Mini-Chat
At the time, crucifixion was the worst type of death and only the worst criminals were condemned to be crucified.
Yet it was even more dreadful for Jesus because, unlike other people condemned to death by crucifixion, Jesus was not a criminal. Jesus was a man without sin, whose “crime” was correctly identifying himself as the Son of God.
For this, he was brutally hung on a cross with long iron nails pounded into his wrists and feet. Because both of His feet were nailed together, He was forced to support Himself on the excruciating point where the single nail impaled them to the cross.
And Jesus could not support himself with His legs for long because of the unbearable pain, so He was forced to alternate between arching His back and using his legs just to continue to breathe. Imagine the struggle. The pain. The suffering. The courage.
Jesus endured this reality for over 3 hours.
Yes, over 3 hours! The cause of death was ultimately suffocation. Can you even imagine this kind of suffering?
A few minutes before He died, Jesus stopped bleeding and water poured from his wounds, instead.
The human adult body contains about 8 pints of blood, but after an unbearable scourging (whipping), three huge nails hammered into his wrists and feet, a crown of thorns pressed deeply onto His head in mockery, the soldier’s spear stabbed into His ribcage drew only water. Jesus had poured out all of his blood.
So many of the images we see of Christ’s crucifixion are relatively sanitized versions of His wounds, but do we ever stop to think of just what He went through and the many horrible wounds that were inflicted to His body? Do we stop and consider the magnitude of His entire agonizing experience?
The whipping was so severe that it tore the flesh from His body. The beating was so horrific that His face was torn and his beard ripped from His face.
The crown of thorns (two to three inch razor sharp thorns) cut deeply into His scalp. Most men would not have survived this torture.
All this without even mentioning the humiliation He endured prior to his crucifixion: carrying His own cross for a half of a mile with a weakened, beatened body while the crowd spat in his face, screamed at him and threw stones (the cross beam – where his wrists were nailed – weighed approximately 110 pounds).
Jesus endured this humiliation, suffering and indescribable pain because he loves you. Who does that? What kind of love is that?? As a result of His death AND RESURRECTION, you now have free access to God. Your sins can be “washed” away…all of them, without exception. Think about that! We’re not [just] talking about Mr. or Mrs. Perfect down the block who go to church every Sunday, or that ‘goody-goody’ family that look like they walked out of a Norman Rockwell painting… we’re talking about regular people like YOU.
It was a supreme, selfless, sacrificial act of love. You can’t earn it – it is a free gift–
http://60secondswithgod.wordpress.com/
