09
Jun/2006
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CHRIST CRUCIFIED
Christ Crucifixion "The true pain Christ suffered for us, to show His love, is beyond
all human comprehension and is rarely appreciated as it should be."-SN For God so loved the world that He demonstrated His love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us upon the cross (Romans 5:8). Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die (Romans 5:6-7). But Christ in his love for us died a most horrible death so that the sins of the world could be forgiven and that whoso ever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16). He died so that we might live, He gave so that we might have, and He was crucified for our sins so that we might inherit eternal salvation through him.
So many Christian today take for granted Jesus Christs sacrifice and dont realize just how much He suffered for us so that we might live. I came to realize that I was one of those Christian who took Christ crucifixion for granted when God opened my eyes. One Roman orator denounced crucifixion by calling it the "most foul and brutal punishment." In this article I will give you a strong description of just how much spiritual, mental, and physical pain Christ went through for us. Using scripture, the Holy Spirits guidance, and various articles on crucifixion I believe Ive come up with a fairly accurate betrayal of Christ crucifixion . The following is what I would call a commentary enhancement of Christ crucifixion and I encourage you to follow along in your bible as you read so that you can fully bring to life these event and truly understand all that Christ did for us.
Jesus journey to the cross started as Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus into the hands of the Sanhedrin for thirty silver coins (Matt. 27:3). Jesus considered Judas to be a friend and disciple though He knew Judas was going to betray him it still must of been heartbreaking to have someone so close give you the kiss of death (Matt. 26:48-49). Shortly after Jesus betrayal he was then led before the Sanhedrin where the high priest, and all the chief priest, elders, and teachers of the law came together (Mark 14:53). Well before the Sanhedrin the high priest stood and asked Jesus if He was the Christ and Jesus answered "I am" with that said the high priest accused him of blasphemy and they all condemned him as worthy of death (Mark 14:61-64, Matt. 26:64-68). They guards guarding Jesus also put a blindfold on him and "Then they spit in his face and struck him with their fists. Others slapped him and said, "Prophecy to us, Christ Who hit you?" (Matt. 26:67-68, Luke 22:63-65 ).
But because the Sanhedrin where unable by law to condemn anyone to death they had to take Jesus to Pilate. So Early the next morning they bound Jesus and handed him over to Pilate, the governor (Luke 23:1). The Jews brought up false accusations against Jesus saying "We have found this man subverting our nation. He opposes payment to Caesar and claims to be Christ, a king" but even with the accusations Pilate said he could find no basis for charging Jesus with a crime. The Jews insisted that he was a criminal and Pilate finding out that Jesus was a Galilean send him to Herod the king who had jurisdiction over Judea, but Herod could also find no wrong and send Jesus back to Pilate (Luke 23:1-16). But still Pilate found no wrong and was going to release Jesus after beating him, but after careful persuading by the chief priest, elder, teachers of the law and the whole Sanhedrin, Pilate decided to let the people decide. For it was a custom that the governor release a prisoner at the Passover Feast. Pilate asked who they wanted him to release Jesus King of the Jews or Barabbas a convicted thief and murder of a Roman soldier(Mark 15:7; Luke 23:19). The crowd yelled release Barabbas, crucify Jesus (Matt. 27:15-25). So Pilate not wanting to crucify Jesus told the crowd that Jesus blood was on their hands not his and he sent Jesus away where he was flogged by the soldiers (Matt. 27:24-27).
The governors soldiers took Jesus into the palace (that is, the Praetorium) and called together the whole company. Then the soldier flogged him by tying his arms to a post above His head. Then they whipped him with a whip called a flagrum, which consisted of small pieces of bone and metal attached to a number of leather straps with two small balls of lead attached near each end. The heavy whip was brought down with full force against Jesus shoulders, back, and legs. During the scourging, (flogging, or whipping), Jesus skin was ripped open from the back exposing a bloody mass of tissue and bone. The whip first cut through His skin, and then after continuing blows they cuts got deeper and deeper cutting into his subcutaneous tissues. This caused the oozing of blood from the capillaries and veins of the skin and finally spurting arterial bleeding from the vessels. The small balls on the whip produced large deep bruises that broke open by subsequent blows. By the end of the flogging the entire back of Jesus was an unrecognizable mass of torn, bleeding tissue (Isaiah 52:14). He would have had a extreme loss of blood, which often left most died, or at least unconsciousness (John 19:1, Matt. 27:26). The flogging was probably ended when the soldiers noticed Jesus was near death or shortly after theyd reached the Mosaic laws limit of forty lashes (Dt 25:1-3). The forty lash limit was enforced by the Jews of the Old Testament because any more then forty lashes could bring death upon the victim. But the Romans arent Jews and dont follow Jewish law, so it is believed that Jesus received the max of forty lashes plus more before his flogging was ended.
