Wednesday, April 4, 2018

The Shepherd Chapter 19



Chapter 19
          By the time that Pilate had passed judgement and commanded Jesus to be crucified, the sun was just coming up. It was early Friday morning and I was tired, but I just couldn’t miss a second of what was going on. Jesus would be executed on Golgotha with two other criminals who were already scheduled to die that day. All three were given their cross-beams to carry. The beams were four cubits long and heavy. The Roman soldiers placed the beam on the condemned man’s back, wrapped his arms around it, and tied his hands to it. The condemned men had to carry their cross-beam through the streets of Jerusalem and up the hill called Calvary. Jesus was especially tortured, since he had been beaten just an hour earlier. His back was bloody and shredded, so the cross-beam was especially painful to carry. He had not slept in two days nor eaten since the day before. I don’t see how he did it. But he did!
          As the prisoners were paraded through Jerusalem, crowds lining the narrow streets. Many wept; some jeered, but everyone watched. They couldn’t believe the spectacle. Jesus the kind teacher; Jesus the compassionate healer; Jesus the friend of everyone; condemned to die with two common criminals! What evil was displayed on that Passover eve Friday!
          Halfway up the hill to Golgotha, Jesus stumbled. I could see that his energy was gone. He just couldn’t go one more step. The soldier pushing him lashed out with a whip, but Jesus just couldn’t go on. He collapsed on his knees with one end of the cross-beam on the ground. The Roman soldier looked around and pointed to a strong onlooker, “You! Come here and carry this beam up the hill for me! Yeah, You! I, pointing to you!” As the man stepped forward, the other soldiers cut the bindings from the beam. The man hoisted the beam as the soldiers dragged Jesus to his feet and prodded him on.
          I couldn’t believe my eyes and ears. Women crying and wringing their hands in sorrow. Men shouting for Jesus to avenge himself. Dogs barking at the noise and children running along curious to see what was happening.
          When the three condemned men reached the summit of the hill, there were hundreds of folk already there to get a front-row view. There were scores of upright poles on the brow of the hill where scores of prisoners could be executed. The Roman executioners selected three upright poles, each one eight or nine cubits high. The cross-beams would be set on top of the upright poles. Then they stripped the prisoners naked, forced them to the ground and nailed their outstretched hands to the cross-beams. To my dying day, I will never forget their screams of pain as each hand was nailed to the wood.
          But Jesus was different. He laid down on the ground all by himself. He stretched out his arm without being forced to and nodded to the Roman Soldier with the hammer. The soldier was in shock and hesitated - but only for a moment. He hammered the spike into the hand as Jesus grimaced in pain. But Jesus didn’t cry out. He suffered in silence. And then Jesus held out his other arm for the other nail. The kneeling soldier let his hand holding the hammer slump to the earth. He had never seen a man executed with such dignity! Another soldier came over and took the hammer from the first soldier and nailed Jesus’ other hand to the cross-beam. Then, with two soldiers hoisting Jesus’ torso up, two soldiers lifted the cross-beam up into place, working from two stout ladders. A fifth soldier nailed a long spike through Jesus feet into the upright pole. The soldiers removed their ladders and stepped back to inspect their work.
          Two soldiers ripped apart Jesus’ clothing and divided it among them. But his outer robe was seamless, so they cast lots to decide who would get the robe.
          The other two criminals were writhing around screaming in pain. Jesus was obviously in pain too, but he was unusually quiet. I couldn’t help but recall the words of Isaiah, “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.” I had seen hundreds of lambs die. They died quietly. I saw Jesus die that day. He died quietly.
          I remembered Isaiah again, “He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.” I saw Jesus die, and I am a witness that he died as that perfect Passover lamb. He died in our place for our sins. No! He died in my place for my sins!
          At about the sixth hour as the sun was high in the sky, it suddenly became dark. The wind picked up and the air fell cooler. The Roman Soldiers became uneasy and the jeering crowd quieted. It was completely dark until the ninth hour. It was as if even God Himself did not want to look on the gruesome scene. About the ninth hour, Jesus spoke for the first time. He looked at John, his disciple, and commissioned him to look after his mother.
          A soldier brought s sponge dipped in vinegar and wine to numb Jesus’ pain. The soldier put it on a reed and held it up to Jesus’ lips. But when Jesus tasted the mix, he refused it. It seemed that Jesus wanted to be fully awake as he died. Then, just at the time of the afternoon sacrifice at the Temple, Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit!” And with that, his head slumped forward, and he died.
          In a few moments, the sun returned to its strength and the Roman centurion could be seen shaking his head in amazement. I heard him say, “I have never seen a man die like this man has died!”
          The Jewish leaders didn’t want the crowd hanging around when Passover began at the twelfth hour, so they asked that the legs of the condemned men be broken. With broken legs, they would not be able to support their weight and would soon suffocate. The soldiers broke both legs of the first and then the second criminal, but when they came to Jesus, he was already dead. One soldier pushed his spear up into Jesus’ chest. Water and blood came out indicating that his heart had stopped. The soldier was satisfied. Jesus the great teacher was dead. It was over. Or was it?

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