Christ's Suffering

Thursday, August 17, 2017

1st Peter 3:18a: For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God...

Mel Gibson's movie, "The Passion of the Christ," showed us something that we have not seen in art revolving around Jesus' crucifixion. What the movie showed was the climax of Jesus' suffering.

Jesus was brutalized. Jesus was beaten within an inch of His life and He survived that. Jesus was whipped with a whip that was multi-tipped. On the ends of the tips, rocks and pieces of metal were tied. It was designed to tear the flesh right to the bone. And that is before He got to the cross. Jesus was hit with it THIRTY NINE TIMES!

Then Jesus was nailed to the cross. Jim Caviezel, the actor who portrayed Jesus, suffered a dislocated shoulder as a result. The cause of death from crucifixion is not blood loss. It is suffocation. Jesus couldn't breathe. In order to breathe, Jesus' shoulders and arms needed to be at least level. In order to get there, Jesus had to push up with His feet and "stand up." With the nails through the feet and hand along with His body raw and bleeding, the pain had to be excruciating.

If you saw the movie, the image with words I'm trying to paint, pales with what was shown. What was shown was real. The suffering of Jesus climaxed with blood shed and body broken. Jesus' suffering gave to those who suffer with sin, hardships, heartaches, grief, death, loss, and so much more LIFE, GRACE, PEACE, COMFORT, AND LOVE. Jesus suffered, died, and was buried to save His creation from itself and the lies of Satan.

So what do you think? What does Jesus' suffering mean for you? Let's "talk" about it. Dear God be with our discussion and lead us to Your truth, Amen!