Session 17
| Dr. Nagy, in verse 39 of chapter 15 from the gospel of Mark, the scriptures say, "So when the centurion, who stood opposite Him, saw that He cried out like this and breathed his last, he said, "Truly this Man was the Son of God!" Why would the centurion speak those words? |
| There are many things that happened at the cross that made a man with such a high status almost in charge of one hundred brutal, cruel, soldiers speak those words. He realized that the Lord Jesus, blessed be His name, is the Son of God coming in the flesh. Some examples to mention are the fact that the Lord Jesus, while hanging on the cross, was completely different in behavior from all the criminals he has seen before. Any criminal who was crucified would not know or fear God. All the words that could come of such a man would be ones of blaspheming and cursing those who crucified him. But my Master, blessed be His name, had only words of grace coming out of His mouth. We hear Him speak to God about His oppressors saying, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do." (Luke 23: 33) Another thing would be in the moment of execution, the one who was hanging on the cross, should drink vinegar mixed with wine to reduce the pain, but Jesus refused to alleviate the pain. Whoever dies on the cross, never would care about the others well being, instead He would think and grieve about his doomed destiny. But the Lord Jesus forgot about His own pain and was concerned with other people's pain. We see Him saying to one of the two thieves that was crucified with Him, "Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise." And entrusting His mother to one of the disciples to take care of her afterwards. |
| Dr. Nagy, can you please remind us of some of the other things. The truth is I find it very serious that an aggressive man such as the centurion would be so touched to the point of acknowledging that the Lord Jesus was the Son of God? |
| Another thing that led the centurion to confess that Jesus Christ is the Son of God was the darkness that came upon earth from 6 to 9 o'clock. That is from 3 to 6 o'clock today's Middle East timing which is in the midst of the day light and the earthquake that took place during that time. In the book of Matthew, the scripture says about the guards, that when they saw the earthquake, they feared and trembled. They said, "Truly this was the Son of God." Another thing but not the last is that the one who was condemned to die crucified, would usually either blaspheme against God or pray for a God's help and intervention, or he would end his life quickly to shorten the time of pain and agony. Of course such a criminal would never address God as his Father, but the Lord Jesus on the cross would speak to God the Father after He asked forgiveness to those who crucified Him. He said to the Father, "My God, My God why have You forsaken Me?" Then He added, "Father, into Your hands I commit My Spirit." In all this He never did wrong or spoke deceitful things. That is why the centurion had to testify that He was indeed the Son of God. On the other hand, if the person who was hanging on the cross was not the Lord Jesus Himself, He would have never been able to do or say what was said and done on the cross or act it as a play. |
| In verse 42 chapters 15 it is written, "it was the preparation day that is the day before the Sabbath." What was the preparation day all about? |
| It was the custom at that time to leave the crucified one hanging on the cross many days until he rots, and the birds of the sky come to eat the body. This was to set the person as a warning example for everyone else. Therefore, no execution would usually take place on Friday because the Jewish law required that the bodies of the crucified ones would be lifted off the cross before the Holy Sabbath. According to the Historian Eosins, this was for not to defile the land with the bodies of the crucified ones if they stay on the cross on Saturday, specially this great Saturday. This is also mentioned in the book of Deuteronomy chapter 21:3 and in the book of Joshua 8:29 and 10:26. |
| Why was this Sabbath a great one? Was this the very next one to the crucifixion? |
| This one was a great one because it was a double Sabbath. It was the first day of the Passover; therefore, it had a great significance to the Jews. This led the Jews to insist on taking the body of the Lord Jesus off the cross before the sunset on Friday and before the Jewish preparation for the great Sabbath takes place. This is mentioned in the Book of John, chapter 19 and verse 31. |
| Why would they crucify the Lord Jesus on that particular Friday while knowing of the great Sabbath condition, as you already mentioned before? Why did they not choose another day instead? |
| They actually had no choice because God already predestined this particular Friday. That the Lord Jesus would be crucified in this particular day, which is the first day of the Passover; as this was the day where the lamb of the Passover would be given as a sacrifice on the altar to forgive their sins. The Bible says that Jesus is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. He became the sacrifice offered on behalf of the sin of mankind. It was the Lord arrangement for the Lord Jesus to offer Himself as a sacrifice and to abolish the animal sacrifices forever and to die in that particular time. This is why the New Testament says about the Lord Jesus, "therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast." (1Corinthians 5: 7) |
| Dr. Nagy, why would the Bible tell about Joseph from Arimathea, that he boldly requested the body of Jesus? Why would it be considered boldness to make such a request? |
| We already mentioned before that the Romans were not concerned about the Jewish tradition. They believed that their land was defiled if they left the crucified ones on the cross on the Sabbath day. But the Roman Ruler did make sure that the crucified one would stay on the cross for many days to serve as an example for the others, so he could have easily refused the request. The Jews were the ones who put Jesus to trial as a criminal and forced Pilate to crucify Jesus. So for Joseph, who was one of them, and the Bible says that he had a high status among the Jews To request the body of The Lord Jesus, would expose him to mockery and reproach, to loose his reputation and status and for his request to be refused by Pilate. |
| In verse 42 of chapter 15 from the Gospel of Mark, the Bible says that Pilate was astonished that Jesus. He called for the troop leader and asked him if He had been dead for some time then he gave the body to Joseph. Why was Pilate astonished and what was the reason for the quick death of Jesus before His time? |
| The reason why Pilate was astonished is that Christ died sooner than the average expected time for a normal crucified one and this is due to the following reasons. First reason is that the Lord Jesus had more than 16 hours arrested in the garden of Gethsemane. And since that moment He was mocked, tortured, tried wounded and bleeding from the crown of thorn on His head and above all. He spent six hours hanging on the cross after they nailed His hands and feet. Usually the crucified one would die of a gradual decrease of blood pressure due to the blood loss from the wounds and the loss of his strength. But this did not happen to Jesus as we read in verse 34," Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" and in verse 37 we read, "and Jesus cried out with a loud voice, and breathed His last." It is obvious that the Lord Jesus did not die due to bleeding. |
| So what do you think were the reasons for the Lord Jesus death? |
| I find my self in agreement with the theory that the Lord Jesus died out of heart explosion due to the emotional pressure and pain. This is in agreement with the prophecy that came in Psalm 69 verse 20, which says, "Reproach has broken my heart." Dr. Drummond Robinson, a celebrity in the medical field, wrote in the "Dawn" an article on 16th of May 1927 saying, " It is well known medically that when the hearty walls explode, the blood flows from the heart cavity unto the membranes known in by the "Tamor" resulting in a heart attack and a quick death. Then the blood separates unto coagulated red blood cells and a water fluid." These were the two fluids that came out of the Lord Jesus body when the Roman soldier stabbed Him in his side to make sure of his death before they take Him off the cross. This is according to the book of John, "but one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out."(John 19: 34) |