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The Garden Of Gethsemane
It is easy to focus on the physical suffering of Jesus and forget that He also suffered emotionally and spiritually. We get our first glimpse of Jesus suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane. His emotional struggle is most evident here,during a time of prayer. Jesus was under such intense stress and anxiety that He suffered from a condition called hematidrosis; a condition in which capillary blood vessels that feed the sweat glands rupture, causing them to exude blood.
Also during this time, we get a glimpse of the great spiritual struggle that Jesus is having with being obedient to death on the cross. He pleaded with God to take the cup from Him, and provide another way. No doubt His impending physical suffering was weighing heavily on His heart.
Each element of his suffering was intimately intertwined with the other. His foreknowledge of the physical suffering to come, created a spiritual struggle; a fear of the physical pain that was so strong He wanted out, and even entertained the idea of not going through with God’s plan. This spiritual struggle created immense emotional trauma. Never before, had Jesus experienced such a strong compulsion to act outside His Father’s will. The struggle within His heart and soul was so intense it all but crippled him emotionally. As he crumbled under the weight of emotional turmoil, it manifested itself with physical symptoms.
A Roman Flogging
We are told that Jesus was flogged. What you may not realize is what a Roman flogging really means.
The Romans used a very specific tool to punish people. They used a leather whip with several leather straps stretching from the handle. This tool was designed to inflict the maximum amount of punishment.
Braided into the leather straps were metal balls which were intended to bruise and rupture the skin. With each swing of the whip, the metal balls would cause the skin to bruise and swell, and eventually rupture after multiple strikes.
Also woven into the straps, were pieces of bone with sharp and pointed edges. These were there to specifically rip flesh from bone. From the very first swing of the whip, there would be ripped and torn flesh.
I have read accounts that report Jesus would have suffered lacerations that would have covered his shoulders, back, and legs.
On The Cross
Crucifixion was such a horrible experience that no words in the English language were adequate to describe the pain associated with it. Therefore, the word excruciate was created to give expression to the inexplicable suffering endured with this form of death.
The first thing that would have happened is that Jesus’ arms would have been stretched and nailed to a wooden beam. This beam would then be attached to a vertical beam and his feet would be nailed to or strapped to a pedestal. He would then be hoisted in the air.
As Jesus hung on the cross, it is most likely, that his shoulders would become disjointed, causing intense pain. As his body hung there, it would be difficult for Him to breath. He would be forced to use His legs to push up so that He could expel and inhale, all the while, scraping the torn flesh on His shoulders and back, as He slide up and down the vertical beam.
Someone in Jesus condition would eventually die as a result of heart failure, because of blood loss, or asphyxiation, as he would eventual be to exhausted to push Himself up to breath.
Jesus Willingly Chose To Suffer
Jesus had multiple opportunities to speak out against these atrocities or walk away all together. Let me share the four most obvious ones with you:
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In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus struggled with the plan that God had placed in front of Him. It was obvious from His prayer that He did not want to endure the suffering that was to come. Yet, He comes to a place of resolve where He declares that He will follow His Heavenly Father’s will and not His own. He chose to go to the cross.
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The scene in the Garden of Gethsemane comes to a climax as Judas shows up with soldiers. There plan was to apprehend Jesus and Judas just needed to make sure they got the right man. As the events begin to unfold, Peter surprises everyone by drawing his sword and cutting off the ear of one of the soldiers. Not doubt he intended much worse. Jesus immediately puts a stop to Peter’s aggression. Then, through an act of grace and mercy, He heals the wounded soldier’s ear.
It’s at this point that Jesus explains that Peter is in error. He explained that, if He wanted to, He could call down a legion of angels to His rescue. Instead, He was going peacefully and once again choosing to go to the cross.
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After the Garden, Jesus was brought before the Jewish leaders. They pronounced Him guilty and hauled Him off to Pilate. Pilate could find no fault in Jesus so he sent Him off to Herod. Herod, not finding any fault with Him, sent Him back to Pilate.
In one of their exchanges, Pilate was baffled at Jesus’ lack of willingness to defend Himself. Especially since he did not believe that Jesus had done anything wrong. When admonished to defend Himself, Jesus did not comply. He was not interested in a defense. He had already chosen to go to the cross.
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In a final attempt to release Jesus, Pilate offered the people a choice, as was the custom. He offered up Barabbas, a known criminal and insurrectionist, or Jesus, whom Pilate believed to be innocent. Pilate was convinced that given the two choices presented to the people, they would choose to release Jesus.
Pilate miscalculated the contempt the Jewish leaders had for Jesus and was quite perplexed when they ask for Barabbas to be released and then cried out for Jesus to be crucified.
I can only imagine the heart ached Jesus felt as His fellow countrymen demanded a criminal go free and subsequently called for His execution, yet in that moment, He did not protest. He remained silent, once again affirming His choice to go to the cross.
The Lingering Question
As you have read above, Jesus suffered greatly. He suffered emotionally, spiritually, and physically during the chain of events that led to His death. All along the journey, Jesus made choice after choice to take the very painful journey to the cross where He would ultimately surrender His life. The question begs to be asked:
Why would Jesus willingly endure such anguish?
You owe it to yourself to discover the answer to this question. If you are interested in finding an answer, we want to encourage you to read the four gospel accounts found in the Bible. I would recommend starting with John, then reading Matthew, Mark, and Luke.
You can check back here in the weeks to come and we will hopefully help you better understand Jesus motive.
