Why Did Christ Suffer?

Have you ever stopped to ask yourself, why did God choose Joseph and Mary to be Christ's parents?

What qualities did they have that made them the ideal couple to be able to raise the Son of God? If you'd been alive back then, who would you have chosen? What criteria would you have judged them by? Joseph was probably a little older than Mary. Let's go over to Matthew 1, verse 18, where we get a little insight into his character.

Matthew 1, verse 18.

It says, now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows. After his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, and remember they had a process where you would be actually considered married, but they never came together. There was a waiting period. So she was betrothed to Joseph. Before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. Now, this had never happened in history. So what was Joseph supposed to think? Mary's pregnant. She's my wife. She's been pulling around.

There wasn't anything else, any other conclusion he might come to.

But notice verse 19, what it says about Joseph. Then Joseph, her husband, being a just man and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. So he wasn't going to humiliate her. He wasn't going to go to the tabloids, hold a press conference. He wasn't going to spread the word around on the street. He was going to secretly put her away. But you'll see here it says that he was a just man, or as the margin says, an upright man. And he wasn't going to make a public example. So it gives you a clue as to his character. He was upright. He was a just individual. Now in verse 20, it says, But while he thought about these saints, beholden angel the Lord appeared in him in a dream. St. Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you, Mary your wife, for what is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. That means Savior. He was going to be a Savior. For he will save his people from their sins. So notice even before the baby was born, God had revealed to Joseph and Mary that Jesus Christ was going to save his people from their sins. So what was he going to do? Why would this child save people from their sins? Now you go on and you read here in verse 23. Well, verse 22 says, All this was done that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, Behold, the virgin shall be with child, bear his son. They shall call his name Emmanuel, which is translated God with us. So God came to the earth and was born in human form. And so you find that Joseph did not know his wife until after she had born Jesus Christ. And again, that shows you a little bit about his character and what he was made of. So what you find, Mary was a virgin. That means that she had not fooled around. She obviously was a woman of high morals, high standards. Both of them were because they had to train Jesus Christ. From the time he was a little baby until he was on his own, they had to be responsible for training him, teaching him, guiding him, and that he was going to be a king, he was going to be a Savior. And they had a responsibility in that. You might remember back in Hebrews 4 verse 15, a summary statement. Hebrews chapter 4 verse 15 about Christ says, Where we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are. Every area you can think of of being tempted, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life. He was yet without sin.

What of Christ's parents? What if his dad had been a drunker, an alcoholic? What if he beat Mary all the time? What if Mary had been a harlot? Or what if they were going over to the local bar all the time, pull their son in with them, and you had him, you know, here, you go ahead and have a drink also? What if they had been a terrible example? What impact might that have had upon Jesus Christ and his development? See, as Christ grew, he had to develop his personality, he had to develop his character, he had developed his skills, his talents, his leadership, his love, his courage, his dedication, his commitment. Everything you can think of as all of us with children. You find that Christ had to go through that. Now, let's take a look at Jesus Christ when he was age 12. Go over to Luke 2.

Luke chapter 2.

And let's pick the story up in verse 40. Luke chapter 2 and verse 40. There's not much written about Christ, his early life, but here we get a glimpse. It says, the child grew, so that means he began to grow 5, 10, you know, and so on, up to 12 here, and he became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him.

So even by the age 12, Christ was filled with God's spirit. It says he was strong. Now, he had one advantage that you and I don't. He had the spirit from his birth. You know, God was in him, leading, guiding, directing him from his birth. Now, he could have turned his back on that. He could have sloughed off. He could have not prayed, not studied. He could have just gone out and said, I'm going to go fishing, something of that nature, but he didn't do that. He was also filled with wisdom.

Where did he get that wisdom? Obviously, it came from God. It came from studying the Word of God, the Scriptures, and verse 41 says, his parents went up to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover, and when he was 12 years old, they went up to Jerusalem according to the custom of the Feast.

You'll remember the story. After the Feast, they came back. They thought he was in the caravan traveling along. He wasn't. They came back looking for him, and they found him three days later. Verse 46 says, so it was that after three days, they found him in the temple. Now, I'm sure they were amazed to find him sitting in the temple. In the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions.

How many 12-year-olds do you know who could sit down with a bunch of scholars and ask them questions and then reply to their questions? Well, verse 47, all who heard him were astonished at his understanding and his answers. So he wasn't giving answers that a normal 12-year-old would be doing. So when they saw him, they were amazed and his mother said to him, son, why have you done this to us? Look, your father and I have sought you anxiously.

