Search
Whenever the Holy Spirit touches me to consider how the Lord Jesus Christ died for me, a sinner, so that I could be free from the punishment of sin and have eternal life, I thank Him with tears for His grace. What suffering my Lord endured on the cross! "O my Lord, how piteous You were to die on lonely Calvary for my sins!"
The Lord Jesus was the God of glory in heaven. He was the Most Holy One. He did not have to die, and He could not die. But He had compassion for the sinners of the world. He came into this sinful world and took the form of a man. He stood in the position of a sinner and suffered the punishment which sinners deserve. He died so that we may have life. What love is this! Sins were committed by us, the sinners. Evils were done by us, the evil doers. But the punishment of sin, the suffering of hell, fell on the Lord Jesus Christ! What is this? This is substitution, this is love, and this is grace. O sinners, do you know that your sin has crucified the lovely Lord Jesus? I wish that you knew this and that through the love of the Lord Jesus, you would right now be moved to believe in this kind Savior.
When the Lord Jesus was incarnated into the world, He was born in a manger because there was no room for Him in the inn. How desolate and sad this is! But even today many people have no room for Christ in their hearts. The Bible records that after He was born, they wrapped Him in swaddling clothes and laid Him in a manger. How cold were the swaddling clothes! How hard was the manger! Is this the portion an honorable guest from heaven deserves from the hand of the world? As the Most High Lord, He did not have to come into such a situation. Since He loved you and me, He bore the suffering of this birth. Alas! Our sins afflicted Him.
He lived on this earth for over thirty years, without coming out from under the shadow of the cross for even a day. He had no settled home or the luxury of a settled meal. Day by day He had no rest, but He was leading the world to believe in His coming death and to have the eternal blessing. While He lived on earth, nothing could refresh His heart. Although His disciples gave Him brief moments of joy, their doubt and ignorance and the world's unbelief and opposition, continually caused Him groaning and heartbreak. He realized that the world was hardened in its heart and could not be turned back. The result was His weeping over Jerusalem. He wept not only for that sinful city, but also for the rebellious hearts of today. O Lord, You became such a One because of my sin! If You did not love me, why did You suffer so many offenses from sinners? While the foxes had holes and the birds of the air had nests, the Son of Man, who loved us, had no place to lay His head! Why did He put Himself into such a situation? He did so only because He loved us. The sins we committed caused Him to suffer all this. In order to save us, He suffered hunger and cold, bearing insults and shame. For our sake He was often hungry and thirsty, traveling everywhere, and eventually dying on the cross. Oh, how great is this grace! Pitiful Savior! How detestable are my sins! You are truly my Savior! I am willing to believe in You.
Although Christ's sufferings on earth were hard to bear, they were relatively easy compared to His suffering on the cross, where He bore our sins for us. His suffering in His daily life was a foreshadowing of Calvary. He came, not to live, but to die. He came to die for us, that we might live. O sinners, you must realize that if it were not for your sins, the Lord Jesus would not have had to die, and He would not have died. What a pity that we are sinners. He came to die for us. Hard-hearted sinners, will you receive the Lord Jesus as your Savior? He has died for you. Why would you ignore Him?
Remember the night He was in Gethsemane. The night weather was very cold. Many people sat and warmed themselves at the fire (Mark 14:54). During such a cold night, your Savior was outside in the garden, praying earnestly. Even "His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down upon the ground" (Luke 22:44). What kind of scene is this? Do not laugh, and do not relax! Do not be indifferent, and do not be stubborn! Christ was this way because of your sins and because of my sins. It was as if God had begun putting our sins on Him already in the garden. The shadow of the cross came over Christ completely at that time. He was full of sorrow and pain, and in agony His sweat became like drops of blood. Oh, how I wish that you would know the suffering of sweating drops like blood! It was as if He saw, at that moment, all the sin and evil of the world, the awesomeness of God's wrath, and Himself in the midst of them both. This was a foreshadowing of His bearing man's sin and God's wrath. Because of this He suffered such pain. Yet these were merely shadows of His coming crucifixion. But even while they were shadows, Lord, Your suffering was great.
