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A Personal Devotional by Debbie Hall
Passion Perspective: What Hurt Jesus Most
“If someone has committed a crime worthy of death and is executed and then hanged on a tree, the body must never remain on the tree overnight. You must bury the body that same day, for anyone hanging on a tree is cursed by God.” Moses, 1410 BC (NLT)
It seems like everyone is talking about Mel Gibson’s movie the Passion of the Christ. In graphic detail Jesus Christ is shown suffering and dying for the sins of the world. Everyone seeing it is startled at the reality of what Jesus went through during those hours for sinners. As I watched the movie there were dozens of times I said a silent prayer: “thank you Jesus for dying for me.” But let me make a startling statement to you: the physical suffering Jesus endured was not what caused him the most pain that day. There was a greater anguish that engulfed him on that cross. I’ll explain. But first let’s remember what he suffered:
- The betrayal of Judas Iscariot
- Being seized in the middle of the night like a criminal
- The scattering of his disciples
- The denial by Peter that he knew the Lord
- The false accusations of the ignorant
- The charge of blasphemy by the high priest
- Being spit on, mocked and struck by the guards and later soldiers
- Being dragged back and forth between Pilate and Herod
- The crowd choosing to release the infamous Barabbas instead of Christ
- The violent scourging by the Roman soldiers- anyone who has seen pictures of the Roman instruments of torture knows they were designed to rip flesh open
- Further mockery by the Roman soldiers- a crown of thorns, a scarlet robe
- The crucifixion itself- being hung on a cross as an example of what Rome does to criminals- low enough for wild dogs to tear at your lower extremities, secured enough, no doubt, for crows to pick at your flesh from above
Despite all of that, there is a statement that Jesus makes on the cross that is key to understanding the crucifixion, and all other suffering pales in comparison to that moment. Just before he died, Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” At that moment he experienced his greatest suffering. Do you know why?
The Bible describes the relationship between Jesus and God the Father as one of incredible closeness and unity. All the way back in Genesis 1:26 God had said, “Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness…” In John 10:30 Jesus had stated, “I and My Father are one.” Jesus’ prayed for his disciples in the upper room “that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.”
Before time began, Father, Son and Holy Spirit enjoyed perfect fellowship in Heaven. Now, hanging on the cross, the sins of the world were placed on the Son, and for that instant in time the Father looked down and saw not His son but our sin. And for the only time in all of eternity, Jesus felt forsaken by the Father, because in His pure essence the Father cannot tolerate sin in His presence. That moment was the most painful for Jesus, separation from his beloved Father. And so He cried out: “My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me.”
Later the apostle Paul reinforces that that is what happened when he said, in 2 Corinthians 5:21, “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
So what do you do about it? That same Paul tells us in Romans 10:9-11, “if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, “whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.”
If I can be of help to you spiritually, call me at Wayne Hills Baptist Church.
Rev. Danny Campbell, Pastor