Words of Jesus Podcast - Jesus Was Crucified BECAUSE They Knew He Was Messiah

Episode Date: April 4, 2025

What do we? for this man doeth many miracles. If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him: and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation. And one of them, named Caiaphas, being the high priest that same year, said unto them, Ye know nothing at all, Nor consider that it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not. And this spake he not of himself: but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation; And not for that nation only, but that also he should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad. John 11***115: The Crucifixion [Execution] Of JesusMatthew 27:33-35, 39-44; Mark 15:23-32; Luke 23:33-43; John 19:17-27When they had arrived at Calvary Jesus was given vinegar mingled with gall, which he tasted slightly but would not drink.            Then Jesus and the two common criminals were all nailed to crosses: one on the left, one on the right, with Jesus in the center.            Jesus said:            “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”            Then Pilate made a sign that was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. It was put on top of Jesus’ cross. It read:JESUS OF NAZARETHTHE KING OF THE JEWS            The chief priests objected to the sign, saying to Pilate:            “Write not ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that he said, ‘I am King of the Jews.’”            Pilate answered:            “What I have written I have written.”            The four soldiers who had crucified Jesus took his garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each. His coat, however, was in one piece, without seam. The soldiers did not tear it but said to one another:            “Let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be.”            Thus was the Scripture fulfilled which said:            “They parted my raiment among them, and for my vesture they did cast lots.”            The spectators, the chief priests, elders, scribes, the soldiers who had crucified him, and even one of the common criminals on his cross reviled and mocked Jesus.            The scribes and elders said:            “He saved others. Himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him. He trusted in God. Let him deliver him now, if he will have him; for he said, “I am the Son of God.’”            Others said:            “Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross.”            The soldiers offered him vinegar to drink,...

Music Think Red Ink Ministries presents The Words of Jesus series with Don C. Harris Music Hello my friends, welcome once again to the Words of Jesus series. I'm Don Harris and we're talking about the execution of Jesus Christ. We talked about the particulars involved in execution, how they differ from crucifixion. We talked about the fact that perhaps Jesus did not die on a T-shaped cross or even the capital T or lower T. And

I think that although these things are interesting, I don't want to come across like, you know, if you believe anything otherwise that you're wrong, I'm right, and that somehow you're less than anybody else. I don't think these things are really that important. They're interesting and they're interesting to study. And if you have a dissenting opinion or at least even a differing opinion, those kind of things, they're fine. They're certainly okay with me. So, whatever you think about the crucifixion and how these things happen, I tell you all the time. It's my opinion.

So, I don't mind giving you my opinion. I don't mind if you reject it. It's okay What do we need to know we need to know Jesus Christ and Him crucified we need to know Jesus Christ and and his and and appreciate his death which Was was offered as a ransom for many really? that's really all that you know when it comes to the doctrine and religion and you know and the preaching of dogma and our our liturgies of Faith and things we believe and all that stuff interesting, but

Essential now not really not really if the Jesus that you have within your heart actually changes you from the inside, allows you access to the throne of God by keeping the commandments, and the Jesus that you understand is not a contradiction to almost everything that the Jesus of the Bible says, that's just fine. that's just fine. It's just fine. But don't play with

huge contradictions in your mind about who Jesus Christ was and what the Scriptures actually say. Because you could find yourself worshiping another Jesus. And so we need to be careful. We need to be diligent, but we don't need to be dogmatic. And we don't need to push people around. Alright, so here we have, we're in chapter 115. We're talking about the execution of Jesus. And Jesus made the declaration, these people do not know what they are doing and I would ask the Father to forgive them.

And so then the next thing that happens angers the Jews again. And Pilate is, I don't think he really cares what the Jews think, frankly I don't think he cares. And but I think that the Pilate actually wrote his conviction about who Jesus was. I don't think he was trying to just torque somebody off. I don't think he was trying to cause trouble. I think that this was his, as I said in the last show, this is his crowning, his peak achievement in the execution of Jesus Christ. You want me to be a part of this?

