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The Crucifixion of Jesus
What Was It Really Like?
by Lani W. Finley
There is an
exchange that took place upon the cross and it is offered to all those who
earnestly seek it. Jesus received the curses due us, that we might receive
the blessings due Him. The apostle Paul reminds us of this exchange in his
epistle to the church at
Galatia, "Christ
hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for
it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree" (Gal 3:13).
The curses that
Paul is referring to began with the fall of man and are described in
Deuteronomy 28:15-68. They affect every part of a human being's life and
are the results of disobeying God's commandments. God shared His counsel
with the nation of Israel and encouraged them to choose blessings and
life.
Behold, I
set before you this day a blessing and a curse; 27A blessing, if ye
obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you this
day: 28And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the LORD
your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day,
to go after other gods, which ye have not known (Deut 11:26-28).
I call
heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set
before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose
life, that both thou and thy seed may live (Deut 30:19).
However, man has
chosen to ignore God's counsel and is struggling under the burden of
curses and death. Jesus came to free us from this bondage and to suffer
all the curses that we deserve.
The Spirit
of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to
preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the
brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives, and release from
darkness for the prisoners (Isa 61:1 NIV)
We are offered this
freedom by the exchange that took place during Christ's crucifixion. The
words of the prophet Isaiah will help us understand how this took place.
They are recorded in Isaiah, Chapter 53, which is known as the Redemption
chapter. Please notice how the prophet explains the personal nature of the
crucifixion of our Savior and how many times the words our and he are used
when speaking of the aspects of this exchange.
3 He
is despised, and left of men,
A man of pains, and acquainted with sickness,
And as one hiding the face from us, He is despised,
and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely our sicknesses
he hath borne, And our pains
--he hath carried them, And we--we have esteemed him
plagued, Smitten of God, and afflicted.
5
And he is pierced for our transgressions, Bruised
for our iniquities,
The chastisement of our peace is on him, And by his
bruise there is healing
to us.
6
All of us like sheep have wandered, Each to his own way we have
turned, And Jehovah hath caused to meet on him,
The punishment of
us all.
10
And Jehovah hath delighted to bruise him, He hath made him
sick...
12 ...And with
transgressors he was numbered, And he the sin of many
hath
borne, And for transgressors he intercedeth (Young's Literal
Translation)
Isaiah sums up the
reason for the cross in verse 6, when he states that, Jesus suffered "the
punishment of us all." These scriptures should make it obvious that Christ
died for
"Our
transgressions"
"Our healing" (by his stripes we are healed)
"Our separation from God"
"Our shame, rejection and humiliation"
"Our unrighteousness"
"Our weaknesses of the flesh"
Only the sacrificial
offering of the Lord Jesus can remove every curse and partition that
stands between man and God. It is only through the atoning death of our
Savior that man's relationship with God can be restored.
The
cross left nothing undone. It was so complete in nature, that
nothing can be added to, nor taken away from it.
The following
account of Christ's crucifixion will help us understand the impact of our
punishment upon the body and spirit of Jesus. The Lord's last Passover
meal had ended and His spirit became overwhelmed as He pondered the events
of the next eighteen hours. He knew every horrifying detail of the
gruesome murder that He was to suffer. For it was Jesus Himself, who had
revealed them to the Old Testament prophets. The fate of mankind was upon
His shoulders and God's desire for a family was at stake. It had to be
accomplished in pure love; no human feelings of hate or revenge could be
allowed to enter His heart. The hour had come, and the weight of the words
of the Old Testament prophets would begin to torment the spirit of Jesus.
Mark's account of this Passover evening describes the oppression of our
Lord's heart.
And they came to a place which was named Gethsemane:
and he saith to his disciples, Sit ye here, while I shall pray. 33And
he taketh with him Peter and James and John, and began to be sore
amazed, and to be very heavy; 34And saith unto them, My soul is
exceeding sorrowful unto death: tarry ye here, and watch. 35And he
went forward a little, and fell on the ground, and prayed that, if it
were possible, the hour might pass from him. 36And he said, Abba,
Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me:
nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt (Mark 14:32-36).
Luke continues to
explain the awesome weight that was upon the spirit of Jesus, "And being
in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were
great drops of blood falling down to the ground" (Luke"
22:44). Jesus began to suffer from a medical conditions known as, "hemophidrosis"
or "hematidrosis". According to the Christian physician, Dr. David
Terasaka, this condition has been seen in patients who have experienced
extreme stress, or shock to their system. The capillaries around the sweat
pores become fragile and leak blood into the sweat. A case history is
recorded in which a young girl, who had a fear of air raids in WW1,
developed this conditions after a gas explosion occurred in the house next
door.1
Dr. Terasaka goes
on to describe the great agony that Jesus was experiencing, "It is here
that Jesus agonized in prayer over what was to occur. It is significant
that this is the only place in the KJV where the word "agony" is
mentioned. The Greek word for agony means to be "engaged in combat". Jesus
agonizes over what He is to go through, feeling that He is at the point of
death (Mark 14:34)." The last recorded prayer of Christ's human life would
be answered by the touch of an angel. "And there appeared an angel unto
him from heaven, strengthening him" (Luke 22:43).
The tranquility of
the garden was soon shattered as Judas led a multitude of armed citizens
to seize Jesus and take Him to the Roman leader, Pontius Pilate (Mark
14:43). Although Pilate could find no fault with Jesus, he allowed his
guards to beat, abuse and humiliate the very Son of God. The soldiers
blindfolded Jesus and ridiculed His divinity. A mock crown was made of
thorns and placed upon His head. The guards began to pound the two-inch
thorns into Christ's scalp and skull. They also spit upon the Lord and
struck Him on the face with their hands and a reed (Matt. 27:27-31 & Luke
22:63-65).
