Were You There When They Crucified My Lord
WERE YOU THERE WHEN THEY CRUCIFIED MY LORD?
Rev. J.M. Healey
Luke 23:33-38
| Lu 23:33 | And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left. |
| Lu 23:34 | Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots. |
| Lu 23:35 | And the people stood beholding. And the rulers also with them derided him, saying, He saved others; let him save himself, if he be Christ, the chosen of God. |
| Lu 23:36 | And the soldiers also mocked him, coming to him, and offering him vinegar, |
| Lu 23:37 | And saying, If thou be the king of the Jews, save thyself. |
| Lu 23:38 | And a superscription also was written over him in letters of Greek, and Latin, and Hebrew, THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS. |
There is an old black spiritual song that asks the question “Were you there when they crucified my Lord?”……
The thoughtless answer is NO! Of course you were not there, No living person of this day and age could have possibly been there.
And yet the spiritual side is insistent—“Were you there?”—Many were.
Nicodemus was there—in all his judicial pride,
Here was man who recognized Jesus as a teacher, he called Him Rabbi, and he knew that God was with him but he did not acknowledge that He was God.
Yet, he went to Him at night, under the cover of darkness, was he afraid that his fellow Pharisees might see him with Jesus, he was not ready for that type of persecution or ridicule.
So he went at night so as to speak with the Lord, to get a better idea on what he was teaching, yet he did not fully accept it.
Here is a man who had an audience with God and could get all the answers to all of his questions, yet he chose not to truly believe what Jesus told him.
Then during the trial of Jesus he stood by in his pride and said nothing. Then later he helped Joseph of Arimathea with the burial of Jesus.
Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. Taking Jesus' body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen.
Let me tell you this; if you let pride rule any part of your life and prevent your serving the Master, YOU WERE THERE.
Judas Iscariot was there…he was led there by greed.
Even from the beginning Judas was in it for the money, he handled all the finances.
Greed caused Judas to betray the Master for thirty pieces of silver;
Greed caused him to cry out against the woman, who anointed Jesus’ feet,
John 12:4-6
'Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor?' Now he said this, not because he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and having the purse, carried the things that were put therein.
Greed caused Judas to betray the Master, for thirty pieces of silver, greed led him to betray the Son of God while moving under the guise of friendship.
Greed causes wars, greed causes depressions, and greed causes the corruption of nations and its people, greed causes people to rob God of that which belongs to Him.
Oh Yes! Greed was there when they crucified my Lord.
Peter was there…big bad Peter, he is going to be the rock, he said that he would go to prison even unto death for Jesus (Luke 22:33,) but for now his human nature has gotten in the way. He watches from the shadows.
In Gethsemane he drew a sword to defend Jesus, did you notice that Jesus was close by then, I mean he was there with Peter, but after the soldiers had taken Him Peter was way in the back of the crowd, he followed from afar off…at least he followed, where were the others?
(Math 26:56 in part) “Then all the disciples forsook Him, and fled.”
They all abandoned Him; they ran away in fear for their on safety.
He denied Jesus three times out of fear, the Lord told him he would but he boasted, never!
Fear got the better of him; he didn’t want any of what the Lord was going through.
Jesus is hurt when professing Christians deny the Lord in word and deed, we must be steadfast in what we believe, and there is no changing the truth.
He was crushed when the apostles fled.
He was crushed when Peter denied Him.
He is crushed when we deny Him also.
Yes, fear, cowardice and neglect were there when they crucified my Lord!
THE CHIEF PRIESTS WERE THERE...In all their ecclesiastical dignity...they could trace their priestly lineage, yet they were corrupt priest, corrupt prophets...
| Jer 5:31 | The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; |
The prophets were Gods’ spokesman yet they would prophesy with out the spirit of God leading them, they were saying what they wanted so as to make things that they wanted to happen appear that they were from GOD, some people still try to do this today.
| Mic 3:11 | The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the LORD, and say, Is not the LORD among us? none evil can come upon us. |
Money and power how shallow they were.
You would have to be blind not to see it.
They felt that because of whom they were that nothing evil would befall them.
| Mt 27:20 | But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitude that they should ask Barabbas, and destroy Jesus. |
They preferred the murderer rather than the Saviour; they preferred the church as they knew it to the Lord.
