The Not So Glorious Cross

Have you ever wondered what it would have been like to be a witness to the crucifixion of Jesus? As a mother, I don't know if I could have handled it.  Jesus' mother was there from start to finish.  I have been with my kids through broken femurs, tonsillectomies, oral surgery, and the obligatory cuts and scrapes.  It breaks my heart to see them in pain.  


Personally, I don't think the accounts in the Bible are graphic enough. Or, perhaps it's the fact that we have been desensitized to blood in gore with movies and video games. We see blood and gore, read about blood and gore, however, we, I, do not really associated it with pain.  In the case of Jesus, when I read the account of the crucifixion for the first time I did not understand the magnitude of the event.  


It was painful. Very painful. Jesus not only died for me and you, willingly, he suffered a brutal death, willingly - for me (and you).  


Read these verses:
Matthew 27: ⁸ They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him,²⁹ and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand. Then they knelt in front of him and mocked him. “Hail, king of the Jews!” they said. ....³⁰ They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again.  ³² As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross. ³³ They came to a place called Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull”). ³⁴ There they offered Jesus wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, he refused to drink it. ³⁵ When they had crucified him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots.


Mark 15: ⁷ They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him. ¹⁸ And they began to call out to him, “Hail, king of the Jews!” ¹⁹ Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him. Falling on their knees, they paid homage to him. ²⁰ And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him..... ²¹ A certain man from Cyrene, Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing by on his way in from the country, and they forced him to carry the cross. ²² They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull”). ²³Then they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. ²⁴ And they crucified him. Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots to see what each would get.


http://www.biblegateway.com/
Doesn't sound all that bad at first glance does it?  (These are only a few passages, please read the entire Chapters of Matthew 27, Mark 15, Luke 23, and John 19).  Okay, now read the below medical accounts of the crucifixion. 




medical account #1
medical account #2
medical account #3

The cross is often depicted like this.

Sometimes the crucifixion is depicted as this.

The crucifixion probably looked more like this.

Most likely, at the crucifixion Jesus looked much worse than this. 

Would you die like this for anyone? I don't think I would. Jesus did. How can we respond to his love for us? Yes, He did this because he loves you, because he wants a personal relationship with you. Jesus died to take away your sins so that you can be with him in heaven forever.  


Now that you know, what will you do?


The title is "The Not So Glorious Cross" because the image of the cross we see all around has been glorified, glamorized, completely desensitized.  Would you wear a guillotine around your neck, hang a nose on your wall over your fireplace?  No.  The cross was not pretty.  The act, the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus was a glorious event for you and I for what it means for us, not for what it looked like.