It has been said that “God moves behind the scenes—and moves the scenes that He is behind.” How true this is! Man may think that he is an independent agent in this world, but behind all his machinations is the sovereign Architect of the universe who “worketh all things after the counsel of His own will” (Eph. 1:11). He rules and overrules in the kingdoms of earth, whether sinful man acknowledges His presence or not.
At no time in history was this more evident than at the cross. There we witness a vicious humanity surrounding the infinitely holy One. Though He was harmless, undefiled and separate from sinners, they collectively called for His execution. But God used the wrath of man to praise Him (Ps. 76:10), overruling the shameful events of Calvary to provide the way of salvation for the very ones who put Him there. It is a clear example of God accomplishing His eternal purpose while the devil and sinful man were at work attempting to counter that purpose. But God, who always has the final word, used the hatred of man to His glory.
There is often more than meets the eye in the unfolding of great events. This was certainly the case at the cross. To unregenerate man, it might have appeared that the crucifixion was simply the tragic outcome of a good man dying for what he believed was right. But to those who have come to know Him by faith, it is much different. Among other things, it presents a loving Father offering up the Son of His love as a ransom for sin so that a marred creation may become a new creation, the children of wrath might become the children of God, and the spiritually bankrupt become heirs of the kingdom, delivered from the power of darkness and translated in the kingdom of His dear Son (Col. 1:13).
What deeper significance can we discover to some of these events that occurred at the cross—things made known to those who gaze more intently with the eye of faith upon that scene?
The Plan of Salvation Wonderfully Completed
When the Lord Jesus uttered the triumphant words, “It is finished!” as He yielded up His spirit, He declared that God’s work in providing salvation was forever done. This was a divine declaration that the redemptive price for mankind had been accomplished, making the way possible for man’s reconciliation to God. He completed the work He said He would do when He declared to His disciples: “My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me, and to finish His work” (Jn. 4:34). It was the conclusion of a three-and-a-half year journey that began in the Galilee and terminated triumphantly outside Jerusalem on a Roman gibbet.
Even though God had “rested” after the work of creation, His statement to the Jews—“My Father worketh hitherto, and I work” (Jn. 5:17)—showed that He had resumed with the Father the “work” to restore man after sin was introduced into the human race through Adam and Eve. It was the fulfillment of many prophecies, including Isaiah’s, who spoke of Him who “would not fail nor be discouraged” though He gave His “back to the smiters” and His “cheeks to them that plucked off the hair” (Isa. 42:50). Instead He set His face steadfastly to go to Jerusalem and was neither deterred nor distracted from the purpose of finishing transgression and to make an end of sins (Dan. 9:24).
His death at Calvary was the great sacrifice for sins forever (Heb. 10:12). And as the blood flowed from His side, the Kinsman-Redeemer showed that He not only had paid the price to redeem fallen humanity, but was paving the way for a future time when He would demonstrate that He as heir was worthy to open the title deed of the earth and claim His property (Rev. 4–5).
The Ploy of the Devil Wholly Defeated
At the same time that God’s Son was suffering for the sins of the world—even those who put Him there—there was a satanic solicitation to come down from the cross through those who gathered around the Saviour. Their cruel mockings and derisive jeers were the devil’s tactics to persuade the Lord to act independently of the Father and to interrupt the plan of salvation.
The devil had tried on numerous occasions to sidetrack the Lord in His earthly ministry, but each time he was unsuccessful. Early in the Lord’s ministry, the devil tempted Him to jump from the pinnacle of the temple to demonstrate to the people that He indeed was the Messiah with angels at His beck and call—a clever but unsuccessful ploy to bypass the cross.
Later, the Lord was encouraged by the fickle crowd to present Himself as the people’s choice and to throw off the yoke of Roman rule. Intended to be an alluring temptation, it was contrary to the plan of salvation.
In many ways, the words of Nehemiah prefigure the events at Calvary when, after being enticed by his enemies to leave the work of building the walls of Jerusalem, Nehemiah replied: “I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down. Why should I leave it and come down unto you?” (Neh. 6:3).
Our Lord’s refusal was a crushing blow to the serpent’s head, prophesied in Eden at the dawn of human history (Gen. 3:15). With this as a backdrop, the words “He endured the cross, despising the shame” take on a richer, deeper meaning and remind us that more was happening at the cross than we first realize.
A Place of Refuge Instantly Created
Another event occurring “behind the scenes” at Calvary was the establishment of a new City of Refuge. In the OT, cities of refuge were strategically located to protect the “manslayer” from an enraged relative of a person that he had accidentally killed. Three were established on the east side of the Jordan by Moses (Num. 35) and three on the west side of the Jordan by Joshua (Josh. 20) for a total of six cities in all. As long as the manslayer fled to one of these cities before the “avenger of blood” exacted vengeance (and as long as it was proven that the killer’s actions were not deliberate), the manslayer would enjoy the protection that these cities afforded.
When the Lord Jesus cried out: “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do,” He was saying in effect: “Father, open the gate to a new City of Refuge for all who would come in without delay who sense their need of protection from the judgment that their sins deserve.” As the seventh City of Refuge, His is the final one and the only one now that really matters.
Similar to the OT cities of refuge, the way has been prepared (Deut. 19:4) but in contrast, He is much closer than any of those cities since salvation is as near as faith in Him. When Peter said to nation of Israel, “I [know] that through ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers” (Acts 3:17), he was acknowledging their ignorance in crucifying the Lord and in essence equating that ignorance with the “unintentional” killing of the Son of God whose Father had every right to exact His vengeance. Likewise, when Paul said to the Corinthians that if “the princes of this world knew, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory” (1 Cor. 2:8) he too attributed their actions to ignorance, thus showing their qualification to enter this new City of Refuge—Christ Himself. As well, he personally expressed gratitude that he was shown mercy for his persecution of Christians because they were done “ignorantly in unbelief” (1 Tim. 1:13)
The Promise of Life Clearly Repeated
When the Lord spoke to the repentant thief in the presence of all the people, He showed that the offer of eternal life through faith in Him was being clearly repeated—a message He preached wherever He went.
This thief demonstrated that salvation is through faith alone and that it was available despite a previous record of guilt and shame. Although this thief had reviled the Lord with the other thief at first (Mt. 27:44), he repented and turned in faith to the Saviour, no doubt a dramatic and heartening scene to the onlookers standing at the foot of the cross.
It could have been an additional factor that moved the centurion’s heart to proclaim: “Certainly, this was a righteous Man!” And to the crowd at Calvary, representative of humanity through the ages, the promise of life in Christ Jesus was repeated and heralded by example. Heaven was obviously available to the vilest of sinners who simply believed. The ones who angrily said: “His blood be on us, and on our children” would soon hear repeated this same promise of life from the lips of the Apostle Peter: “For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off…” (Acts 2:39). His blood was just what they needed!
Doubtless, there are many more things that occurred at the cross than we may think. But to the careful student of Scripture, we have the promise that some of the secret things (which belong to God) will be made be made known to those who fear Him (Ps. 25:14) May the Lord grant us, by studying His Word, that we, like the Emmaus disciples, will have our eyes opened, and so grow in our love and appreciation for Him.
Written by Mark Kolchin