
It is a sad reality in today’s world but more and more people have decided that having a relationship with God isn’t worth it. It is a waste of time and that there are other things in their lives that are more important. In addition, a good number of individuals don’t think too highly of God’s son, Jesus. They believe he was just a soft-spoken, wimpy-type man who didn’t have the guts to stand up to anyone and just had an easy life here on earth.
Most people know that Jesus was crucified on a cross but not many people REALLY know the unimaginable amount of pain and suffering that he endured before He died.
He following account is a vivid description of what it was like to be whipped / scourged then crucified on a cross…much in the same ways that Jesus experienced. The descriptions of these procedures are pretty graphic, so read on with caution…but I want you to remember this: Jesus went through all of this because HE LOVES YOU. If you were the only person to ever have inhabited the earth…He would have still have gone through this…for you!!
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The physical trauma of Christ begins in Gethsemane with one of the initial aspects of His suffering – the bloody sweat. It is interesting that the physician of the group, St. Luke, is the only one to mention this. He says, “And being in agony, He prayed the longer. And his sweat became as drops of blood, trickling down upon the ground.”
Though very rare, the phenomenon of hemathidrosis, or bloody sweat, is well documented. Under great emotional stress, tiny capillaries in the sweat glands can break, thus mixing blood with sweat. This process alone could have produced marked weakness and possible shock.
After the arrest in the middle of the night, Jesus was brought before the Sanhedrin and Caiaphas, the High Priest. A soldier struck Jesus across the face for remaining silent when questioned by Caiaphas. The palace guards then blindfolded Him and mockingly taunted Him to identify them as they each passed by; they spat on Him and struck Him in the face.
Condemned to Crucifixion
In the early morning, Jesus, battered and bruised, dehydrated, and exhausted from a sleepless night, was taken across Jerusalem to the Praetorium of the Fortress Antonia. It was there, in response to the cries of the mob, that Pilate ordered Bar-Abbas released and condemned Jesus to scourging and crucifixion.
Flogging First
Preparations for the scourging are carried out. The prisoner is stripped of His clothing and His hands tied to a post above His head. The Roman legionnaire steps forward with the flagrum in his hand. This is a short whip consisting of several heavy, leather thongs with two small balls of lead attached to the ends of each. The heavy whip is brought down with fill force again and again across Jesus’ shoulders, back and legs.
At first the heavy thongs cut through the skin only. Then, as the blows continue, they cut deeper into subcutaneous tissues, producing first an oozing of blood from the capillaries and veins of the skin, and finally spurting arterial bleeding from vessels in the underlying muscles. 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 stopped.
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 scepter. A small bundle of flexible branches covered with long thorns is pressed into His scalp.
Again there is copious bleeding (the scalp being one of the most vascular areas in the body). After mocking Him and striking Him across the face, the soldiers take the stick from His hand and strike Him across the head, driving the thorns deeper into His scalp. Finally, they tire of their sadistic sport and the robe is torn from his back. This had already become adherent to the colts of blood and serum in the wounds, and its removal, just as in the careless removal of a surgical bandage, cause excruciating pain – almost as though He were again being whipped, and the wounds again begin to bleed.
The Walk to Crucifixion
The heavy beam of the cross is then tied across His shoulders, and the procession of the condemned Christ, two thieves and the execution detail, begins its slow journey, 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, but human muscles have been pushed beyond their endurance.
The Nails of Crucifixion
At Golgotha, the beam is placed on the ground and Jesus is quickly thrown backward with His 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 inot the wood. Quickly, he moves to the other side and repeats the action, being careful not to pull the arms too tightly, but to allow some flexion and movement. The beam is then lifted in place at the top of the posts and the titulus reading “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews” is nailed in place.
The Pain of Crucifixion
The left foot is pressed backward against the right foot, and with both feet extended, toes down, a nail is driven through the arch of each. As he pushes Himself upward to avoid the stretching torment, He places His full weight on the nail through His feet. Again there is the searing agony of the nail through His feet. Again there is the searing agony of the nail tearing through the nerves between the metatarsal bones through the feet.
