Good morning, and welcome to our second Anchored in the Word morning reflection. Hope you're having a good Tuesday. And as we dig into the passage, I want us to dig into it piece by piece, looking at three specific reasons that we should glory in the cross. And this morning, the reason we're gonna focus in on is the fact that, in fact, it is a fact. And what I mean by that is that the cross is a fact of history. And so let's dig into this concept this morning together. First of all, let's read the passage. Luke chapter 23, we'll just read a portion of it, not the whole thing because of the length of it, but I want us to zero in on this reality that we're talking about a historical fact. Here's what it says. And when they were come to the place which is called Calvary, there they crucified him and the malefactors, one on the right hand and the other on the left. Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment and cast lots, and the people stood beholding. And the rulers also with them derided him, saying, He saved others. Let him save himself, if he be the Christ, the chosen of God. And the soldiers also mocking him, coming to him and offering him vinegar, and saying, If thou be the king of the Jews, save thyself. Now there's a little phrase that I want us to focus in on this morning that tells us that in fact this is a fact of history. Notice what it says in verse 33. When they were come to the place which is called Calvary, there they crucified him. Now when we talk about crucifixion, we're talking about a form of not just capital punishment, but a form of torture and humiliation that was being perfected for hundreds of years before the time of Christ. The Romans were not the people that first came up with the idea of crucifixion. In fact, we go all the way back hundreds and hundreds of years before to the time of the Phoenicians, After the Phoenicians, the Greeks adapted this, and the Persians adapted this, and then ultimately the Romans adapted this. And crucifixion was a form of capital punishment that was reserved for the worst of criminals, not for Roman citizens. And when a person was crucified, they would essentially tie them or nail them to a cross of wood, and then they would be exposed to the elements for not just hours but potentially even sometimes more than a day or two where people would struggle and ultimately crucifixion would not, people wouldn't die of crucifixion because of a loss of blood but really it was because of an inability to breathe because they didn't have the strength to do it any longer. And while people were being crucified, others would come by those crosses and they would mock them and deride them. And this is something that comes out in the crucifixion account of Christ. That this is the way that the religious leaders were treating Christ. The Romans knew what they were doing when they crucified someone. And when it says that they crucified Jesus on Calvary, in fact, it did happen. And it was talked about in history. In fact, it's documented by many historians that would have lived during the time of Christ. In fact, this is a statement that I found when I was doing some research. It says, there's an overwhelming historical factual evidence that Jesus died on the cross and rose again on the third day. The evidence of Christ's death is greater than that of almost any other event in the ancient world. In fact, obviously, we have firsthand accounts, and we read the gospel accounts of Matthew and Mark and Luke and John. But beyond just the Bible, we also have Roman historians, one in particular, Tacitus, who documented the facts of the crucifixion. We have the Jewish historian, Josephus, a very well-known Jewish historian, talked about the wars of the Jews and documented the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70. Well, Josephus documented facts about the crucifixion of Christ. We also have the Babylonian Talmud, which referred to this event as if it actually took place. Now, what's interesting about these accounts of people like Tacitus and Josephus or the Babylonian Talmud, we're not talking about Christians who believed in Christ being Messiah and risen from the dead. Yet these are people who talk about an event as if it has happened, and they knew for a fact that there were not just rumors, but people believed with all of their, they were willing to stake their lives on it, that in fact this person, Jesus of Nazareth, who'd been crucified, had risen from the dead. And so they documented the fact that these witnesses abounded and that in fact he really lived and he really died, and people said he had risen from the dead. We also see that Paul refers to this as a fact. And this is significant because Paul was someone who persecuted the church. And at the time of Christ, he was against the Lord Jesus Christ. But this is what he writes in 1 Corinthians 15. He says, Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures. He was buried. He rose again the third day according to the scriptures. He was seen of Cephas, that is Peter, and then of the 12, and after that, about 500 brethren at once. After that he was seen of James, and then of all the apostles, and last of all he was seen of me, I am the least of the apostles because I persecuted the church of God. And so we have these events being recorded by all of these different individuals. But I'd like us to really focus in on what Luke has to say about this account. Each of the gospel accounts give us unique details or emphases based on what the writer is trying to communicate under the inspiration of scripture. One of the things that Luke really emphasizes is the fact that Christ was an innocent man. And he talks about how Pilate recognizes this, how Herod Agrippa understood this, how several people, the Roman centurion who was there at the foot of the cross when he died understood this, he is in fact an innocent man. For instance, Pilate in 23.4 says, Then said Pilate to the chief priests and to the people, I find no fault in this man. Or in verses 14 and 15, you have brought this man into me as one that perverteth the people, and behold, I have examined him before you, have found no fault in this man touching any of those things wherein you have accused him, nor ye adhere it. I have sent him to whom I have sent, and lo, nothing worthy of death is done unto him. We also think of what Pilate says again in 22. He said unto them the third time, What evil hath he done? I have found no fault or cause of death in him. I will therefore chastise him, and let him go. The thief on the cross. We have received our due reward for our deeds, but this man has done nothing amiss. The centurion, when he saw this, he glorified God, saying, certainly this was a righteous man. So Luke is emphasizing the fact that Christ is innocent. His death was not a death he deserved. He was dying as a substitute. A second thing that's emphasized is that he talks about Christ's attitude while he is dying. In verse 34, he says, Father, forgive them. They know not what they do, not today, Lord willing, tomorrow we're going to focus in on that statement, they know not what they do and the significance of the cross. But you see that Christ desires their forgiveness. He says, don't weep for me, verse 28. Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, weep for yourselves and for your children. Verse 43, he wants to comfort the people. He says, I say to you, today shalt thou be with me in paradise. And so he's talking to these two malefactors. One is a believer and one is rejecting. And he wants to comfort the believer when he says, Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. He also highlights the reaction of the people to Christ. And we see both negative and positives. We see grief in verse 27. There followed him a great company of the people, of women, and they bewailed and lamented him. We see the disdain of his enemies, verse 35. The rulers also derided him, saying, he saved others. Let him save himself, if he be the Christ, the chosen of God. And then we see the sorrow of verse 48. All the people came, beholding the thing which were done, they smote their breasts and they returned. Two other details I want to mention as well, I think are very significant. And that is supernatural, excuse me, supernatural signs that were there to validate the nature of what was going on. One was that there was complete darkness for three hours. In verses 44 and 45, it says it was about the sixth hour. There was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour, and the sun was darkened. In verse 45, it says that the veil of the temple was rent in the midst. This gives us insight into what is going on. God the Father is pouring out his judgment on the sun as he hangs on the cross. And as Christ dies as our sin-bearing substitute, an offering for sin is the word, the wording that is used in Isaiah 53. That veil that separated the holy place from the holy of holies was ripped from top to bottom, literally a veil that was probably close to 75, 80 feet tall, huge veil. It's ripped, representing that people now have access, direct access to the Father because the Son has died. And so we see that all of this is emphasizing the fact that the cross of Christ was a significant historic moment. The details of what took place were recorded. And so we need to trust in the cross. We need to glory in this cross. Well, that gives you some things to think about this morning. I hope you'll share this with those who might be benefited by it. Have a blessed rest of your morning, Lord willing. We'll meet again tomorrow as we keep digging our way through this passage. Bye now.