Possible Location of Christ’s Crucifixion
The Gospels tell us that the soldiers crucified Christ on Golgatha, “the place of the skull” (Matt. 27:33; Mark 15:22; John 19:17), or in Latin “Calvaria” (Luke 23:33). Christ died outside the city gate (Heb. 13:12), and yet “nigh to the city” (John 19:20). It was a horrible place and a horrendous atrocity when the wicked rejected the Holy and Righteous One, and “killed the Prince of life” (Acts 3:14–15).
Yet here God did His greatest work. There are different words that the Scriptures use to describe the mighty work of the cross, such as redemption and reconciliation, but perhaps the most significant word is one rarely heard today: propitiation. The apostle John wrote, “he is the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 2:2). He also said, “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10).
To propitiate means to appease or atone. If you anger someone, you make propitiation for your offense in one way or another to appease him. You offer a peace offering so that your guilt is atoned and your relationship can be restored.
In our relationship with God, Christ’s propitiation addressed the wrath of God. It quenched the terrible fire of His burning anger against sinners. Jesus Christ is the propitiation that delivered His people from God’s anger against us by taking it on himself. He suffered the wrath and judgment that their sin deserved. Since Christ is God, His propitiation has a value greater than all the sins of the world. He did not merely die for the Jews or a small group of first-century believers, but to redeem a vast number of people from every tribe, language, and nation throughout all the ages.
So at Golgotha, the ugly place of death, we find God’s hatred and God’s love coming together in an astonishing fashion. God hates sin and is so angry with sinners that nothing less than the death of His Son will appease His anger, satisfy His justice, and set them free. Apart from Christ’s blood, God’s wrath will send sinners to hell forever. However, even when God hated sin so much, He loved sinners so much that He willingly sent His Son to suffer that wrath for the very sinners who hated Him. Amazing love! How can it be, that Thou, My God, shouldst die for me?! No condemnation now I dread; Jesus and all in Him is mine. He is the propitiation for our sins, and believers are saved forever. Child of God, let the wonder of Calvary wash over your soul, and never stop praising the Lamb that was slain for you.
