We’ve probably all been in situations—maybe on a plane or at a convention—when the topic of religion came up and we had to face the inevitable dialogue with a nonbeliever. We’ve usually ended up feeling awkward and uncomfortable, and we've walked away wondering, What could I have said or done not only to win a hearing but to keep a hearing? Acts 8 has some answers for the apprehensive evangelist.
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Read Mark 15:1–2
They bound Jesus, led him away, and took him to Pilate, the Roman governor. Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the king of the Jews?” Jesus replied, “You have said it.” (Mark 15:1–2)
Most Christians have never made a serious study of what transpired immediately before Jesus’ crucifixion. We tend to jump from Gethsemane to Golgotha, omitting many, if not all, the events in between. In making that leap, much of the history and theology are lost, not to mention the local colour of Jesus’ era. Also lost are important details that led to the final verdict about Jesus.
Put bluntly, the trials that resulted in Jesus being nailed to a cross provide the classic example of an unfair and illegal rush to judgment. Biased and fallacious in every way, these trials represent the darkest day in the history of jurisprudence.
The accused was the only perfect and completely innocent person who has ever lived. Yet He was declared guilty...guilty of crimes He never committed. Tragically, His alleged crimes resulted in His being condemned to arguably the most painful form of capital punishment ever devised. Death for a capital offense, according to first-century Roman law, was by crucifixion.
But there is a bright side to all this darkness. Looking at Jesus’ death from a theological perspective, we see that it was the fulfilment of His earthly mission. The primary purpose for His leaving heaven and becoming human was to pay the price for sin and redeem us from its penalty—death. In other words, Jesus came to die. By dying in our place, as our sacrificial substitute, the Lamb of God was able to take away the sin of the world (John 1:29). Humanly, what seemed a cruel tragedy at the time must be seen, spiritually, as a triumph.
It’s no exaggeration, therefore, that the trials, suffering, death, and subsequent resurrection of Christ are, in fact, the bedrock truth of Christianity, forming the foundation of the faith.
Man of Sorrows! What a name
For the Son of God, who came
Ruined sinners to reclaim:
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
—Philip P. Bliss
Adapted by Insight for Living staff from The Darkness and the Dawn by Charles R. Swindoll. Copyright © 2001 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. Used by permission of HarperCollins Christian Publishing. www.harpercollinschristian.com
Ministry Offer
The Day Death Took a Hike
Travel back with Pastor Chuck Swindoll to the scene of John 11 when Jesus intentionally let His friend Lazarus breathe his last so that He could call him back from death. After his deceased body lay for days in a tomb, Lazarus walked out at Jesus’ command!
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