THE HOLY SPIRIT AT JESUS’ CRUCIFIXION
By: Dr. Frank G. Tunstall, D. Min.
Jesus said to His disciples, “The Father Himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father” (John 16:27-28).
Jesus persevered knowing His Father was with Him.
What follows is a part of the Easter story we must not forget.
The Lord was completing His ministry in the Upper Room and would soon head to Gethsemane, and on to His arrest and trial, and then His crucifixion. But the disciples had been slow to comprehend and affirm Jesus’ identity. At this point in the evening, when midnight was nearing, the disciples finally “got it.” They collectively said to Jesus, “Now we can see that you know all things and that you do not even need to have anyone ask you questions. This makes us believe you came from God” (John 16:29-30).
“You believe at last!” Jesus responded.
This moment had to be one of the high points of Jesus’ three years with His disciples. It was a precious event, full of the love of God, and it came at the time Jesus would be nailed to His cross the very next morning. Each of the eleven disciples had crossed the line and stepped into the realm of faith in Jesus as the Son of God. Their choice was also a prophecy foretelling the Lamb of God’s plan of salvation and world-wide harvest that would take away the sin of the world (John 1:29-36).
King David, who said He always saw the Lord before his face and at his right hand, would have reveled in that moment (Psalm 16:8-11).
After the excitement settled down a bit, Jesus went on to tell His disciples: “A time is coming, and has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for My Father is with me” (John 16:32). Talk about seeing the invisible! Without question, Jesus had an invisible support system as He headed to Calvary.
The Holy Spirit is the greatest evangelist of all time who draws people to Jesus. Two examples show the Spirit did just that even while Jesus was on the cross. The Lord was crucified between two thieves. In the early morning moments of their crucifixion, Mark recorded both thieves “hurled insults at Him” (Mark 15:29). One of the thieves, however, had a change of heart. He stopped his abuse, rebuked the thief on the other cross for his scorn, and cried out: “Jesus, Lord, remember me when you come into thy kingdom” (Luke 23:42, KJV).
That thief’s turn-around was a direct result of the work of the Holy Spirit. The thief faced the fact his time was short before he would go into eternity and he wanted to die at peace with God.
Jesus answered him, “Today shalt thou be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43, KJV).
Ah! The Holy Spirit draws people to Jesus, even on their death bed.
This story also shows some people are so hardened against God they will not respond, even in the hour of death, with Jesus in full view. One thief said “Yes!” to Jesus. The other said “No!”
A second example of Holy Spirit conviction at Jesus’ cross was the Spirit working on the hearts of the soldiers who crucified Jesus. It was important enough that Matthew, Mark, and Luke told parts of the story. The commanding centurion saw the bloody episode. “When the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus heard Jesus’ cry and saw how He died, he said, ‘Surely this man was the Son of God!’” (Mark 15:39; Matthew 27:54; Luke 23:47). Yes, the Holy Spirit was at work at the crucifixion of Jesus, giving encouragement to the Lord and bringing a thief to repentance.
Would anyone have expected the thief to repent while hanging on his cross, or that the hardened centurion would say, “Surely this man was the Son of God?”
Yes, the Holy Spirit is the greatest evangelist of all time. Jesus said to the thief, “Today you will be with me in paradise.”
The officer’s confession also had a prophetic note. The apostles and their successors would become evangelists too, living extensions of the Holy Spirit. You can believe the testimony of those hardened Roman executioners influenced the apostles, and the gospel writers, and their successors. Their message still lives even today.
How important for us this Easter season to be very slow about giving up on people and writing them off as beyond the reach of the Holy Spirit.
April 12, 2022 7:45 pm|
Thanks Frank; love all your writings; God bless you for staying in such noble service to the Church and our lovely Lord who endured the Cross and the journey to. It!