I invite you to watch the above video before reading further. I ran across this short devotional video tonight and the message jumped out at me. Why is it that some "Christians" are reluctant to go the full distance? I think that the answer can be found in the words of the video's narrator, we fail to realize the magnitude of the gift we were given.

Mel Gibson's Passion of the Christ was a huge wake up call to Christians. Some of the more traditional films about the crucifiction and death of Jesus Christ tended to show the cross in a more gentle light. However, the reality of crucifiction was anything but gentle. As we aproach the Easter Season I think it is worth taking a close look at the actual crucifiction story so that we can understand the magnitude of the gift we have been given.

We could pick apart bit by bit all of the actions from the time Jesus was betrayed in the garden until the moment he died on the cross, but I want to focus with you on the two most brutal acts perpetrated against our Lord. I warn you that what follows will be graphic, but then again so were the actions of those who killed the Christ.

Let us first look at the flogging that Jesus experienced before his march to Calvary. If we make a study of the tool popularly used by the Romans at this time you will find that it was not the typical bull whip that many people in America think of when they hear about a whip. The whip instead had several strands and entwined in each strand would be strips of metal, chunks of shell, and other various jagged, sharp objects.

The purpose, of course, of having these materials entertwined was to cause more damage to the body as the materials dug into the flesh and were drug across in a tearing motion. The severe and brutal style of beating that Jesus received was not just to inflict pain but to cause the body of the person to be crucified to fall into early stages of shock.

Once the beating and flogging had been sustained, Jesus was forced to carry his cross to the top of Calvary, also called Galgotha. A full cross in Roman days would have weighed in excess of 300 lbs. Some have suggested that the Romans would have left the vertical beam in place because it was the regular area that this type of execution was carried out. There is little dispute though that those being crucified would have at least carried their upper beam which in themselves would have weighed between 75 and 125 lbs. For a body in the rugged and tortured state that Jesus now found himself in, carrying any weight for this considerable distance would have been excrutiating.

Once Jesus reached Calvary the real pain would begin. He would have been laid on top of his cross and held down as the nails were driven through his hands, some documentation suggests that the actual sight of the nails would be in the wrists because they provided a sturdier area for the body to be suspended from. Next came nails in the feet to secure his legs. Before he was hoisted upright the cross would be rolled over and laid on top of his body as the Romans used a hammer to bend the nails over in the back so the nails would not pull out.

Then the slow and agonizing process of dying actually began. Death on the cross was a death of sufication. As Jesus hung on the cross his body weight pulled him away from the wooden beams causing his arms to spread wide. If he did not pull against the nails embedded in his hands the weight of his body would restrict his chest from being able to rise and fall. So in this instant, as every inch of his being was burning and crying out he would pull against the nails holding him to the cross, tearing his flesh and muscle worse with each strain, to allow himself to breathe. In the end the one who breathed life into man would perish from a lack of oxygen as his body no longer could fight the strain and pain.

Of course, as Christians we know the humbling truth. He could have come down, he could have said no more that's it, I'm done with you and your kind. But he didn't, he stayed so that you and I would not have to endure that same kind of horror. Jesus paid the price for the sins we all commit and in doing so gave us the gift the video is talking about, Salvation. May we all see the value of his gift and never act as though it was an easy decision or an easy sacrifice. Jesus chose to endure a horrible trial, let us honor his gift by giving it the weight it deserves.

Thank you Jesus! Thank you!