THEY SHALL LOOK ON HIM WHOM THEY PIERCED

          “When Jesus died on the cross, the soldiers came, and brake the legs of the first, and of the other that was crucified with Him: But when they came to Jesus, and saw that He was dead already, they brake not His legs: howbeit one of the soldiers with a spear pierced His side, and straightway there came out blood and water.” That day the scripture was fulfilled, “They shall look on Him whom they pierced.” However they pierced our Lord Jesus Christ in more than one way. They pierced Him with a crown of thorns.

PIERCED WITH THORNS

The soldiers platted a crown of thorns and put it upon His head, and arrayed Him in a purple garment, and kneeled down before Him, and in mockery said, “Hail, King of the Jews.”

It was appropriate that they should think of the crown of thorns, because in the Garden of Eden thorns were a part of the curse. God told Adam, “Because thou hast done this thing and hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and eaten of the tree whereof I commanded thee that shouldest not eat; cursed is the ground for thy sake, thorns and thistles shall it bring to thee.” On the cross Paul reminds us that Jesus was made a curse for us when He died upon the tree.

Actually the multitudes offered Jesus a crown when He fed the 5,000, but He refused that crown, and now at the crucifixion, they gave Him a crown of thorns. They shall look upon Him whom they pierced.

In the book of Revelation chapter nineteen John tells how Jesus will return as King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, wearing many crowns. In Second Samuel, David captured the city of Rabbah and took the crown of the king, and put it on his head. The crown weighed a talent; a talent weight is about 75 pounds. The king of the Ammonites did not have to have an oversized head to wear such a crown, but he did have an oversized ego.

When Jesus comes again the many crowns He will wear, whatever the combined weight of those crowns may be, will rest easy on the head of omnipotence.

Remember that one of His crowns will be the crown of King of the Church. The Church is the Kingdom of God, and we need to remember that the Church is not a democracy; it is a Theocracy, and whenever the King makes a law we have no vote on the matter. He will be wearing many crowns; but He will not be wearing the crown of thorns.

Because He willingly wore the crown of thorns, the saints will be able through His grace to wear the crown of righteousness that Paul tells about in Second Timothy 4:8, “Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, and not only to me, but to all them that have loved His appearing.”

Remember also that the Apostle Peter told the elders of the church, if they were faithful in the work of the eldership, when the Chief Shepherd appears they would be given a crown of Glory that would never fade away.

But it is with sober consideration that we remember the warning Jesus gave two Churches in Revelation. He told one Church, “I come quickly, hold fast that which thou hast, that no one take thy crown.” And to the other He said, “Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee the crown of life”

In Revelation chapter four we read of four and twenty elders standing before the throne, arrayed in white garments, and wearing crowns of gold. When they worshiped the Lord they cast their crowns before the throne.

As Christians we do not need to wait until we get to Heaven to cast our crowns before the throne. Look at the One who was pierced with the crown of thorns, and take the crown of your life here on earth, whether it is your intellect, your money, your greatest talent and ability, and cast it at the foot of the cross.

A crown of thorns and a purple robe

Somebody fashioned them both.

Somebody platted that bloody crown,

Somebody fashioned that gaudy gown;

Somebody fashioned them both.

A crown of thorns and a purple robe, and it was so long ago.

They wove the vestments He so meekly wore

They platted the crown He so meekly bore

And it was so long ago.

A crown of thorns and a purple robe,

And I read the words with a sigh;

And when I think of my own misdeeds

My soul awakes, and my conscience pleads

And I say to myself, it was I.

They shall look on Him whom they pierced.

PIERCED BY NAILS

Not only did they pierce Him with a crown of thorns, but they also pierced Him when they drove the nails through His hands and feet. The piercing of His hands and feet was prophesied by David a thousand years before it happened in the twenty-second Psalm, when he declared, “They pierced My hands and My feet.”

At a crucifixion the nails pierced no vital organs, the heart, brain, artery, or any other vital organ to hasten death. This meant a person could live for days in the agony of crucifixion. However they did not take the life of Jesus; He gave it willingly. In John ten Jesus had said, “No one taketh My life from Me, I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.”