Bloody, humiliated
and exhausted, Jesus would continue to be mocked and beaten throughout the
night (Luke 22:66). The next morning He was led to the site of His
execution. The ordeal of the night before would pale in comparison to the
events that were about to take place.
It was customary to
strip the clothing from the one who was to be crucified. Most likely,
Jesus was also stripped of his clothing before He was nailed to the wooden
members. The cross was laid upon the ground, and the Savior's torn and
bloody back was pressed into the splinters of the rough-sawn wooden beams.
His body was attached to the cross by driving six-inch spikes through His
wrists and ankles. The pain that He was suffering would be multiplied as
the cross was raised into place and His weight came crashing down upon the
spikes that were driven through His body. Ashamed and naked, the Lamb of
God was made a disgrace for all humanity.
The Roman soldiers
began to scourge Jesus with great fury. His flesh became so ripped and
torn that He could look upon His bones and internal organs.
...the
assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my
feet. 17I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me (Ps
22:16-17).
His executioners were
so cruel and ruthless that they even tore the beard from His face. The
countless lashes from the soldier's whips mutilated and disfigured the
face and body of Jesus. He received so many
stripes
that He could not be recognized as a human being.
I offered
my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my
beard; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting (Isa 50:6 NIV).
As many were astonished at him-- his appearance
was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the
sons of men Isa 52:14 RSV).
Our Savior's blood
pressure almost certainly begun to plummet as the blood drained from His
multiple wounds. His heart most likely began to race and pound as it tried
to supply oxygen to His body. All of Christ's bones had been dislocated
from their joints and He was suffering from dehydration. His strength had
been exhausted and Jesus was approaching death.
I am
poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is
like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels. 15
My strength
is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and
thou hast brought me into the dust of death.
Alone and forsaken,
Jesus endured all the pain and punishment due mankind. He had been
abandoned by His countrymen, as a blasphemer
(Matt. 26:64-65). His fearful disciples had deserted Him and even
Peter denied knowing Him (Matt 26:70). His own creation
abhorred Him and
the demonic world
celebrated as they watched the execution of God's Son.
However, the ultimate pain was yet to come. During the crucifixion, Jesus
became so identified and filled with the sins of man, that God had to
abandon His own Son. This is confirmed by His agonizing cry upon the
cross, "... My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me" (Matt 27:46)? Do we
realize the impact of ours sins upon our Savior? For the first time during
His life on earth, Jesus was no longer able to address God as His Father.
God is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34) and the words of Isaiah were
also applied to Jesus. "But your iniquities have separated between you and
your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear"
(Isa 59:2). Becoming filled with the sins of man had shattered Christ's
relationship with His Heavenly Father, and turned the face of God away
from His only Son.
While Jesus was
being held captive to the cross, darkness covered the earth (Luke 23:44).
His soul was being crushed by the tremendous weight of man's sins and
guilt. The last ounces of His blood were flowing from His wounds. Heaven
and earth had forsaken Him and He knew that the end was near. Jesus made
one last gesture to insure that we could have full confidence,
that He had consumed all of our sins. He said,
"I thirst."
After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now
accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst.
29 Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar: and they filled a
spunge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth
(John 19:28-29).
The significance of
this act should not be overlooked, because it symbolizes Jesus taking the
fullness of our sins into His body. It also fulfilled the prophetic
symbols of the Old Testament Passover. Dr. Terasaka gives additional
insight into the fulfillment of these symbols.
The drink
was given on the "stalk of a hyssop plant". Remember that
these events occurred at the Feast of the Passover. During this feast,
(Exod. 12:22) hyssop was used to apply the blood of the Passover lamb
to the wooden doorposts of the Jews. It is interesting the end of this
hyssop stalk pointed to the blood of the Perfect Lamb which was
applied to the wooden cross for the salvation of all mankind. In
addition, the wine vinegar is a product of fermentation, which is made
from grape juice and yeast. The word literally means "that which
is soured" and is related to the Hebrew term for "that which
is leavened". Yeast or leaven, is the Biblical symbol of sin.
When Jesus took this drink, (i.e. a drink which was "leavened") it is
thus symbolic of His taking the sins of the world into His body.2
When Jesus had
received the vinegar, He gathered His last ounce of strength, raised
Himself upon the cross, gasped for one last breath of life and cried out,
"IT IS FINISHED"!
"When
Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and
he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost" (John 19:30).
What most people do not understand is that when Jesus spoke
His last words upon the cross, He did not have a face or body that
could be recognized as being human. He had been so brutally beaten
and disfigured that the flesh of His body and His face were not
recognizable as a human being. Many Biblical scholars referred to His
appearance as being "hamburger meat". However, in the light His
torment and disfigurement, the last words that
Jesus spoke as a human being were, "It is finished". This phrase has been
translated from the single Greek word "teleo." In English, the truest
sense of the word can be understood by the phrase, "completely complete,"
as in the discharge of a debt. The spirit and body of Jesus
had absorbed all the punishment due mankind.
The sacrifice of
Jesus was perfect and complete. Nothing more could be
absorbed. Nothing more can be added.
The means for our
eternal salvation and the healing of our physical bodies were finished in
Christ. We are now free to exchange our curses for the
blessings that were due Jesus, because of His sinless life of obedience.
These blessings are now available to all those who will open
their hearts and accept them in simple and unquestioning faith.
What a tremendous
price Jesus paid in order for us to become the children of God and to
receive physical healing for our sick and diseased bodies. Without doubt,
the exchange has been made, the ultimate price
has been paid and the victory is ours. The
faithful Christian can rest assured that he is now reconciled to God, and
made His child, according to His promises.
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