“There they crucified Him.” John 19:18
Jesus’ crucifixion is a historically verifiable fact. No reputable scholar denies it. Some atheists would say that Jesus did not die on the cross, but no one ever survived a crucifixion. In documenting history we are lucky if we have one or two sources. For Jesus’ execution we have 5 ancient sources outside the New Testament. Gerd Lüdemann, an atheist, says, “Jesus’ death as a consequence of execution is indisputable.”
Twelve years ago, we watched Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ”. Many complained it was too violent. They wanted a sanitized version of what Jesus underwent. We do not want to see what our sin did to Jesus. We perhaps would prefer to say, “Thank You”, and walk away guilt free. But if anything, Mel Gibson did not portray the crucifixion truthfully. It was a sanitized version fit for the movie theater. The Roman crucifixion was designed to make sure Jesus experienced the maximum pain and suffering before he died. I am sorry, Lord, for all the pain my sin caused You.
Before His crucifixion, Jesus was stripped and weakened by flogging. They used a whip of leather strips studded with iron balls and sharp pieces of sheep bones. “Quivering ribbons of bleeding flesh” is how one writer described the result. In one meditation I listened to, the priest said that not only skin was removed by flogging, but the intestines would be exposed as well when the sheep bones like hooks would pull out the layers of skin. Lord, did I do this to You? Forgive me Jesus!
When the Roman soldiers put a crown of thorns on His head, Bible scholars believe the long and hard thorns caused "trigeminal neuralgia”, a piercing pain all over Jesus’ head and face. Forgive me Lord!
And the crucifixion itself was more than excruciating. In Psalm 22:14, “I am poured out like water, and all My bones are out of joint.” Because of Jesus’ position on the cross, His shoulders, elbows and wrists were dislocated. His rib cage was pulled outwards and upwards. Every breath was torture. Jesus, I am not deserving that You went through all that suffering for me. Forgive me!
In depicted crucifixions in movies, the hanged man is almost still. In reality, Jesus had to continually struggle, moving up and down, to breathe. Jesus got weaker and weaker, He could not breathe properly and would slowly suffocate. Doctors say that Jesus probably died because His heart burst, what is known as a “Cardiac Rupture”.
Lord, You gave Your all for me. Your heart burst with love for me. Forgive me for my many sins. May I walk with You, who loves me best of all, the rest of my life.
