For Christians, Calvary is a place we think about often. Most of us have never toured the actual site and since there is debate about the site's location, those who think they have visited Calvary may never have been there at all.
But for all those who have trusted Christ as Saviour, we have indeed been to Calvary. In our meditations, Calvary is undoubtedly the most frequented place on earth. Hardly a day passes without thinking about our Lord and the steps that took Him there. It was the greatest journey ever traversed, unrivalled in distance, personal suffering and eternal significance. Indeed, our lives will never be the same because of the Man who left His throne in Heaven for a cross on earth.
Selected from his book All the Way to Calvary, these ten quotes by David Peterson reflect on that place.
1.
The agony of our Lord in Gethsemane was a once-for-all occasion. No one else will ever have a “Gethsemane Moment” of his or her own. This was an experience unique to our Lord Jesus Christ.
2.
Far more powerful than their [the Lord’s captors] weapons and the rulers they represented was the will of God which would move forward unhindered. God’s destiny for Jesus was that He go all the way to Calvary, and no power on earth or under the earth could stop it.
3.
Think of Jesus once again. Here He stood, the Just before the unjust. He had been arrested without charges, falsely accused, condemned to die for claiming to be someone He indeed is, the Son of God. Spit ran down His face, likely mingled with blood from the many blows He had endured. We are just beginning to see some of the dreadful consequences for the One who was committed to going all the way to Calvary.
4.
What Pilate did not know nor ever learned was that Jesus was standing before him as part of the necessary path He must take to effect a far more meaningful reconciliation. Christ was going all the way to Calvary to reconcile a world of sinners unto God (2 Cor. 5:19), that we might be His enemies no longer. Sadly, both Pilate and Herod refused God’s Son and, in so doing, missed the reconciliation that matters most.
5.
Christ made it clear to Pilate that he was claiming an authority he did not really have. God was in control! But God’s being in control never removes personal responsibility. Although Caiaphas was guilty of a “greater sin” by handing over his nation’s Messiah and King to the Romans for execution, Pilate would still bear guilt himself for Jesus’ death. So do I. So do you.
6.
Notice that the first word from Jesus’ lips [on the cross] is “Father.” His first thought in the midst of suffering was to pray. Of the seven sayings of the Saviour from the cross, three of them are prayers… But not only is His first cry a prayer but a prayer for others. He does not pray, “Father, help Me” or, “Father, save Me.” He cries out, “Father, forgive them.” His first thought in prayer was not to pray for Himself but to intercede for others.
7.
The Lord was, unsurprisingly, practising what He preached. He had said, “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you” (Luke 6:27-28 NET). There was no love like His, a love expressed in a desire for the forgiveness of those who were mistreating Him.
8.
What they [the soldier’s at the foot of the cross] didn’t understand was that it was far easier for Christ to come down from the cross than to remain upon it. To stay there meant enduring suffering no one else had ever experienced nor could experience. But divine love held Him there until His work to save was finished.
9.
Final words are important, but your final destiny is the most pressing thing you could ever consider. And unless you can die with Jesus’ last words on your lips, you’re not ready to die at all. Make sure you don’t leave this world until you can say with confidence, “Father, into Thy hands I commend my spirit.”
10.
The incarnate Maker died. This was the very reason He went all the way to Calvary. We have indisputable written proof of His journey, His sufferings and His death. And the written record is enough for you to believe it. God hasn’t given us anything more than His Word, nor is anything more needed.