As Jesus hung on the cross, it looked like evil man would have their way with Jesus. It only took bribery, lies, suicide, and political blackmail to accomplish their goals. It was illegal nighttime trials resembling that of the Nazi regime. The death of Jesus was not the climax of mistakes in leadership but that of a premeditated murder plot by big-time religious bosses. They beat him, made fun of him while calling out the poison from their souls. Even so, God was in control. What they said at the cross was a testimony of believable words from unbelieving hearts. Consider what they said as they mocked him.
He saved others but could not save himself (verse 42) That was the whole reason Jesus came to earth. If the point was to save himself, he would not need to come to earth in the first place. His mission was to save others because he hung on the cross. Inadvertently, the enemies of Christ actually testified that he did save people from their sins. He did this in front of the enemies and in spite of his enemies. The only way for man to realize salvation was for Christ to take man’s place of punishment.(Matthew 10:39) Those who mocked were witnesses to the purpose of Jesus dying on the cross.
As they ridiculed Christ, they gave forth another truth in that he trusted in God.(Verse 43) It was not unusual for Jesus to take himself apart from the activities and confusion of mankind so that he might commune with his Heavenly Father. He wanted other people to understand that what he did was a result of what his Father wanted him to do. He could not have performed his mission if he had not trusted God! Whether he found himself in a place of hostility or withdrew himself from the trouble generated by his enemies, he relied on God and confided in him. Christ declared that if he wanted to avoid the cross, he could’ve called 10,000 angels to come to his defense. Jesus knew that he could not perform his mission independently from a direct connection with the Almighty Creator. Never did Jesus try to draw attention to himself in any form of ministry in which he was independent from the Ruler of heaven and earth.
The centurion that originally was part of the mocking and physical abuse against Jesus stood at the cross, looked up to him, and said, “Truly this is the Son of God.” (Verse 54) The soldier was a prime witness as Jesus performed his intended mission for the salvation of souls. The soldier knew that there was definitely something different about Jesus. Probably the centurion had overseen the crucifixion of many men, but this one was unique. The events that took place, the conduct and words of Jesus, stabbed in the heart and conscience of the season soldier. He did not just see a man breathing his last breath. He saw Jesus at a time when the earth was quaking, and the sky grew dark. Oh, how this must have reflected his own loss condition generating fear and awe.
Later, the enemies of Christ were had abject concern saying that if Jesus did rise from the grave, the last would be worse than the first of how they rejected Jesus. (Verse 64) In some cases, the individual men who were responsible for the crucifixion of Christ had more belief that even the disciples of Jesus. They wanted Jesus to go away permanently. However, they did not trust their own evil plots to accomplish the riddance of Jesus. How unfortunate it is today that some people don’t want an all-powerful Jesus. They want a convenient Jesus. They want a Jesus that fit into their own preconceived notions of how he should be. These people had a profound respect for the claims of Jesus before he was crucified knowing that if he fulfilled his predictions, everything would change. Everything depended on what Jesus said. He declared that evil man and Satan himself would do their worst but never, never conquer the Son of God. Jesus is a permanent fixture in the history of mankind and the victory he brought for the cleansing of souls. Jesus promised, he did not just predict, he declared that he would rise again. And he did!
Christian Writer 