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I'll warn you a little up front, the content to follow is graphic at points. How little we appreciate the process of His sacrifice for us.

God bless.

Bryan




The Day Christ Died



One of the most common icons of the 21st century is still the crucifix. Worn for many different reasons, whether it be faith, style or keepsake, and usually made of gold or silver, many of us have grown callous to its horror.

The gospel writers do not help us very much on this point because crucifixion and scourging were so common during their lifetime that they apparently considered a detailed description unnecessary. So we have only the concise words of the evangelists: “Pilate, having scourged Jesus, delivered Him to them to be crucified – and they crucified Him.”

What is crucifixion? Torture and execution by fixation to a cross. Apparently, the first known practice of crucifixion was by the Persians. Alexander the Great broght it back to the Mediterranean world, from whom the Romans learned the practice and rapidly developed a very high degree of skill and efficiency at it.

Without any historical or biblical proof, Medieval and Renaissance painters have given us our picture of Christ carrying the entire cross. But the upright post was generally fixed permanently in the ground at the site of execution and the condemned man was forced to carry the cross portion, weighing about 110 pounds, from the prison to the place of execution.

What happened during Jesus' crucifixion?

Arrest: in the middle of the night, after being betrayed by Judas, Jesus was brought before the Sanhedrin (Jewish Council) and Caiphus, the High Priest. It is here that the first trauma is inflicted. A soldier struck Jesus across the face for remaining silent when Caiphus questioned Him. The palace guards then blindfolded Him and mockingly taunted Him to identify them as they each passed by, spat on Him and struck Him in the face.

Early Morning: battered an bruised , dehydrated and exhausted from a sleepless night, Jesus is taken across Jerusalem to Pontius Pilate, the Procurator of Judea. After being passed off to Herod Antipas, the Tetrach of Judea, he was promptly returned to Pilate. It was then, in response to the cries of the mob - some of which would have been the very people He taught and fed - that Pilate ordered Barrabas released and condemned Jesus to scourging (whipping) and crucifixion.

Scourging: After being stripped of His clothing, Jesus’ hands were tied to a post above His head. The Roman Legionnaire then stepped forward with the flagrum (or flagellum) in his hand. This is a short whip consisting of several heavy, leather thongs with two small balls of lead attached near the ends of each. The heavy whip is brought down with full force again and again across Jesus’ shoulders, back, and legs.

At first the thongs cut through the skin only. Then, as the blows continue, they cut deeper into the subcutaneous tissues, producing first an oozing blood from the capillaries and veins of the skin, and finally spurting arterial bleeding from vessels in the underlying muscles. At this point the Prisoner can only wonder when the beating will come to an end...

The small balls of lead first produce large, deep bruises which are broken open by subsequent blows. Finally the skin of the back is hanging in long ribbons and the entire area is an unrecognizable mass of torn, bleeding tissue. When it is determined by the centurion in charge that the prisoner is near death, the beating is finally halted.

King of the Jews: the half-fainting Jesus is then untied and allowed to slump to the stone pavement, wet with His own blood. The Roman soldiers see a great joke in this provincial Jew claiming to be a king. They throw a robe across His shoulders and place a stick in His hand for a sceptre. They still need a crown to make their travesty complete. Flexible branches covered with long thorns (commonly used in bundles for firewood) are plaited into the shape of a crown and this is then pressed into His scalp. Again there is copious bleeding, the scalp being one of the most vascular areas of the body.

After mocking Him and striking Him across the face, the soldiers take the stick from His hand and strike Him across the heads, driving the thorns deeper into His scalp. Finally, they tire of their sadistic sport and the robe is torn from His back. Already having adhered to the clots of blood and serum in the wounds, its removal causes excruciating pain just as in the careless removal of a surgical bandage, and almost as though He were again being whipped the wounds once more begin to bleed.

