Numbered Among the Transgressors

Luke 23:33 ~ "And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left."

Be thankful, dear Christian, that Jesus was numbered among the transgressors. For being counted there, He took your place and suffered your punishment upon Himself.

Upon His arrest in the garden, Jesus endured a sham trial at the hands of the chief priests. His sentence was already determined before He ever stood in front of the court. They took Jesus to Pilate, the governor, and listen to their accusation against the Savior, "We found this man misleading our nation and forbidding us to give tribute to Caesar, and saying that he himself is Christ, a king" (Luke 23:2). Their great accusation was founded upon the requirement to give tribute to Caesar. They would prefer to give tribute to a worldly king than to the Son of God, the King of kings? John 19:15 illuminates the priests disowning God, "They cried out, 'Away with him, away with him, crucify him!' Pilate said to them, 'Shall I crucify your King?' The chief priests answered, 'We have no king but Caesar.'" No king but... Caesar. Their rejection was complete.

Three crosses waited upon the hill called The Skull. Insurrectionists and murderers were to hang there. But in what must have seemed an unlikely turn of events, when Pilate offered to free one prisoner in view of the Passover, the crowd cried out for Barabbas to be released and Jesus crucified (see Matthew 27:15-23). Jesus would now be crucified upon the cross meant for Barabbas. In fulfillment of God's word, the King of kings would be numbered among sinners. Isaiah 53:12 says, "Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors."

Why be thankful? Because my friends, we are also transgressors. You and I are sinners by birth and sinners by behavior. We are Barabbas--each of us are already found guilty before God Almighty and condemned to receive a just and eternal punishment for our sins. John 3:18 states, "Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God." We stand condemned already and if we persist in unbelief, we will be condemned eternally. But through faith in Jesus Christ, we can find ourselves released from our just condemnation because Jesus took our place.

God intervened. The Son of God, Jesus Christ, took upon Himself the singular task of bearing our guilt and being numbered amongst the transgressors so that He could be the one to take our place. And by His death He tasted death for everyone so that all who believe on Him can be released from sin's punishment and pronounced righteous because of what Jesus did. Hebrews 2:9 says, "But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone." 

Go to the cross and look upon the One pierced for our transgressions. He went there for you. He endured your pain and carried your cross and, by His great love, suffered your death so that you could have eternal life. Look to Jesus who was numbered among the transgressors and if you know yourself to be a transgressor, then take heart for He was numbered there for you.

In His Grace,
​Pastor Michael

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