THE
DOCTRINE OF
CHRIST’S DEATH ON THE CROSS
A
Look at what the Bible Says
Since God has revealed Himself to us in
Scripture, and the doctrine that He wants taught in His church is
nothing other
than what the Bible says; it should be obvious that those who refuse to
teach
what the Bible says, or affirm that it is true, do so
because another authority has replaced the authority of Scripture
in their lives.
GOD’S RECORD
OF WHAT TOOK PLACE
Mattthew 26
30 And when they had sung a hymn,
they went out
to the mount of Olives.
31 ¶ Then Jesus said to them, Tonight you will all be scattered because of me:
for it is
written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be
scattered.
32 But after I have risen again, I
will go
ahead of you into
33 Peter answered saying to him, Even
if
all men are scattered because of you,
I never will be.
34 Jesus said to him, I tell you truly,
That this night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.
35 Peter said to him,
Even if I have to die with you, I will never deny you. And
all the other
disciples said the same.
36 ¶ Then Jesus went with them
to
a place called
37 And he took Peter and the two sons
of Zebedee with him, and began to be
sorrowful and deeply
distressed.
38 Then he said to them, My soul is
overwhelmed with sorrow, to the point of death: remain here, and keep
watch
with me.
39 And
he went a little further, and fell on his
face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it is possible, let this cup
be taken
from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as you will.
40 Then he returned to the disciples,
and found them asleep, and said to Peter, What, could you not watch
with me for
one hour?
41 Watch and pray, that you do not
enter
into temptation: the spirit indeed is
willing, but the flesh is weak.
42 He
went away again a second time, and prayed,
saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I
drink it,
your will be done.
43 And he returned and found them
asleep
again: for their eyes were heavy.
44 And he left them, and went away
again, and
prayed the third time, saying the same words.
45 Then he returned to
his disciples, and said to them, Go on sleeping, and take your
rest: behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is
betrayed into the hands of sinners.
46 Rise, let us go: behold, my
betrayer
has arrived.
John 18 Betrayal
2 And Judas, who betrayed him, also
knew of the place: for Jesus often met there
with his disciples.
3 Then Judas, having received a band of men and officers from the chief
priests and Pharisees, came there with lanterns and torches and weapons.
4 Jesus therefore, knowing everything
that would happen to him, went out, and asked them, Who are you looking
for?
5 They answered, Jesus of Nazareth. I
am he, Jesus said. And Judas, who
betrayed him, also stood with them.
6 As soon as he said, I am he, they went backward, and fell to the
ground.
7 Then he asked them again, Who are
you
looking for? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth.
8 Jesus answered, I have told you that
I
am he: therefore if you are looking
for me, let these others go their
way:
9 This was to fulfill the words that
he
said, Of those whom you gave me I have lost none.
10 Then Simon Peter having a sword
drew
it, and struck the high priest’s servant, cutting off his right ear.
The
servant’s name was Malchus.
11 Then Jesus said to Peter, Put your
sword into the sheath: shall I not drink the cup that my Father has
given me?
12 Then the soldiers their leader and
the Jewish officers arrested Jesus, and bound him,
Mark 14 Trial
53 ¶ And
they led Jesus away to the high priest: and all the chief priests and
the
elders and the scribes were assembled with him.
54 And Peter followed him from a
distance,
even into the palace of the high priest: and he sat with the servants,
and
warmed himself by the fire.
55 And the chief priests and the
whole
Sanhedrin were looking for witnesses against Jesus to put him to death;
and
found none.
56 For many bore false witness
against him,
but their statements did not agree.
57 And certain false witnesses stood
up to
testify against him, saying,
58 We heard him say, I will destroy
this
temple that is made with hands, and within three days I will build
another made
without hands.
59 But their statements did not agree
either.
60 And the high priest stood up in
the midst,
and asked Jesus, Are you not going to answer? or reply to what they are saying
against you?
