*these are my notes from Sunday, March 24, 2023.

Prophetic Prediction

Isaiah lived 700 years before Jesus. He wrote one of the longest books in the Bible and he lived one of the longest lives of a prophet. His active ministry lasted 60 years.

Somewhere during that time, he wrote a powerful chapter of scripture.
This chapter, written 7 centuries before Jesus, is so accurate that it’s either scary, or supernatural.

Isaiah recorded 24 predictions about the messiah.

What’s the probability that even 8 prophecies would come true?

Several years ago a mathematician named Peter Stoner, set out to calculate the probability that anyone could fulfill over 300 prophecies of scripture.

When Stoner got to the probability that anyone could fulfill 8 Scripture predictions, the number was so large, he had to use an analogy for it.

Stoner’s number for 8 prophecies was 1 x 1017 power. That’s a 1 with 17 zeroes behind it. The English word for it is “One hundred quadrillion.”

Stoner said, “To appreciate how large this number is, imagine filling the state of Texas 2 feet deep in silver dollars.”

“Then, mark one silver dollar with a red “X” and mix them all up.

“Blindfold someone, spin them around, and have them pick that dollar on the first try.”

That’s the probability that anyone could fulfill 8 prophecies.

Isaiah recorded twenty-four…that all came true.

Many you’ll see on the cross. I’ll at least highlight some today. One thing Jesus said to his disciples and those who put Him on trial was that all of this needed to happen SO THAT SCRIPTURE WOULD BE FULFILLED.

Another thing we saw Jesus say to Judas, Pilate, and the sanhedrin was this phrase, “You said it.”

Well today, we go to what Jesus said on the cross.

He said it…between two criminals.

Context [trivia]:

Thursday night he reclines with the 12 apostles for the last supper. How many can you name? [Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother;  Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.]

They leave. Sing a hymn. Head across the Kidron Valley to the mount of olives into the garden they regularly visit. The name is? [Gethsemane]

While praying for more than an hour his closest three are there. Who are they? [Peter James and John]. All three fall asleep on him.

Judas comes to betray with a [kiss on the cheek].

A servant’s ear gets cut off. His name is? [Malcus]

Who cuts it? [Simon Peter].

Who runs away naked? [we don’t know exactly but he’s mentioned only in Mark]

Jesus is taken by the mob. His friend lingers around the trial. He denies knowing him. Who is that? [Peter] We’re told all have fled.

There is one we’ll see at the cross. [John]

6 trials. Starting in the early hours around 2am.

Probably around 7-8am He’s back in Pilate’s headquarters having a personal conversation. This could be the moment. “What is truth?” Pilate tries to release. Instead, the crowd won out. Jesus or Barabbas a murderer? [Who do they pick?]

From around 9am – noon he’s on the cross.

Darkness 12-3.

3pm he’s dead.

Before sunset he’ll be buried by a rich man [Joseph of Arimathea & Nicodemus].

Before you hear what he’s about to say, it’s important you see what condition he was in.

Brutality of the Cross: The Beating Starts

*This is an excerpt taken from my mini book “Is Jesus Real?” which notes were taken from Lee Strobel’s book “The Case for Christ.”

  • Execution/punishment/worst form of death: Cicero (the Roman Politician) “the most cruel and hideous of tortures.”
  • Roman soldiers were cruel, heartless, worst of the worst individuals. They whipped Jesus and tortured him in the most inhumane way. Jesus was in critical condition before he even got to the cross. The soldiers flogged him for hours. Roman floggings were extremely brutal. They used whips with metal balls woven into them. These balls ripped apart the flesh, exposing muscles and bones. A third-century historian by the name of Eusebius described flogging by saying, ‘The sufferer’s veins were laid bare, and the very muscles, sinews, and bowels of the victim were open to exposure.” (195)
  • He then had to carry the cross through all of this pain. This kind of beating would kill most people. The tremendous pain caused hypovolemic shock, meaning the person is suffering the effects of losing a large amount of blood. (196) Jesus was in hypovolemic shock as he staggered up the road to the execution site at Calvary, carrying the horizontal beam of the cross. Finally Jesus collapsed and the Roman soldiers ordered Simon to carry the cross for him. (Matthew 27:32 – 33, Mark 15:21 – 22, Luke 23:26 – 31, John 19:16 – 17).)
  • The roman soldiers then used spikes that were 5-7 inches long and drove them into Jesus’ wrists. And it’s important to understand that the nail would go through the place where the median nerve runs. This is the largest nerve going out to the hand, and it would be crushed by the nail that was pounded into it. (197)
  • Did you ever get hit in the elbow on your funny bone? That’s actually another nerve called the ulna nerve. It’s so painful that some people pass out after having something called a vasovagal response. Well, picture someone taking a pair of pliers and squeezing and crushing that nerve. That effect would be similar to what Jesus experienced. (197)
  • The pain was unbearable. They actually had to come up with another word to describe it. Did you know excruciating means, “out of the cross?” (198)
  • Nails were then driven into Jesus’ feet, through nerves that would again cause similar nerve pain.
  • His arms were outstretched so much that both his shoulders would have been dislocated.
  • Once a person is hanging in the vertical position, crucifixion is essentially an
  • agonizingly slow death by asphyxiation. (198)
  • A person hanging on the cross would fight to get out of a slouched position, which basically puts the chest into an inhaled position. In order to exhale, Jesus would have to stand up to relax his muscles and breathe in. This would cause a lot of pain and tearing in his feet, and more ripping and tearing as his back rubs against the wooden cross. Eventually, exhaustion took over and Jesus wasn’t able to push up anymore to breathe. (198)
  • Eventually his breathing slowed down and he went into an irregular heartbeat. When his heart was beating erratically, Jesus would have known that he was at the moment of death, which is when he said, “Lord into your hands I commit my spirit.” (Luke 23:46) Most crucified criminals at this point would then die of cardiac arrest. (199)

