In Remembrance

Today is Good Friday, and Easter Sunday is THIS Sunday.

What exactly IS Good Friday?

It’s the day Christians remember the death of Christ.

(At this point, I should warn you that I really just typed out my heart today and it gets somewhat graphic.  You’ve been warned.)

I just feel that the whole story is undervalued and looked over too much.  When we minister to new believers, we say things like,

“Jesus died for your sins!”

You hear it all the time, but we hardly stop to think about what that really means.

But there’s so much more that’s involved than just “Jesus died.”  Yeah, he did die, but do you know HOW he died?  I guess I’m just ashamed of myself because sometimes I forget the immense sacrifice my Lord made for me.

When asked how Jesus died, many will say,

“He died on a cross.”

That’s a bit better, but there was so much more to it.  Roman crucifixions were brutal and thorough.  If you were sentenced to crucifixion, you were a dead person walking.  Why?  Because the executioners were killed themselves if they didn’t kill their victim.  That’s a pretty big motivator.

First, the victim was flogged.  This is another word people just say without thinking of the meaning.  Being flogged involved getting lashed with a whip that had the equivalent of barbed wire on the end.  Repeatedly.  After this, the victim carried his cross to the place of crucifixion and was forced to lie down on it – exposing the freshly torn flesh to the rough wood of the cross.  And you can be sure the soldiers wouldn’t be gentle.

Ropes were used to secure the arms and legs to the cross before a stake was driven through both the wrist and ankle bones.  I can’t even imagine the pain.

If that wasn’t bad enough, the victim was then hoisted upright as the cross was planted in place, and he was on display for all to see.  Suddenly, breathing became a luxury, and the only way to do it was by using the nail that had been pounded through his ankle bones to push himself up, only to sag back down again because of the pain.  The victim had to do this over and over again if he wanted to survive, scraping his raw and bleeding back against the cross.

This would go on for hours (sometimes half a day or more) until the victim died.  And then, just to make sure, the executioners will stab the victim in the side with a spear to make sure he’s dead.

Why do I write all of that?  Because I personally feel like I take it for granted way too often.  My Lord and Savior took all of that pain and let it fall on his shoulders for me, and for you.

If that were the end of the story, there wouldn’t be any point in telling it.  Jesus becomes just another prophet that died a martyr’s death.

But that isn’t the end.

I thank the Lord for his mercy, and that he lives today.  I am forever grateful that he defeated death and rose again three days later!

“Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” – 1 Corinthians 15:55

It’s gone.

And love has won!

 

Until next time,

Hope Frances