The Day Jesus Refused Pain Killers! Matthew 27:32-44

 The Crucifixion of Jesus

32 As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross. 33 They came to a place called Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull”). 34 There they offered Jesus wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, he refused to drink it. 35 When they had crucified him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots. 36 And sitting down, they kept watch over him there. 37 Above his head they placed the written charge against him: this is jesus, the king of the jews. 38 Two rebels were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. 39 Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads 40 and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!” 41 In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. 42 “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! He’s the king of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. 43 He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” 44 In the same way the rebels who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him.

As they take Jesus to the cross, we meet a man named Simon from Cyrene.  Cyrene was in Africa, so he was probably a Jew who had traveled Jerusalem for the Passover feast.  Note he did not choose to carry the cross, he was forced to do it. Cyrene was in North Africa some 800 miles away, so it was no short journey.  Perhaps he was chosen because he was a foreigner and would be relatively obscure in the crowd.  Golgotha was outside of the city walls.  The hill might have had a skull-like appearance.  The drink they offered him was supposed to give him some pain relief one of the seemingly few compassionate moments, but Jesus refused to drink it.  

Verse 35 doesn't go into any details but merely says, "When they crucified him".  It seems unusually sparse on the details. 

"Although the Romans did not invent crucifixion, they perfected it as a form of torture and capital punishment that was designed to produce a slow death with maximum pain and suffering.” Guzik

Jesus gave up everything on the cross, including his clothes which were auctioned off by the casting of lots.  This was a fulfillment of Psalm 22:8.  It is one of many very specific prophecies in which Jesus specifically fulfilled.  Jesus could not have manipulated the situation for these men to cast lots, or gamble for his clothing.  The chance of this one prophecy being fulfilled when Jesus was crucified is very low, let alone the many other specific prophecies Jesus fulfilled on one of the most important days in human history.  There is simply NO WAY Jesus could have deliberately fulfilled these prophecies on his own and most of them were out of his control.  This perhaps the most convincing evidence for the truth of Christianity and Jesus as the only Son of God.

Unwittingly or not, they wrote over his head, "This is Jesus the king of the Jews".  While they may have done it mockingly, nonetheless it was written.  In John 19:22, we see that the Jewish leaders objected to the title.  Yet, Pilate says, "What I have written, I have written!"  

Ironically Jesus is crucified between two known guilty criminals. 

"In His crucifixion, Jesus stood right in the center of sinful humanity. With the mockery of the criminals, the rejection of Jesus by His people is complete. Even criminals rejected Him." Guzik

“The Jews placed him between these two, perhaps to intimate that he was the worst felon of the three.” (Clarke)

When you think that Jesus is the only Son of God, truly man, truly God, it is hard to imagine the strength he needed not to address any of these insults.  Specifically, they challenged his power, the things he had said about himself, and finally they taunted him to come down off the cross so they could believe in him.  Jesus knew their requests were not motivated by anything but ridicule.  

David Guzik sums up the whole scene perfectly,

"This was the peak of God’s love for man: to endure this for our salvation. But it was also the summit of man’s hatred for God; God came to earth, and this is what man did to Him."

What do you think motivated Jesus to not respond to all of the accusations, insults and mocking?  What was the difference between Jesus and Simon of Cyrene is relationship to the cross?     When Jesus calls us to "pick up our cross and follow him" what does this mean in light of what happened on the day Jesus was crucified? Where do you need to lay down your rights to follow Jesus?  When we make a choice to pick up our cross like Jesus did, what do you think it means to Jesus?  What about those around us who witness our discipleship?