Look! His captors came! He could have asked the Father to send twelve legions of angels to rescue Him, yet for the sake of saving us, He was willing to be arrested and have His hands bound. The Old Testament records that the angel of the Lord smote over one hundred thousand Assyrians (Isa. 37:36). One legion totals over six thousand. Surely twelve legions of angels is a large number! The power of twelve legions of angels would be great! On that day they could have easily slaughtered all the people of Jerusalem! But because He wanted to be our Savior, He bore the insults and was willing to be taken in order to die such a death. Was God taken away by man? Yes, because He wanted to save man. The God of heaven wanted to save the world, so He was willing to be taken like a thief by man! All of this was because of your sin and mine!
Behold, the Son of God taken away by man! First, He was taken to the high priest, Annas. There our Savior was struck by the hand of an ignorant servant! Why did He suffer such an offense from sinners? Because He wanted to save us from perdition and give us eternal life! Our sins afflicted Him!
Then men took Christ, bound, from Annas to Caiaphas. The Bible says that He was bound as a criminal. He stood in the position of a sinner, and He suffered what sinners deserve, in order to save them. When He was before the high priest, "they spit in His face and beat Him with their fists, and others slapped Him" (Matt. 26:67). Did He commit any sin? No one could convict Him of sins. He endured this treatment for no other reason than our sin!
Later, men brought our loving Lord Jesus to the council for another trial. There He suffered many malicious offenses and unbearable pain from the world! He wants to save us, the sinners, so He suffered to this extent. We inflicted these sufferings on Him!
The world mistreated Him without a cause. But it did not stop here. They did not give up until they had put Him to death. He was delivered to Pontius Pilate the governor and was maligned with the crime of rebellion. But God proved His Son's guiltlessness through Pontius Pilate. Three times the governor repeated that He was innocent. Why, then, was He crucified? He was found guiltless. Why should a guiltless One need to suffer punishment for sin? There is no other reason than that there are sins in the world, and the world is sinful. "Him who did not know sin He made sin on our behalf that we might become the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Cor. 5:21). The sinless Jesus Christ was crucified because of your sins. Will you still harden your heart and refuse to receive Him as your Savior? O Lord, have pity on us!
In order to absolve himself of any responsibility, Pilate delivered the Lord Jesus to Herod. There He suffered the despising and mockery of the soldiers. They put a scarlet robe on Him. Did they respect the Lord Jesus? No! The Bible says that they mocked Him. O Savior Jesus, my sin afflicted You! You endured the insults and bore the shame because You love me. I want to believe in You and love You this very moment! Finally, they took the Lord Jesus back into the common hall of the governor. My dear sinners, do you realize that He never closed His eyelids during the long night until daybreak? He was bound by men and taken here and there. He was dragged over many miles through the night. How unbearable was the grinding He suffered! He bore it all because He loves you and He loves me. Although Pilate acknowledged His innocence, he crucified Him in the end against the law.
"And Pilate...scourged Jesus and delivered Him up to be crucified" (Mark 15:15). "Scourging" seems to be a common word, but how much suffering is involved! What does it mean? A Roman whip had a wooden handle and at the end of the wooden handle were many leather thongs. At the end of each thong were heavy metal pieces. The victim would be tied to a wooden stake, with his back bared to the whipper who held the wooden handle and whipped with the leather thongs. Three stripes alone could rip open the victim's body. For our sins, the glorious Christ suffered scourging on our behalf. Did the cruel Roman soldiers care about our Savior? No, they were just like all the other sinners. "Swift are their feet to shed blood" (Rom. 3:15). How sad that our Lord Jesus was put into their hands. But thank God! "By whose bruise you were healed" (1 Pet. 2:24). You who are wounded and sick in soul, come with haste to be healed, for He has already received the bruise.