And he said to them, why did you seek me? Did you not know that I must be about my father's business? Now, Joseph was not his father. God was. So he said, I've got to be about my father's business. Now, Joseph knew he was not his father. Mary knew that Joseph was not his father. So they had to know when he said my father's business because two angels, angel appeared to Mary, angel appeared to Joseph, told them about the conception, what was going to happen and what had happened. And so, you know, they had to know that.

But, verse 50 says, they did not understand the statement when he spoke to them. So their minds weren't fully in gear. God hadn't opened their understanding. Now, verse 51, we find, I think, something very important. He went down with them and came to Nazareth and was subject to them. So as a child, he was not rebellious.

He was not outdoing his own thing, disobeying his parents. He was subject to them. But his mother kept all these things in her heart. You know, two and two, she began to put things together. And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature in favor with God and man. So he grew in favor with God. God was very pleased with his son.

You see, Christ at age 12 knew a lot more than he did at age 5. At age 18, he understood a lot more than he did at age 12. At age 30, he was a lot smarter, had more wisdom, understanding, than he did at 18. Because he continued, as it says here, he increased.

That means growth, development, in wisdom, and in favor, both with God and man. So, Christ, if you had met him, until he turned age 30, you'd have liked him. Carpenter, hard worker, good personality. He had favor with men as well as with God. But all at once at age 30, he started preaching.

And the one thing that you find that people don't like is the truth of the message that Christ had to bring. But he realized, even at age 12, that he had to be about his father's business. There was a reason for him being on this earth. And that reason was revealed to Mary. It was revealed to Joseph. And Christ had the Old Testament to study. And as he matured, I'm sure he understood those prophecies more deeply. I'm sure that God revealed to him, while he was on the earth, a depth of understanding that you and I would not have had. And as well as memories coming back to him of what he had shared with his father.

How did he know when he should start preaching? How did he know what to preach? When to begin? How long he should preach? About his disciples? How many disciples? And all of these things. Well, you see, he had to seek God's guidance and direction. But you'll find that most of this was contained in the Old Testament Scriptures. It was just a matter of understanding them and being able to apply them. Now in Luke chapter 18, beginning in verse 31, Jesus Christ understood ahead of time the things that were going to transpire in his life. How many of you would like to have a book and be able to open that book and say, when you reach age 50, this is what's going to happen to you? You reach age 60, this will happen to you. At 70, this will happen to you. Well, many of us, I don't think, would necessarily like that because you would know what was going to transpire. Well, Christ knew exactly what was going to transpire in his life. And so in here in chapter 18, beginning in verse 31, He took to 12 aside and said to them, Behold, we're going up to Jerusalem. And all things which are written in the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished. Or the word means fulfilled. They're going to happen.

He will be delivered to the Gentiles. He will be mocked, insulted, spit upon. And they will scourge Him and kill Him. And the third day, He will rise again. And they understood none of the things that He said was saying it was hidden from them. And they did not know. Now, Christ over and over again mentioned these things to them, and they just did not get it. Because, you know, I mean, He couldn't enter into their mind. They couldn't comprehend that Christ was going to have to go through this. But I want you to notice Christ knew it. He was one who had inspired the prophets of old. He was a God of the Old Testament. He had inspired them to write the prophecies down. He understood those prophecies. Let's go over to Luke 24.

Luke chapter 24, beginning in verse 44. This was after Christ had been resurrected. He appeared to His disciples here. And He said to them, These are the words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the Psalms concerning Me. And He opened their understanding that they might comprehend the Scriptures. Now their minds were open. Now they could see and understand. And He said to them, Thus it is written, And thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer, to rise from the dead the third day, and repentance and remission of sin should be preached. I want you to notice it was necessary for the Christ to suffer. Have you ever asked yourself, Why did Christ have to suffer? Why couldn't He have just been killed? Line Him up? Firing squad? Throw Him off cliffs? Stoning? You know, something of this nature. Why did He have to go through all of the beating, the scourging, all of the problems that He went through? Well, we want to take a look at that and see. Christ came to the earth for a specific purpose. We know in John 9 and 9, verse 4, we read this. Christ said, I must work the works of Him who sent me while it is day, the night is coming, when no one can work. So Christ realized that He had work or works to do. He had responsibility that God had given to Him. He came to the earth for several reasons. One, to preach the gospel so that we'd know what the message was, to amplify that gospel. He came to set a right example for us. So He is our example so that we know how to live. He came to train His disciples that they would be the foundation on which the church then would be built. He came to start His church. He came to die for the sins of the world and to be our Savior. And we know that that was the focal point of why He came. Because without that being done, the plan of salvation goes down the drain. Without Christ dying for our sins and being our Savior, it's all over. As Revelation 13.8, we've referred to this on a number of occasions. It says that Christ was slain before the foundation of the world. Or since the foundation of the world. So Jesus Christ, and the one we know as the Father, even before the physical creation, had sat down and planned the plan of salvation out, mapped it out. They knew that even though human beings may have... Let's just go back to the Garden of Eden. What if Adam and Eve had taken to the Tree of Life? Would Christ still have had to die?

