LUKE 23:38

 There was a written notice above Him, which read: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS. - Luke 33:38

Ironic!  Again!  Jesus is on a cross which states that He is innocent! 

Is this sign on the crosses in the church?  It's kind of wrong.  The King of the Jews - more like the King of everyone in the pews, heck everyone who views.

God, I like how you played this.  It had to happen - even though You didn't want it to.  But, You made sure that it was abundantly clear that this was your Son, and everyone who would read about this later would see how absurd it all was.  

I guess it's kind of like life.  Some of the things we do, worry about, spend our time on - absurd.  If we took the time to think about it, we would say, "Ironic!"  Everything is right there for us.  And all we have to remember is, "Who is our King?"

LUKE 23:37

and said, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself.” - Luke 23:37

Ironic! You didn’t save yourself, but You did save everyone else - proving that You were, without a doubt, the King of the Jews! Heck, if You were only the King of the Jews, You might have saved yourself. Where the soldiers went wrong (well, they went wrong in a lot of ways), but they thought too small. The King of the Jews might save Himself, but the King couldn’t- He was too busy saving everyone else.

I bet there was part of You that would have liked to have done it, just to see the look on their faces, but thank You that You always thought of us before Yourself!

LUKE 23:36

The soldiers also came up and mocked Him. They offered Him wine vinegar…-Luke 23:36

Wow! Those dudes have to feel like idiots. Google just told me they would offer wine vinegar to prolong someone’s suffering! So, not only are they mocking You, they are actively trying to make the pain continue.

I do not understand people like this. They get “joy” out of hurting others for no other reason than hurting others. I guess that just proves that there is evil in this world. I hope I am not one of those people!

LUKE 23:35

The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at Him. They said, “He saved others let Him save himself if He is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.” - Luke 23:35

I kinda get it. You said You were God’s Son so you would have had the power to do anything. The problem is that still today we don’t get it. You didn’t come to show what You could do or to prove yourself. You came to save us and to build the kingdom. Everything You did was for others!!!

LUKE 23:34

 This would have to be the two most known numbers in Chicago sports history!

Jesus said, "Father forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."  And they divided up His clothes by casting lots. - Luke 23:34

Nicely played Luke!  He puts in the quote about asking the Father to forgive them and then immediately says how they were gambling for his clothes.

First, how much could Your clothes have been worth?  I don't picture You as a guy that had the latest fashions.  I mean, today, those would go for a zillion dollars, but back then, who would even want those.  Maybe that's the point - they were just doing it to be mean.

Second, who are You asking the Father to forgive?  The soldiers?  The people who yelled, "Crucify Him"?  People in general that were the reason for You doing this.  A lot of people had no clue what they were doing.  Heck, a lot of people today have no idea what they are doing.  I guess that's our job.

LUKE 23:33

 When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified Him there, along with the criminals - one on the right, the other on His left. - Luke 23:33

What is the significance of the "Skull"?  Oh, it looked like a skull - that was probably the Romans trying to be tricky!  

It does seem like there's a huge build up and then Luke just mentions "they crucified Him there."  A bit anticlimactic!  

We had a good discussion in Florida about why Jesus had to be crucified.  My thought was that He really just had to die for our sins.  It had to be Him because He was perfect, but I don't think there was any stipulation that it had to be this brutal of a death.  My math brain figured it like this.  People messed up.  God had to sacrifice His Son to pay for those sins.  So, to have a relationship with us, God needed a perfect offering.  Get it!

But, why did it have to be crucifixion?  Why not heart attack or disease or dying in His sleep?  He just had to die, right?  Or did the pain involved qualify it as a sacrifice?  I've never really thought about it before, but why did God choose to make You die by crucifixion?