61 But Jesus remained silent, and
gave no
answer. Again the high priest asked him, Are you the Christ, the Son of
the
Blessed?
62 And Jesus said, I am: and you will
see the
Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds
of
heaven.
63 Then the high priest tore his
clothes, and said, Why do we need any more witnesses?
64 You have heard the blasphemy: what
do you
think? And they all condemned him as worthy of death.
65 Then some began to spit on him, and
to blindfold him, and to hit him, and to say, Prophesy: and the
servants struck
him with the palms of their hands.
66 ¶ And
while Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the maids of the high
priest
came:
67 And when she saw Peter warming
himself, she
looked closely at him, and said, You were also with Jesus of Nazareth.
68 But he denied it,
saying, I do not know, or understand what you are talking
about. And he went out onto the porch; and the rooster crowed.
69 And when the servant girl saw him
there,
she began to say to those standing there, This is one
of them.
70 And he denied it again. And a
little later,
those standing there again said to Peter, Surely you are one
of them: for you are a Galilean, and
your accent reveals it.
71 But he began to curse and to
swear, saying, I do not know this man that you
are speaking of.
72 And the rooster crowed the second
time. And
Peter remembered that Jesus had said to him, Before
the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times. And as he
thought about
it, he began to weep.
Luke 23 Pilate
1 ¶ Then
the whole assembly arose, and led him to Pilate.
2 There they began to accuse him,
saying, We found this fellow
perverting the nation, and opposing payment of taxes to Caesar, saying
that he
himself is Christ a King.
3 So Pilate asked Jesus, Are you
the King of
the Jews? And he replied, It is as you say.
4 Then Pilate said to the chief
priests
and to the people, I find no fault in
this man.
5 But they were adamant, saying, He
stirs up
the people, teaching all over
6 Upon hearing this, Pilate asked if
he
was a Galilean.
7 And as soon as he knew that he
belonged to
Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who was himself in
8 And when Herod saw Jesus, he was
delighted:
for he had been wanting to see him for a long time,
because he had heard many things about him; and hoped to see
him perform a miracle.
9 Then he questioned him at length;
but
Jesus made no reply.
10 But the chief priests and scribes
stood there and vehemently accused him.
11 Then Herod and his soldiers
ridiculed, and mocked him, and
arrayed him in a gorgeous robe, and sent him back to Pilate.
12 And the same day Pilate and Herod
became
friends: for previously there had been hostility between them.
13 ¶ And
when Pilate had called together the chief priests and the rulers and
the
people,
14 He said, You have brought this
man to me,
as one who incites the people to rebel:
and, I have examined him before you,
and have found no fault in this man in regard to the things of which
you accuse
him:
15 Neither has Herod: for he sent you
back
to me; and, he has done nothing deserving of death.
16 I will therefore punish him, and
release him.
17 (For he was obliged to release
one
prisoner at the feast.)
18 And they shouted out with one
voice, Away
with this man, release Barabbas:
19 (Who had been thrown into prison
for
stirring up insurrection in the city, and for murder.)
20 Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate again
appealed to them.
21 But they shouted, Crucify him, crucify him.
22 And he said to them the third
time, Why,
what evil has he done? I have not found any reason to put him to death:
I will
therefore chastise him, and let him
go.
23 But they were loud
and insistent, demanding that he be crucified. And their shouts and
those of
the chief priests prevailed.
24 So Pilate passed sentence that it
should
be as they required.
25 And he released to them the man
who had
been thrown into prison for sedition and murder, as they requested; but
he
surrendered Jesus to their will.
John 19 Crucifixion
17 And he went out, bearing his own
cross, to a place called the place of
a skull, which in Hebrew is called
18
Where
they
crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus
in the
middle.
19 ¶ And Pilate prepared a
notice, and had it fastened to the cross. And it read,
JESUS OF NAZARETH THE
KING OF THE JEWS.
20
This
notice was
read by many of the Jews: for the place where Jesus was crucified was
near to
the city: and it was written in Hebrew, Greek, and
Latin.
