Thinking on Scripture with Dr. Steven R. Cook
Religion & Spirituality:Christianity
Soteriology Lesson 26 - The Trials, Beatings, Mockings, and Death of the Messiah
What Jesus Suffered by Men
Jesus loved the Father (John 14:31) and submitted Himself to do the Father’s will (Matt 26:39-44; cf. Rom 5:19; Phil 2:5-8), which included enduring the illegal trials of His accusers, as well as the eventual mockings, beatings, and crucifixion. All that Jesus suffered was prophesied in Scripture (Gen 3:15; Psa 22:16-18; Isa 50:4-7; 52:14; 53:3-12; Mark 10:32-34). God the Father was in complete control of the circumstances surrounding the trials and crucifixion of Jesus (Acts 2:23; 4:27-28). Though unjustly attacked, Jesus knew He was doing the Father’s will (John 6:38; 10:14-18; 12:27; 18:11) and did not retaliate against His attackers (1 Pet 2:21-23). The four Gospels record the arrest, trials, mocking, crucifixion, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. Matthew, Mark and Luke refer to events taking place according to Jewish time in which the day ends at sunset; whereas John relies on Gentile time in which the day ends at midnight. A brief chronology of Jesus’ trials, mockings, beatings, crucifixion and burial is as follows:
The Jewish trials declared Jesus guilty, whereas the Gentile trials found Him innocent. Jesus was crucified by Gentiles because of the pressure of the Jewish leadership. The crucifixion of Jesus was physically horrendous and involved not only great physical pain, but also psychological anguish and social humiliation. According to William Hendriksen, crucifixion included “severe inflammation, the swelling of the wounds in the region of the nails, unbearable pain from torn tendons, fearful discomfort from the strained position of the body, throbbing headache, and burning thirst (John 19:28).”[4]
What Jesus Suffered by the Father
As previously mentioned, Jesus was not a helpless victim, but willingly laid down His life for us. Jesus said, “I lay down My life for the sheep” (John 10:15), and “No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative” (John 10:18). Scripture reveals that God the Father sent His Son “as an offering for sin” (Rom 8:3), and once Jesus was on the cross, made Him “to be sin on our behalf” (2 Cor 5:21a), and was “smitten of God, and afflicted” (Isa 53:4), as “the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him” (Isa 53:6), and “the LORD was pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief; if He would render Himself as a guilt offering” (Isa 53:10). Thieme states:
Geisler adds:
Jesus Died Twice on the Cross
There are different kinds of death mentioned in Scripture. Biblically, death means separation. Three major kinds of death are mentioned in Scripture, and these include: 1) spiritual death, which is separation from God in time (Gen 2:16-17; 3:1-7; Rom 5:12; 1 Cor 15:22; Eph 2:1-2; Col 2:13-14), 2) physical death, which is the separation of the human spirit from the body (Gen 35:18; Eccl 12:7; 2 Cor 5:8; Phil 1:23-24; 2 Tim 4:6; Jam 2:26), and 3) the second death (aka eternal death), which is the perpetuation of physical and spiritual separation from God for all eternity (Rev 20:11-15). Spiritual and physical death were introduced into God’s creation when the first human, Adam, sinned against God. God told Adam, “from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die” (Gen 2:17). Adam’s sin instantly brought spiritual death (Gen 2:15-17; 3:1-7), but not immediate physical death, as he tried to hide physically from God (Gen 3:8-10). Later, Adam died physically at the age of nine hundred and thirty (Gen 5:5). Though Adam was made spiritually alive again (Gen 3:21), his single sin introduced death, in every form, into the world (Rom 5:12-14; 1 Cor 15:21-22). Except for Christ, all are born in Adam (1 Cor 15:21-22), inherit his original sin (Rom 5:12), and are spiritually dead and separated from God in time (Eph 2:1-2). Those who reject Jesus as Savior will experience the second death in the lake of fire.
