by Timothy W. Burnett
1. How many people were crucified with Jesus?
2. Did Jesus carry the wooden cross designed for his crucifixion?
3. Did God forsake His beloved son?
It might be argued that the number people crucified with Jesus Christ would not have affected the ultimate outcome. So why make such a big issue about it? Why should we study the minute details to see exactly how many people were crucified with Jesus? Truth is, the integrity of God's word is at stake. There is no doubt that we love God very much. But it should be our desire to search the scriptures and align our personal beliefs with what God says about how many were crucified with Jesus.
For hundreds of years people have held the cross as a symbol of what Jesus Christ did for all of mankind. Sadly, many still carry Jesus hanging on the cross. Gladly, many more carry only the cross without Jesus on it. Jesus is alive and in heaven, no longer hanging on a cross. In our study of the cross that Jesus carried, we will examine the context of how the word "cross" was used in the different Gospel accounts.
The question of whether God forsook His beloved son drives in the underlying question of whether God followed through with His promise. According to the King James Bible, while hanging on the cross Jesus cried out, "My God, My God why have you forsaken me!" This is a highly charged subject that must be addressed. If God truly forsook His son, then He did not raise him from the dead. And if God never raised Jesus from the dead, then all of God's word in the Gospels, Epistles and the book of Revelation would be null and void.
As we take the time to shine the light of God's word on the above topics, we can learn to do the same in other areas of personal belief. We can let God's rightly divided word shine more light in our hearts toward increased understanding and growth in our spiritual walk.
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