Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”
39 Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” Matthew 26:38-39
67 Then they spit in his face and struck him with their fists. Others slapped him 68 and said, “Prophesy to us, Messiah. Who hit you?” Matthew 26:67 - 68
27 Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. 28 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. 31 After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him. Matthew 27:27-31
17 Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). 18 There they crucified him, and with him two others—one on each side and Jesus in the middle.
John 19:17-18
Such awful cruelty I can't even imagine. I've heard this story so many times that I've almost become numb to the brutality of it. Honestly, I don't like to think about it. I love to thank Him for his sacrifice, but I focus on the good that resulted, not the actual event.
But on this day, I have to think about it, to feel it. And I am amazed at how horrible people can be, that they would do this to anyone, much less the savior of the world. I shudder to think what part I would have played had I lived then. I grieve for Jesus' mother and family as they had to watch their loved one die, their hopes crushed, not fully realizing what was to come.
Most of all I thank God for His sacrifice on that dark day. Through it my life is forever changed.
When I survey the wondrous cross
on which the Prince of glory died
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.
Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the death of Christ my God!
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood.
Save in the death of Christ my God!
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood.
See from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down!
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?
Sorrow and love flow mingled down!
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?
Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.
I have often wondered why God chose the cross for Jesus to die on - or that method persay. Maybe it had to do with the outstretched arms. The reason I say this is that time period of humanity was brutal (as was later). I mean people for sport during that time would go and watch prisoners get tossed into the Lion Pit - it was a big to do and the whole town would turn out to watch. Similar with "Witch" burnings in later centuries. There have to have been people during that time that thought it was not entertaining, etc - just as there are people today that don't like to watch movies where that happens to people (me!) - I bet you would have been one of those.
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