Kelly and I
were married on a Saturday. We were hoping to get married the week earlier, but
family schedules didn’t allow it to happen. Consequently, on the Wednesday
after our wedding, we needed to be back at work. A short honeymoon. A friend of
mine had a farmhouse/cabin in western Virginia that he offered for our few
nights together, and we spent our honeymoon in the shadow of the Shenandoah
Mountains.
I had yet to
discover a passion for studying the War between the States, and I spent our
time in Virginia without realizing that we were honeymooning on the site of
numerous Civil War skirmishes. Now, we weren’t there to study history, so
that’s ok; but in later years, when we returned to the area and after I had
spent some time learning about the Civil War, I was surprised at how much the
historical background shaped my understanding of the area.
As we
explore the Seven Greatest Words of
History, the seven last things Jesus spoke as He died, the cross looms
large in the background. Spread across the four gospels, these seven sayings
all took place while Jesus hung on the cross on Good Friday. It is possible, I
suppose, to even read these sayings and not really realize that Jesus is dying
here (except, perhaps, “Into Your hands, I commit my spirit”). But, if you
really want to understand the thrust of these final sayings of Jesus, the
background of His execution is crucial.
As many of
you know, crucifixion was a brutal, vicious, cruel way to die. The Romans
themselves recognized the inhumanity of the practice by refusing to use it to
execute their own citizens. If a Roman citizen was to be executed, he was most
frequently beheaded, but not crucified. The Romans used this form of execution
specifically to deter similar offenses—it was public, slow, exceedingly
painful, and tremendously humiliating.
The physical
sufferings of the cross, and specifically what Jesus went through on a bodily
level, have been depicted in various ways in recent decades. I have not spoken
to anyone who watched Mel Gibson’s The
Passion of the Christ who has not stressed the eye-opening portrayal of
Jesus’ physical anguish. From a purely medical standpoint, I would suggest an
article published in 1986 in the Journal
of the American Medical Association by Dr. William Edwards where he describes
the medical effects of crucifixion. It is so educational to read, and yet
horrifying to realize that my Lord suffered such. Stretched out and hanging on
the cross, a person would need to push up on their feet (straining on that
nail) in order to loosen the pressure on the chest to be able to take a breath.
Through the pain and the exhaustion, usually over a period of days, the
crucified one is unable to push up and slowly suffocates.
However.
Let’s be clear on something that often gets lost as we learn more and more
about crucifixion—the REAL sufferings of Jesus were not physical, they were
spiritual. As brutal and even incomprehensible as were the bodily anguish of
Jesus throughout His death, they pale in comparison with the real anguish of
the cross—the Son’s punishment by, rejection of, and separation from the
Father. As a matter of fact, I have found that some folks can be so overcome by
the physical aspects of the cross that they miss the spiritual ones. Because
the bodily pain and humiliation of the cross is so visible and perceptible, it
is possible to focus only here and to miss the deeper pain, the greater
humiliation, of the Holy One bearing our spiritual guilt, our sin, and the
suffering that is present there.
And so, as
we together explore the last words of Jesus on the cross, His physical
sufferings loom large—but His spiritual sufferings are even more dramatic.
Allow the backdrop of crucifixion to not only call attention to the bodily pain
Jesus went through, but ultimately to see and understand the real cost of the
cross—the Righteous One transformed into my sin, into your sin.
This week as
we prepare for worship together, read Luke 23:32-43.
1. What do
we know of the background of these criminals? What does it mean that we don’t
know much at all, yet they are here so prominently in the text?
2. Why do
you think the place is called “the Place of the Skull?” What skull? (If you are
interested in my speculation, come ask me!)
3. Why does
Jesus allow Himself to be mocked as He does?
4. What is
the main difference between the two criminals? Why does one act one way, the
other act another way?
5. The one
criminal asks to be “remembered” when Jesus comes into His kingdom. What do you
think he is hoping for?
6. What is
behind Jesus’ words about “Today”?
7. Paradise
is usually taken by theologians as another word for heaven. Why use this word
instead of “heaven?” What does “paradise” imply?
