Here is just a little something interesting I was thinking about this afternoon:
There is an unmistakable irony in the statements of the Pharisees jeering Jesus as he hung there nailed to the cross and "bore our sins in his body." They mockingly tell him, "You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself, and come down from the cross!", as if coming down from the cross would prove them wrong and allow him to fulfill his purpose as the promised Messiah. The irony is that it is his willingness to stay on the cross, to remain obedient to death for our sake, that both saves us from the Lord's wrath and glorifies himself, for upon his death, God "highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name" (Phil. 2:9), and he then went to sit "at the right hand of the Majesty on high" (Heb. 1:4). By his staying on the cursed tree, we "become the righteousness of God" (2 Cor. 5:21), while God has made him the great "Shepherd and Overseer of our souls" (1 Pet. 2:25).
In his substitutionary sacrifice, he has become the almighty King. In Revelation 5, when one of the elders tells John to look upon the prophesied Davidic King, the "Lion of the Tribe of Judah," John looks and sees a "Lamb, standing as though it had been slain" (Rev. 5:5-6). The Son is named King by virtue of the fact that he did not recede from his position of punishment at Golgotha - he did not come down but steadfastly remained to receive the fatal punishment our wages had earned. At the completion of his perfect obedience, the Father then declares the Lamb to be the rightful heir to the throne of all of history and the cosmos. The Son goes from the lowliest and most shameful of estates to the seat of greatest honor and glory.
SDG
There is an unmistakable irony in the statements of the Pharisees jeering Jesus as he hung there nailed to the cross and "bore our sins in his body." They mockingly tell him, "You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself, and come down from the cross!", as if coming down from the cross would prove them wrong and allow him to fulfill his purpose as the promised Messiah. The irony is that it is his willingness to stay on the cross, to remain obedient to death for our sake, that both saves us from the Lord's wrath and glorifies himself, for upon his death, God "highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name" (Phil. 2:9), and he then went to sit "at the right hand of the Majesty on high" (Heb. 1:4). By his staying on the cursed tree, we "become the righteousness of God" (2 Cor. 5:21), while God has made him the great "Shepherd and Overseer of our souls" (1 Pet. 2:25).
In his substitutionary sacrifice, he has become the almighty King. In Revelation 5, when one of the elders tells John to look upon the prophesied Davidic King, the "Lion of the Tribe of Judah," John looks and sees a "Lamb, standing as though it had been slain" (Rev. 5:5-6). The Son is named King by virtue of the fact that he did not recede from his position of punishment at Golgotha - he did not come down but steadfastly remained to receive the fatal punishment our wages had earned. At the completion of his perfect obedience, the Father then declares the Lamb to be the rightful heir to the throne of all of history and the cosmos. The Son goes from the lowliest and most shameful of estates to the seat of greatest honor and glory.
SDG
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