July 3, 2012 Killing the King

Killing the King Mark 15:25 It was the third hour when they crucified him. 26 The written notice of the charge against him read: THE KING OF THE JEWS. WHEN was Jesus on the cross? Why was Jesus on the cross? Two questions I’ll answer for you. When Mark says ‘the third hour” Mark refers to the Jewish day segmented into 4 parts: first at sunrise, the second about 9 am, the third at noon and the fourth at 3 pm. The “third hour” refers to the beginning of the third segment. Thus, Jesus was crucified at noon. Why was Jesus crucified? Under God’s will, of course, his death atoned for mankind’s sins. But the political and religious reason was his claim to be the King of the Jews. In the multiple trials that morning, Jesus affirmed the “king charge”. (Mark 15:2 "Are you the king of the Jews?" asked Pilate. "Yes, it is as you say," Jesus replied.) And although the priests accused Jesus of many things before Pilate, this king charge was the one charge Pilate could use to condemn Jesus. If Rome viewed Jesus as a rebel claiming his kingship over Israel, he would be an enemy of the state, a crime punishable by crucifixion. This is, in fact, the only reason Rome in principle crucified people. Pilate creates the sign to point to Rome as the Jews’ true authority. He also is likely warning any “wanna-be messiahs” to dare not challenge Rome. Of course, the life-giving truth you can see here is that Jesus, indeed, was then and is now the King of the Jews. He’s the King of Creation. He is the king because he humbly submitted himself to the cross for you. Pause and consider how you must hail the King.