"And they clothed Him in purple and wove a thorny crown and put it around His head. And they began to salute Him: Rejoice, King of the Jews!" (Mark 15:17-18). This kind of mocking and jeering was intolerable and shameful! The world did not give the Lord Jesus a glorious crown but a crown of thorns. The Lord Jesus bore the curse for us! He wore a crown of thorns which come from the curse of the world's sins. How pointed and sharp were those thorns! How could His perfect forehead endure such piercing? Yes, He was willing to endure pain and shed His blood because He knew that if He did not suffer, we would perish forever.
"And they beat His head with a reed" (Mark 15:19). The Lord Jesus had a crown of thorns. Surely, this smiting with a reed would push the thorns into His flesh more deeply. As God, Jesus Christ had never experienced this manner of piercing pain. He took man's place and died on the cross because of His love for man, saving man from the eternal perdition of the lake of fire. For this reason, He endured such unspeakable suffering. The soldiers, as instruments of the world's sins, not only afflicted Christ's body, but even afflicted His soul. They "spat at Him. And kneeling down, they bowed before Him" (Mark 15:19). After they finished mocking Him, they led Him away to be crucified.
There a soldier offered Jesus wine, mingled with gall and myrrh, to drink. It is said that if one drank this wine, the pain of crucifixion would be lessened. But our Savior would not drink it. He did not escape any suffering. He had already counted the cost before He came. He was full of love for all the sinners of the world. He was willing to bear all the affliction and all the punishment for our sins. He tasted death for sinners once for all that we might have eternal life. He was willing to take the place of sinners by tasting all the bitterness of the punishment of sins, so that sinners might have the joy of His righteousness.
At Calvary men crucified Him. Did just the Roman soldiers and Jewish council crucify Jesus Christ? In reality our sins crucified Him! A cross is constructed of a horizontal and a vertical piece of wood. The soldiers laid the Lord Jesus on the cross, propped open His hand, and nailed His hand to the wood with large iron nails. His flesh was broken, His blood flowed, and the pain pierced His inward parts! The same was done to His other hand and feet! Then they erected the cross, and all the weight of the Lord's body hung on those iron nails! Was God too severe in judging the Lord Jesus this way? No! The sins of the world are truly heavy! Our sins are numerous! The proper punishment for sins is eternal suffering in hell. The suffering of the Lord Jesus on the cross was what we sinners should have suffered. God's judgment of Him was not too severe because we should have suffered such punishment. The work of the Lord Jesus' death for sinners is accomplished. Therefore, "He who believes into Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe has been condemned already, because he has not believed into the name of the only begotten Son of God" (John 3:18). Our sins are like iron nails; they have crucified the Lord Jesus. When the Lord was crucified on the cross, He bled, and His blood soaked the iron nails. Our sin has crucified Him, but His blood covers our sin! This is salvation, yes, what a salvation! "And the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from every sin" (1 John 1:7b).
The Lord Jesus was lifted up on the cross. Sinners, look at His blood-like sweat! Look at His forehead, bleeding from the piercing of thorns! Look at the blood on His back from the stripes! Look at the blood on His hands and feet! Look at the blood beneath His arms! Look at the blood from His whole body! Oh, look at the blood from His very heart! "Without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness" (Heb. 9:22b). This bleeding Savior can forgive your sins. Why do you delay? Do not be cheated by thinking that He bled and suffered only as a pattern for man. The Lord Jesus Himself said, "For this is My blood of the covenant, which is being poured out for many for forgiveness of sins" (Matt. 26:28). Please do not misunderstand; He shed His blood in your stead, and He was crucified in your place. All the suffering He endured was to bear your sins. "For Christ also has suffered once for sins, the Righteous on behalf of the unrighteous, that He might bring you to God" (1 Pet. 3:18). "Who Himself bore up our sins in His body on the tree" (2:24). Sinners, if you are oppressed by sin, where are your sins? Will you bear them by yourself or hand them over to Christ? You must remember well: the death of Christ is a death for you. He loves you. Do not harden your heart. You should consider His sufferings so that, on the one hand, you may know His love and, on the other hand, realize the suffering of the coming judgment if you do not believe in Him.