Here's my part. Give me that thing. And they handed him the little plaque that they put above the heads of people because they used the executions of criminals in public places for the very purpose of, for the reason of, deterring that kind of behavior in the future. So the little plaque was to be who it was and what they did wrong. So Pilate says, let's see who was he? Jesus of Nazareth. What did he do wrong? He was king of the Jews. That's what he did wrong. The Jews don't want a king. And I know they said that we have no king but Caesar, but I'm not an idiot.

I know that's not true. They are their own king. They worship themselves. They worship their temples. They worship all their religious stuff. And walking around in garbs and all kinds of decorations and sitting themselves above other people. I know what Jews are and they don't worship Caesar, they don't appreciate Caesar, and they don't appreciate this man. So why did they crucify him? Because he said he was the

king of the Jews? No! They crucified him because they knew he was. Don't ever make that mistake. Don't think that what they did, what the religious leadership did, and what the people did, they did in ignorance. And perhaps even fear of the Jews, fear of being turned out of the synagogue. They still believed that whatever salvation that they would enjoy would be at the hands and at the behest and at the at the say so of the Jews so they had fears but when it comes to religious leadership I think they knew exactly what they were doing they were

crucifying a man that had he had he continued he would have ended up king of Israel and probably dismantling the priesthood in the temple and they could not have that. So they decided to kill him. Now here we have Pilate putting on this flag, Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. The chief priest objected to the sign, saying to Pilate, no, right not that he's the King of the Jews, but that he said I was King of the Jews. Pilate answered, what I've written, I've written. Wow, this is him taking a stand isn't it? Isn't this him taking a stand on what he believes? I've written, I know

why you killed him. You didn't kill him because he said he was King of the Jews. You know what if just some bum on the street says he's the king of the Jews, you're going to crucify him? I bet you don't. You know why? You don't believe it. You crucified him because he is the king of the Jews. What I've written, I've written.

The four soldiers who had crucified Jesus took his garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each. His coat, however, was in one piece. Without seam the soldiers did not tear it, but said to one another, Let's not rend it, but let's cast lots for it, whose it shall be. Thus the scripture was fulfilled which said, They parted my raiment among them, and for my vesture they did cast lots." He says that, it says that he took his clothes and they tore them into pieces.

Why would they do that? Well you know fabric was a was a huge asset in those days. You know, one of the signs of Jewish mourning, they still do it today as a matter of fact. If you go to the funeral of or the wake of a particular man who was an Orthodox Jew, you'll notice that the men are walking around

usually they tear the collar of their coat. And that is rending their garment. You'll find that throughout the scriptures. And when a man rends his garment, it's a sign of mourning because you know, I'll tell you what it's comparable to You want to you want to put this in? In 20th century lingo you want to put pants on the scriptures all right Here's what it's like a

man taking a sledgehammer to his car Because he's in mourning. You know, I'm having a horrible time, you know, my wife has left me or my daughter's died or you know something horrible has happened in life. Just go out and take an eight pound sledge and just dive right through the windshield with it, or crush in the top, or the hood, or the fender, or whatever else. You know what? That's very expensive.

And what it shows is my earthly possessions at this point in my life mean nothing to me. Well, that's very similar to, in those days, a person who had a particular garment. You know we're used to in our society people wearing something different every day and they've always got something different on and if they don't you'll see people off in the corner whispering she wore that yesterday. No, no that won't happen. Or they'll say she wore it last week,

or she wore it the last time we met. That was the same dress she had on the last time we had a meeting. What is that? Well, it's some kind of horrible thing, horrible shame. That was not always the case, my friend. There were people that were known by their clothes. They were known by the coat they wore.

Jesus had not only his regular garments on, that they saw those materials and those fabrics, likely sewn in four panels, that those panels were removed and that material, because they didn't have a textile industry like we have, those things were sewn and woven. I mean, there was a lot of work, and expense went into those kinds of things.

Clothes were a very expensive part of life. You know when Jesus says, "'I was naked and you clothed me not? That is not like digging through your chest of drawers and you know gathering up a bag full of clothes for the good will. That is not what it's talking about although you should do those kinds of things and you shouldn't neglect people who don't have things that you do have and you should see to it that they have them, you need to know how huge this was.

That to clothe somebody was a big expense. It was considered to be a family expense. I mean, children ran around naked for a long time. And so, these materials were worth a lot. The soldiers divided them all. But when they got to his coat, they found out that it was woven in one piece. And there was no seam in this garment. Must have been a beautiful thing made for him.

