Jewish leaders already reject fair hearings. (They even refused to hear Nicodemus, John 7:50-52.) So Jesus’ disciples desert, scattering in fear. Peter denies he ever knew Jesus. Jesus alone must endure the all-night mock trials, the false witnesses, and the raging accusers.
Then they spit in his face and struck him. And some slapped him, saying, “Prophesy to us, you Christ! Who is it that struck you?” (Matthew 26:67-68).
Governor Pilate wants to free Jesus.
“For he knew that it was out of envy that they had delivered him up” (Matthew 27:18).
The Jewish leaders choose to release a known murderer, rather than this “Rabbi” Jesus. They accuse Pilate of treason, and threaten to riot. So he finally has Jesus stripped and flogged with cutting whips. Guards beat and spit on Him. They mock Him with ‘royal’ clothes. They press a ‘crown’ of thorns into His head.
Then they load heavy wood onto His wounded body. He tries to carry it through Jerusalem. At the place called “Skull” soldiers nail Jesus’ hands and feet to the wood. Then, on this rough cross, they lift Him up! Roman troops, Jews, even two thieves crucified nearby, join in jeering at His shame. They laugh as His blood flows. At noon the sky changes.
And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46).
Jesus cries out twice more: “It is finished” (John 19:30). “Father, into Your hands I commit my spirit” (Luke 23:46). He gives up His life. Joseph of Arimathea, another council member, takes down the dead body. He and Nicodemus wrap the corpse in spices and cloth, then bury it inside a tomb of rock (John 19:38-42).
So Jesus’ words come true: in giving His life, He is lifted up! Jesus on His cross is like the bronze snake on its pole. Look more closely at the meaning. God could use many ways to save those rebellious Israelites. Yet He told Moses to make an image like the thing killing them, a deadly snake.
Why?
God pointed toward us and His Son. Our sins and crimes against God are our deadly snakes that poison us. The Son of God becomes the Son of Man, “being born in the likeness of men” (Philippians 2:7). In His trial and execution, He is treated like the worst criminal. He looks like us and our poisonous sins. His forsaken cry has all the pain we should feel in hell.
By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh… (Romans 8:3).