The Pharisees were there—with their formal worship,
| 2tim 3:5 | Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. |
They were more interested in the letter of the law rather than the spirit of worship, they were spiritually dead inside.
They preferred tradition rather than the Word of God, they looked the part but that was the extent of it.
Literally they were falling away from God.
They would rather destroy Christ than yield to His power.
THEN THERE WAS A HOST OF INDIFFERENT PEOPLE, NOT IDENTIFIED—Indifference; coldness, dullness, sluggishness, listless, unresponsive, disdainful, and haughty just to name a few examples.
There were those who were only interested in their interpretation of the Law in regards to salvation.
They had gotten away from worshiping God. They had made up their own rules and added things to the word of God. You can not do that.
Here is just one example:
In Genesis we can see what happens when we try to strengthen Gods’ Word by changing it, even ever so slightly:
Remember Eve in the Garden? What did Satan say to Eve that made her go against GOD?
| Ge 3:1 | Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? |
| Ge 3:5 | For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. |
He caused her to doubt, and notice here she does something, it is in her response, and it is something that we all need to be careful of.
Here Eve has added to GODS word, and all though it may sound good, it was not the truth.
| Ge 3:2 | And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: |
| Ge 3:3 | But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. |
GODS’ word does not need our input to strengthen it.
By miss quoting GODS’ Word, Eve, (and ourselves if we are not careful) has shown Satan a major flaw in her (or our) ability to resist temptation.
Gen 2:16-17 tells us exactly what GOD had said.
| Ge 2:16 | And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: |
| Ge 2:17 | But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. |
So now Satan had her where he wanted her, she had convinced herself that she wanted to do what she should not.
You cannot change Gods’ Word to fit your situation or your lifestyle.
You will pay dearly for it in the end.
We know what happened to Eve.
Indifference is probably the heaviest anchor attached to Christianity today.
With all the various doctrines that are out there today how can people find their way?
We have to tell them.
We have to tell them the truth; it’s here in this book you just have to earnestly and honestly want to know it, keep it in your heart and then go and tell everyone about Jesus.
The Holy Ghost will guide you.
THERE WAS STILL ANOTHER INDIVIDUAL STANDING BY THE CROSS—the Centurion.
He was there to stand guard and to wait for Jesus to die, and then he would tell his commander it was done.
Go back in time a little; he was among the soldiers who went to arrest Jesus at the garden in Gethsemane.
He had witnessed the miracle of restoration of the severed ear, he may not have understood it, but he could not deny that it happened.
As he stood guard at the cross he heard the prayers of Jesus on the cross, he heard Him ask for forgiveness for the people who rejected Him, for those who crucified Him.
He heard all that Jesus said while hanging on the cross.
The centurion saw something much more than just a man dying on the cross.
He recognized the redeeming blood pouring forth.
He saw a personal Saviour.
He said “Surely this was the Son of God.”
Many other witnesses to Christ’s power were there.
WERE YOU THERE WHEN THEY CRUCIFIED THE LORD?
Not physically—there is none of us that could have been there, but because of our sins the Lord was crucified…
Our sins of pride, greed, cowardice, neglect, fear, ecclesiastical dignity, and formalism, indifference, blindness to God’s power, nailed him there.
YES! WE WERE ALL THERE—“All we like sheep have gone astray”.
As our sins were gathered at the cross of our Lord to crucify Him— He did not have to do this he could have called on 2 legions of angels and stopped it all,
He did it out of love for us,
Not just for us here today, but for the world.
He experienced the separation from GOD as the sinners substitute, our substitute;
He gave himself a “Ransom for Many”
| 2co 5:21 | For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. |
HE SHED IS BLOOD FOR US.
THERE IS A FOUNTAIN FILLED WITH BLOOD!
BLOOD THAT WASHES AWAY OUR SINS AND LEAVES US WHITE AS SNOW, SOUL CLEANSING BLOOD THAT WAS SHED FOR YOU AND ME.
THANK YOU JESUS!
Were You There When They Crucified My Lord?
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Were you there when they nailed him to the tree?
Were you there when they nailed him to the tree?
Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble
Were you there when they nailed him to the tree?
Were you there when they pierced him in the side?
Were you there when they pierced him in the side?
Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble
Were you there when they pierced him in the side?
Were you there when they laid him in the tomb?
Were you there when they laid him in the tomb?
Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble
Were you there when they laid him in the tomb?