The answer is yes. Now why? Would human beings be simply because they chose life?

Would they ever sin? Can you imagine going through life without ever sinning as a human being? Somewhere, somewhere, I'm going to say sometimes, somebody would have sinned. Well, the Bible indicated that God knew this was going to happen. And so they had planned for Jesus Christ to be slain, as it says, from the foundation of the world. Jesus Christ knew what was going to happen to him. He knew what was coming down the pike. In Mark 8, let's go over to Mark's account, beginning in verse 27. Mark 8 and verse 27.

We read this, He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things. So notice again, suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priest and scribes and be killed. And after three days, rise again. He spoke this openly, then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. And he said, but when he had turned around and looked at the disciples, he rebuked. Well, verse 32, he spoke this openly, then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. And when he had turned around, he looked at the disciples. He rebuked Peter, saying, Get behind me, Satan, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men. You're not mindful. You don't understand why I have come to this earth, what God is working out, what God is doing. So Christ knew. He knew he was going to have to die, and he knew not only was he going to die, but he would die a horrible death and that he would suffer. Now you think of the courage that took. Somewhere back in eternity, the two of them, the Father and the Son, sat down, planned it all out. Then the angels were created, then the physical creation, and then man was put on the earth, and four thousand years passed. Then Christ divested himself with the glory, and the spirit body came to the earth as God in the flesh. He lived for 30 years.

Then, for the last three and a half years, there were four Passovers at that time, and as each Passover clicked off, he had to know, I'm one year closer. This Passover picture is what's going to take place. Finally, he gets down to the final Passover with his disciples, and he knows that this is the night. The hour is staring me in the face. This is what I came to the earth for.

Think of the courage it took. Back here in eternity, this is something off in the future. Four thousand years into the future. Well, that's four thousand years from now.

But when you come face to face with that type of a situation, it's not the easiest thing to face.

In Mark 14, we find the night of the Passover, Jesus Christ very clearly understood what he was going to go through. What was going to happen to him. Beginning here in verse 22, Mark 14, verse 22, As they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them, and said, Take eat. This is my body. Or, this represents my body. So they had eaten a Passover meal. Now, Christ changed the symbols. We no longer eat a meal for the Passover. But he took the bread. He broke the bread. Now, what did that bread being broke symbolize? Well, symbolize his broken body. What he was going to have to go through. And he said, This is my body. Or, represents my body. And then he took the cup. And when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and they drank from it. And he said, This is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many. So he knew he was going to have to shed his blood.

Now, I want you to notice, well, verse 27, Christ said unto them, well, verse 26, As they sang of him went out to the Mount of Olives, and as they were traveling from the Mount of Olives going over towards Gethsemane in that area, Jesus said to them, All of you will be made to stumble because of me this night, for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered. But after I've been raised, I will go before you into Galilee. And of course, Peter said, Well, even if everybody else stumbles, I won't. And so Christ said, Yes, you will. You'll deny me three times tonight. And you find that all of the other disciples said the same thing. We will not deny you. But of course, they all scattered that evening, as we know.

This was an ordeal that Jesus Christ was going to have to go through alone. It was not something that a lot of people were going to be able to hold his hand, share it with him. But his disciples fled. There were the women and a few others who were there who saw from a distance what was going on. But what we have to realize is that Jesus Christ understood fully what was about to happen. Now, when the full weight of what was about to happen occurred, it hit Jesus Christ and he prayed for strength. He prayed for the ability to go through this. In Luke 22, beginning in verse 39, we find that after the Passover, he came out with his disciples and he prayed three times an hour on each occasion. So he prayed three hours. There's something here that I had never really focused on before. Let's notice verse 39. Coming out, he went to the Mount of Bali and as he was accustomed, his disciples also followed him. And he came to the place, he said, pray that you may not enter into temptation. And he was withdrawn from them about a stone's throw. And he knelt down and he prayed, saying, Father, if it is your will, take the cup away from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done. Well, is he referring to the fact that I don't want to die? Now that's the very purpose he came to the earth, to die for man's sins. Or could this cup also encompass the fact of the suffering he was about to go through? You know, is there any way that I can go through this? You know, I drink this cup, but I don't have to go through the horrible beating, suffering that will be inflicted upon me. But you'll notice here, he again, he said, your will be done. In verse 43, it says, then an angel appeared to him from heaven and strengthened him. So God gave him extra strength because he was about to go through this severe trial. But notice verse 44, the thing I'd never really focused on. After the angel strengthens him, you find he prays again and being in agony. So even after he's strengthened, he's still in agony. He prayed more earnestly. So he's praying harder. This next go around. And then his sweat became like great drops of blood falling to the ground.

