“Simon," he said to the Pharisee, "I have something to say to you." "Go ahead, Teacher," Simon replied. Then Jesus told him this story: "A man loaned money to two people—500 pieces of silver* to one and 50 pieces to the other. But neither of them could repay him, so he kindly forgave them both, canceling their debts. Who do you suppose loved him more after that?" Simon answered, "I suppose the one for whom he canceled the larger debt." "That's right," Jesus said.
The point is the more aware you are of the high price God had to pay to purchase us, the more you will love Him. This article, therefore, will tell about how Jesus was crucified, in order that we may love Him more.
The night before He died, Jesus was up all night praying, begging for another way to save His people. His anxiety was so intense that tiny blood vessels in His forehead broke open and produced the bloody sweat that was described in Luke’s Gospel. In addition, He had no breakfast that morning, so He was already in a weak condition. I stayed up all night once, and it was really hard trying to stay awake. I cannot even imagine how hard it would be to endure what Jesus endured without sleep and an empty stomach. Also, He would be in a bad condition emotionally after the stress He bore that night. Followed by betrayal, He would have been in that much more emotional pain. And it was only beginning.
As for the flogging, He would have been whipped with a Roman scourge, which would have had things like bits of bone, broken glass, etc. at the ends of it. Therefore, when the scourge hit His back, so would the broken glass, causing greater pain and damage. Although according to Jewish law, a person could only be whipped a maximum of 39 lashes, the Roman soldiers would be able to whip Him just about as much as they wanted, as long as the man was still alive. They wanted the convicted man to die slowly. The soldiers also mocked Him, beat Him, spat on Him, put a crown of thorns on His head, etc. After they put the crown on His head, they hit Him on the head, thus driving the thorns deeper into His skin. As part of the mockery, they put a purple robe on Him. This was a form of mocking Him because He claimed to be a king, and in the Roman Empire only Roman senators, the emperor, and other members of the nobility were allowed to wear purple. They also went up many times and said sarcastically, “Hail, king of the Jews!†When they put the purple robe on Him, it would attach to His skin because of the blood, and when it was removed, the wounds we be reopened and the bleeding would continue. Then they lead Him to Calvary. (In addition to being beaten by the Romans, Jesus was also beaten on two other occasions. The first time was by the Jewish Temple guards, the second was by Herod’s guards, followed by the cruel torture of Rome).
They would put the crossbeam (the horizontal beam of the cross) on Him and tie it to His shoulders. The crossbeam, also called the patibulum, would weigh about 110 pounds. In addition to the weight He had to bear after being weakened by the flogging, lack of sleep and food, and emotional stress, dirt and possibly splinters from the wood would get in His wounds from the scourging, causing even more pain. Not surprisingly, He was so weakened that could not carry the crossbeam. Therefore, a man named Simon of Cyrene was summoned to carry it for Him. It was not unusual for a man to be unable to carry the crossbeam, as flogging was a preliminary to all Roman executions and it was customary for someone from the crowd be made to carry it for the man.
When they finally reached Calvary, derived from the Latin word “calvaâ€, meaning skull, He would have been stripped naked and thrown down on the crossbeam, thus once again opening the wounds on His back. The soldiers would tie His arms to the crossbeam, take a nail, which would be about 6 to 8 inches long, and impale His right wrist to the crossbeam. Then, they would do the same with the left wrist. When the nail was driven through His wrists, the nail would have hit the median nerve, which runs through both arms. Since this was a main nerve, it would cause immense pain, as these areas are the most painful to hit. After this, the soldiers would lift up the crossbeam and attach to it the vertical beam, which was permanently in the ground. Next, they would take one more nail, take both His feet and impale them to the cross also.
Jesus would hang there for six hours, struggling to breathe, taunted by people who passed by, yet thinking of us. Within a few minutes, His wrists would dislocate, as would His shoulders from their sockets. In order to breathe, He would have to push His feet down, causing extreme pain, or He could push up with His arms, which would also be excruciating. In fact, our word “excruciating†comes from Latin “excruciatusâ€, literally meaning “out of the crossâ€. Jesus would struggle to get even a small breath of air. His body quickly became deprived of oxygen. At the same time, He had to endure thirst, hunger, exhaustion, the pain of His whipped back against coarse wood, the crown of thorns on His head, causing blood to drip down His face, and the mockery of nearly all who were present.
In spite of all this pain, Jesus endured it 100% voluntarily for us. We can never repay Him for the grace He has given us and the love He showers us with. Be sure to thank Him everyday!
This was from my knowledge of Roman crucifixions and what the four gospels say. There are many other similar articles on the internet by medical experts and others more knowledgable than myself, so if you are interested in more information, try some of these sites:
http://www.frugalsites.net/jesus/crucifixion.htm
http://christiananswers.net/q-eden/jesusdeath.html
http://www.ethoughts.org/crucifixion_description.htm
http://www.cbn.com/SpiritualLife/OnlineDiscipleship/easter/A_Physician%27s_View_of_the_Crucifixion_of_Jesus_Christ.aspx
If you are a visual learner like me, I recommend "The Passion of the Christ". It is historically inaccurate, to be honest, but it is a good visual to gain a deeper understanding of Jesus' love for us.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61n7sSSCp0o