Then they untied him and stripped him of his clothes and put a scarlet robe on him (probably one of the Roman guards garments). Then they twisted a crown out of small flexible thorn branches commonly used for kindling fires. They placed the crown of thorns upon his head pressing down so that the thorns dug into his scalp and again there is abundance of bleeding, for the scalp is one of the most vascular areas of the body. Then they placed a staff in his right hand and knelt before him mocking him by saying, "Hail, King of the Jews." They spit on him and plucked his beard and then took the staff from his right hand and hit him across the head with it driving the thorns deeper into his scalp causing more blood to flow. Finally, they got tired of their sadistic sport and cruelly tore the robe from his back. The robe had already become adherent to the clots of blood, and its removal was just like the careless removal of a surgical bandage, which caused Jesus excruciating pain on his already half-fainting, flogged, beaten body. He was then given back his own clothes to be put back on and led off to be crucified (Matt. 27:27-31, Mark 15:16-20).
After this horrible flogging and beating, which Jesus predicted earlier in Mark 10:33-34 He was forced to carry the heavy patibulum of the cross, which could easily weigh 100 pounds. In spite of His efforts to walk up right, the weight of the heavy wooden beam, together with the shock produced through the extreme loss of blood caused Him to stumble and fall. He tried to rise back to His feet but the human muscles of His body had been pushed beyond their limits. So a centurion (or A commander of a Roman army) wanting to get on with the crucifixion selected a North African onlooker, Simon of Cyrene, to carry the cross. Jesus followed still bleeding from his beating, flogging, and sweating profusely from the shock of the blood loss. It was a 650-yard journey from the fortress Antonia to Golgotha (which means The Place of the Skull) where Jesus was again stripped of his clothes except for a loin cloth which He was allowed to keep. Then Jesus was offered a wine mixed with myrrh, a mild analgesic mixture, which was a merciful Jewish practice to give to those being executed to deaden the conscious thus making the pain more bearable. Jesus refused this drink and chose to face death without a clouded mind and take the full load of our sins and the agonizing pain of crucifixion upon his shoulders sober (Matt. 27:32-34, Mark 15:21-23, Luke 23:26-32, John 19:16-17).
Then Simon was ordered to place the patibulum on the ground, and Jesus was quickly thrown backward, with His shoulder against the wood. The legionnaire feels for depression at the front of the wrist and then drives a heavy, square, wrought-iron 7 inch long nail through Jesus wrist and deep into the wood(or some believe the nail was driven through the middle of the hand, but many scholars whove studied ancient Roman and Jewish traditions conclude that the nails probably went through his wrist as was the custom). Then he quickly moves to the other side and repeats this action being very careful not to pull the arms tightly, but to allow some flexion and movement. The nails hit the area of the median nerve, causing shocks of pain up the arms to the shoulders and the neck. The patibulum is then lifted to the stipe (usually a 7 to 9 foot tall post). Above Jesus head they place the written charge against him: "THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF JEWS." Then the left foot is now pressed against the right foot, and both feet are extended, toes down, and another wrought-iron nail is driven through the arch of each, leaving the knees moderately flexed. As Jesus slowly sags down with more weight on the nails in His wrists, excruciating, fiery pain is shot along the fingers and up the arms to explode in the brain. The tremendous strain put on the wrists, arms and shoulders, causes dislocation of Jesus shoulders and elbow joints fulfilling the prophecy in Psalms 22:14-15. Then as Jesus tries to push himself upward to avoid this stretching torment, He places His full weight on the nail through His feet, causing a searing agony as the nail tares through the nerves between the bones of His feet.
At this point Jesus is weak and dehydrated from the flogging, beatings, and the tremendous loss of blood, and the painful fatigue of the crucifixion finally sets in. At this His arms are fatigued, and a great wave of cramps sweep over the muscles, knotting them in deep, relentless, throbbing pain. With all this setting in Jesus is no longer able to push Himself upwards. Leaving Him there hanging by his arms, the pectoral muscles are paralyzed and the intercostal muscles between the ribs, are unable to act. This leaves Jesus unable to exhale air only draw it in bringing a strong build up of carbon dioxide in His lungs and in the blood stream allowing the cramps to partially subside. Spasmodically during this time Jesus able to push Himself upward to exhale and brings in the life-giving oxygen. It is probably during these brief surges upward to exhale and breath in fresh air that Jesus gets out His final words six short sentences.
The first, looking down at the Roman soldiers throwing dice for His seamless garments, which they had ripped from Him earlier: "Father, forgive them for they do not know what they do." (Luke 23: 34) Jesus shows love for all as He asks God to forgive those who not only beat him, flogged him, but now where crucifying him. Through all this He still loved them who hated him showing us He truly followed His own teachings for an example look at Matthew 5:44-46.
The second was to the thief who rebuked the other criminal who through insults at Jesus and then ask Jesus to remember him when Jesus goes into heaven. Jesus said. "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise." Jesus showed here that even on the cross in such excruciating pain that He was sent not to condemn the world but to save it. He also showed that He was a true evangelist to His death.(Luke 23:42-43)
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