Now, the word here for agony in the Greek is a Greek word that means a struggle for victory. A gym exercise. It's a word that is used of wrestlers where two of them are locked in combat and one is trying to triumph over the other. And what it pictures is a severe physical, mental, emotional struggle that Jesus Christ was going through. So much so, even after he had been strengthened, he began to sweat drops of blood. Now, there's a medical term for this. It's called hematudrosis. And it's a term where because of fright or fear or dread, the capillaries under the skin begin to rupture. And they go into the sweat glands. And as you begin to perspire, not only do you have perspiration, but you also have blood that begins to come out of the pores. Well, this is what Jesus Christ was going through. It wasn't a matter that he could just walk into this, face his trial and say, I'm going to do it. We'll be no sweat. No, he was dreading what he was about to go through. It wasn't something, even though he realized he'd come to the air for that purpose. Still, the suffering, the beating he was going to have to go through, wasn't something that he was looking forward to. And he kept praying, Father, if it be your will, you'll remove this, but nevertheless, you are not my will, but yours be done. Now, in John chapter 18, even probably while Christ was finishing up his last prayer, where Christ was in the disciples, you could look over the Kidron Valley. You could see the temple complex, and you could look down, you could see over 100 yards. Now, we find that Judas had gotten a mob together, or they had sent these soldiers out, and they were coming to take Jesus Christ. And do you think that perhaps while he was praying his last prayer, he could hear the mob off in the distance. He could hear their talking. He could see the torches beginning to come up the hill to where he was. Now, this would have been a perfect opportunity for Christ to turn around and say, I'm getting out of here. Yeah, I know why they're coming. I'm going to run. But he did not run. Notice what he did do.

John 18 says, Jesus, when Jesus has spoken these words, he went out with his disciples over the book, Brook Kidron, where there was a garden which he and his disciples entered. And Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place where Jesus often met with his disciples. Then Judas, having received a detachment of troops and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, came with lanterns, torches, and weapons. Now, Jesus didn't run. In fact, Jesus, therefore, knowing all things, would come upon him, went forward and said to them, whom are you seeking? Who are you looking for? And they answered, well, Jesus of Nazareth. And Jesus said, I am. Now, I am he. They've added, but he was saying, I am. He was saying, I am. One of the names of God. And Judas, who betrayed him, also stood with him. Now, when he said to them, I am, they drew back and fell to the ground.

Why would these soldiers and priests and all these people just fall down on the ground? Because the very power of God was demonstrated here before them. And he asked them again, whom are you seeking? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth. And Jesus said, I told you that I am, or I am he. Therefore, if you seek me, let these go their way. So he says, let my disciples go. And they did. Now, why did Christ do that? Well, he didn't want his disciples being crucified. He didn't want them to be caught up, arrested, thrown in jail. Now, it was important for them to go off. And they did. Because he knew where they were. He could regather them.

And that the saying might be fulfilled, which he spoke of those whom you gave me. I have lost none. Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it, struck the priest's servant, cut off his right ear, and the servant's name was Malchus. So Jesus said to Peter, put the sword into his sheave. Shall I not drink the cup? Notice he had prayed. If you can remove this cup, you know, do so nevertheless, not my will. So he says, shall I not drink the cup which my father has given me? So a direct reference to that.

Now, notice down in verse 19, they arrest. Well, verse 12 says, the detachment of the troops and the captains and the officers of the Jews arrested him and bound him and led him away to Annas first.

Now, verse 19, the high priest then asked Jesus about his disciples and his doctrine, his teachings. And Jesus answered, well, look, I spoke openly to the world. I always taught in the synagogues in the temple where the Jews always meet. And in secret, I've said nothing.

Why do you ask me, ask those who have heard me what I said to them? Indeed, they know what I have said. And when he had said these things, one of the officers who stood by struck Jesus with the palm of his hand, saying, do you answer the high priest like this?