Because all humanity experiences spiritual and physical death as consequences of sin, it seems that if Jesus is to be our Savior, then He must experience the same kind of death that that we experience. Both physical and spiritual death relate to Jesus’ humanity and not His deity. In His humanity, Jesus’ fellowship with the Father was temporarily broken during the three hours He was being judged for our sin. This was while God the Father poured out His wrath upon His Son who paid the penalty for our sins. Jesus’ spiritual death should not be understood to mean that there was a break in the essence of the Trinity, for that is not possible. In the hypostatic union, Jesus is undiminished deity and perfect humanity, and it was only His humanity that bore our sin, not His deity, for sin cannot be imputed to deity, for that would contaminate and corrupt God Himself. The writer to the Hebrews cites the words of God the Son as He was about to enter the world, saying, “Therefore, when He comes into the world [in hypostatic union], He says, ‘Sacrifice and offering You have not desired, but a body You have prepared for Me’” (Heb 10:5). Because animal sacrifices under the OT law code could never take away sin, a perfect and sinless body was prepared for Jesus, so that by His personal sacrifice, our sins could be atoned for. Peter tells us that Jesus “Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross” (1 Pet 2:24). Jesus’ spiritual death meant His humanity was—for three hours—disconnected from the Father while He was on the cross bearing our sins. Geisler states, “Death is separation, and spiritual death is spiritual separation from God.”[7] W.E. Vine adds, “while the physical death of the Lord Jesus was of the essence of His sacrifice, it was not the whole. The darkness symbolized, and His cry expressed, the fact that He was left alone in the Universe, He was ‘forsaken.’”[8] According to Thieme, “Separated from God the Father, the humanity of Christ died spiritually, and this was the price paid to redeem fallen mankind from the penalty of sin (Rom 6:23a).”[9] Arnold Fruchtenbaum states, “The Righteous One suffered and died in place of unrighteous ones, in order to bring them to God. The Messiah died a violent physical death, and He also died a spiritual death.”[10] J. Dwight Pentecost states:
Paul Karleen adds:
Jesus’ physical death occurred afterwards, when “He said, ‘It is finished!’ And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit” (John 19:30). When Jesus died physically, there was a separation of His human spirit from His body. To prove He was physically dead, Scripture records that a Roman soldier “pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out” (John 19:34). William Hendricksen notes:
There is great complexity and mystery in the suffering of Jesus on the cross. The complexity of the issue is that Jesus is fully God and man. Sin cannot be imputed to deity, as that would corrupt His divine nature. Yet, without corrupting His divine nature, Jesus somehow “bore our sins in His body on the cross” (1 Pet 2:24) and died in our place, “the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God” (1 Pet 3:18). Jesus died physically when “He bowed His head and gave up His spirit” (John 19:30). Our ability to reason these things takes us only so far, as our minds are woefully inadequate to grasp the infinitude of the matter. Here, faith must rest in what God has revealed through His written Word.
Dr. Steven R. Cook
[1] Jesus’ religious trials: 1) Annas (John 18:12-24), 2) Caiaphas (Matt 26:57-66), and 3) the Sanhedrin (Matt 27:1-2). Jesus’ civil trials: 1) Pilate (John 18:28-40), 2) Herod Antipas (Luke 23:6-12), and 3) Pilate (Luke 23:11; John 19:1-16).
[2] This CSB assumes John calculates events using Roman time (where the day begins after midnight) rather than Jewish time (where the day starts at sunrise). The ESV and NAU translate the Greek literally, “about the sixth hour,” whereas the NET and NIV translate it, “about noon.” If the sixth hour is calculated by Roman time, then it would be about 6:00 AM, and if calculated by Jewish time, it would be about 12:00 PM. This author favors the CSB translation.
[3] After His death, Jesus was resurrected on the third day and appeared to numerous persons over a period of forty days (Matt 28:1-10; John 20:10-29; 1 Cor 15:5-7). Afterwards, Jesus ascended bodily into heaven (Acts 1:9-12). It is recorded that God the Father “raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places” (Eph 1:20).
[4] William Hendriksen and Simon J. Kistemaker, Exposition of the Gospel According to John, vol. 2, New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1953–2001), 427.
[5] Robert B. Thieme, Jr. “Cross and Crucifixion”, Thieme’s Bible Doctrine Dictionary, (Houston, TX., R. B. Thieme, Jr., Bible Ministries, 2022), 50.
[6] Norman L. Geisler, Systematic Theology, Volume Four: Church, Last Things (Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House Publishers, 2005), 336–337.
[7] Norman L. Geisler, Systematic Theology, Volume Three: Sin, Salvation (Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House Publishers, 2004), 126.
[8] W. E. Vine, Merrill F. Unger, and William White Jr., Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words (Nashville, TN: T. Nelson, 1996), 149.
[9] Robert B. Thieme, Jr. “Cross and Crucifixion”, Thieme’s Bible Doctrine Dictionary, (Houston, TX., R. B. Thieme, Jr., Bible Ministries, 2022), 50.
[10] Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum, Israelology: The Missing Link in Systematic Theology, Rev. ed. (Tustin, CA: Ariel Ministries, 1994), 999.
[11] J. Dwight Pentecost and Ken Durham, Faith That Endures: A Practical Commentary on the Book of Hebrews, Rev. ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 2000), 96.
[12] Paul S. Karleen, The Handbook to Bible Study: With a Guide to the Scofield Study System (New York: Oxford University Press, 1987), 264–265.
[13] William Hendriksen and Simon J. Kistemaker, Exposition of the Gospel According to John, vol. 2, New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1953–2001), 437.
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