The walk to Golgotha: the heavy cross section (not the entire cross) is tied to His bloody shoulders, and the procession of the condemned Christ begins its slow journey along the Via Dolorosa. In spite of His efforts to walk erect, the weight of the heavy wooden beam, together with the shock produced by copious blood loss, is too much. He stumbles and falls. The rough wood of the beam gouges into the lacerated skin and muscles of the shoulders. He tries to rise… the weight is just too much.

The centurion, anxious to get on with the crucifixion, selects a stalwart North African onlooker, Simon of Cyrene, to carry the cross. Jesus follows, still bleeding and sweating the cold, clammy sweat of shock, until the 650 yard journey to Golgotha is completed.

Jesus' Crucifixion: Jesus is again stripped of all clothing – not even a loin cloth (contrary to images depicted in artists' paintings). Simon is ordered to place the cross on the ground and Jesus is quickly thrown backward with His torn shoulders against the wood. The legionnaire feels for the depression at the front of the wrist. He drives a heavy, square, wrought-iron nail through the wrist and deep into the wood. To comment on the shout Jesus must have released is too much to bare.

Quickly, he moves to the other side and repeats the action being careful not to pull the arms too tightly, but to allow some movement. The cross portion is now hoisted to the upright pillar where it fits into a groove near the top.

Jesus left foot is now pressed backward against the right foot, and with both feet extended, toes down, a nail is driven through the arch of each, leaving the knees moderately flexed. The Victim is now crucified. To make matters worse, the Victim is mocked by His executioners as well as some of the religious onlookers in the gathering throng.

As He slowly sags down with more weight on the nails in His wrists, excruciating pain shoots along the fingers and up the arms to explode in the brain – the nails in the wrist are putting pressure on the median nerves. As He pushes Himself upward to avoid the stretching torment, He places His full weight on the nail through His feet. Again there is searing agony of the nail tearing through the nerves between the metatarsal bones of the feet.

At this point, as the arms fatigue, great waves of cramps sweep over the muscles, knotting them in deep, relentless, throbbing pain. With these cramps comes the abiility to push Himself upward. Hanging by His arms, the pectoral muscles are paralyzed and the intercostals muscles are unable to act. Air can be drawn into the lungs, but cannot be exhaled. Jesus fights to raise Himself in order to get even one short breath. Finally carbon dioxide builds up in the lungs and in the blood stream and the cramps partially subside. Spasmodically, He is able to push Himself upward to exhale and bring in the life-giving oxygen. It was undoubtedly during these periods of fighting for air that Jesus uttered the seven short sentences which are recorded.

The Death of Jesus: hours of this limitless pain, cycles of twisting, joint-rending cramps, intermittent partial asphyxiation, searing pain where tissue is torn from His lacerated back as He moves up and down against the rough timber in order to take a breath.

Then another agony begins. A terrible crushing pain deep in the chest as the pericardium slowly fills with serum and begins to compress the heart. It is almost over. The loss of tissue fluids has reached a critical level; the compressed heart is struggling to pump heavy, thick, sluggish blood into the tissues; the tortured lungs are making frantic efforts to gasp in small gulps of air. The markedly dehydrated tissues send their flood of stimuli to the brain.

A sponge soaked in posca, the cheap, sour wine which is the staple drink of the Roman legionnaires, is lifted to His lips. He apparently does not take any of the liquid. The body has reached its limit. This realization brings out His sixth words, possibly little more than a tortured whisper, “It is finished.” His mission of atonement has been completed. Finally, He can allow His body to die. With one last surge of strength, He once again presses His torn feet against the nail, and straightens His legs, takes a deeper breath, and utters His last cry, “Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit.”

We have had our glimpse at what Christ went through – a terrible sight, and more than enough to leave us depressed and despondent.

Remember, this was all done willingly. Christ offered up Himself for the sins of the world – and more particularly for you – that through His sacrifice we might know life.

"Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again." (John 10:17).

posted by Surf4it @ 10:40 AM