As of the time of this writing, it is 9:30 a.m. on Good Friday, which represents the very time Jesus was crucified and had been hanging for about 30 minutes on a stake. He would have another five hours and thirty minutes before his suffering is finished.
To put this into perspective, crucifixion is considered the most offensive and painful death ever invented in this world (Hengel). By the time of Jesus it had been perfected over a period of more than six hundred years, beginning with the Persians. In fact, the very word excruciating is a Latin word meaning literally “from the cross.”
The Romans had a custom of flogging most people before nailing them on the cross, just as Jesus was (John 19:1). The result of a Roman flogging was a flayed back and buttocks, leaving only ribbons of skin. According to scholars, many didn’t survive the flogging because of shock and loss of blood. The Jews had a law limiting the number of lashings to forty (Deut. 25:3), presumably to prevent death by torture – but the Romans had no such law.
Crucifixion involved being stripped totally naked (unlike how we’re used to seeing Jesus with a rag about his waist). Nails were driven through the most sensitive nerve centers in the body. A crucified man could be in only two states: rigid, with pressure on the nailed feet, allowing him to draw breath; or limp, with pressure on the nailed hands in a state of asphyxiation. Crucifixon is a state of constant agony and sometimes lasted as long as four days, or in some cases nine days (Hengel). According to Hengel, it is likely Jesus died after six hours from loss of blood due to his flogging. Mark Driscoll said he believes it was a heart attack from falling under his cross beam as he carried it. Either way, six hours is a long time to hang against a roughly hewn block of wood with a skinless back. Think about what you were doing six hours ago, and imagine hanging from then until now.
Hengel claims the idea of crucifixion was so offensive to ancient civilized society, it was the main barrier to getting people to believe. No all-powerful, dignified deity would lower himself to that level of barbarity. Paul supports this idea when he wrote the crucified Lord is “foolishness” to Gentiles (1Cor. 1:23). Indeed, the scene was filled with more than blood. During those last six hours Jesus gradually lost control of his body, whereupon his vomit, urine and feces collected with his blood at the foot of his cross. This was for everyone to see – he was naked. During the last hour, his skin (that was left) was completely white and blanched, with no blood to give it color. His beard was pulled out, his body in ribbons, and his skin blanched white. Only Isaiah captures best how people saw Jesus in his last hours: “his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind” (Isa. 52:14, ESV).
In his book called The Problem of Pain, C. S Lewis talks about the divine humility of God, that he would accept us by dying the way he did, even when He is our last resort, and our last choice. God deserves more, he demands more, and he knew we could not meet his demand – so he met it on the cross, and that is what today is all about. May all of you know, I don’t need to say “God bless you” because he already has.
Works Cited
Hengel, Martin. Crucifixion. London: Fortress, 1977.
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