At Golgotha there was a whole lot of mockery against the Lord Jesus Christ. We read that “the rulers scoffed at him, saying, ‘He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!’” Then the soldiers mocked him saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” And finally, one of the two criminals being cruci­fied alongside the Christ said, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” In the sneering, mockery, and hurling of insults there was the attitude: this is no Saviour; this is no king; there is no way that he is going to save himself or anyone else.

How did they come to this? Five days earlier Jesus Christ had made his triumphal entry into Jerusalem. We read in Matthew 21 that the crowds went ahead of him and shouted “Ho­sanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” The people were ready to crown Jesus Christ as King of the Jews, and to believe in him as their Saviour. They were begging him to be their Saviour! So why were they now crucifying him and mocking him? What had gone so horribly wrong? How could the people one day praise Jesus Christ as their Saviour, and five days later mock him as a cardboard Saviour?

Well, he made “the mistake” of getting arrested. All dreams and hopes were dashed when he was arrested. Now at the cross they would have agreed with the sentiment: “He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!” It is striking that Paul would write later on in 1 Corinthians 1, “For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” That explains what happened during those five days in Je­rusalem between the triumphal entry and the crucifixion. The idea of an ar­rested, condemned, and now dying Sav­iour on the cross made no sense. Who needs a dying, bleeding Saviour? Even Jesus Christ’s own disciples figured all was lost and all their hopes were dashed with a crucified Master.

But did no one understand? Did no one remember? Even the fact that Je­sus Christ made his triumphal entry riding on a colt of a donkey was a pow­erful testimony that his victory would not be accomplished by traditional dis­plays of power: a war horse, armour, weaponry, and so on. Even when one goes all the way back to Genesis 3:15, which is the first promise of the coming Christ, we read that as the offspring of the woman crushes the head of the ser­pent, God says the serpent “shall bruise his heel.” The victory of Jesus Christ will not come about in display of power as human beings understand it, but in his obedience to suffering and dying as a punishment for our sins.

We notice in the crucifixion story that Jesus Christ is largely silent. As Isaiah 53:7 had prophesied, “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.” This is the gold­en silence of the Lamb. He was focussed on dying as payment for our sins. He did not display mighty power by wield­ing a sword or flexing his muscles. He showed obedience to the Father. A dy­ing, bleeding, sweating, crying Saviour brings victory to sinners who long to be the children of God.

There was a lot of silly talk at Gol­gotha. A lot of yapping by people who had not a clue! The Lamb remained silent. For a moment I would like to stand there at Golgotha. I don’t want to hear the guffaws of rough soldiers, or the evil remarks of the priests. I want to put a hand over their mouths and sneers. I want to stand there in awe of the silence of the Lamb as he bled and died. He died for you and me so that we might live eternally with him.

For further study⤒🔗

1. Why were the Jews sneering at Jesus when only a few days earlier they wanted to crown him as king?
2. How can we know from the OT that Jesus Christ’s victory would not come through brutal, physical power?        
3. Why did Jesus Christ die silently like the Lamb led to the slaughter?