5 mins at the Cross
I’ve been fortunate to speak with folks from across the entire spectrum of Christian doctrine.
It’s particularly striking to observe different responses to God’s gift of forgiveness. I’ve seen roughly two types of responders: transformers and entitlement.
Both groups have some things in common and many differences too. Both acknowledge that God is a loving, incredibly benevolent and graceful Father to whom they are deeply indebted. The difference is how this awareness alters their lives forever.
The first camp (‘the transformers’) expresses gratitude by quitting their sinful habits and pursuing radical change — the good kind. Of course, no right-thinking human can live 100% free of sin. So transformers have their fair share of slip-ups: rage, lust, bitterness, laziness, pornography, slander, hatred etc. But they realise they’re in danger of slip-ups becoming full-blown habits and then full-blown lifestyles. So they don’t linger long wallowing in passive regret but fight hard to re-commit themselves.
The second camp (‘the entitled lot’) absolutely love the idea of being forgiven, they’d talk about it all day if you let them. They’re head over heels with their benevolent Father, who paid a steep price to earn them freedom. You can tell because they show up at prayer sessions, never miss a day of affirmations, and hang out with Christian friends. You won’t find them folding their arms in the back row at Church. They’re either choristers, or ushers, or on the media team. Wherever you need them to serve, they’re there.
The trouble with the ‘entitled’ is that their excitement for the gift of salvation isn’t enough to make them let go of their bad habits. Yeah, they would give anything to be in the front row of a Hillsong concert, but that doesn’t stop them from crawling downtown clubs on Friday night. Their Instagram bio may have scriptures, but they don’t mind rolling up a blunt or getting wasted at a friend’s birthday party.
For the entitled lot, God’s forgiveness is an eternal life insurance card tucked in their back pocket. His abounding forgiveness fetches them immunity from judgment and a license to sin it up because ‘God’s grace’ will always make up for their bad decisions.
If I were a physician and had to prescribe one thing for the entitled, it’d be 5 minutes reflecting on the Cross for a badly needed reminder of all Jesus endured for them to renounce their sinful lifestyles. So today, we’re journeying back 2,000 years ago to remind ourselves of the horror of the crucifixion.
I’ve rounded up 5 iconic moments that capture the loneliness, agony, depression, despair, and anguish Jesus suffered through on the Cross. I encourage you to read Dr C. Truman Davis’s complete medical analysis of the crucifixion. Dr. Davis is a physician and University of Tennessee College of Medicine graduate. Dr. Davis elevates the crucifixion story in graphic, gut-wrenching detail from the perspective of a trained medical physician.
5 mins at the Cross
- Bloody sweat
As the time for his suffering drew near, Jesus came very close to a panic attack. On the night he was arrested, He took his men to one of his favourite prayer spots: the Mount of Olives in East Jerusalem. He was desperate for precious solitude and prayer before the tragic ordeal that awaited him. Though his captors hadn’t yet taken him into custody, the thought of what he was about to endure tormented him. Luke describes that Jesus was in so much anguish that he started exhibiting symptoms of ‘Hematidrosis’, otherwise known as bloody sweat (Luke 22:41–44). A very rare condition where tiny capillaries in the sweat glands burst, leaking blood into your sweat.
2. Whipped like a wild animal
It’s assumed Jesus was given 39 lashes because of a Jewish law that prohibited more than 40 lashes. But that’s speculation at best because the Roman soldiers weren’t bound by Jewish law. It wouldn’t be out of place for the callous and brutish Roman soldiers to exceed 39 lashes. Jesus was flogged with a flagrum, a small rod has balls of lead. It might as well have been a butcher’s knife, its sole purpose was to rip apart Jesus’ skin with each blow to his shoulders, legs and back.
3. No pain, no gain
In throbbing pain, bleeding, delirious, and desperately thirsty, Jesus refused a pain reliever offered to him. It was customary for Roman soldiers to offer crucifixion victims a cheap Roman vinegar wine mixed with myrrh to dim the excruciating pain. So what right man wouldn’t gulp down the mixture even if it only brought fleeting relief? But Jesus rejected it. Why? He didn’t want any shortcuts. He wanted to feel the full brunt of the judgement he took on our behalf and pay the full price for our freedom.
4. To hell and back
One of the most iconic moments of the crucifixion is when Jesus cries out, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”. More than an expression of tortured agony, this was actually a statement of fact. The moment Jesus took on the sin of mankind on the Cross, God had to turn his back on him because a holy God can’t associate with sin. For the very first time in history, God separated from his son to protect His holiness. Hell is the only place where one experiences total and perpetual seclusion from God. So, in a sense, Jesus went to Hell on the Cross.
Beyond the gore, I hope you see Jesus’s ultimate dreams and hopes. His fondest desire is that his sacrifice spurs us to live transformed. The greatest tragedy is that many of us want His forgiveness, but nothing to do with the transformation accompanying it. Your salvation means nothing if you aren’t living like you are saved.
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