At the age of 33, Jesus was condemned to death. At the time crucifixion was the "worst" death. Only the worst criminals were condemned to be crucified. Yet it was even more dreadful for Jesus, for unlike other criminals condemned to death by crucifixion Jesus was held to the cross by His hands and feet with spikes, rather than tied ... each spike was 6 to 8 inches long.
The spikes were driven into His wrists, not into His palms as is commonly portrayed. There's a tendon in the wrist that extends to the shoulder. The Roman guards knew that when the spikes were being hammered into the wrist, that tendon would tear and break, forcing Jesus to use His back muscles to support himself, so that He could breathe.
Both of His feet were spiked together. Thus He was forced to support Himself on the single spike that impaled His feet to the cross. Jesus could not support himself with His legs for long because of the pain, so He was forced to alternate between arching His back and using his legs just to continue to breath. Imagine the struggle, the pain, the suffering.
From common images we see wounds to His hands and feet and even the spear wound to His side... but do we remember the many wounds made to his body. A hammer driving large spikes through the wrists, the feet overlapped, and a spike hammered through His arches, then a Roman guard piercing His side with a spear.
Before the spikes and the spear, Jesus was whipped and beaten. The whipping was so severe that it tore the flesh from His body. The beating so horrific that His face was torn and pieces of his beard were ripped from His face. The crown of thorns (two to three inch Judean thorns) cut deeply into His scalp. Most men would not have survived this torture.
Jesus endured this reality for over 3 hours. Yes, over 3 hours! Can you imagine this kind of suffering? A few minutes before He died, Jesus stopped bleeding. He was simply pouring water from his wounds.
Jesus was made to endure all this for 3 hours. He had no more blood to bleed. The human adult body contains about 5 liters (just over a gallon) of blood. Jesus poured out all 5 liters of his blood; He had three spikes hammered into His body; a crown of thorns was beaten down upon His head and, beyond that, a Roman soldier stabbed a spear into His side ... all these without mentioning the humiliation He suffered after carrying His own cross for nearly 1-1/4 miles, while the crowd spat in his face and threw stones (the cross beam was somewhere between 75 & 125 lbs). Jesus had to endure this experience, so that you may have free access to God. So that your sins can be "washed" away. All of them, with no exception! JESUS CHRIST DIED FOR YOU!
Until next time, walk with the King & be a blessing.
In His Name & for His Glory,
RL Keller
Bread of Life Ministries
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