THE CRUEL CRUCIFIXION
THERE HE WAS, AN INNOCENT MAN THAT HAD BEEN
CONDEMNED TO A DEATH SENTENCE, JUST FOR GIVING PEOPLE
MONEY. JUST FOR GIVING PEOPLE FOOD AND MEDICATION. JUST FOR COUNSELING THEM AND ATTENDING TO THEIR NEEDS. THE CITY DIDN’T REALLY KNOW WHAT KIND OF HARM THE MAN HAD DONE, BUT THEY WANTED TO DO AWAY WITH HIM. THEY WANTED TO KILL HIM. ALL THEY KNEW WAS THAT HE WAS VERY GENEROUS, WELL DRESSED, GOOD LOOKING, YET, SOME PEOPLE STARTED HATING HIM FOR GIVING SHELTER TO A STREET BUM NOBODY LIKED. WAS THAT SO BAD? NOBODY HAD GOTTEN HURT. THE ONES HE HELPED WERE BETTER OFF THAN EVER. SO, WHY THE SENTENCE? WHY THAT SENTENCE? DURING THE COURT HEARING, THE WITNESSES WERE SOME OF THE ONES HE HAD HELPED FINANCIALLY, WITH FOOD, SHELTER, EVEN WITH MEDICINE. HE HAD COUNSELED MOST OF THEM AND EVEN LIKE THIS, THEY WERE TESTIFYING AGAINST HIM. HIS HEART HAD BEEN SO SINCERE AS HE WAS HELPING THEM, BUT NOW, HIS HEART WAS BROKEN. EVERYONE WAS AGAINST HIM WITH THE EXCEPTION OF HIS MOTHER AND JUST A HANDFUL OF FRIENDS. THE JUDGE HAD NO REASON TO TRIAL HIM, SO, HE LEFT HIM AT THE MERCY OF THE JURY. SURE ENOUGH, HE WAS KNOWN FOR CAUSING A DRAMATIC CHANGE IN THE TOWN HE HAD DECIDED TO RESIDE IN, BUT FOR SOME REASON, DOING GOOD IN THAT TOWN WAS BAD. HE
WAS SEEN KILLED SO HARSHLY BY EVERYONE IN THE AREA.
EVERYONE CHEERED. EVERYONE, EXCEPT THE FAITHFUL ONES. HE WAS TO BE EXECUTED BY TWO OTHER PRISONERS. ONE OF THE MEN THAT WAS TO BE KILLED ALONG WITH HIM, TOO, WAS AGAINST HIM, BUT THE OTHER BELIEVED THAT WHAT HE HAD DONE IN THAT SMALL CITY WAS PHENOMENAL. THOSE TWO MEN WERE TO BE KILLED WITH A LETHAL INJECTION, BUT THE MAN THAT HAD DONE NO HARM WAS TO BE KILLED BY BEING SHOCKED THIRTY NINE TIMES AND FINALLY, BEING STABBED BELOW HIS HEART. A HARSH PUNISHMENT, YET, IT
HAD BEEN APPROVED. THE MAN DIED, BUT WAS REMEMBERED FOR AS LONG AS PEOPLE LIVED.