I don't know if you've ever been struck in the face before or somebody slapped you. You know, as we say, slap you silly. How do you react? How do you feel? Isn't the natural reaction to get angry, to retaliate, to get back? Well, Jesus Christ could not do that. Jesus answered him, if I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil, but if well, why do you strike me? Then Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas, the high priest. And so this began the night of beatings and suffering that Christ went through. His death on the cross wasn't the only suffering he went through. He went through a whole night of being abused and ridiculed, as we will see as we progress through the sermon. So he was sent over to Caiaphas. Let's go back to Mark's account again, Mark chapter 14 and verse 53. Notice the account here about what was going on. They led Jesus away to the high priests and with him assembled all the chief priests, the elders, and the scribes. Peter followed him at a distance right into the courtyard of the high priest. And he sat with the servants and he warmed himself at the fire. Now verse 53.

Now the chief priests and all the council, so apparently the Sanhedrin was gathered together, sought testimony against Jesus to put him to death but found none. Okay, this is your arrest, then you find something to charge him with. And this is what they were doing. For many more false witnesses against him, but their testimony did not agree. Why not? Well, they would have to bring witnesses in one at a time. And you can't bring witnesses in and one hear the story of the other and then therefore they could repeat the same story. Now as they brought witnesses in, their stories didn't agree with each other.

Then some arose and bore false witness against him. Notice these false witnesses saying, we heard him say, I will destroy this temple made with hands and within three days I will build another without hands. But even then did their testimony not agree. And the high priest stood up in the midst and asked Jesus, saying, do you answer nothing? What is it that these men testify against you? See, they're not testifying. He broke the law. He robbed the bank. You know, he beat Joe up over here the other night. He gets drunk. You know, these type of things, they have nothing against him except what he preached.

And he kept silent and answered nothing. Again, the high priest asked him, saying to him, are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed? Are you he? Now, Christ could have kept silent, and what would they have charged him with?

But notice he didn't. He said, I am, and you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the power and coming with the clouds of heaven. And so he signed his death warrant right there. We knew it was coming, but they needed something to charge him with in their minds. Then the high priest tore, ripped his clothes, and said, what further need do we have of witnesses? You have heard the blaspheme. What do you think? They all condemned him to be deserving of death. Then some began to spit on him, to blindfold him, to beat him, to say to him, prophesy. And the officers struck him with the palms of their hands. So here you find they spit in his face. And again, there's nothing more humiliating than somebody spits at you or spits in your face. And they blindfolded him. Okay, who's hitting you? Who's beating on you? They buffet him. You see, this is why Jesus Christ broke the bread, because he knew that breaking that bread was a symbol of the abuse, the beating, the suffering that he was going to have to go through. Isaiah 50 and verse 6, Isaiah and chapter 50 verse 6, draws attention to what Christ was going to go through. He said, I gave my back to those who struck me. Isaiah 50 verse 6. And my cheeks to those who pluck the beard. Now, if you have a beard and somebody comes along and they pluck the hair out, that doesn't feel too good. And I did not hide my face from shame and spitting. So he didn't hide from what he had to go through. Why did he do that? Why go through this? Well, 1 Peter chapter 2, beginning in verse 20, begins to give us some insight, some understanding. 1 Peter chapter 2, and we'll begin to read here in verse 20. It says, What credit is it when you are beaten for your faults and you take it patiently? But when you do good and suffer for it and take it patiently, then that's commendable before God. Christ did good, never sinned, and he was willing to take the beating patiently. And then going on, verse 21, For to this were you called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that we should follow his steps. So, brethren, as a Christian, when you begin to obey God, there will be persecutions and trials as a result of going this way.

So, Christ suffered setting an example, but he also suffered for us, as we will see.

In verse 22, Who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth, who when he was reviled did not revile in return. When he suffered, he did not threaten, but committed himself to him who judges righteously. Who himself bore our sins in his body, on the tree.

