Victory in Jesus

As Jesus suffered on the Cross, He not only endured excruciating physical pain, but also mockery and insults from many who watched Him suffer and die. These insults not only revealed people’s unbelief, but also their misunderstanding of Who Jesus is and what He would do.

Passersby taunted Him, calling Him the One who would demolish the sanctuary and build it in three days. They did not realize that these words declared by Jesus were unfolding before their very eyes. The sanctuary, Jesus’ Body, was indeed being destroyed, in order that in three days it could be rebuilt. In addition, religious leaders insulted Jesus by saying that He saved others but could not save Himself. In a sense they were right, because Jesus would need to sacrifice His own life for the sake of all humanity. While He could have saved Himself, Jesus chose not to, for the sake of even those who delivered these insults at Him. Lastly, chief priests and scribes also tested Jesus, telling Him to come down from the Cross in order that they would believe in Him. They teased Jesus for a sign of both His Kingship and Glory, and reasoned that coming down from the Cross would prove the claims He made about Himself. But Jesus stayed on the Cross unto His death in order to give them a greater sign. Instead of coming down from the Cross, Jesus would rise from the grave.

Jesus answers all unbelief and misunderstanding about Himself by His finished Work at the Cross, and He proves the validity of His finished Work at the Grave. He was misunderstood from birth until death, but became known throughout the earth as God after He rose. Jesus really died and proved it by rising again.