We read this story, in one form or another,
every year on Good Friday. But, like many stories that we hear a lot, we
sometimes lose the impact of it. And besides, we know the happy
ending. We know that Easter is going to
come. We know that on Sunday, they came
to the tomb and found it empty. We know that Jesus was raised from the
dead.
And besides, we don’t really like to think about it.
We don’t like to think about what was done to Jesus. We feel bad. Maybe we even feel
guilty. But if we don’t really think
about what Jesus went through, we cannot fully appreciate the sacrifice Jesus
made. We can still be grateful for it.
But we don’t think about what it took for Jesus to do what he did. We don’t think about all that Jesus went
through for our salvation.
At the point at which we pick up the story tonight, Jesus
has already been arrested. He’s been questioned by the high priest. He’s been slapped in the face by one of the
high priest’s officials. He’s been bound, tied up. He’s been questioned by Pilate. He’s heard Pilate offer to release him, only
to have the people say they wanted someone else released instead.
All of that was bad enough, really. I mean, for the
divine Son of God to be arrested like a common criminal. For the Messiah,
the Savior, to be slapped in the face by some minor official. To hear
Pilate offering to release him, only to hear the people, his own people, the
people he had come to save, say they wanted somebody released instead.
That alone is a terrible thing for the divine Son to have to go through.
But that was only the beginning. Jesus was
flogged. We read that in one sentence
and move on. But flogging was incredibly painful. Here’s how one source describes it: “The
whip had a short handle and generally two or three long thick thongs, each
weighted at some distance from their extremity with lead balls or mutton bones.
In action, the thongs cut the skin, while the balls or bones created deep
contusions. The result was significant hemorrhage and considerable weakening of
the vital resistance of the victim. In compensation, if one may call it that,
this weakening shortened their agony on the cross.”
That’s what we’re talking about when we say Jesus was
flogged. And then the soldiers put together a crown of thorns and put it
on Jesus’ head. We kind of skip right over that, too. But think about how painful thorns are. Think about how sharp they are. Now
think about having that put on your head.
And there’s no reason to think the soldiers placed it gently. It seems more likely to me that they put it
on hard. They pressed it on Jesus’ head.
I suspect they put it on hard enough that Jesus head was bleeding from
the crown of thorns, as well as the blood that came from the flogging.
Then came the mockery. Putting a purple robe on
Jesus, the sign of royalty. Saying, “Hail, King of the Jews” and slapping
him in the face. Repeatedly. Over
and over and over.
Then, Pilate takes Jesus out to the people. Think
about what he must have looked like.
Covered with blood. His clothes ragged and torn. The purple robe. The crown of thorns. And then, as he’s
brought in front of the people, he hears them shouting “Crucify!
Crucify!” And it’s not like this
would’ve been a nice, polite chorus. The
tone of their voices would have been pure, unfiltered hatred. It would
have to be, to see this pitiful-looking man and demand that he be
crucified. There was nothing tame about
this shout. There was nothing but
complete and total hatred for Jesus coming from that crowd.
Pilate makes at least a half-hearted attempt to reason with
them, but of course you cannot reason with hatred. Hatred does not need
reasons--hate is its own reason. And so
finally, Pilate gives in. Jesus will be
crucified.
Jesus has to carry the cross to where he’s going to be
crucified. And we don’t think about that very much, either. From what I’ve read, a cross, at that time
would’ve weighed about three hundred pounds. Some believe that he
would’ve only had to carry the crossbar, not the entire cross, but still, that
weighed about a hundred pounds. Again,
think about Jesus’ condition. He’s been beaten. He’s got blood all over him. He has not had anything to eat since the
night before. From the sound of it, he
did not get much if any sleep the night before. There he is, weak and
tired, having to carry something that weighs at least a hundred pounds. We don’t know how far he had to carry
it--it’s estimated that it would’ve been somewhere around three hundred thirty
yards. But in his weakened condition, it probably felt like about thirty
miles to Jesus.
He gets to Golgotha, “the place of the skull”. He’s
nailed to the cross. John kind of
glosses over that part. The nails go into his hands. They go into his feet. He’s not very far off the ground, from what
I’ve read. We tend to picture Jesus as hanging way up high, but he may
have only been a foot or less off the ground.
It would’ve been easier to pound the nails in that way, of course, and
it really would not have mattered how far off the ground he was. Jesus
hangs there. He hangs there until he
dies.
We don’t know for sure what he died of. There were a
few things that might be the actual cause of death when you were
crucified. He might have suffocated, lacking the strength to
breathe. It might have been the loss of
blood. It might have been heart failure.
Whatever it was, it was not easy.
Jesus died a very difficult, very painful death.
That’s the sacrifice Jesus made for us. He would not
have had to, of course. Jesus could’ve
stopped it in any number of ways and any number of times. After all,
Jesus knew exactly what was going to happen, he knew when it was going to
happen, and he knew how it was going to happen. He would not have had to
go through with it. At any time, he
could’ve avoided that painful death on the cross.
And of course, that makes Jesus’ sacrifice even more
impressive. Knowing that he did not have to do it. Knowing that he could’ve avoided it so
easily. And yet, he went through it all anyway. He did that for at least two reasons.
One of them is his obedience to God the Father. Jesus
knew this was what God wanted. He prayed
to avoid it, in the Garden of Gethsemane. But when he saw that it had to
be this way, that the salvation of human beings depended on it, he went through
with it. The divine Son was obedient to the divine Father. He was able to say “not my will, but your
will be done.”
But the second reason is Jesus’ love for us. For you
and for me. And for everyone else who
has ever lived or ever will. Jesus went through all this--the betrayal,
the arrest, the humiliation, the torture, the mockery, the hatred, and finally
death--because of the incredible love Jesus has for every person on earth.
Jesus went through all that so that our sins would be
forgiven. Jesus went through all that so that you and I would not have to
take the punishment we deserve for our sins. Jesus went through all that
so that all you and I and anyone else would ever have to do is accept Jesus
Christ as the Savior. And when we do that, we get salvation and eternal
life.
That is such an awesome love. It’s a love beyond
understanding. Why should Jesus love us that much? What did Jesus
get out of the deal? Nothing that I can
see. Why would he do it?
But the thing is, Jesus never asked those questions.
Jesus never asked “why should I love humans that much?” Because love does
not ask questions like that. Love does
not ask why. Love does not ask “what do I get out of it?” Love does not look to “get something out of
it.” When we do something because we’re expecting something in return,
we’re not acting out of love. You don’t
love because you want to get something out of it. You don’t love
“because” anything. Love does not act
for what we would consider “logical” reasons.
Love is its own reason. You love
because you love.
That’s the love Jesus has for us. Jesus did not go
through this because thought he’d get something out of it. He went
through because he loves us. Period.
You and I should be in awe of that kind of love. We
should be humbled by that kind of love.
And we should be eternally grateful for that kind of love.
We don’t like to think about the events of Good
Friday. But we should. Because
it’s only by thinking about what Jesus went through that we can fully
appreciate Jesus’ love for us. So on this night, let’s think about what
Jesus went through. Let’s be grateful
for it. And let’s feel Jesus’ love.
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