So, Christ was a sin sacrifice. He was the one who died for us, that we, having died to sin, see when you're baptized, you're supposed to kill the old man. The old way of life is dead to sin, that we then might live to righteousness, for no longer to live in sin, but to live righteously. And then it goes on to say, By whose stripes you were healed. By the beating, the scourging, and all that Jesus Christ went through, we then are healed. So, one reason he went through this is for our healing. Now, notice in chapter 4, verse 1, here chapter 4, verse 1, Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin. So, he suffered for us. He set us an example. Now, after he appeared before Caiapas, he was then sent over to Pilate. Pilate sent him to Herod. Herod sent him back to Pilate. Let's notice the story in Luke 23, beginning in verse 1, Luke chapter 23 and verse 1. Then the whole multitude of them arose and led him to Pilate, and they began to accuse him, saying, Why? We found this fellow, perverting the nation, forbidding to pay taxes to Caesar, and say that he himself is Christ a king. Then Pilate answered him, saying, Are you the king of the Jews? And he answered and said, It is, as you say, that's right. Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowd, I don't find any fault with this man. Yeah, this isn't something to bring him before a tribunal and to condemn him. And they were more fierce. It was bad enough to have somebody accuse you, but when they get fierce in their approach, and they began to really rail at you and yell at you and do all of that, they became more fierce, saying, Well, he stirs up the people, teaching throughout Judea, beginning from Galilee to this place. Now, when Herod heard of Galilee, or Pilate, I should say, he asked if the man were a Galilean, and as soon as he knew he belonged to Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem at this time. Now, when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceedingly glad, for he had desired for a long time to see him, because he had heard many things about him, and hoped to see some miracles done. So he wanted to see Christ, bring him before him, and say, Okay, do a miracle. You know, fire down out of heaven, make these people disappear over here, reappear, you do anything. Well, that's what he was wanting to see. And then he questioned him with many words, but he answered him, Nothing. Christ didn't say anything. And the chief priests and the scribes stood and vehemently accused him. So one verse is fiercely, here they're vehemently accusing him, and Herod, with his men of war, treated him with contempt, mocked him, arrayed him in a gorgeous robe, sent him back to Pilate. And that very day, Pilate and Herod became friends. Now we've got politics going on in this. Pilate makes friends with Herod at this point, with each other, for previously they had been at enmity.

Now, by this time, we're approaching early morning, or it could be early morning, Christ had been battered, had been bruised, had been spit upon, he had been slapped around, made fun of, ridiculed, everything that you could think of, he had to be exhausted from a night of not sleeping. I remember he didn't go to sleep that evening, and they were dragging him from one area to another area and accusing him. And he's brought back before Pilate. In Matthew 27, we read the story here, beginning in verse 15. Matthew 27, verse 15, it says, Now to feast, the governor was accustomed to releasing to the multitude one prisoner, whom they wished. And at that time they had a notorious prisoner called Barabbas.

Therefore, when they had gathered together, Pilate said to them, Who do you want me to release to you, Barabbas or Jesus, who is called a Christ? Okay, do you want me to release this murderer to you, or do you want me to release Christ?

For he knew that they had handed him over because of envy. See, the Bible is very explicit many times. People can say they do things for a certain reason, and yet he realized it was because of envy that they had turned Christ over.

And notice verse 19, And while he was sitting in the judgment seat, his wife sent to him, saying, Have nothing to do with that just man, for I have suffered many things to day and a dream because of him. So she's counseling him, letting go. But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitude that they should ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus. Notice their whole intent is they hated Christ's message.

They hated the fact that he claimed to be the Son of God, and so they were going to destroy him.

And the governor answered and said to them, verse 21, Which of these two do you want to release? And they said, Barabbas, it's like a mob scene. We've all seen pictures of the Wild West where, you know, hang him, hang him, you know, and they're trying to break into the jail and drag the person out and hang him from the nearest tree. Well, Pilate said to them, What should I do with Jesus who is called Christ? And they all said to him, Let him be crucified. Or take him out and crucify. And then the governor said, Why? What evil has he done? But they cried out the more, saying, Let him be crucified. So now you've got a mob chanting, crucify, crucify him. When Pilate saw that he could not prevail at all, but rather a tumult was rising, he was afraid of losing control here. He took water, washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I'm innocent of the blood of this just person. You see to it. And all the people answered and said, His blood be on us and our children. Now that's quite a curse to ask that his blood be on us and our children. Then he released Barabbas to them, and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified. Now you read right over that. It doesn't say too much about scourging, but scourging, as many of you know, was called the half-death.

And it was called that simply because when somebody was scourged, it was meant to leave them maimed for life. Normally, they were stripped of all their clothes.

They were sort of spread-eagle. They had their hands tied up to a post. There was a Roman who was trained in doing this. He was called a lictor. And he had a whip. It was what we call a bull whip, where you snap it and that type of thing. It was called a flagrum. And at the end of it, it's sort of like a cat of nine tails. It had strips of leather, and at the end, embedded in them were things like ivy, or your glass nails, anything that would be sharp. And this individual was trained to be able to take that and wrap it around the person. And just as those bits and pieces began to dig in to jerk it, and would be able to jerk huge hunks of flesh off of a person. And just absolutely, just like taking a knife and cutting somebody back and forth, up and down, to absolutely almost dismember that particular person. And that's what they did with Christ. He was beaten almost with an inch of his life at that time. Let's go back to Isaiah 52. Because in Isaiah 52, the prophecy was given.

