And His Friends Stood At A Distance
"Carrying the cross by himself, he went out to what is called Place of the Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. There they crucified him and two others with him, one on either side, with Jesus in the middle. Pilate also had a sign made and put on the cross. It said: Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews."
John 19:17-19
It was from within one of those caves that made up the face of the Golgotha skull, that the prophet Jeremiah wrote his lamentations as he looked down upon the ruined city of Jerusalem.
Nun
"My transgressions have been formed into a yoke, fastened together by his hand; they have been placed on my neck,
and the Lord has broken my strength. He has handed me over to those I cannot withstand."
Lamentations 1:14
Jeremiah watched his nation suffer oppression, and faint under the weight of their sins that have come home to roost. They had prostituted themselves to foreign gods, bringing them into their temple, and now the foreigners have destroyed their homes and the temple. Their God almighty whom they had rejected has placed the blame squarely upon their necks. They made themselves a curse. And now they understand that they have been cast out into the bitter outer darkness.
They were cursed by the law.
"For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, as it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.”"
Galatians 3:10
Galatians 3:23 "Before the coming of this faith, we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed."
And there on Golgotha, outside the temple city of Jerusalem, stood the cross (tree) on which Jesus Christ, the Messiah, was delivered up by the Jews into the hands of the gentile Roman authorities for execution. Like a scapegoat he was driven out into the outer darkness.
And there...
"Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.” He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit."
Galatians 3:13-14
Christ Jesus took upon himself the cross beam, the yoke of our transgressions, that his people put upon him. His people handed him over to our enemies.
The physical agony of his crucifixion was horrible no doubt, but many humans had suffered that same curse. What sets his death on that tree of torture apart from the rest was his innocence, the betrayal by his people, and the agony of being separated from his Father in that moment.
Matthew 27:46
About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Elí, Elí, lemá sabachtháni?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”
They had blasphemed him, accused him of working with demons and of being a false prophet. The man who thought it was robbery to think himself equal with God. They mocked him and he lamented his outer darkness. This separation from the Father on the cross of others transgressions was Jesus' hellish landscape. It was his outer darkness. His suffering was multiplied by the weight of the sins of billions of peoples. And they passed him by, mocking him. These fluctuating people who welcomed him, days before, into the temple city of Jerusalem, now they reject him and curse him. All because he preached to them to count the cost. To take up their cross and follow him. To do the will of his Father through him. To find the light, the life, and the truth, in him.
In contempt and indifference, they wagged their heads at him as they passed by. As the Philistines (Palestinians) did over Samson the destroyer, they insulted him.
Psalm 27:7
Everyone who sees me mocks me; they sneer and shake their heads.
Psalm 109:25
I have become an object of ridicule to my accusers; when they see me, they shake their heads.
And Jesus responds to their vile condemnations..."Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”
Luke 23:34
And his friends stood at a distance.
Food for thought:
Which thief on the cross are you? The mocking thief or the repentant thief?