Save Thyself… If Thou be the Son of God, come down… He saved others … If He be the King of Israel let Him now come down … He trusted in God, let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him …for He said, ‘I am the Son of God’.” Matthew 27:40-43 KJV

Save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down …He saved others… He is the King of Israel; let Him now come down… “HE TRUSTS IN GOD; LET GOD RESCUE Him now, IF HE DELIGHTS IN HIM; for He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” Matthew 27:40-43 NASB

Philosophic rivals and political enemies will search for the most effective way to berate and bait their foes. They assemble the most philippic barrage they can to assault their foes. But nothing compares to the Satanically inspired epithets which surrounded Golgotha that day.

Imagine having all of your life’s work thrown up to you as being worthless, a hoax. Think of what it would mean to have every claim you have made denied to your face at the close of your life. The insults which issued from the mouths of priests, passersby, prisoners, and others were not spur-of-the-moment comments; they were the barbs forged in the depths of hell as a final barrage to bring down the Son of God.

In the wilderness at the start of the Lord’s ministry, Satan had launched his cannon shot at Christ by tempting Him to “Cast Thyself down.” At the cross, where the temptation to a mere man would have been greater, the arrow is now launched to “Come down.” Satan had masterfully set his trap, his final assault on the Lord Jesus Christ. Into the mouths of men, he placed blasphemies that contradicted everything that Christ is.

They denied Him as:

Saviour

“He saved others,” and “Save Thyself.” In effect, they were saying that this One Who claimed to be a Saviour was now shown to be impotent, a charlatan, a colossal hoax foisted upon the nation. What Saviour would not be able to first save himself if he were genuine? Here was the most basic of human instincts, that of self-preservation. It was totally incompatible with their thinking that a man with the ability to save himself would not do it. But He did not possess their mind, and they did not know “the mind of Christ.”

Son of God

His claims to unique Sonship were mocked at the cross. How could God allow His Son to be so treated? The idea that the Son of God would hang suspended in apparent helplessness upon a Roman crucifix was incongruous to their mindset. His desolation at Calvary was proof positive to them that His claims were bogus, and He was not Who He claimed to be.

Servant

Perhaps the most devious and dangerous of all the insults hurled in the face of the Lord Jesus was that “He trusted in God.” There were many occasions during the life of the Lord Jesus when men uttered what they intended to be insults but were, in reality, words of truth. For example, “This Man receives sinners and eats with them” (Luke 15:1). Once more, what they hurled as an insult was a truism. Here was the only Man Who totally trusted in God. As a submissive servant, a dependent Man, He was cast upon God from the womb (Ps 22). He relied upon God for physical safety (Ps 16:1). He is the author and perfecter of the life of faith (Heb 12:2). Moment by moment, He trusted God and lived a life of faith.

Sovereign

“If you are a King, come down!” For the King of Israel to be suspended upon a cross was a seeming contradiction. As sovereign, He could command armies and nations. Certainly, as King possessing sovereign powers, He could somehow descend from the cross! But to their blinded vision, His being impaled to the tree reassured them of the righteousness of their judgment and the guilt of the victim.

With joyful and self-righteous satisfaction, they celebrated their wisdom, insight, and victory. They may have had to do a few things unconventional; they may have had to strong arm and push Pilate into a corner, but they had been right all along. They had repudiated all of His claims and shown Him to be a fraud.

Until Sunday morning came.

Consider:

Can you find other links between the temptation in the wilderness of some of what the Lord Jesus faced at the end of His life?