Cross = Love

I was driven today to re-read part of The Case For Christ, by Lee Strobel. Which part, you ask? The part that describes how Jesus died.

First, Jesus was flogged in the typical Roman manner. The whip was made of braided leather thongs with metal balls woven into them, which caused bruises, and bone that would cut the skin. Often the spine would be exposed by the cuts, and muscles would be torn and produce bleeding flesh, causing death in the victims even before the crucifixion. But He survived,though in shock, which would progress the failure of His heart later on, and was laid down so that His hands were nailed to the horizontal beam of the cross. The spikes used were 5-7 inches long and driven through His wrists (in the language of the time, the wrists were part of the hand, in case you're checking me Scripturally). Imagine taking a pair of pliers to the nerve that is struck when you hit your funny bone and squeeze and crush it. Ouch! Once Jesus was hoisted vertical, stakes were driven through His feet, experiencing that same pain again, and by now His arms have been stretched 6 inches and both shoulders dislocated.

Now that He's on the cross, it is a slow death by asphyxiation. There is so much stress on the muscles and diaphragm that in order to exhale, Jesus had to push up on His feet so the tension in those muscles would be erased for a moment. When He did this, the nails would tear through His feet, locking up against His bones. Then, He would relax and take another breath in. But He had to push Himself back up to exhale, thus scraping His beaten and bloody back against the coarse wooden cross. He did this over and over until He couldn't any more. As His breathing slowed, the carbon dioxide in His blood is dissolved as carbonic acid, causing increased blood acidity. Then, His heart beat irregularly, giving Christ the awareness He was about to die. In Luke 23:46, He says, "Father, into Your hands I commit My Spirit", and breathes His last.

Death by crucifixion was so painful, that they had to make up a new word - excruciating - just to describe it. Every time I think about it, I am blown away by the lengths our God has gone to in order to reach us. It wasn't enough for Christ to bear God's wrath for our sins, but the physical pain He also had to endure. That's what love is. Going to the ends of the earth to bring freedom, peace, mercy, and redemption to all of us.



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 53:5