21
Then
the chief
priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, saying,
Do not write, The King of the Jews; but that he said, I am King of the
Jews.
22
Pilate
answered, What I have written I have written.
23
Then,
after the
soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothing, dividing it into
four
parts, one part to every soldier; and also took
his tunic: but the tunic was
seamless, woven from the top to bottom.
24
Therefore they
said among themselves, Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, to decide whose it will be: that the
scripture might be fulfilled, which said, They divided my clothing
among
themselves, and cast lots for my garment. So the soldiers did these
things.
25
Now
near the
cross of Jesus stood his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas,
and Mary Magdalene.
26
Therefore when
Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby,
he said
to his mother, Woman, behold your son!
27
Then
he said to
that disciple, Behold your mother! And from that hour that disciple
took her into
his own home.
28
After
this
Jesus, knowing that all was now complete, said, I thirst, so that the
scripture
might be fulfilled.
29
Now a
jar full
of vinegar was sitting there: and they filled a sponge with vinegar,
and put it on hyssop stalk, and put it to his
mouth.
30
When
he had
received the vinegar, Jesus said, It is finished: and he bowed his
head, and
gave up the ghost.
31 ¶ Now
since it was the day of preparation, to prevent the
bodies from remaining on the cross on the sabbath
day, (for that sabbath day was a high
day,) the Jews
requested Pilate to have their legs broken, and the bodies
taken away.
32
The
soldiers
therefore came, and broke the legs of the first, and of the second man who had been crucified with Jesus.
33
But
when they
came to Jesus, and saw that he was already dead, they did not brake his
legs:
34
But
one of the
soldiers pierced his side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood
and
water.
35
And
he who saw
it bears witness to it, and his
witness is true: and he knows that what he says is true, so that you
might
believe.
36
For
these
things were done, in fulfillment of the scripture, Not a bone of him
will be
broken.
37
And
as another
scripture says, They will look on him whom they pierced.
Matt 27 Burial
57 ¶ When
evening had come, a rich man from Arimathaea
came,
named Joseph, who was also Jesus’ disciple:
58 He went to Pilate, and requested
the body
of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered that the body be given to him.
59 And when Joseph had taken the
body, he
wrapped it in a clean linen cloth,
60 And laid it in his own new tomb,
which he
had cut out of the rock: and he rolled a great stone in front of the
door of
the tomb, and left.
Romans
Chapter 5
6 ¶ For
when we were yet without
strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
7
For
one will
hardly die for a righteous man: although it is possible that some would
even
dare to die for a good man.
8
But
God
commends his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ
died
for us.
9
Much
more then,
being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through
him.
10
For
if, we were
reconciled to God by the death of his Son, when we were enemies, much
more,
having been reconciled, we will be saved by his life.
11
And
not only
that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom
we have
now received the atonement.
Colossians Chapter 2
13 And he has
made
you, who were dead in your sins and the uncircumcision
of your flesh, alive together with him, having forgiven all of your
sins;
14 Blotting out the handwriting of
ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it
out of
the way, nailing it to his cross;
1Peter 3:18 For Christ also suffered
once for sins, the righteous
for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death
in the
flesh, but made alive in the Spirit:
Hebrews
Hebrews
John 1:7 The
blood of Jesus Christ
his Son cleanses us from all sin.
John 2:2
And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours
only,
but also for the sins of the whole world.
1Corinthians
Matthew 26:28 For this is my
blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of
sins.
CONCLUSION
The historical record of Christ’s
death on the cross is just as much a doctrine of Scripture as anything
else
that the Bible says (2Timothy
“The pure doctrine is simply
nothing else, absolutely nothing else, than the pure Word of God.” (Law
and
Gospel, page 349) “Neither ought
any doctrine be taught or heard in the
church but the pure Word
of God, that is to say, the Holy Scriptures; otherwise accursed be both
the
teachers and hearers together with their doctrine.” (Martin Luther)
Gary
Ray Branscome