[Biblemat] S) CRUCIFIXION -- THE DARKEST OF DAYS

[J5827Sasser at wmconnect.com]

Brethren and Friends, Jim Sasser here.  Here is a study from my
files.  Use to the glory of God.

CRUCIFIXION -- THE DARKEST OF DAYS

     The Day Jesus Was Crucified, "about the sixth hour...dark-
ness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour, because the
sun was obscured" (Lk. 23:44,45).  Whatever happened to the
sun that day was timely.  It was indeed the darkest of days.
What made it so?  The answer lies in trying to look at events
from Jesus' own perspective.

A Day Of Agony: -- Interestingly, the New Testament writers,
directed by the Holy Spirit, made no effort to detail the physi-
cal or medical effects of Jesus' ordeal.  Their emphasis was
on Jesus' death as the fulfillment of prophecy and culminat-
ion of God's Plan.

     When Jesus was arrested "they laid hands on Him and sei-
zed Him" (Mk. 14:46); surely that was no gentle procedure.
During the Jewish phase of His trials Jesus was blindfolded
and beaten (Lk. 22:63); they spat at Him, beat Him with their
fists, and slapped Him in the face (Mk. 14:65).  He was taken
bound to Pilate, then to Herod, where He was treated with contempt and 
dressed in a purple robe (Lk. 23:11).  Pilate's
soldiers completed the mockery by putting a crown of thorns
on His head, putting a reed in His hand, bowing in pretended
worship, then spitting on Him, slapping Him, and taking the
reed and beating Him on the head with it (Matt. 27:27-31; Jno.
19:2,3).

     Pilate also ordered that Jesus be scourged.  The victim
was typically stripped, then tied to a low post or a frame, 
stretching out his exposed back.  The word used by Matthew
and Mark points to a beating with a flagellum, a short-handled
whip with several cords or leather thongs to which were attac-
hed jagged pieces of bone or metal to inflict maximum dam-
age, literally shredding the body.  The number of blows was 
at the whim of the executioner.  Scourging was often done in
preparation for capital punishment (some victims died from 
the beating itself).  Ironically, in this case it was an ill-fated
attempt on Pilate's part to avoid putting Jesus to death.

     When scourging and mockery did not satisfy the multitude
Pilate sentenced Jesus to be crucified.  He carried His cross
(Jno. 19:17) until He succumbed under its weight; Simon of
Cyrene was then pressed into service to finish the march.  At
the Place of the Skull, Golgotha (Calvary is from the Latin
term), Roman soldiers nailed Him to the cross and began the
deathwatch.  Only His quicker than normal death (which still
took most of the day) prevented them from breaking His legs.
Some attribute the hastiness of Jesus' death to the ordeal
leading to His crucifixion.  Doubtless that played a part.  Re-
member, too, that Jesus was unique: He had the power to lay
down His life and to take it up again (Jno. 10:17,18).  Once He
completed God's Plan for Him, He yielded His spirit to the
Father.  A spear thrust into His side ensured that the grueso-
me task was done (Jno. 19:31-37).

A Day Of Dread: -- From the beginning, Jesus came to be
about His Father's business.  And from the beginning, He knew that business 
would conclude on a cross.  Early on, He
spoke of the Jews destroying the temple of His body (Jno. 2:
19) by lifting up the Son of Man (Jno. 3:14).  Later, He explicit-
ly warned His disciples "that He must go to Jerusalem, and 
suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scrib-
es, and be killed, and be raised on the third day" (Matt. 16:21)
Jesus knew those "many things" including scourging (20:19).

     We dread the pain of surgery aided by anesthetic and pain
relievers.  Imagine living your life knowing that scourging and
crucifixion awaited you!  No doubt Jesus' knowledge that He
would arise from the dead strengthened Him.  However, it did
not keep Him from being troubled at the thought of this hour
(Jno. 12:27), and being "deeply grieved" (Matt. 26:38) to the
point of intense praying that it might pass from Him.

A Day Of Humiliation: -- 2,000 years of glorying in the cross of Christ may 
have dulled our sense of the shamefulness of
these events.  Crucifixion's horror was so obvious that it was
reserved for the worst of criminals.  It was illegal for Roman
citizens except in extreme cases.  It carried as much or more
stigma as the gas chamber or electric chair in our day.  From
a Jewish perspective, crucifixion met the criteria of Deut. 21:
22,23.  When a Hebrew committed a capital crime he was exe-
cuted, then hanged for the remainder of the day to demon-
strate God's curse upon him.  "Christ redeemed us from the
curse of the Law, having become a curse for us -- for it is
written, 'Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree'" (Gal. 3:13)

     Now consider the sinless Son of God submitting to such 
indignity.  Reflect on His restraint before the self-righteous
high priest or pompous Pilate.  Can you appreciate the humili-
ty, the dedication to the Father's Will that this took?  That is
precisely what God seeks in us.  "Consider Him who endured
such honstility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary 
and lose heart" (Heb. 12:3).  "Have this attitu-
de in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who...humb-
led Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even
the death on a cross" (Phil. 2:5-8).

A Day Of Infamy: -- The humiliation of this day was amplified
by its publicity.  Modern executions occur in private before a
handful of somber witnesses.  Not so with Jesus' death.  Though He was 
arrested in secret, an angry mob surrounded
the Roman tribunal.  His pummeled form was paraded before
them with the sarcastic declaration, "Behold, your King!" (Jno
19:14).

     Crucifixion processions worked their way through busy
city streets where everyone could see the accused carrying
the instrument of his own death.  Luke says a large crowd
followed this one (23:27).  At Golgotha, the very judges who
condemned Him stood at the cross mocking and jeering (Matt
27:41-43).  Two criminals were crucified with Him, possibly to
add a measure of contempt.  They also ridiculed Him (Matt.
27:44).  And there He hung for all to see.  At the end of the
day, wicked men felt vindicated while the righteous were disa-
ppointed and confused.

Conclusion: -- How did the Lord survive this darkest of days?
Jesus had His eyes fixed on heaven (Heb. 12:2).  So must we.
And there is help.  Amidst this dreadful day a light was shini-
ng.  The cross of Christ testifies, as nothing else could, of
God's love and His desire to help us.  "He who did not spare
His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He
not also with Him freely give us all things?" (Rom. 8:32).  The
same divine power that restored Jesus' life and turned these
shameful events into a moment of triumph and glory is avail-
able to all believers (Eph. 1:19-21).  Use it and praise God for 
it!        ----------- Frank Himmel in Biblical Insights, Vol. 7, No. 
10, October 2007.   </HTML>
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