Likely by somebody who works in that industry or whatever was appreciative of him Probably somebody that he forgave somebody that he taught somebody that he helped along and He was probably given this beautiful coat. Well when the soldiers saw that it was All one piece he says wow if we tear it up It's not gonna be worth anything to anybody He says, wow, if we tear it up, it's not going to be worth anything to anybody. It's not like we can tear it at the seams. There is no seam. So they decided to cast lots for it.

And Matthew saw it as a fulfillment of prophecy. And indeed it was that they said that for his arraignment that they cast lots. The spectators, the chief priests, the elders, the scribes, the soldiers who had crucified him and even one of the common criminals on the cross reviled and mocked Jesus. The scribes and elders said he saved others. Himself he cannot save. If he be the king of Israel let him come down from the cross and we'll believe him. He trusted in God. Let him deliver him now if he'll have him. For he said, I am the Son of God. I want you to notice that he said, if he is the King of Israel, let him come down from the cross.

What does being a king have to do with power to supernaturally remove yourself from a death situation and come down from the cross. There's no king could accomplish that. What were they saying? I'm telling you these people were well versed. They knew exactly what the Old Testament had to say about the new king of Israel. They knew that he was going to be David. They knew the son of David. They knew that he was going to be David, they knew the son of David. They knew that he was going to have supernatural power. They knew that all about the prophesied latter-day king of Israel.

That's why there was no...it's not necessarily an inequity to say, if he's the king of Israel, let him come down from the cross. You see, otherwise, that doesn't even make sense. And then they go on to say, he said I'm the son of God. And let God save him, if he'll have him. Wow, these people really reviled him, didn't they? They really hated him to say these kinds of reviled him, didn't they? They really hated him to say these kinds of things about him.

Well, I want you to know who heard all these things that were said. Jesus did. He heard these things being said. He knew how the religious leadership, how the people in power, how the people who were involved in his execution, he knew how they felt about him. Others said, Thou that destroyest the temple and buildest it in three days, save thyself! And if thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross." Now that one made sense. If you're the Son of God,

come down from the cross. The soldiers offered him vinegar to drink saying, if thou be the King of the Jews, save thyself. Some said, he saved others. Himself he cannot save. Let him save himself if he be Christ, the chosen of God. While those around the cross were reviling Jesus, one of the criminals joined in saying, if thou be Christ, save thyself and us." The other thief rebuked him, saying,

"'Tis not I fear God? Seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed just leave, for we receive the due reward of our deeds. But this man hath done nothing amiss. You know, before we get into the confession of this thief, which is very interesting, I want you to see that these people who were reviling Jesus

and who had to sit here and listen to these kinds of things, He saved others. Let him save himself if he be Christ, the chosen of God. Do you see what a wonderful opportunity it would have been, could have for that to have happened at that particular point? Had Jesus heard these things, and I believe he did, do you think that it was any kind of a temptation on his part? You know, he'd already been tempted with the very things that he came to accomplish, which was, one of them is that he would live to be

the king of Israel, which is the propagation of life and the bread that he was offered. Also that he would be highly exalted as the high priest of Israel, which was exemplified in the temptation to throw himself off at the temple and make a spiritual supernatural spectacle of himself. And the other one was that all the kingdoms of the earth would belong to him. Satan says I'll give them to you.

You might have thought that Satan was lying to him But if he had lied it wouldn't have been a temptation now would it? No, those kingdoms were given to him and Jesus came to redeem those kingdoms and so here they're kind of being offered to him again and It Bible says that when Jesus resisted all those temptations, that Satan left him for a little while. Now here we hear out of the mouths of men at least the potential of a temptation for Christ to have come off of that cross. Had he come off the cross, what would have been his value to these people? He would have been

recognized as the King of Israel for one, and he would have been recognized as the Son of God for another. Could he have accomplished what he accomplished? What he had proposed at the beginning? Had he just come down from the cross? It's a thought. I wonder about it. Was it a temptation? I'm sure it was a temptation, but I'm sure it was only in his own mental deduction. I don't think it might have occurred to him to have done it. I don't know, but I do know this, that his intention was not to, was not so much to be the king of Israel as to be the king of his people. His intention was not necessarily to be high priest, but to be high priest over his people. At this particular point, he looks down at his people,

