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The Reality of the Crucifixion
- elliegrace0807
- Apr 15
- 5 min read
I’ve been doing a study through the Gospels with a friend, and we use a commentary alongside our readings. I learned so much, and the study blessed me immensely. I didn't realize just how much I would learn, and one of the biggest things that really shook me was studying the death of Jesus.
Growing up as a Christian, especially with Easter coming up, we hear and talk about Jesus' death a lot. We all have the image of the three crosses and John 3:16 in mind, and we know that Jesus died for our sins. But I think that we often miss the immense weight of the crucifixion. We've grown too comfortable and familiar with our Savior's death, and the study I've been doing really opened my eyes to that.
Today, we're going to be talking about the reality of the crucifixion that Jesus endured on our behalf. We're going to be diving into the details of the pain and the humiliation that Jesus faced, and if I'm being honest, it's not going to be easy. When I studied this myself, it was so hard for me to read. It was uncomfortable and I didn't want to sit in it because the real, unedited picture of Jesus' death is horrific - and that's what I deserved. I deserve to go through what Jesus did, but He took my place, and that is beyond powerful.
First off, I must point out that the initial trials Jesus went through were illegal according to Jewish law because of the time that they took place (which was at night, and around the time of the Jewish festivals). There are many more reasons on top of that, which you can read about here, but it just goes to show the hatred and unfairness towards Jesus. The enemy does not play fair, and he will do anything to shut Jesus and His people down.
The most obvious part of the crucifixion is the physical pain that Jesus had to endure, but I don't think we even fully understood it. My commentary, Enduring Word, explained just how brutal it is. I'm going to quote that commentary occasionally, because it captures the pain in a way my own words can't.
When Jesus was declared guilty, before He was led to the cross, He endured an excruciating flogging by the Roman soldiers (Matthew 27:26-31, Mark 15:15-20, Luke 22:63-65, John 19:1-3). The goal of this flogging was to weaken the criminal as much as possible, just short of death.
“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. Pain and blood loss generally set the stage for circulatory shock. The extent of blood loss may well have determined how long the victim would survive the cross.” (Edwards) - Enduring Word
They mocked Him by dressing Him in a purple robe and putting a crown of thorns on His head. They spit on Jesus, hitting Him on the head with a staff over and over again. At this point, Jesus was so weak that He couldn't even carry His own cross. In fact, we have reason to believe that He had to be carried to Golgotha, the place of crucifixion, because Mark says that He had to be brought there, as opposed to being led there.
Then the crucifixion began.
His back was already raw and torn open by the flogging, and it now rubbed harshly against the wooden cross He hung on. The wounds were likely contaminated with dirt.
Nails were driven through Jesus' wrists, piercing a large nerve. This created "excruciating bolts of fiery pain in both arms, and could result in a claw-like grip in the victim’s hands".
It was extremely difficult to breathe, considering the unnatural position that Jesus' body was put in, with so much weight being put on His body. This led to muscle cramps. Any effort to get a good breath led was immensely painful, causing searing pain in the feet, agitating the wounds on His back by scraping it against the wood, and twisting the nail-bound hands.
Insects would even burrow into the open wounds, eyes, ears, or nose. Birds would come and peck at these areas as well.
Victims of crucifixion could die in many ways, detailed by Enduring Word, including:
· "Acute shock from blood loss.
· Suffocation from being too exhausted to breathe.
· Dehydration.
· Heart attack, induced by stress.
· Heart rupture from congestive heart failure."
If they didn't die from any of these causes, the Roman soldiers would break their legs, which would lead to suffocation.
On top of the physical pain, Jesus' heart broke. He was an innocent man, being mocked and humiliated out of pure cruelty and hatred. Jesus was abandoned by many of the people He loved most. He was alone and laughed at, despite living a life of genuine love and gentleness to everyone He met. Jesus, the perfect Son of God, gave sinful humanity the permission to treat Him this way, because He knew it was the only way to reconcile those same people to Himself.
Above everything, though, Jesus endured the spiritual torment of separation from His Father. He carried the weight of every sin and failure. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says that "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us". Jesus, my perfect Savior, became my sin, and the sin of every person who ever lived, and ever would live. On that cross, Jesus was no longer in fellowship with His Father, but instead felt the furious wrath poured out because of all sin.
Jesus was our substitute, and He took the anger and judgement of God upon Himself so that we wouldn't have to bear it.
How can you read that and not feel convicted? How can you not be moved by the greatest act of love in all of history?
I deserve to have the nails driven into my hands. I deserve to be mocked and humiliated, laughed at and spit at, with every sin I've ever committed thrown into my face. I deserve to experience the separation from God and His anger because of how sinful I truly am.
Yet there has not been one day of my life that God has not been with me, loving me graciously and covering me in His favor. He has never spoken to me harshly or out of anger, but instead in a gentle grace. I will not be sentenced to be crucified or flogged or mocked. He never reminds me of my failures or condemns me.
No, He declares me His child. His daughter. Forgiven and redeemed. Healed and restored. Loved. So very and dearly loved.
May we never forget this. Not only on Easter, but every day of our lives. May we never get comfortable or familiar with the thought of someone taking our place in this way. May we never lose sight of the power and love that Jesus displayed on that wretched cross.
I'd challenge you to take some time and sit in this. Be uncomfortable but praise Jesus for the price He paid for your soul. He saw you as worthy of being in a relationship with, and the cross is the great lengths that He was willing to go to get it.
He loves you, sweet friend.
I used multiple sources to help create this post! I would encourage you to check them out and do more of your own reading to invest in your own relationship with the Lord. Don't take my word for it - talk with God Himself about it.
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