“And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at Him, saying, ‘He saved others, let Him save Himself, if He is the Christ of God, His Chosen One!” – Matthew 23:35
Golgotha was a place, but it also had a purpose. There was a reason Jesus was crucified there. The purpose of this location was really seen in three different areas. One of the purposes was for public execution. This was a place where the government did its business.
See, public executions were very common in that day. It was a common form of punishment. And you have to remember the job of the first-century Roman soldiers was to keep the peace of Rome. That was true not only in the city of Rome but really anywhere the Romans were in authority.
So they used this crucifixion as a deterrent for people who were considering going against the Roman authorities. It was their way of publicly saying, “hey, all of you better watch out or you could be next. If you want this to be your fate, then challenge those of us who are in authority.”
Seeing what happened to the thieves, the robbers, and those who stood opposed to the Roman authorities, watching victims die a slow and gruesome death, hearing the moaning and the sighing and the gasping for another breath, all of that would urge the citizens that were present that day to back down and fall in line.
The public message of the cross was very clear. It was one of the major purposes of Golgotha. They used Jesus’ crucifixion as an example to others. And they used His death to publicly show they (supposedly) had control over the Son of God.
They thought with the death of Jesus they had control. Little did they know Jesus would overcome death just a few days later! They wanted to make Jesus an example of the control they had, but Jesus’ death displayed who ultimately has ALL CONTROL.
When you give your life to Jesus, you are now on His team. And when you are on team Jesus, you stand on the side of the One in control! That is who you have in your corner today.