And again, Christ, the one who became Christ, was the one who inspired this prophecy to be written. Verse 13. And he knew this was part of that cup. He said, if it's possible to remove it.

Verse 13, he says, Behold, my servant shall deal prudently. He shall be exalted and extolled and be very high. And just as many were astonished at you, so his visage, his appearance, his visage was marred more than any man, or as other translations say, unlike a man, and his form more than the sons of men. So shall he sprinkle many nations. So Christ was, for all practical purposes, just totally disfigured. And then in chapter 53, the prophet goes on, and this flows right into this prophecy, to tell us why Christ did this. And brethren, this is the focus of what we need to realize. As we come to the Passover, every year we need to stop and think about what Christ did for us, what he went through, and not just take the Passover and get blase about it. It should be something that we think about and you contemplate, meditate on. Verse 1, chapter 53, who has believed our report, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? He shall grow up before him as a tender plant and as a root out of a dry ground. He is no form nor comeliness, and when we see him, there's no beauty. Christ didn't grow up as an outrageously handsome person. He was an average Jew of his day. He is despised and rejected by men. The word rejected means forsaken by men. A man of sorrows or a man of pains and acquainted with grief or acquainted with sickness.

And we hid as it were our faces from him, and he was despised, and we did not esteem him. Surely he has borne our griefs. The word means sicknesses. He's borne our sicknesses. He's carried our pains or our sorrows. Yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions. So why was he wounded? The word wounded here means to be pierced through. Why did he go through that? Well, for our transgressions. He was bruised. The word means crushed for our iniquities. So the beating and the spear wound and for our iniquities. And the chastisement of our peace was upon him. He did this, brethren, so you and I could have peace. That we would not have to lie down at night and worry in the sense that we know why we're alive. We know the plan and purpose of God, the peace that passes all understanding, so that we could have peace among ourselves. And by his stripes, or blows that cut is what stripes mean, we are healed. So we see why he went through this, why he subjected himself. He also did this because he was able, or is able now as our high priest, to empathize with us, to sympathize, because he's gone through everything that you and I could think of as far as suffering and much more. And so he knows what it's like to be human and what it's like to go through the trials and the tests. Now it says, we all like sheep have gone astray. We've turned everyone to his own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, he was afflicted, and he opened Naughty's mouth, and he was led as a lamb to the slaughter. And you find in verse 8, last part, for the transgressions of my people was he stricken, because we have sinned.

He was stricken. Verse 10, it pleased the Lord to bruise him, and he has put him to grief. When you make his soul an offering for sin. So the life is in the blood. He offered up his life, his soul, and he bled to death. And you go on to find in verse 12, therefore I will divide him a portion with the great. He shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he has poured out his soul unto death. And he was numbered with the transgressors, and he bore the sins of many. That's my sins, that's your sins, that's the sin of every human being who's ever lived, if we're willing to repent. And he's made intercession for the transgressors.

So after Jesus Christ was beaten, let's notice back here in Matthew chapter 27, beginning in verse 26, after the scourging and all of this had taken place, Jesus Christ was taken off to be crucified. Verse 26 said, they released Barabbas to them, and when they had scourged Jesus, they delivered him to be crucified. And you'll find the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the praetorium, gathered the whole garrison around him. They stripped him, put a scarlet robe on him. When they had twisted a crown of thorns, they put it on his head.

They didn't just sort of set it up there. They jabbed these thorns into his scalp, and a reed in his right hand, and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, hell, king of the Jews! And they spat on him, and they took the reed, and they struck him on the head. And when they had mocked him, took his robe from him, they put his own clothes on him, and let him away to be crucified. Now, as they came out, they found a man of sirens, Simon by name. Him they compelled to bury his cross. This is probably a crossbeam. The Romans had many ways of crucifying people. One was an upright stake. One was an x. There was a wheel. There was also what we know the tau, or the crossbeam. And no way you can carry a tree, but you might be able to carry the beam. And this, apparently, is what Christ had. They came to Golgotha, that is to say, the place of the skull. And they gave him sour wine mingled with gold to drink. But when he tasted it, he would not drink. And they crucified him, and divided his garments, casting lots that might be fulfilled. Now, I want you to notice, all through this, it says that it might be fulfilled. Christ knew those prophecies, and they were to be fulfilled.