We have mentioned the suffering in His body. The suffering in His heart was not any less! His disciples escaped and hid. Some cheated and betrayed Him, and some denied Him! How lonesome He was as He hung on the cross. He tread the winepress alone! No one had compassion on Him. It was a dark scene indeed! He is God, the Most Holy One, who hates sin to the uttermost. But He bore the sins of the world; He was made sin for the world. No one can fully understand such humiliation. On the one hand, Satan and his evil demons mocked Him. "If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross!" (Matt. 27:40). On the other hand, God abandoned Him. "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" (Matt. 27:46). What a desolate scene! Friends, God hates sins even if they are upon His only begotten Son, who was bearing the sins of others. God cannot tolerate sin. He had to forsake His Son even when He was bearing the sins of others. God also has to forsake sinful sinners. If you will not receive Christ as your Savior, you will be forsaken by God forever. O Lord Jesus, the suffering which You endured on the cross is beyond my mind to fathom. O Lord, You suffered to the uttermost. How pitiful You were! I want to receive You as my Savior today.
Psalm 22 describes the suffering of the Lord Jesus on the cross. David, in his experience, prophesied of the Lord's suffering. Verses 11 through 18 say, "Trouble is near, / For there is none to help me." This speaks of the scattering of the disciples. "Many bulls surround me, / The mighty bulls of Bashan encompass me. / They open their mouth at me, / Like a ravening and roaring lion." This was the rampage of Satan and his forces against the Lord. It could have been through men. "I am poured out like water." Isaiah 53:12 also says, "He poured out His soul unto death." What a suffering to pour out one's life in such a way! "All my bones are out of joint. / My heart is like wax." This describes His suffering as He hung on the cross. His heart was broken. "My strength is dried up like a shard, / And my tongue is stuck to my jaws; / You have put me in the dust of death." This was the judgment of God's flaming wrath on Him at the cross. This was also bearing man's suffering in the lake of fire. At this time, He said, "I thirst." If you compare this with the rich man's unbearable thirst in Hades, you will begin to realize the suffering of the Lord Jesus. "For dogs surround me; / A congregation of evildoers encloses me." This describes the scene around the cross. "They pierce my hands and feet." This refers to nailing His hands and feet. The Son of God was crucified on a cross! "I count all my bones." This shows the suffering of being nailed on the cross. "They divide my garments to themselves, / And for my clothing they cast lots." This was fully fulfilled on Calvary. I hope that whoever reads these few lines will ponder over these verses from the Bible until the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus becomes a vivid reality before their eyes. Alas, His death was the most cruel death in the history of the world. No one ever died as He did! Because He was full of compassion to redeem all sinners, He died such a death. Readers, if the punishment of the lake of fire cannot cause you to fear, you should be moved by the love He demonstrated on the cross and receive Him.
Now salvation is accomplished! You do not need to do anything. The Lord Jesus has completed the work of salvation for you. He paid the entire price so that you could receive a free salvation. You do not have to pay anything.
He came down from heaven so that you could ascend to heaven.
He bore the offenses of sinners so that you could obtain God's acceptance.
He was forsaken by God for a time so that you could be welcomed by God forever.
He became poor so that you might become rich.
He died on the cross so that you might live in heaven eternally.
What love can be greater than this? Sinners, please do not remain hard-hearted, and do not delay. This is the moment you should come swiftly to Him. He has not given up hope for you.
"Surely He has borne our sicknesses, / And carried our sorrows; / Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, / Smitten of God and afflicted. / But He was pierced because of our transgressions; / He was crushed because of our iniquities; / The chastening for our peace was upon Him, / And by His stripes we have been healed. / We all like sheep have gone astray; / Each of us has turned to his own way, / And Jehovah has caused the iniquity of us all / To fall on Him" (Isa. 53:4-6).
"What must I do to be saved?...Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved" (Acts 16:30-31).
