When they came to the place called Golgotha ("The Skull") they crucified Jesus. They offered him wine mixed with gall but when he tasted it he would not drink it. They divided his clothes among them, casting lots. Over his head they put a sign which read "The King of the Jews" in Hebrew, Greek and Latin. Those who passed by derided him, shaking their heads and saying, "You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from that cross." In the same way the chief priests, scribes and elders mocked him, saying, "He saved others; he cannot save himself. Let the Messiah, the King of Israel, come down from the cross now, so that we may see and believe."
They tear holes in my hands and my feet...they divide my clothing among them. They cast lots for my robe. (Psalm 22)
And when I am lifted up from the earth I will draw all people to myself.
(John 12.32)
The devil who was present at the beginning of Jesus' public life during his
preparation in the desert returns just as it was written "he waited for another
opportune time." (Luke 4.13) Jesus, hanging on the cross in agony, hears
the same taunt as he did then: "If you are the Son of God..." The demand
is the same too. Prove it. Show some sign of your power. Just
as Jesus was made the offer in the desert to relieve his human suffering with
bread, he is now offered wine with myrrh which would have deadened his pain. As
he did in the desert, he again refuses.
"Come down from the cross so that we may see and believe." The
Pharisees and the Sadducees came, and to test Jesus they asked him to show them
a sign from heaven. "An evil and adulterous generation asks for a sign, but no
sign will be given it except the sign of Jonah." (Matthew 16.1-4)
Jesus is strung up naked and exposed for all to see. He has a sign hanging
over his head mocking who he is. The weight of his body pushes down on his
lungs, making it impossible to breath. The air and the dust cuts through
his flayed flesh. His head, ringed with thorns, is exploding with pain.
He looks down for strength but finds no pity among the crowd, only the jeers and
taunts of the very people he served and taught. What was it for?
Father? Spiritual consolation drains out of him along with his blood.
"Why don't you save yourself if you are the Son of God?" But how then
would the scriptures be fulfilled, which say it must happen in this way?
(Matthew 26.54)
All hatred, evil, anger and insult is now heaped on Jesus, the fair one, and he
is abandoned. Aaron shall lay both hands on the head of the scapegoat,
confessing over it all the sinful faults and transgressions of the Israelites,
and so put them on the goat's head. It shall then be sent away into the
desert. (Leviticus 16.20-22)