ABOUT TWO THOUSAND YEARS PREVIOUS TO THIS EVENT, THERE WAS A MAN, TOO, WHO WAS EXECUTED UNFAIRLY. THIS MAN’S NAME WAS JESUS. HE WALKED INTO A CITY CALLED JERUSALEM AND MANY PEOPLE CHEERED FOR HIM AS HE ENTERED BECAUSE HE HAD BROUGHT HAPPINESS TO THE SAD, HEALING TO THE SICK, DELIVERANCE TO THE CAPTIVE, AND INNER HEALING TO THE BROKEN HEARTED. THE BLIND COULD SEE AFTER HE PRAYED FOR THEM AND THE LAME COULD WALK. MANY FOLLOWED THIS JESUS, BUT SOME BEGAN TO HATE HIM FOR PERFORMING A MIRACLE. HE STARTED
GETTING HURT, CONDEMNED, AND CURSED. THEY BROUGHT HIM
BEFORE A JUDGE, BUT THE JUDGE FOUND NO FAULT IN HIM, YET, HE LEFT HIM AT THE MERCY OF THE PEOPLE. “CRUCIFY HIM!” THEY SHOUTED. “CRUCIFY HIM!” THE JEWISH COUNCIL DIDN’T KNOW WHY SUCH PUNISHMENT FOR DOING GOOD, BUT THEY STILL PROCEEDED. THE PUNISHMENT WAS SET. THEY MOCKED HIM. THEY CURSED HIM. THE MAN WAS RIDICULED. WHEN THE DAY OF THE SENTENCE CAME, HE WAS GIVEN A CROSS TO CARRY ON HIS BACK AS HE WALKED UP A
HILL CALLED GOLGOTHA, WHICH TRANSLATED MEANS HILL OF
DEATH. THROUGH AN ANGRY CROWD HE WALKED, WITH A CROWN
ON HIS HEAD: A CROWN OF THORNS. HE WAS STRIPPED DOWN TO FULL HUMILIATION. HE WALKED THROUGH THE CROWD NUDE. HE WAS BRUISED, BEATEN, SPIT AT, AND HE WAS SLASHED THIRTY NINE TIMES. THE BELT HE WAS BEING SLASHED WITH HAD BLADES ATTACHED TO THE ENDS OF IT. EVERY TIME IT WOULD HIT HIM, IT WOULD TEAR OUT PIECES OF FLESH. JESUS’ FLESH. IMAGINE THE PAIN AND THE TORTURE AFTER THE FIRST SLASH, AND THAT WAS ONLY THE FIRST ONE. THERE WERE STILL THIRTY EIGHT MORE TO
GO. MAN, THE PAIN HE HAD TO SUFFER... AFTER HE HAD
ABUNDANTLY BLESSED THE PEOPLE, THEY ALL FAVORED HIS CRUEL CRUCIFIXION. HE WAS BETRAYED. DOWN THE VIA DOLOROSA HE WENT, BRUISED, TIRED, BLEEDING, HIS FACE HURTING BECAUSE OF THE BEARD THEY HAD RIPPED OUT OF IT. THE BIBLE DESCRIBED HIM AS LOOKING DEFORMED, OR UNRECOGNIZABLE. ALL HE HAD THAT KEPT HIM GOING WAS THE THOUGHT OF HIM BEING ABLE TO TELL THE WORLD, “I DO THIS FOR YOU...” WHEN HE WAS BROUGHT UP TO GOLGOTHA, THERE WERE TWO OTHER PRISONERS THERE. ONE TO BE
ON EACH SIDE OF HIM. THEY, TOO, WERE ON A CROSS, BUT THEY WERE JUST TIED TO IT. JESUS WAS TO BE NAILED TO IT. ONE NAIL ON EACH HAND AND ONE HOLDING HIS BOTH FEET. I MEAN, IF WHEN YOU POKE YOUR HAND WITH A NEEDLE IT HURTS, JUST IMAGINE HAVING A NAIL HAMMERED THROUGH YOUR HAND... HE HUNG THERE ON THE CROSS, ASKING FOR WATER TO PARTIALLY QUENCH HIS THIRST, BUT
INSTEAD, THEY GAVE HIM VINEGAR. ONE OF THE PRISONERS MOCKED HIM AND SHOUTED, “IF YOU TRULY ARE THE SON OF GOD, SAVE YOURSELF, AND SAVE US!” THE OTHER ONE EXCLAIMED, “QUIET, UNBELIEVER! THIS MAN TRULY IS THE SON OF GOD.” JESUS TURNED AT HIM AND SAID, “VERILY, I SAY UNTO YOU, THAT YOU WILL BE IN PARADISE WITH ME AND MY FATHER.” HE WAS THEN STABBED WITH A LANCE RIGHT BELOW HIS HEART AND BLOOD AND WATER FLOWED. ON THE CROSS, HE SAID, “FATHER GOD, FORGIVE THEM, FOR THEY
