An Act of Violence!

“Am I not to drink the cup the Father has given Me!”—John 18:11

One day you are sitting at your home, watching TV, cooking, or whatever it is you do when you are at home and there is a knock at the door. You answer the door and two government looking individuals are standing there showing you their badges. You ask them what they want, looking surprised and probably nervous that they are at your house. They tell you that they have found the cure for Cancer and AIDS. You are excited, but ask what this has to do with you.

They tell you that the last time you were at the doctors they tested your blood that was drawn, as the government randomly tests blood to see if there are any strong anti-bodies to fight certain diseases, and yours has what they are looking for.

They say that you hold the cure for both diseases, and would like for you to volunteer yourself to save all the people suffering. They warn you that the process will be very painful and will ultimately kill you, but because of your sacrifice many men, women and children will live because of it. Would you do it?

Most of us would like to say yes right away, but what if your family was completely healthy and you knew no one with either of these diseases? What then? What if you realize that your cure would be used on rapists, murderers, and everyone in jail just as much as everyone who is ‘good’ enough to deserve it? They would offer it to everyone bad and good. Would this change your mind?

And if you decided to do this, your life would in reality only save a few. But there was a much more violent event that paid for the sickness in all of us. A sickness that causes not just temporal problems, but in the end it can cause eternal devastation.

We must remember that there is not anyone good enough to earn their salvation, and to think so negates the Cross of Christ and is completely against Scripture. Because if Scripture is God’s then He has given us an answer through His word about who is “good.” Ecclesiastes 7:20 proclaims, “There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins.”1 John 1:8 says, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” Just know that goodness will not do it, as once you have sinned, you are no longer “good” enough.

Before we look at what happened, we need to remember that we are just as guilty as those who were shouting, “Crucify Him!” You demonstrated this by sinning. We all have!

Try to picture this in your mind. Jesus is praying and his body was so stressed over what was about to come that He was sweating what appeared to be droplets of blood, which is a real condition where the body becomes so stressed that capillaries break and there is a droplet of blood within the sweat droplet. Luke 22:44 says, “And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.” Do you see it? Don’t just keep reading, but picture each event as it unfolds. Really try to grasp it.

The soldiers arrive to arrest Jesus in the dark because they were afraid to during the day. Everyone that said they would stay with Him flees and leaves Him alone with these soldiers (Matthew 26:55). It is dark. Only torches give off any light and Jesus is surrounded by many who hate Him. How would you feel at this moment?

Like any gang or rioting group, they act the part, as they spit in Jesus’ face, beat Him and slapped Him many times and then mocked Him (Mark 14:65 & Matthew 26:67). Can you see it? A group of men beating and slapping Jesus around. No one to stop them or to say anything because no one was brave enough to stay and all because we are not good enough.

Jesus ends up being flogged, which was probably 39 lashes with a whip that had many strands at the end. On each one of those strands would be pieces of bone or metal beads that were designed to tear flesh from the body. The Romans were perfectionists in torture and knew exactly how many lashes the human body could take before succumbing to death. His back and probably lower legs would be torn to shreds and blood would be everywhere. If you have seen the movie, “The Passion,” then you would have some visual to utilize (Mark 15:15 and Matthew 27:26). He was drinking the cup God gave Him for you!

Mark 16:15-20, Matthew 27:28, and John 19:1-4 tell us how Jesus was then stripped, mocked, spit on, hit on the head with a reed many times and a crown of thorns pushed into His skull. Lastly, they would put a scarlet robe on Him to mock Him some more. Then later they would tear it off, which would then tear at the wounds on his back. If you have ever watched a boxing match, UFC match, or actually if you have seen the movie, Fight Club, then you would realize that His face would be barely recognizable from the beatings that He has undergone, let alone the rest of His body.

Wouldn’t this be enough for our sins? No, there had to be the perfect blood sacrifice, which leads to what happens next, the crucifixion. Can you see it? Are you picturing it?

The goal was to cause as much pain as possible. They had to invent a new word for the crucifixion because of its torture. Excruciating, meaning: out of the cross.

Nails were driven into His hands and legs, which would break the tendons in both His hands and feet causing extreme agonizing pain, as it would also sever nerves. His hands would curl up do to the tendons retracting. He would no longer be able to move his fingers, hands or feet, as there would be no tendon connectivity.

Slow suffocation would be the way of death, because each breath would be a fight, as they would have to push themselves up, which would cause pain on their feet to grab a breath and then let the weight off for relief from their feet, which would then cause pain in their arms and legs, and this process would go on for hours and hours.

Think about what Jesus already went through, and what His back was like going up and down the wood. Bugs crawling in His wounds and on His body; sweat going into the wound causing more pain from the salty sweat. Pain ravaging Him everywhere and all the while they were still mocking Jesus (Luke 23:35; Mark 15:31-32; Matthew 27:41-42).

The worst is yet to come! He is going to finish the cup that He was given to drink. Mark 15:34, “And at three Jesus cried out with a loud voice, ‘Eloi, Eloi lema sabachthani?’ which is translated, ‘My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

God turns His face from Him. In some fashion Jesus in His humanity had His relationship with God ruptured for a moment. It is said this is when He bore our sin, for you and me and the world. Jesus felt the weight of all our sins on that cross. That was most definitely much more pain than the physical pain that He went through. During His time of stress in prayer in my opinion was over more of carrying the weight of sin and having that separation then anything with the physical pain. Can you see it? Can you imagine it?

When was the last time you reflected on what Christ did for you, so you could be where you are today, and where you will be in eternity? If you never have, then now is the time. Being “good” just does not cut it, because that was ruined the moment you sinned.

Ephesians 1:7, “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace”

Romans 10:9, “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”