and every one of them hate him. I don't think he could have accomplished that. I don't think that he would have been installed as the king of Israel had he come down from the cross. Had he come down, this would have happened again. It was destined to happen on this day, on this Passover day, for him to be the Passover, to be the lamb that was slain to take away the sins of the world. He was fully engaged in this. Sure, his intention was to be offered on an altar. I believe that. And again, that's my

opinion, but I believe that. And is all taking place and yes it's not necessarily going according to plan. Yes there is a temptation of escape but all these things come together to say I don't know that I want to tell you because we're going to talk about it. Jesus mentions these things. All these things are in His mind. They're racing through His mind and sees the timing. He sees that the blood is flowing. He sees that His death is imminent He sees that he's going to be put into a grave and raised on the third day all these things are coming together

And he makes a statement you might be surprised what it was All right, we're going to continue when we get to the statement. I'll recall this. I hope you can So they continued I hope you can. So they continued saying, If thou be the Christ, save thyself and us. And the other, the other thief says, Dost thou not fear God, seeing that thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we received the due reward of our deeds, but this man hath done nothing amiss." Then he turned to Jesus and said,

Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. Jesus answered him saying, Verily I say unto thee. This is so beautiful because Jesus heard in him repentance. He heard in him a proclamation that Jesus was indeed the King, that he was innocent, that he was Lord. And so Jesus says, I say unto thee this day, thou shalt be with me in paradise.

That shall be with me in paradise. Note the way that's said, because if you look at this little book which was translated and evidently copied out so that it's readable in English, this fellow kind of adds to the scriptures here by putting a little comma next to the word thee. There is no comma. Jesus says, I say unto thee this day, this day I say unto thee thou shalt be with me in paradise. Dad, how can you say that? How can you make such a such a broad statement as that, you know, with no evidence whatsoever? Oh, I got evidence. Because when this man died, he didn't go to paradise. Oh, you thought I was talking about the thief?

No. I'm talking about Jesus Christ. When he died, he went into a grave and there he stayed for three days and three nights and arose again and then went to be with the father see the idea of him dying and going to paradise no that didn't happen there's no reason to believe that happened there's certainly no reason to believe that it happened to the thief. So what did Jesus say?

He said, this day I tell thee, I'm telling you on this day, this day I tell thee. That's all he was saying. This day I tell thee, thou shalt be with me in paradise. This was not a promise that as he came down from the cross, as they remove your dead body from the cross, you and I are going to be in paradise. Not true. He wasn't in paradise. He wasn't with the father when he died. What did he say to Mary? Touch me not. I've not yet ascended to the father. So, where was he? In the grave. Just like Jonah was in the whale, he was in the grave.

That was his sign. That was his last sign he was gonna give us. No sign shall be given it, except the sign of the prophet Jonah. So, yeah, that's what he said. Now, standing in the shadow of the cross was Mary, the mother of Jesus, and his mother's sister, also called Mary, and Mary Magdalene. Jesus saw the disciple whom he loved standing by, this was John. From the cross Jesus said to his mother regarding this disciple,

Woman, behold thy son. I guess he didn't point, his hands were occupied. Woman, behold thy son. Then he said to the disciple, behold thy mother. Y'all take care of each other. I gotta go. From that hour, the disciple became as a son to Jesus' mother and welcomed her into his home. It's speculation that this son John was indeed Jesus' natural brother.

May have been, may not have been, very common name. But one of his disciples named, took that woman and said, I'll take your responsibilities here on the earth. You take mine when you see the Father. It's a beautiful thought. Time is gone. We've got to go. Sorry about that. Write to me if you have a comment or question

about what we talk about here on the Words of Jesus series. You can do so at Don at ThinkRedInc.com. And until I see you again, my friend, Think Red Inc. Bye-bye. I'm sorry. You've been listening to Don C. Harris of ThinkRedInk Ministries. Email don at thinkredinc.com. That's thinkredink.com. Join us again for the next episode in the Words of Jesus and Red Letter Edition features. Tune new podcasts from Thank Red Ink Ministries with host Don C. Harris.