The 7 Statements Jesus Made from the Cross

Statement #1: Jesus forgave his murderers.

“And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). And they divided his clothes and cast lots.

  • In contrast to the hate and rejection expressed in crucifixion (cf. Ps. 22:6-8), Jesus manifested love and forgiveness for the soldiers who crucified Him.
  • He didn’t have any sins to confess so he prayed for the sinners in front of him, modeling an example for us as disciples.

Isaiah 53:12 because he willingly submitted to death,

In the Garden He prayed, “If it is possible, Father take this cup from me, nevertheless, not my will by thy will be done.”

Isaiah 53:12 and was counted among the rebels;

Pilate counted him with Barabbas and the others who were rebelling against the Roman Empire. He wasn’t rebelling, but He was counted among the rebels.

And the last phrase says…

yet he bore the sin of many

and interceded for the rebels.

On the Cross He prayed “Father, forgive them…” And we’ll see him next forgive the criminal next to him. And we’re told in Romans 8:34 says He is interceding for all of us rebels right now, at the throne of God.

  • How many of you know that someone may seem like they are murdering you right now, yet they know not what they do. Forgive them. We must forgive because we have been forgiven.

Statement #2: Jesus forgave the criminal on the cross.

Luke 23:35 And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!” 36 The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine 37 and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” 

Matthew and Mark wrote that both criminals railed at Jesus:

Matt. 27:44 “And the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way.”

Mark 15:32 “Those who were crucified with him also reviled him.”

  • Both robbers/bandits: These weren’t just people who stole something. They did great harm to people who they robbed, either hurt, abused, or even killed.
  • They reviled: Cast the same in his teeth. Taunted him. Poked fun at. Reproached. Spoke abusively towards him.
  • I need you to catch this. Something changes. We literally see conversion on the cross. Luke focuses on one of the criminal’s repentance. Watch this change…

Luke says in chapter 23, verse 39: One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” 40 But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” 42 And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

Wow, what did we just see.

  • One criminal changed and rebuked the other
  • God fearing-do you not fear God  
  • He goes against the crowd now
  • He publicly admits he’s a sinner, we receive justly for our deeds;
  • He admits Jesus has done nothing wrong.
  • He publicly professed his faith.
  • Jesus, Lord, Kingdom.

Which criminal are we? The one who mocks or the one who sees…

  • Do we see (1) the justice of our own punishment?
  • Do we see (2) the sinless character of Christ?
  • Do we see (3) the Deity of Christ?
  • Do we see (4) a living Christ beyond the grave?
  • Do we see (5) a kingdom beyond the cross, with Jesus as its coming King?

Jesus responds, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43).

  • Only the grace of God in the cross of Christ that can instantly transform this sinner into an  attitude of saving faith and confession.
  • Jesus promised the thief that he would go to paradise simply because of his faith in Jesus. This is one of the clearest examples in Scripture that salvation is not a reward for meritorious works but is a gift of God (Eph. 2:8-9).

Let us not forget though, unlike this thief, we came off the cross.

  • We are born-again on this earth with days left to live out our faith.
  • If he would have come off the cross, the hope would be that true transformation would have been noticeable from his completely changed life, which came from his completely changed heart.
  • For all of our physical days that remain, the hope is the same.
  • We have a great commission to fulfill now that we know that truth that one day we will also be with Christ in paradise.

There were 5 other statements Jesus made on the cross. We can’t go into them today. Many people were changed that day on the spot from what they witnessed. “Truly this is the Son of God.” Many beat their chests in anguish. Many were in awe. The question is, are you?