When the nails were driven through the hands of Jesus, there is a further dimension to the piercing of the nails that we need to consider. Paul tells us in Colossians 2:14, “Having blotted out the bond written in ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us: and He hath taken it out of the way, nailing it to the cross; having despoiled the principalities and the power, He made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it.”

When the hands of Jesus were nailed to the cross, my sins were nailed there also on the cross. Now listen to the words of the gospel hymn that tells us,

“There was One who was willing to die in my stead

That a soul so unworthy might live

And the path to the cross He was willing to tread

All the sins of my life to forgive.

They are nailed to the cross, they are nailed to the cross

Oh how much He was willing to bear

With what anguish and loss, Jesus went to the cross

But He carried my sins with Him there.”

            When Jesus appeared to the Apostles after the resurrection in the upper room on Resurrection Sunday, Thomas was not with them. Thomas said, “I will not believe unless I can put my finger into the print of the nails, and see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.”

The next Sunday Jesus appeared again and told Thomas, “Reach hither thy finger and see My hands; and reach hither thy hand and put it into My side and be not faithless, but believing.” Thomas answered, “My Lord and my God.”

And then for our benefit Jesus saith unto him, “Because thou hast seen Me, thou hast believed. Blessed are they that have not seen Me and yet have believed.” They shall look upon Him whom they pierced.

PIERCED BY THE SPEAR

They pierced Him with a crown of thorns, they pierced Him with nails in hands and feet, and then they pierced His heart with a spear.

The chief Priests asked of Pilate that the legs of the three on the crosses might be broken to hasten their death. And so when they came to Jesus they saw that He was already dead, and they brake not His legs. Howbeit, one soldier, to be sure, pierced His side and straightway there ran out blood and water. That was a prophetic act. It was the fulfillment of prophecy five hundred years before it happened in Zechariah 12:10, “They shall look on Him whom they pierced.”

Those who pierced the heart of Jesus had not seen the last of Him. They will see Him again, and remember the day when they pierced Him. John informs us in Revelation the first chapter, “Behold He cometh with the clouds and every eye shall see Him, yea, and they that pierced Him.”

It is not only the soldier who thrust the spear into His side, who will see Him. Every atheist will see Him whom they pierced. Every hypocrite will see Him whom they pierced. Every rejecter of Christ will see Him whom they pierced. Every member of the human race who has ever lived will look upon Him who was pierced.

The importance of the piercing of the side of Jesus has a prophetic importance as seen in an incident in the life of Moses. When Moses was about to receive the Ten Commandments for the second time, He made a request of God. He said, “Show me Thy glory.” God said. “Thou canst not see My Face, for no man can see My Face and live.” Then the Almighty said, “Behold there is a place by Me, and thou shalt stand upon a Rock: And it shall come to pass, while My glory passeth by, that I will put thee in the cleft of the rock, and cover thee with My Hand, while I pass by. And I shall take away mine hand, and thou shalt see My back parts: but My face shall not be seen.” As God passed by, Moses saw the departing glory of God. Remember, God said there is a place by Me. That place by the Lord God was a Rock.

The Rock that Paul referred to when he said in First Corinthians, “There was a Rock that followed Israel in the wilderness, and that Rock was Christ.” Standing in the cleft of that Rock was the only place where Moses could see the departing glory of God. Remember, there is a Rock at the side of God. The Rock by the side of God is the same as the One whose side was pierced, and arose from the dead, and ascended to Heaven, and sat down at the right hand of the Father.  And we behold Him who hath been made a little lower than the angels, even Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor that by the grace of God He should taste of death for every man.

The Christian who stands on that Rock and in the cleft of that Rock will see the glory of God and live forever. That thought has found its way into our hymnology in the song, “Rock of Ages cleft for me, let me hide myself in Thee.” It is there that we can see the glory of God as much as can be seen on this side of the Jordan. Remember, Jesus said to Philip in John fourteen, “He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father.”

