"Crucify HIM, Crucify HIM"
(Luke 23:21)
Jim Byrd

No event in all of history has so fully displayed man’s attitude toward God as the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus. Here is a perfect standard by which to measure the world and the human heart. If you would see sin in its blackest hue, dwell for awhile at Calvary. There the creature murdered the Creator! At the cross man finally had an opportunity to express His hatred toward the Lord of glory. When the multitudes demanded, "Crucify Him, crucify Him," those voices were unveiling the real attitude of mankind toward the God of everlasting glory. At Calvary, humanity unleashed its enmity toward Christ by subjecting Him to indescribably horrible humiliations and then nailing Him to a Roman cross.

It was customary at every Passover for the governor to release a prisoner at the request of the people. When Pilate asked the crowd who should be set free, they responded, "Release Barabbas." "What then," Pilate replied, "Shall I do with Jesus who is called the Christ?" It was then that the maddened throng cried out, "Crucify Him, crucify Him." That is, let him die the most horrible, ignominious, dishonorable and painful death possible. What a revelation of the attitude of man toward the Lord of glory. When the eternal Son of God was nailed to His cross, man reached the very heights of his guilt and the depths of his depravity. The execution of Jesus Christ upon that Roman cross exposed man’s heart-attitude toward God’s Son. Calvary is the strongest proof of the wickedness and guilt of the human heart.

Let every mouth that boasts of man’s goodness and uprightness be shut. Let every voice that praises the virtues of the creature be silenced. All men are vile and full of iniquity, this was proven beyond all doubt when sinful men, with their wicked hands, crucified the Son of God. But, behold the infinite mercy of God! Though Christ was slain by wicked men, God was at work at Calvary. Christ died according to the eternal purpose of the Father. By the offering of Himself as the sacrifice for sin, Christ satisfied divine justice and obtained eternal redemption for a multitude of sinners. What a miracle of grace! Men who killed Christ are saved by the death of the One they killed.