The

Substitute

This paragraph is the aorta of the gospel. Out of it flows the reality of the price that has been paid for our salvation. When this paragraph is read, believed and understood, it dwarfs all other consideration as to the sufficiency of the gospel. The songwriter’s phrase says it best: “Jesus paid it all.” After this payment, all other attempted additions should be clearly seen for what they are: insufficient and unnecessary.

Each of the four Gospels includes the crucifixion; each one includes and omits details that the others offer. There is no value in attempting to systematize the events. Matthew opens five windows of history through which we are able to see and understand what is happening at this time and place in human history. The names on the front page of Matthew’s Gospel remind us that men have been looking for an answer to the problem of sin since the beginning of time. In this paragraph, the answer is revealed.

For the next few weeks, we shall be looking into this event to see the substitute cross bearer, the site on which the crucifixion took place, the sedative offered to ease the pain, the suggestion given by the crowd that He step down, and the symposium held by Jesus and His two companion criminals. Today, we shall pause to look at the substitute. How ironic that the One who was spiritually strong enough to carry the sin of the world was physically too weak to carry the lumber on which the Price would be nailed.

The Bible does not paint the Christian faith as one option among many. Instead, we are introduced to the origin of mankind in the creation at the hand of God. Shortly thereafter, we are given the explanation for the problems found in both the human race and the world in which it lives. The problem is sin; sin came from man’s untrustworthy heart and act of disobedience. Sin places man in a desperate and hopeless condition of lostness. In that condition, man is given a promise by God that someday Someone will come Who alone can crush the head of evil (Genesis 3:15). Throughout the pages of the Old Testament, and through the Jewish religion, men are searching for the Serpent Crusher.

In the text before us, we see Simon as the temporary substitute, because of our Savior’s weakened physical condition. When the processional arrived at the Place of a Skull, Simon would once again drift off into obscurity, and the sacrifice would be made. Death by crucifixion was a wicked and cruel process. The victim was tied or nailed to the cross. The pain and agony could go on for hours or even days, and the sufferer would finally die by blood loss, suffocation (the inability to lift oneself for another breath), cardiac arrest or shock caused by the breaking of one’s legs to speed up the process.

Beyond the pain was the humiliation of this method of death. For the Jews, their law read: “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree [Deut. 21:23]. To understand the meaning of what is happening here there must be a little understanding of the sacrificial system of the Old Testament. Substitution is at the heart of the gospel.

The Substitute

Matthew 27:32

The objective of the Substitute

A. No

B. No

C. No

The requirements of the Substitute

A. Connection

B. Completely

C. Confession

The result of the Substitution

A. Satisfaction

B. Inadequacy

C. Connection