Fanny Crosby expressed it well in her well-known gospel song: “A wonderful Savior is Jesus my Lord,

A wonderful Savior to me

He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock

Where rivers of pleasure I see

He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock

That shadows a dry thirsty land

He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock

And covers me there with His hand.” They shall look upon Him whom they have pierced.

Then there is a similarity in the piercing of His side in the creation of Eve and the birth of the Church. When God created Adam, He said, “It is not good for the man that he should be alone.” So God opened his side. When chloroform was first discovered, and it was indicated that a person could be put to sleep for an operation, there were some religious fanatics who said that it was an anti-scriptural practice. It was pointed out to them that it was scriptural. God performed the first operation when He put the patient to sleep. While Adam was under, God removed a rib and formed a woman. After God sutured him, He awakened him and introduced him to the woman. Adam named her Eve. She is bone of my bone, and flesh of my flesh.

When Jesus was pierced, blood and water ran out. He fell asleep in what we call death. He was awakened and on the Day of Pentecost the Church was born. Paul told the elders of the Church at Ephesus to take heed unto themselves, and the Church of God, which He purchased with His own blood. We need to remember that the Church is the only organization on earth that was purchased by the blood of Christ. The Church is more important than any other organization. When I think of the Church, purchased by the blood of the Lord Jesus, I am reminded that they shall look upon Him whom they have pierced.

As the blood and water ran out, it is easy to see a parallel in the piercing of the side of Jesus in the two ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

Actually that is a good analogy. The ministry of Jesus began in the water at His baptism, and ended in blood on the cross. Straightway there ran out blood and water. They shall look upon Him whom they have pierced.

Actually it is better if there is a similar experience of seeing the One who was pierced when we hear the preaching of the gospel. On the Day of Pentecost the Church was born, and they heard the preaching of the gospel for the first time; there were thousands of them who were pricked in their hearts. They looked at that time on the One who was pierced and then their hearts were pierced when they realized their desperate and hopeless condition. They cried out to the Apostles, “Men and brethren what shall we do?” Peter told those who believed the gospel, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

            Blood and water also reminds us of the ordinance of the observance of the Lord’s Supper. Paul instructs us in the Lord’s Supper when he says, “The cup of blessing, which we bless, is it not a communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break is it not a communion of the body of Christ?” Then remember that Jesus said, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many unto remission of sins.” Whenever we assemble every first day of the week, we are reminded as was the practice of the first-century Church in the book of Acts; that they too gathered together on the first day of the week to break bread.

Now here is a strange commentary on those who crucified Jesus. They were not satisfied to crucify Him, but they had to mangle His body after He was dead when they cast a spear into His side.

The Memorial Body of the Lord is being mangled today in various ways. Some think the Lord is sacrificed every week when the communion is observed. Paul tells us in Hebrews, “But He when He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God.” The Lord’s Supper is not a sacrifice; it is a memorial. Jesus said, “This do in remembrance of Me.”

Then again the memorial body of Jesus if not mangled, it surely is battered by an observance less than each Lord’s Day. Many churches observe the Lord’s Supper quarterly, or monthly, using the excuse that it becomes too commonplace to observe the feast every Lord’s Day. And yet persist in singing, taking the offering, and preaching every Sunday? Does it not become too commonplace to receive the offering every week? Would not the people give more money if they took the offering once a month or on a quarterly basis? This idea of less than a weekly observance of the Lord’s Supper is a device of the Devil to make Christianity a bloodless and Christless religion.

That dreadful night before His death the Lamb for sinners slain

Did almost with His dying breath that solemn feast ordain.

To keep the feast Lord we will, meet and to remember thee

Help each redeemed one to repeat, for me He died, for me.

            The crown that once was on His head Now glows like rubies dark and red

Like burnished gold beset by gems, Surpassing royal diadems.

            The hands that once were pierced by nails

Now holds the scepter that prevails

The feet once fastened to the tree are marching on to victory.

            The wound within His riven side is now a fountain open wide.

Where cleansing blood will ever flow

To wash away our guilt and woe

The cross from which the curse has flown

Had now become His mighty throne

An emblem, a conquering sign Where grace and glory intertwine.