The Cruel Cricifixion

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