JESUS, THE "ONCE FOR ALL" PERFECT SACRIFICE

It was the preparation for the Jewish Passover. The chief priests and the elders of the people conceived a plan to put Jesus to death with subtlety. They led Him handcuffed before Pilate, the Roman governor to extract death sentence against Him on false charges. Pilate examined the Lord Jesus Christ and found Him innocent and declared that he found no fault in Him. Pilate said to the Jewish mob, “Behold your King!” But they cried out, "away with Him, Away with Him, crucify Him". Pilate asked them, “Shall I crucify your King?” They replied, “We have no king but Caesar”. Then Pilate delivered Jesus unto them to be crucified.

The soldiers twisted a crown of thorns and put it on Jesus' head and a reed in His right hand: and they bowed the knee before Him and mocked Him saying, 'Hail, King of the Jews!' They spat upon Him and smote Him on His head with the reed and mocked Him. Jesus was subjected to humiliation and torture (Matthew 26:67, 27:26, 28, 29; Mark 14:65). At the command of Pilate, Jesus was flogged even though He was faultless. Jesus was profusely bleeding by the flogging and torture, and His visage was marred beyond recognition.

The extraordinary drama reached its climax at the outskirts of Jerusalem, the royal city of the kings of Israel. The city had witnessed the glorious reign of King Solomon. The Jerusalem temple which stood with its grandeur bore witness to the varieties of work the Lord Jesus Christ had performed. He taught the people there, healed the blind and the lame there, and did many wonderful works there (Matthew 21:14). Jesus rode on a donkey just a few days ago into the city, when the people sang hosannas to Him (Matthew 21:9) saying, “Blessed is He that comes in the name of the Lord: Blessed is the Kingdom of our father David, that comes in the name of the Lord: Hosanna in the Highest”. However, a little later, the mob disowned their King and derided Him, saying, “Crucify Him, crucify Him”.

There the most tragic, yet the most glorious act was performed; the Son of God offered Himself on the cross, thus meeting the righteous demand of the Most Holy God. In the Old Testament times, animal sacrifices were offered, which could not take away sins and was required to be repeated again and again (Hebrews 10:1- 4). The animal sacrifices pointed to the “once for all” Sacrifice offered by the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross (John 1:29). Unlike the animal sacrifices, Jesus being perfect, holy, faultless and sinless, was able to offer Himself as a perfect and eternal atonement for the sins of the entire human race.

The death of Christ was vicarious in nature - Jesus died as our substitute! The Lord Jesus Christ took upon Himself the punishment that you and I and everyone else deserved because of sin (Isaiah 53:5-6), and through His death and resurrection, the Lord reconciled humanity to God (Romans 5:8-11). Because your sins and my sins and everyone else's sins are transferred upon Him, the punishment fell upon Him as a logical consequence. God spared not His Son but delivered Him up for us all (Romans 8:32). Jesus silently suffered, bled, and died as our substitute to save us from the jaws of eternal hellfire (Isaiah 53:7; Mark 15:5).

Dear reader, do you believe that the Lord Jesus offered Himself on the cross as your substitute? If so, confess your sins to Him and experience the joy of salvation right now here!

If you want to understand more about God’s Free Gift of Salvation in these final moments of human civilization, you could read through the several other articles in this blog archive.

- by Nadesan K.