Jesus the Most Unique Man in History

The reason why I need to write about this is because it is important that I point out some extraordinary features of what happened at Christ’s crucifixion and prove why He is unique.

First, the prophecies predicting His death.

1.       Isaiah 53:12c declares that the Lord was numbered with the transgressors; meaning He was crucified between two thieves (Luke 23:34). Also in the same verse in Isaiah it says Jesus interceded (or prayed) for the transgressors. Jesus did exactly this when He was dying in agony on the cross and said, “Father forgive them for they know not what they are doing” (Luke 23:34).

2.       David some 1000 years before the birth of Christ prophesied that our Lord hands and feet would be pierced (Psalm 22:16). This prophecy was fulfilled in the gospel records (Matt 27:56; Mark 15:24; Luke 23:33-49; John 19:18).

3.       In Zechariah 12:10 the prophet said speaking of Christ said, “They will look on me whom they pierced.” This prediction was approximately 500 years before Christ’s birth. The fulfillment of this prophecy occurred when the soldier pierced Jesus side after His death (John 19:34).

4.       In John 10:17-18 Jesus said, “Therefore My Father loves Me because I lay down My life that I may take it up again. No one takes my life from Me (emphasis added), but I lay it down Myself. I have the power to lay it down, and take it up again.”

The phrase “No one takes my life from me” may seem strange in light of the fact the Romans soldiers did kill Jesus. Jesus also Himself said several times that He would be killed (Matt 16:22;17:23;20:18-19;Mark 8:31;Luke 9:22).

So, how do we reconcile the two truths and keep them in their proper tension – Jesus being killed by His enemies, and He giving up His life?

The Romans regarded Jesus no different than any other criminal they executed. As far as the religious leaders were concerned He was a heretic, a bastard (John 8:41)[i], demon possessed (vs 48, 52), and disloyal to Caesar (John 19:15).

Herein lies the difference between the two realities: The religious leaders who lied and conspired to condemn Jesus to death did it purely out of hate, envy and jealousy. God used their wickedness to providentially fulfill His plan of making His Son sin who knew no sin so that we could become the righteousness of God in Him {(Christ), (2 Cor 5:21)}.

In other words, what man meant for hateful evil intentions, God meant and accomplished for love and for our good (Gen 50:20) – the salvation of all that would believe in what Jesus accomplished on the cross for our justification.

Just because Jesus’ death was predetermined by God does not mean those that took Jesus’ life were not culpable. They were completely responsible for the Savior’s death. Listen to the words of the apostle Peter in Acts 2:23-24, “Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, crucified, and put to death, whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it.”

This is why Jesus declared that “No man takes my life from Me” because He gave up His life so that we may live. Remember Jesus’ last words before He died, “Father into thy hands I commit My Spirit” (Luke 23:46).

              

                    Jesus was in total control of everything – even how He was to die! What power!

The salvation of one of the criminals crucified with Jesus – When the criminal recognized that Jesus was innocent and that He was the promised Messiah declared, “Lord remember me when You come into your kingdom”. Jesus said to him, “today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:42-43). The criminal believed in Jesus and petitioned that he could be with Him in His kingdom. Herein lies a great insight. The criminal who was justly being put to death for his crimes was being loved by God the Father at the same time. God gave him saving faith to trust Jesus for his salvation. Another great insight is this hardened criminal is the only person among the crowd that believed that Jesus would rise from the dead. How do I know this? By declaring he wanted to be in the Lord’s kingdom. It would have made no sense for the criminal to make that request if Jesus was never going to raise from the dead. Dead men have no kingdoms. The criminal’s cry for mercy was heeded by Jesus. Although this man was being justly punished for his earthly crimes, he did not want to be eternally damned and separated from the Lord forever.

The Roman soldier’s confession of faith – Once Jesus died the centurion and those with him saw the things that happened when he died feared greatly, saying, “Truly this was the Son of God” (Matt 27:54). What happened to these ruthless, blood thirsty murderers for hire? Why the change of heart? The signs that accompanied Jesus’ death, the earthquake, the darkness obviously penetrated their hearts to the degree that they became genuinely remorseful for what they had done. Jesus’ prayer to the Father saying, “Forgive them for they know not what they are doing was heard and answered. Jesus’ love for His enemies is transcendent. The very ones who executed Him are the same ones He came to die for – taking their place as an offering for their sins. Though it is not explicit in the centurions’ exact words, it is clear he and the men under his charge knew they were in the presence of God. No doubt they crucified many criminals, yet none of the things they experienced at Jesus’ death ever happened to them before.

The change in the weather – For the space of three hours, supernatural darkness covered the area; from the sixth hour to the ninth hour – 12-3 pm (Matt 27:45).

The veil in the temple was torn in two – Why is this significant? Why did Matthew bother mentioning the veil in the temple? Because the veil in the temple was the curtain between the holy place and the most holy place or the holy of holies. Remember in the OT the only person allowed into the holy of holies was the High Priest. He could enter only once a year on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) for the purpose of putting blood on the mercy seat to atone for his sins, and the sins of the entire nation of Israel (Read Lev 16). The mercy seat was the lid that covered the ark which contained the tablets which the 10 commandments were written. The holy of holies also is where the presence of God dwelt. Now that the veil has been torn, it signified the ending of the Old Covenant, and the ushering in of the New Covenant which was ratified in Christ’s blood and was the means by which our sins are remitted forever (Matt 26:28).

The tearing of the veil also means that all believers are now priests and have access to enter the heavenly holies anytime we want to. We no longer need an intermediary to commune with God.

All of the (8) evidences mentioned clearly makes Jesus the most unique man in history. Plenty people have been crucified and are being crucified as we speak. None of the phenomenon mentioned regarding Jesus ever happened with anyone else. It never happened before Him, and will never happen after Him.

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[i] The religious leaders had to be eluding to the fact that Mary’s husband Joseph was not Jesus’ real father. So when Mary became pregnant as a result of the Holy Spirit, it was assumed by all she had an adulterous affair resulting in Jesus being born out of wedlock. According to Mosaic law, Mary and the father would have been put to death if the allegations were true.