In the immediate aftermath of man's sin in the Garden of Eden, when Adam listened to his wife and also ate from the off-limits tree, God told the man something specific that should resonate in light of Jesus' crucifixion. He told Adam that the ground was cursed for his sake and that "both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you."
In other words, thorns were a sign of the curse for disobedience. When the Roman soldiers placed a crown of thorns on Jesus' head, it wasn't just an instrument of mockery that He wore all the way to the Place of the Skull. It was our curse on Jesus' head.
In every way that He could, including symbolically, Jesus became a curse for us — exactly as Galatians 3:13 tells us: "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: 'Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.' "
In our first installment, we witness a reenactment of the central moment of history, when what would've been an ordinary crucifixion — the Romans executed thousands — became something supernaturally set apart. The sun went dark for three hours, so it wasn't a solar eclipse, which lasts only minutes. The veil of the temple, where no one would've set foot ordinarily, was torn — from the top to the bottom — so it couldn't have been done by human hands. A curse was being put to rest, in the body of the only Son of Man Who could've done so.
"(Luke 23:44-49) The Death of Jesus" by LUMO
PRAY
Father, how grateful we are for a love that would send His only begotten Son to die for us that we might have eternal life! How glorious is your sacrifice, that while we were yet sinners and had nothing to offer You, You yet showed Your love for us. Help us to receive and walk in everything that sacrifice purchased for us. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
REFLECT
So when the centurion saw what had happened, he glorified God, saying, “Certainly this was a righteous Man!” — Luke 23:47
RESPOND
As spectacularly sacrificial as Jesus' death was, it wasn't enough to give us eternal life or to set us free from a life of sin. Dr. R.C. Sproul fills us in on what would've been missing if only Jesus died and stayed that way.
LUMO - Luke 23-44-49