I read the other day that Jesus couldn’t wait to get to the cross.  He was clawing His way to get there. That’s ridiculous!  I get so mad every time I think about it!

Today, Good Friday, always gets me. It has a shadow on it – a sadness.  Throughout the day, I’ll think about Jesus all of those years ago working his way – struggling His way through this day.  This was it for Him.  This was the end of His earthly ministry and the thing  He had been working toward His entire life. 

When doubting my faith several years ago, part of my studies led to His crucifixion. The following is information gathered from the Case for Christ.  

After the Lord’s Supper, Jesus went with the disciples to the Mt. of Olives – the Garden of Gethsemane. He prayed all night and asked God repeatedly if there was some other way. He was under such psychological stress that he sweat blood – a real medical condition called hematidrosis. This set his skin up to be extremely fragile so that when Jesus was beaten, His skin would be very, very sensitive.

The moment came when Jesus set his gaze forward – determined that He would endure.  He accepted Judas’ kiss and was led to be sacrificed where He would experience the worst death conceivable. In fact, the word excruciating means “out of the cross”.

Roman floggings were known to be brutal.  They usually consisted of 39 lashes, but were often more than that depending on the mood of the soldier delivering the beating.  The soldier would use a whip of braided leather thongs with metal balls woven into them.  When the whip would strike the flesh, these balls would cause deep bruises or contusions, which would break open with further blows.  The whip had pieces of sharp bones as well which would cut the flesh severely.  The back would be so shredded that part of the spine was sometimes exposed by the deep cuts.  The whipping would have gone from the shoulders down to the back, the buttocks, and the back of the legs.

As the beating continued, the lacerations would tear into the underlying skeletal muscles and produce quivering ribbons of bleeding flesh. A third century historian described a flogging by saying, “The sufferer’s veins were laid bare, and the very muscles, sinews and bowels of the victim were open to exposure.”

When Jesus arrived at the site of the crucifixion, He would have been laid down, and his hands would have been nailed in the outstretched position to a horizontal beam.  This crossbar was separate from the vertical beam, which was permanently set in the ground. The Romans used spikes that were five to seven inches long and tapered to a sharp point.  They were driven through the wrists because it was a solid position that would lock the hand.  If the nails had been driven through the  palms, his weight would have caused the skin to tear and He would have fallen off the cross. The spike would go through the place where the median nerve runs.  This is the largest nerve going out to the hand, and it would be crushed by the spike that was being pounded in. When you accidentally hit your funny bone you are hitting the ulna nerve.  Picture taking a pair of pliers and squeezing and crushing that nerve.  That pain would be similar to what Jesus experienced.

At this point, Jesus was lifted as the crossbar was attached to the vertical stake, and then nails were driven through Jesus’ feet.  The nerves in His feet would have been crushed, and there would have been the similar pain he experienced in His wrists.

His arms would have immediately been stretched, probably about six inches in length, and both shoulders would have become dislocated.

Once Jesus was hanging in the vertical position, crucifixions was an agonizingly slow death by asphyxiation.  The reason is that the stresses on the muscles and diaphragm put he chest into the inhaled position. In order to exhale, Jesus would have to push up on His feet so the tension on the muscles would be eased for a moment.  In doing so, the nail would tear through the foot eventually locking up against the tarsal bones.  After managing to exhale, Jesus would then be able to come down and take in another breath.  Again He would have to push Himself up to exhale, scraping His bloodied back against the coarse wood of the cross.  This would go on and on until complete exhaustion would take over, and He wasn’t able to push up and breathe anymore.

As His breathing slowed down, He would have experienced an irregular heartbeat.  With His heart beating erratically, Jesus would have known that He was at the moment of death, which is when He was able to say, “Lord, into Your hands, I commit My Spirit.” And then He died of cardiac arrest.

He did that.  He loved us that much. How?  How did He do that? I came across Hebrews 12:2 and found my answer. “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, Who for the JOY set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Right now, you might be facing something difficult – something you don’t want to do. Consider what Jesus did. Consider how He faced something so horrific.  He focused on the future and the JOY He wanted to experience.  He focused on how He wanted the story to end.Focus on how you want this circumstance or relationship to look in the end.  That will help you get through the hard to experience the joy that God promises.