It wasn’t just those who put their trust in political power that had a hard time with Jesus. In fact, the religious people of the time didn’t understand Him either. They were convinced that God blessed the righteous and cursed the wicked, so when they saw Him hanging on a cross between two thieves, they wrote Jesus off as the worst kind of sinner.

Worse yet, they had been waiting for a Messiah for years, a ruler whom they expected to restore the kingdom of David and extend his righteous rule all over the world, blessing God’s people with peace and prosperity. But a Messiah on a cross didn’t make any sense to them – for how could He possibly govern the world with perfect justice if He were dead?

No, if the Roman soldiers were only impressed by brute force, these religious leaders wanted to see divine power in action. They wanted Jesus to do another miracle, to remove Himself from the cross so He could be the kind of Messiah they wanted (Luke 23:35). But like those pagan Romans, the religious leaders were only interested in a king who would give them all the material blessings they craved. So, when He refused to free Himself, they had no use for Him.

But as we saw yesterday with the Roman soldiers who cast lots for His clothes, all the so-called religious people were able to do was to accomplish Jesus’ will. For they too simply acted out the parts in the drama David had described some 1000 years earlier when he wrote Psalm 22: “All those who see Me ridicule Me; They shoot out the lip, they shake head, saying, ‘He trusted in the Lord, let Him rescue Him; Let Him deliver Him since He delights in Him!’”

But the Father didn’t deliver Jesus from the cross as they wanted. Instead, the Father and the Son agreed that Jesus should die so that He could be the kind of King they needed, so that He could extend the blessings of God’s pardon and forgiveness not only to them, and not only to the Roman soldiers who crucified Him (Luke 23:34), but to people from every tribe and tongue and nation who would put their trust in Him.

So instead of insisting that Jesus meet all our expectations, that He push people around or solve all our worldly problems, doesn’t it make more sense to trust Him and follow Him, to let Him be our Savior and Lord on His terms?

Luke 23:33-39 (NASB)

33 And when they came to the place called The Skull, there they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left.
34 But Jesus was saying, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” And they cast lots, dividing up His garments among themselves.
35 And the people stood by, looking on. And even the rulers were sneering at Him, saying, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if this is the Christ of God, His Chosen One.”
36 And the soldiers also mocked Him, coming up to Him, offering Him sour wine,
37 and saying, “If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself!”
38 Now there was also an inscription above Him, “THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.”
39 And one of the criminals who were hanged there was hurling abuse at Him, saying, “Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!”