God’s Plan: Paid in full

There’s a gift that’s available to everyone in the world.  This isn’t a gimmick and there is more than enough to share, it’s the free gift of Salvation with the bonus of eternal life and the fringe benefits of an abundant life, peace, joy, love, forgiveness, friendship, good health, prosperity, a guarantees against abandonment and losing to the enemy, etc.  Though the gift is free to us, someone had to pay the price and Jesus paid the debt in full with his life.

Would you exchange places with a relative sentenced to death?  I hear you, “it would depend on which relative you’re talking about?” Would you die for a friend?  Would you take a bullet for him or her?  If you hesitated, you wouldn’t.  Jesus didn’t hesitate. John 15:13 (NLT) There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.  Here’s how it started:

There was a hit out on Jesus and his enemy, the religious leaders, were waiting for just the right time to take him out.  Ironically He was sold out to the enemy by one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, for 30 pieces of silver.  When Judas, who had betrayed him, realized that Jesus had been condemned to die, he was filled with remorse. So he took the thirty pieces of silver back to the leading priests and the elders.  Matthew 27:3 (NLT).  Late Thursday night the soldiers arrest Jesus, tie him up and take him away.  We can’t really be angry with Judas, somebody had to betray Jesus in order for God’s master plan of Salvation to be fulfilled. 

He’s taken before the religious leaders, Annas, father-in-law to Caiaphas, the High Priest, interrogated and received the first of several beatings to come.  Out of frustration, Annas sends Jesus to Caiaphas who interrogates, accuses him and sentences Jesus to death, based on Jewish law with nothing more than hearsay, but primarily envy.  By now it’s the Friday (before sunrise) and they take him to Pilate, the Roman Governor accusing Jesus of being a criminal.  Pilate reluctantly interrogates Jesus and cannot understand why they want Jesus executed.  He tries to reason with the High Priest, religious leaders and the mob they have hired and concedes to the execution for political reasons.  The following events occurred:

1. Scourging (Flogging):  At the praetorian (courtyard of the Governor’s mansion), Jesus was flogged – a preliminary to almost every Roman execution. They used a short whip with several single or braided leather thongs of variable length, in which small iron balls and or sharp pieces of sheep bones were tied at intervals.  The victim was stripped of his clothing, and his hands were tied to an upright post. He was then struck on the back with the whip encircling the side and part of the front of the chest but possibly including the buttocks, thighs and neck, depending on the skill of the soldier.  The iron balls of the whips resulted in deep contusions (bruising), and sharp piece of sheep bones caused deep cuts into the skin and subcutaneous tissue (beneath the skin). The extent of blood loss generally determine how long the victim would survive on the cross.  In accordance to Jewish law, offenders received thirty nine lashes.  The goal besides inflicting pain was to weaken the victim.

The severe scourging, with its intense pain and considerable blood loss, most probably left Jesus in a pre-shock state (shock is life threatening).  Moreover, bleeding from the skin particularly from the capillaries around the sweat glands from severe stress had rendered his skin particularly tender.  The physical and mental abuse meted out by the Jews and the Romans, as well as the lack of food, water, and sleep, also contributed to his generally weakened state. Therefore, even before the actual crucifixion, Jesus’ physical condition was at least serious and possibly critical. 

2.     Post-Scourging:  Of their own accord, the soldiers guarding this “dangerous criminal” made a crown out of thorns, put it on his head, gave him a wooden staff as a royal scepter and put a purple robe received (probably similar to a long cape) on the open wounds from the scourging.  They knelt before him in mockery saying: “Hail! King of the Jews”; they spat in his face and then took the wooden staff and beat Jesus over the head with it until they got tired.  They took off the robe and put his clothes back on him.  Please Note:  These are soldiers, trained killers, they do not receive lessons of empathy and there was no ACLU to protect the rights of prisoners.  These soldiers used brute force.  Pilate then had Jesus brought before the crowd and seemingly tries to reason with the crowd to be satisfied with the punishment he has already received, but the crowd insisted that Jesus be crucified.  Afraid for his political career and life, Pilate agrees to their demands.

Victory Nugget:  Have you seen the movie 12 Years a Slave?  There is a scene when a sick slave master beats his slave mistress to the point that he opens her back up almost tearing the girl to pieces.  Jesus’ back would have been worse because the bone was designed to pluck flesh from the back not just to leave whelps.

3.     Pre-Crucifixion:  every muscle in Jesus’ body must have felt like it was on fire from exhaustion, the multiple beatings and the scourging.   I would imagine it was difficult to see and focus from the throbbing due to the head injuries but I would also imagine that he was dehydrated from blood loss due to the scourging and head injuries.  It is also likely that the blood from the head wounds dripped in his eyes causing them to sting and inducing blurred vision.

4.     The Crucifixion: Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. Isaiah 53:4-5 (NKJV).  There is no doubt in my mind that the mental anguish also took its toll on Jesus.

Modern day medical assessment:  When the victim was thrown to the ground on his back, in preparation for transfixion of his hands, his scourging wounds most likely would become torn open again and contaminated with dirt.  Furthermore, with each respiration, the painful scourging wounds would be scraped against the rough wood of the post.  As a result, blood loss from the back probably would continue throughout the crucifixion ordeal.

It has been shown that the dense fibrous tissue connecting the bones together, and bones of the wrist, can support the weight of a body hanging from them, but the palms cannot.  Accordingly, the iron spikes probably were driven between wrist and forearm bones crushing or severing the large median nerve which provides sensation and movement, particularly to the 2^nd and 3^rd fingers. Damage to the median nerve results in a claw-like deformity of the hand. The damaged nerve would also produce excruciating bolts of fiery pain in both arms.
 

 

The spikes driven through the feet of Jesus severed or damaged nerves in the feet also causing excruciating. The crucial effect of crucifixion, beyond the excruciating pain, would have made breathing very difficult.  Adequate exhalation required lifting the body by pushing up on the feet and by flexing the elbows and pulling the shoulders inward.  However, this maneuver would place the entire weight of the body on the bones in the feet, and would produce searing pain.  Furthermore, flexion, or bending of the elbows would cause rotation of the wrists about the iron nails and cause fiery pain along the damaged median nerves.  Lifting of the body would also painfully scrape the scourged back against the rough wooden post.  Muscle cramps and loss of feeling in both the outstretched and uplifted arms would add to the discomfort.  As a result, each respiratory effort would become agonizing and tiring, further reducing the oxygen levels in the blood, and lead eventually to asphyxia.  Asphyxia (Webster: a lack of oxygen or excess of carbon dioxide in the body that is usually caused by interruption of breathing and that causes unconsciousness).
 

Jesus went through all of this for us, for you and he did so willingly.  The portraits of the crucifixion we have seen over the years don’t come close to the horrific torture that was imposed on Jesus, who knew no sin, but bore all of our sins on the cross just so that we could escape the sin.  To get a better account of the story of the Crucifixion, please read the four gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John) as they each tell the story through their lenses.

I’m out of time for now so we’ll pick it up tomorrow

In His Humble Excellence

Tan