This lesson is the most difficult that I've ever had to write. It is about the torture that our Lord went through for us. Most Christians have a general understanding of the crucifixion process, but do not know what Jesus went through leading up to His finished work on the cross. It is my prayer that every reader comes to a greater appreciation of Jesus.
"And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself..." - Daniel 9:26
The Hebrew word for "cut off" is yikaret and means to be violently killed and rejected. When Jesus was rejected by the Jews it was passionate and vicious. Most people have watched The Passion of the Christ and that movie, if it were to be fully accurate, would probably have garnered an X rating for its graphic depiction of violence.
John 19:1-16 gives a list of the order of attacks that Jesus suffered prior to the cross.
"Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged Him." - v 1
"I can see all My bones..." - Psalm 22:17
Such little wording is used to describe His punishment. I suppose John, too, found it difficult to write about. The scourging practices of the Romans were extremely cruel. The typical instrument was a short whip with several single or braided leather thongs of variable lengths, in which small iron balls or sharp pieces of sheep bones were tied at intervals. For scourging, the man was stripped of his clothing, and his hands were tied to an upright post. The back, buttocks, and legs were flogged either by two soldiers (lictors) or by one who alternated positions. As the Roman soldiers repeatedly struck the victim’s back with full force, the iron balls would cause deep contusions, and the leather thongs and sheep bones would cut into the skin and subcutaneous tissues. Then, as the flogging continued, the lacerations would tear into the underlying skeletal muscles and produce quivering ribbons of bleeding flesh. After the scourging, the soldiers often taunted their victim.
"And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it on His head, and they put on Him a purple robe, and said, Hail, King of the Jews! and they smote Him with their hands." - v 2-3
"And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon His head, and a reed in His right hand: and they bowed the knee before Him, and mocked Him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews! And they spit upon Him, and took the reed, and smote Him on the head." - Matthew 27:29-30
"As many were astonied at thee; His visage was so marred more than any man..." - Isaiah 52:14
While in unimaginable pain, Jesus was mocked. He went through physical and emotional abuse. The skin and muscles were ripped out of His body to expose His bones. The Bible, then, tells us that they dressed Him up like a king only to laugh and spit on Him. They beat Him with their fists and with the scepter they made for Him. By the end of this torture, Jesus could not even be recognized. As the expression goes, He was "beaten to a bloody pulp".
"And it was the preparation of the Passover, and about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King! But they cried out, Away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar. Then delivered he Him therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led Him away." - v 14-16
"He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth: He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He openeth not His mouth." - Isaiah 53:7
After hours of torture and humiliation, Jesus was sentenced to death by crucifixion.
Crucifixion was a form of torture and capital punishment that was designed to produce a slow death with maximum pain and suffering. It was one of the most disgraceful and cruel methods of execution and usually was reserved only for slaves, foreigners, revolutionaries, and the vilest of criminals.
It was customary for the condemned man to carry his own cross from the flogging post to the site of crucifixion outside the city walls. Since the weight of the entire cross was probably well over 300 lb., only the crossbar was carried. The crossbar weighed roughly 75 lb. and was placed across the nape of the victim’s neck and balanced along both shoulders. Usually, the outstretched arms then were tied to the crossbar.
The criminal was then thrown to the ground on his back, with his arms outstretched along the crossbar. The hands were then nailed to the crossbar. The nails were tapered iron spikes approximately 5 to 7 inches long with a square shaft 3/8 inches across.
After both arms were fixed to the crossbar, the crossbar and the victim together, were lifted onto the post. Next, the feet were fixed to the cross and were nailed directly to the front of the post.
When the nailing was completed, the sign was attached to the cross just above the victim’s head. The soldiers and the civilian crowd often taunted and jeered the condemned man, and the soldiers customarily divided up his clothes among themselves.
"He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from Him; He was despised, and we esteemed Him not. Surely He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth: He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He openeth not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare His generation? for He was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was He stricken. And He made His grave with the wicked, and with the rich in His death; because He had done no violence, neither was any deceit in His mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He hath put Him to grief: when thou shalt make His soul an offering for sin." - Isaiah 53:3-10
Jesus suffered intense torture, humiliation, and the most painful of deaths out of love for us (Rom. 5:8). He gave His life as a ransom for us (Matt. 20:28), so that we may have eternal life (John 3:16-17, Eph. 2:8-9,Titus 2:11).
There is only one way to Heaven. No amount of good works that we do can get us there. Out of every lie we've told, every lustful glance we've given, every time we've been mean to others, every time we could have helped someone out but didn't, and countless other awful things every single person has ever done, do you think doing a few hours of volunteer work or donating a few dollars compares to the finished work of Jesus? Jesus is the measuring stick and none of us measures up to Him.
Romans 6:23 says "for the wages of sin is death (speaking of eternal separation from God); but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."
Every single sin that we have committed was laid upon Him at the cross (Isaiah 53:6). This is a gift that all of us can either accept or reject.
There is only one way to Heaven and that is through the Gospel:
"Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; And that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures." - 1 Corinthians 15:1-4