Who stood at the foot of the cross that Good Friday so long ago?
A variety of people: Roman guards, a centurion, bystanders, disciples, people who knew Jesus, his mother, his aunt, women followers, and people Jesus loved.
The Son of God didn’t die alone.
Passersby, as well.
A variety of people went past Golgatha that day, some stopped at the foot of the cross, others jeered from the road.
Their reactions at seeing Jesus were ugly
Those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross.”
Matthew 27:39-40 (NKJV)
Scripture doesn’t tell us who those people were, but they were not alone in their nastiness.
Jesus spent Holy week reaching out to a specific group of Jews. They were the worst.
The men who claimed to know the Scriptures conspired with the hated Roman government, to have Jesus killed.
Likewise, the chief priests also, mocking with the scribes and elders, said,
“He saved others; Himself He cannot save. If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him. He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him; for He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’ ”
Matthew 27:41-44 (NKJV)
Jesus tried tough love on men who spent their lives examining the Scriptures.
They refused to consider how Jesus could be the Messiah.
So they rejected him.
by James Tissot
(Brooklyn Museum via Wikimedia Commons)
Men crucified alongside him
Jesus was one of three men crucified on Golgatha that day.
He hung on the cross alongside two robbers.
One shouted: “Why don’t you save us?”
The other replied.
But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”
Luke 23:40-41 (NKJV)
The second criminal understood his guilt. That’s the best spot from which to ask Jesus for eternal salvation.
He said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
Luke 23:42-43 (NKJV)
Family at the foot of the cross
Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.
John 19:25 (NKJV)
Commentators note women remained the most loyal. His mother Mary, of course, was the one disciple who knew him from the very beginning and stayed with him to the very end.
His disciple John also waited at the foot of the cross, for Jesus recommended his mother Mary into John’s care.
It’s possible, too, that Joseph of Arimathea also attended the crucifixion. As soon as the Roman centurion pronounced Jesus dead, it appears Joseph went to ruling authorities and asked for permission to bury Jesus.
Technically, not at the foot of the cross
Jesus died nearly two thousand years before my birth.
But as a follower, I gained from his death on the cross.
That came home to me in a startling way when I stood before this painting by James Tissot.
Jesus’ View from the Cross?
My sins were forgiven that day. Thanks be to God.
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What do you think that you might do,
if sent back in time?
Greek or Roman, slave or Jew,
would you have called it crime
that Jesus had been flayed, then hung
upon the Cross to die?
Or would you have lightly sung
hosannas as you passed Him by?
We all want to think our hearts,
would be true and steady,
but did Judas as he played his part,
understand how very thready
could become belief’s own pulse,
and mutiny could be result?