Sacrifices Its horrible to think of the suffering that Jesus experienced while dying on the cross. To me, six minutes of pain can be unbearable. However Jesus was on the cross for approximately six hours. Even before Jesus was nailed to the cross, he had to endure a great amount of pain and suffering. John 19:1 says, “Then Pilate took Jesus and scourged Him.” I didn’t realize what scourging entailed until a couple of years ago. After researching the subject, I learned that some believe the act of scourging could have been more of a torturous process than crucifixion itself. History and tradition tell us that the condemned was stripped of their clothing and tied to a post. A pair of soldiers (sometimes just one acting alone) took turns whipping the area between the neck and thighs. A “cat of nine tails” was used in place of a regular whip. This torture device had several strands that came out from the trunk of the whip itself. Each strand had chunks of metal, bone, or other materials that would gouge deep into the skin. Forty lashes were supposed to be delivered to the prisoner, but due to the fear of miscounting and going over the maximum, whippings were usually limited to 39 lashes. The brutality of the whipping was such that skin was torn from the body. Bones could be exposed through the muscle and skin. Veins and arteries could be punctured or torn. Such extreme punishment left the recipient in shock; sometimes with such blood loss that the prisoner died just from scourging alone. Jesus had to endure that whole process and then try to gather enough energy to carry his cross to his site of execution. When placed on the cross, huge nails (likely 6-7 in length and 1/4 in diameter) were driven into his hands and feet. His body was most likely put into a position that made breathing all but impossible. Each time He needed to take in a breath, He had to lift himself up so that his lungs could fill with air. Doing this placed tremendous pressure on the wounds in the hands and feet but also scraped his back against the rough wood of the cross. The nails in the hands/wrists could have possibly pierced the median nerves. If this was the case, waves of sharp, fiery pain would run continuously through the arms. The arm muscles would fatigue and spasm from a combination of pressure from the nails and the position of the body. This experience would go on for hours and hours. The past several paragraphs have been a lengthy prelude to the following statement and question: Jesus went through hours of pain and suffering to make His body a living sacrifice for us. What sacrifices have we made for Him? The chances are that we will never have to experience what the early apostles went through for the cause of Christ. But just because we are not persecuted in the same way today, we are still faced with our own minor persecutions. Will we make our own sacrifices for Jesus’ sake? When faced with someone telling off-color jokes at work or school, will we laugh? Will we be ashamed to give thanks for food in a public place for fear of criticism? Will we take time out of our day to read the Bible or to do our Bible lesson in preparation for class? The thought that Jesus is watching us as we turn our backs to Him and walk away is hard to swallow. He made such a huge sacrifice for us so that we can reach God in prayer, have forgiveness of sins, and have hope of eternal life in Heaven. Again I ask: What sacrifices do we make for Him? --Brent Lykins
Posted on: Sat, 22 Mar 2014 09:24:17 +0000
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