1Mt 27:4; ²Mt 26:56; ³Isa 53:2–3; ⁴Mt 27:26–50; Jn 19:34; ⁵Lk 22:44; Mt 27:46;
⁶Isa 53:10; ⁷Phil 2:8; Heb 12:2; Gal 3:13

The Lord did not only humble Himself in His birth and earthly life, He humbled Himself in the events leading up to His death too.

First, He was betrayed by Judas Iscariot, who was one of His twelve chosen disciples and a familiar friend (Mt 27:4; Ps 41:9; Ps 55:12-14).

Secondly, He was forsaken by the rest of the disciples (Mt 26:56). This must have been particularly humbling for the Lord, for these were His faithful disciples who had hitherto professed their allegiance and friendship to Him to the point of laying down their lives (see Mt 26:35).

Thirdly, the Lord was scorned and rejected by the world (Isa 53:2-3). Indeed, not only by the world, but by His own people: "He came unto his own, and his own received him not" (Jn 1:11). This surely was very humbling for the Lord for He made all men, and even called out a visible people unto Himself. But He was despised by all men, including His own.

Fourthly, the Lord humbled Himself in submitting Himself to be unjustly condemned by Pilate and tormented by His persecutors (Mt 27:26–50; Jn 19:34). This is particularly humbling for the fact that Pilate, as a civil governor was ordained of God to be a minister for good, and "a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil" (Rom 13:1, 4). But Pilate went against both natural justice and civil justice to condemn the Lord to death.

Fifthly, Christ "conflicted with the terrors of death, and the powers of darkness" as He neared the time of His death. This was especially so in the garden of Gethsemane, when He prayed earnestly according to a desire that if it were possible, He could be spared the terrors of the Cross. He was in such agony that "his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground" (Lk 22:44). "Abba, Father," He cried, "all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt" (Mk 14:36).

Sixthly, and most significantly, the Lord "felt and borne the weight of God’s wrath." This was something He must have felt throughout His earthly life for He bore our griefs and carried our sorrows (Isa 53:4), but He must have felt it particularly in the three hours of darkness as He hung on the cross. At the end of the three hours, the Lord cried out with a loud voice, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me" (Mt 27:46). The Lord Jesus is God Himself, but He was bearing the sin of the elect upon Himself, and suffering the infinite wrath of God for our sin. He was in a sense forsaken by God, so that for the first time in His earthly sojourn, He called out unto His Father as ‘God’ and not as ‘Father.’ What great humiliation this must have been for our Lord: God forsaken by God on account of sin not His own.

So, seventhly, the Lord humbled Himself in that He "laid down His life an offering for sin." The Lord did not die naturally of sickness, accident or old age; nor did He die in glory like a soldier defending His country or a martyr for a worthy cause; nor did He die simply as a victim of injustice and oppression. He died an inglorious criminal’s death,—as a sin offering not for His own sin, but for the sin of His elect.

For this purpose, He suffered the pain and shame of a cursed death on a cross. It was a particularly painful death not only because of the psychological torment that He went through as He bore our guilt, but because it was a very prolonged death through slow blood-loss, dehydration and exhaustion.

And it was a shameful death, for only the worst criminals, slaves and dogs were executed that way.

And not only so, but it was a cursed death for the Word of God has already declared: "he that is hanged is accursed of God" (Deut 21:23). In condescending to lay down His life on the cross, "Christ… redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree" (Gal 3:13).

But as we contemplate on the death on the cross, we must not imagine that the Lord went to the cross and died as a helpless victim. Far from it, for even as He went to the Cross, He was upholding all things by the word of His power (Heb 1:3). This is why the Lord Himself affirmed:

This fact is confirmed in the account of His crucifixion, for we read in Matthew’s account: "Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost" (Mt 27:50). The word "yielded up" (ajfivhmi), literally means "send away" or "dismiss." Similarly, in the Gospel of John, we read: "He bowed the head and gave up the ghost"(Jn 19:30). The word translated "gave up" (paradivdwmi) can also be rendered "delivered" or "hand-over." In other words, the Lord did not simply die of blood-loss, dehydration or exhaustion, He voluntary gave up His soul. This is why later when Joseph of Arithmathaea went to ask Pilate for the Lord’s body, Pilate "marvelled if he were already dead," i.e. he was surprised that the Lord could already be dead.

Of course, the Lord did not give up the ghost to cut short His suffering, although He would certainly have suffered sufficiently. He gave up the ghost voluntarily in order to demonstrate His power and also in fulfilment of the Scriptures that as the Passover lamb of God, not one of His bones should be broken (Jn 19:26; cf. Num 9:12). For we read that because the next day would be the Sabbath, the Jews asked for the bodies of the criminals to be taken down; but in order to do so they had to be put to death, which in the case of those being crucified would mean breaking their legs to induce death by asphyxiation. This was what they did to the two thieves for they remained alive when the soldiers came to check on them (Jn 19:32).