By Riley Nelson Minister Richmond Hill Church of Christ
The crucifixion of Jesus was one of the most horrendous happening in the history of mankind, yet it showed the world the love God has for mankind (John 3:16). The Prophet Isaiah wrote concerning this event, “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. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. 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 opened not his mouth” (Isa. 53:3-7). Isaiah plainly tells that Jesus died because of mans sin, not because he was sinful. Yet as the only sacrifice that could save man, Jesus willing came.
In the New Testament the torture and pain He suffered is described. Matthew 27is one of the records of this terrible deed. “When he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified. And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews! And they spit upon him, and took the reed, and smote him on the head”. This scourging involved the use of a whip. This whip was made up of several strands of leather with small pieces of bone or metal in twined on the ends. The victim was positioned so his back would be held taunt. Each time the whip was used the flesh would be torn. Many died at this point in their punishment, but Jesus did not. The crown of thorns no doubt caused many cuts and much pain. The mocking and embarrassment of being led through the streets added to the mental torment. He was so weak Simon was called up to carry the cross. Arriving at Golgotha Jesus was then nailed upon a cross, hanging for all to see, suffering such a terrible fate. The crucifixion was not fictional, it really occurred.
Hanging upon the cross in pain and agony Jesus still thought of man, for one of the sayings uttered from the cross was, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). In the words of one of the soldiers who stood near the cross, “Truly this man was the Son of God.”
Christ was resurrected from the dead by the Father (Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it” (Acts 2:24). The Apostle Paul wrote about this; “For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep” (1 Cor. 15:3 – 6).
God had a purpose for allowing these things to happen to His Son, it is for our salvation. If God was willing to do this much for us, we should be willing to obey His commands in order to obtain salvation. It must be realized that there is more involved than just believing in God. God designed a plan for man to follow. Yes belief is involvedMark 16:16), but so is repenting of sin (Luke 13:3), confessing Christ as God’s Son (Matt. 10:32), and being baptized for the remission of their sins (Acts 2:38).
The account of Jesus being crucified and being raised from the dead are the greatest events in history.