Now, 650 yards from the fortress, Antonio, over to Golgotha, that's 1950 feet, a little over a third of a mile. Now, Christ had to walk that distance after being beaten.

When they crucified someone, they normally had what we would call square nails. They would normally drive it through the wrist bones. If you just stuck it somewhere up here in the palm, the weight of the body would pull the nails through. So they stuck it somewhere in this area, and they would cross the heels, or the legs, and drive a spike through the heels, or through the legs that were crossed down at the feet. You'll find that a crucifixion was one of the most horrible deaths that a person could go through. A lot of people lasted three or four days. They just leave them out there, and they would slowly but surely die and suffocate. Because what happens as you're hanging there, whether his hands were over his head or out, you find that you can't breathe. And so there was a little platform that you could sit on, but it was generally so low that when you sat on it, that you couldn't breathe. So after a while, you'd have to heave yourself up. And the only way to heave yourself up is on the nail driven through your ankles. And he'd heave himself up and take a breath, but then the pain would be so excruciating you'd fall back down. And then the pain would be so great in the wrists that you couldn't take it, and you'd have to get a relief. And so a person who was crucified was just heaving up and down, up and down. Many died from carbon dioxide, simply because they were not able to expel that from their lungs.

Now, have you ever stopped to ask yourself, well, as Christ was going through this, what did he think? What was going through his mind? Well, we have a psalm. Let's turn there very quickly. Psalm 22 that describes the very thoughts that Christ had in his mind at this point.

Psalm 22, verse 1, My God, my God, Christ said, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from me and helping me? And from the words of my groaning, Oh, my God, I cry in the daytime, but you do not hear in the night season and you are and am not silent. In verse 6, he says, I am but a worm, and no man, every approach of men, despised of the people. All those who see me ridicule me. They shoot out the lip. They shake their heads, saying, well, he trusted in the Lord. See if he'll rescue him and let him deliver him since he delighted in him. But you are he who took me out of the womb. You made me trust while on my mother's breasts. See, from the time he was a child, I was cast upon you from my birth, from my mother's womb. You have been my God. Be not far from me, for trouble is near and there is none to help. Many bulls have surrounded me. Strong bulls of bation have enriched me or encircled me. They gape at me with their mouths, like a raging and roaring lion.

I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax. So his heart was melting within him. It is melted within me. My strength is dried up like a pot-shirt. My tongue clings to my jaws, and you have brought me to the dust of death. For dogs have surrounded me, and the congregation of the wicked have enclosed me. They pierce my hands and my feet. I can count all my bones. He was able to look down and see his ribs. See the flesh ripped off of his thigh bone. You will be able to see his bones. They look and they stare at me, and they divide my garments among them. But you, O Lord, be not far from me, O my strength, hasten to help me, deliver me from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dog, save me from the lion's mouth and from the horn of the wild oxen. Notice, you have answered me. God answered him. God helped him. So here were Christ's thoughts, what he was going through at that point. Back in John 19, final scripture, you find that Jesus Christ, in John 19, verse 31, that it was the preparation day before the annual Sabbath, or the Jews, pass over. That the body should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath, for that Sabbath was a high day. The Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, that they might be taken away. Break the legs, they can't heave up, they die of asphyxiation. Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and the other, who was crucified with him. And when they came to Jesus, they saw that he was already dead. Now, why was he dead? They did not break his legs, but one of the soldiers, as it should be, had pierced his side with a spear. The soldier had come up to him, pierced his side with a spear, ripped his side and his bladder open, and immediately blood and water came out. And as Christ's heart kept pumping, the blood was pumped out of his body and came down his legs, stripped onto the stake, and went into the ground. And as the Bible says, he gave, he poured out his soul, he poured out his life, his blood for our sins, and he died at that time. So when they came to break his legs, there was another prophecy that not a bone would be broken. So he fulfilled that prophecy, too. But he died ultimately of the spear wound. Why did Christ do this?

Why was he willing to go through all that suffering? Why did God allow his Son to go through all of that? It's for you and for me, for all humanity, to make it possible for us to have salvation, to have our sins forgiven, to be given God's Spirit.

So, brethren, as we enter into the Passover season, we need to think deeply of Christ's sacrifice. Yes, I guess he could have just died easily, but he didn't. He suffered. He was prophesied. He fulfilled those prophecies. His suffering began the evening of the 14th, continued all through that night until 3 p.m. the next day when he died. And Jesus Christ fulfilled the prophecy from the Old Testament, as well as what John the Baptist said, if you remember. In John 1, 29, Behold, he said, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.