sacrificed for the sins of the people. When the veil of the Temple was rent, the way was opened for everyone to enter into the Holiest of All, to make their petitions directly to God instead of having a priest pray for them. When Christ died He became our High Priest, bearing His own Blood before God for our sins. When we pray to the Father, we pray in Jesus' name, and ask that the Blood He shed be applied to our hearts. Thus we gain redemption, salvation from our sins, through the Blood of Jesus.

Questions

1. Where was Jesus crucified? With whom?

2. Who bore the cross up the mountain?

3. What happened between noon and three o'clock?

4. What time did Jesus die, and what else happened at the same hour?

5. How must we pray to the Father for salvation?