What did Jesus see from  His unique vantage point on the cross?

  Physically speaking, Jesus had a good view of the crowd that had  gathered at Golgotha. They were a strange and unusual mix of people, a diverse crowd that, through Jesus' eyes, wasn't really a crowd at all,  but rather a collection of individuals, each with their own background  and viewpoint. Roman soldiers were rolling the dice just beneath Him,  dividing His clothing among them. A group of women were weeping,  mourning the death of the one that they had loved and followed. Jewish  elders were hurling insults at Him, challenging Him to prove His claim  to be the Christ: "He saved others, but he cannot save himself."  Jesus' disciples were there, as was His mother. Just as in today's  church, there was also a sea of spectators -- the same fickle crowd  that hailed Him as King of the Jews just a week before this dark day  of Jesus' death. .

 The eyes of Jesus' soul saw all these people with a much different  perspective. As He looked at His mother Mary, Jesus felt her pain at  watching her son dying such a slow, miserable death. He  compassionately commissioned the disciple John to care for Mary after  the crucifixion, calling him to care for her as his own mother. The  mob of bloodthirsty onlookers must have caused an ache in Jesus'  tender heart -- they didn't even begin to understand what was  unfolding before them.

 As Jesus looked down at them, rather than anger  and bitterness, He felt compassion. He prayed for them, "Father,  forgive them, for they don't know what they're doing."  Jesus'  disciples -- the men with whom He had traveled and lived with for  three years -- had no more insight than the ignorant mob. He looked  down at them, seeing the confusion and ache of their hearts, knowing  that He was the only one on the hilltop who truly understood what was  taking place. He knew that their tears would, in time, be turned into  shouts of joy, and that fact wasn't dependent upon their  understanding, but upon God's faithfulness. .  

In the eyes of His Spirit, Jesus' viewpoint was one that He alone  could really comprehend. For the first time in all eternity, Jesus  experienced the sensation of being isolated from the Father. He saw  the demons dancing with delight, celebrating their supposed victory --  but He also could look forward and see the view just three days later,  when those same demons would cower in the darkness. He saw an eternal  bridge that was about to be commissioned, a bridge that would allow  mankind the same sort of intimate, personal relationship with God that  Adam and Eve had enjoyed in Eden, before the fall. .  

As the dying Messiah looked beyond the pain of the moment, He saw 3000  people receiving His salvation on the day of Pentecost, as cowardly  Peter, who had denied Him three times, boldly preached under the  empowerment of the Holy Spirit for the first time. He saw Saul of  Tarsus, vicious enemy of the Gospel, accepting the free gift of grace  that Jesus' sacrifice would make possible. He saw an Ethiopian eunuch  being baptized by Phillip in a pool beside a roadway. He saw countless  generations of mankind, for whom His sacrifice would make possible  salvation by grace through faith, for those who would only receive  that free gift. He saw Al Capone, D.L. Moody, Adolf Hitler, and Billy  Graham, each making their own, personal, eternal choices. And, as He  hung there on that cross, close to death, He saw YOU, and He knew  your name. .  

And then, although He still had the authority to call a legion of  angels to set Him free, He cried out, "Father, into your hands I  commit my Spirit." Then, He bowed His head -- and He died.

Because He thought YOU were worth it.