Crucifixion – The Medical Effects
As the arms fatigue, great waves of cramps sweep over the muscles, knotting them in deep, relentless, throbbing pain. With these cramps comes the inability to push Himself upward. Hanging by His arms, the pectoral 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.
Hours of this limitless pain, cycles of twisting, joint-rending cramps, intermittent partial asphyxiation, searing pain as tissue is torn from His lacerated back as He moves up and down against the rough timber. Then another agony begins. A deep crushing pain deep in the chest as the pericardium slowly fills with serum and begins to compress the heart.
The compressed heart is struggling to pump heavy, thick, sluggish blood into the tissues – the tortured lungs are making a frantic effort to gasp in small gulps of air. The markedly dehydrated tissues send their flood of stimuli to the brain. Jesus gasps, “I thirst.”
Crucifixion – The Last Gasp
He can feel the chill of death creeping through His tissues. With one last surge of strength, He once again presses His torn feet against the nail, straightens His legs, takes a deeper breath, and utters His seventh and last cry, “Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit.”
Apparently to make doubly sure of death, the legionnaire drove his lance through the fifth interspace between the ribs, upward through the pericardium and into the heart. Immediately there came out blood and water. We, therefore, have rather conclusive post-mortem evidence that Out Lord died, not the usual crucifixion death by suffocation, but of heart failure due to shock and constriction of the heart by fluid in the pericardium.
Condensed from “The Crucifixion of Jesus Christ” by C. Truman Davis, M.S. March, 1965. Source: ethoughts.org
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The GREAT NEWS about this story is that three days after Jesus died, HE ROSE AGAIN and was seen by more than 500 people. THAT is what makes a relationship with God and Jesus so special…We worship a LIVING God!! and we can communicate with Him at anytime.
THAT is the real story of Easter…and the story of the God that I love and serve.
”For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him WILL NOT PERISH but WILL HAVE…ETERNAL LIFE! ~ John 3:16
Thanks for sharing the real story of Easter. That too is a story I know as a child and grew up appreciating. It is meaningful and full of faith that so many badly needed today. Happy Easter!
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life is sometimes a struggle, but the gift of eternal life, priceless, amen
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Reblogged this on I G Malgwi's Blog.
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No greater love than a friend lay down his life and thereby make salvation free. No love this that of christ.
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Reblogged this on FootPrints and commented:
No pain would match the suffering of our Savior Jesus. He didn’t deserve the hatred, the mockery, the pain, the suffering but he took all of it without question. Because it was the will of His Father for all of us.
Everytime I think of this, I feel ashamed of my own pains and complains. I feel weak and unworthy of His love for being so stressed about unfavorable things. This is why everyday I am learning to hear His words, live by it, feel His unconditional love. Learning to take things lightly and forgive others who may have hurt me. One at a time. I am still a work in progress.
So thank you Jesus, for giving me something to look back to everytime I tend to feel ill about the negativities of the world. Thank you God for giving up so much, even your own child to save us. Thank you for not allowing anything to make us feel your pain.
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Thank you for sharing this there are no words sufficient that I can muster apart from horror x
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Reblogged this on PATCO Blog It All… and commented:
This is PASSION at its greatest! Done out of Love. Not the same as a persuing a personal passion.
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What makes me perpetually sad and disappointed are the countless times people invoke the name of Jesus and twist and turn events and words from the bible, if only to channel it all towards their own narrow self-promotion and their justification of, at times, the most inhumane of beliefs.
What the Man was and is shall never be forgotten. We can only hope to emulate an ounce of who He is.
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We serve an amazing God who loves us so much. My heart breaks for those who do not believe in God and in Jesus Christ and what He went through so that we could have eternal life! I cannot imagine not worshipping the Living God. He is Risen!
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I Love what you wrote here Elaine!!! I am going to use this in my Easter blog!! Have a blessed Easter my friend!!
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Wow! Thank you Coach! What a blessing! As I wrote the comment to you, I finally began to put words together in my mind to get me started on my blog for Easter–very simple post but I just published it a few minutes ago if you care to read it. Happy Easter to you too!
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Reblogged this on Embakasi Reloaded.
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