DON’T KNOW WHAT THEY DO...” AND AFTER ANOTHER WHILE OF
HURT AND TORMENT, HE FINALLY PRAYED, “FATHER, UNTO YOU I COMMIT MY SPIRIT,” AND THEN HE DIED. MARY, HIS MOTHER, LAY THERE BENEATH THE CROSS, CRYING FOR HER SON. I CAN ACTUALLY PICTURE HIS BLOOD JUST DRIPPING FROM THE CROSS; PERHAPS UPON HER DRESS. I’M SURE WHEN SHE SAW EVERY DROP OF BLOOD SHE REALIZED THAT FOR EVERY DROP THAT WOULD FALL, IT SYMBOLIZED THE HEALING AND SALVATION, THE DELIVERANCE AND RESTORATION OF ALL GENERATIONS TO COME. THE SALVATION OF THE WORLD. THERE LAY MARY, WITH SUCH SADNESS AND GRIEF, BUT
IN THE MIDST OF HER ANGUISH AND TORMENT, SHE MUST HAVE
THOUGHT, “THERE IS HOPE.” WHAT? HOPE, YOU ASK? FOR THIS JESUS GUY? THE MAN’S DEAD. YOU JUST TOLD US HOW BADLY KILLED HE HAD BEEN. HOW COULD THERE BE HOPE? SEE, UNLIKE THE MAN FROM THAT OTHER MODERN CITY, THIS MAN HAD SOMETHING THE OTHER ONE DIDN’T HAVE. A PROMISE. A PROMISE? YEAH, A PROMISE. HE HAD THE PROMISE FROM HIS HEAVENLY FATHER TO RISE FROM THE DEAD ON THE THIRD DAY. BUT HOW? LIVE AFTER YOU DIE FOR THREE DAYS? SEE, JESUS WAS NOT ANY ORDINARY MAN. HE WAS THE SON OF GOD, WHO CAME TO TAKE AWAY THE SINS OF THE WORLD AND THROUGH HIS BLOOD, DEATH, AND RESURRECTION, CLEANSE IT AND GIVE HOPE. WHEN JESUS DIED, THE WORD SAYS THAT THE SKIES TURNED INTO DARKNESS. THE GROUND BEGAN TO SHAKE BECAUSE PROPHECY HAD BEEN FULFILLED. HE WAS PLACED IN A TOMB, WHICH WAS GUARDED BY ROMAN SOLDIERS, FOR THEY, TOO, HAD HEARD THAT HE HAD SAID HE WOULD RESURRECT AFTER THE THIRD DAY. ON DAY NUMBER THREE, THE SOLDIERS HAD BEEN ON GUARD, YET, FROM INSIDE THE TOMB CAME SUCH A BRIGHT AND PLENTEOUS LIGHT THAT THEY COULD NOT RESIST AND THEY BECAME AS IF THEY WERE DEAD. THAT WAS THE POWER OF GOD, AND THAT POWER OF GOD HAD COME OVER JESUS CHRIST OF NAZARETH AND HE AROSE FROM THE DEAD, WITH
RESURRECTION POWER! MARY AND MARTHA HAD GONE TO THE
TOMB TO LOOK FOR JESUS THAT SAME DAY, BUT SURPRISINGLY, THE ANGEL OF GOD APPEARED UNTO THEM AND ASKED, “WHY DO YOU LOOK FOR THE LIVING WHERE THE DEAD IS SUPPOSED TO BE? HE ISN’T HERE, FOR HE HAS RISEN!” IMAGINE YOU GOING TO VISIT YOUR MOM OR DAD’S GRAVE AND AN ANGEL COMES TO YOU AND SAYS, “HEY, WHAT’S UP WITH YOU? YOUR MOMMA AIN’T HERE, SHE IS ALIVE. SHE SHOULD BE ABOUT TO MAKE THE EVENING BUFFET AT GOLDEN CORRAL!” MAN, THAT WOULD FREAK ME OUT! JESUS RESURRECTED FROM THE DEAD, BUT BEFORE HE DID, HE HAD TO GO THROUGH THAT CRUEL SACRIFICE, AND ALTHOUGH HE COULD HAVE CALLED 10,000 ANGELS TO BACK HIM UP, HE DIDN’T BECAUSE HE DID
IT FOR YOU... PICTURE THIS WITH ME... [ILLUSTRATION]
OH, YES, FOR BIBLE SCHOLARS: JUST IN CASE YOU ARE LOOKING FOR A SCRIPTURE, READ JOHN 3:16. IT SAYS IT ALL!
