Jesus' Death

I know the anniversary of Jesus' Death, "Good Friday" as we call it, was,.. well,.. Friday.  And yes, I know it is Easter and I am supposed to be focused on the resurrection, so please forgive me for the old topic switch-a-roo I'm pulling.

I've been writing about how much of the suffering and pain we experience in life comes from mankind's rebellion against God.  It comes from evil, from sin, from disobedience.  There is no clearer example of this than the suffering Jesus' experienced in his torture and subsequent death. 

In fact it is because of this that I often wonder why we call it "Good Friday"?  In my mind "Man's Most Evil Deed Friday" or "Man's Darkest Hour Friday" seems much more apropos.  Seriously, we took the sinless, sick-healing, deaf-and-dumb-curing, demon-casting, dead-raising, poor-teaching, people-loving Son Of God, and poured out deed after deed of hatred upon Him until He died.  If mankind is capable of this wickedness, there is no evil that we are not capable of.

Here is a summary of the suffering Jesus went through:
* Jesus was put under tremendous stress simply knowing what was about to happen as evidenced by His prayers in the garden of Gethsemane. (Matthew 25:36-36, Mark 14:32-42, Luke 22:39-46)

* He was taken first to the high priest where He was lied about, mocked, spat on, beaten, and slapped.  In fact they made fun of Jesus by blind-folding Him, striking Him, then saying "Prophesy to us, Christ! Who is the one who struck You?”  To top it all of Peter, one of Jesus' best friends who had come to see what would happen, denied that he knew Jesus three times, to the point of cursing and swearing that he didn't even know Jesus.  (Matthew 26:57-75, Mark 14:53-72, Luke 22:54-71, John 18:12-27)

* They took Jesus to Pilate the governor where they falsely accused him of whatever they thought might get Jesus crucified.  Meanwhile Jesus said nothing in His own defense.

* Pilate learns that Jesus really falls under Herod's jurisdiction, so he sends Jesus to Herod.  There they again falsely accuse Jesus of all kinds of things (and for those of us who think that's no big deal, how do you normally feel when someone lies about you just to get in your trouble, let alone get you executed?)  The soldiers make fun of Jesus even to the point of dressing him up in a royal robe to mock the idea that Jesus is a king.  (Luke 23:6-12)

* Jesus gets sent back to Pilate where he is whipped, mocked, given a crown of thorns, hit on the head while wearing the crown of thorns, beaten some more and spat on some more.  (Matthew 27:15-31, Mark 15:6-20, Luke 23:13-25 and John 19:1-16)

* Of course then He is crucified with nails like railroad spikes driven through his hands and feet.  Not to be content with that, the religous leaders who plotted all of this continued to insult and make fun of Jesus.  They even tempted Jesus to give up and save Himself instead of dying for us without even realizing it. (See the rest of Matthew 27, Mark 15, Luke 23 and John 19).

But even as I write this I know it doesn't do the suffering that Jesus went through justice.  There is no way for us to really know how bad the mental, physical, and spiritual torture that Jesus endured was.

So what do I say in response to this?  1)  Thank you, Jesus.  I know and understand that you took the punishment for me, both for the evil I've done and the good I've failed to do.  2)  May I live a life that daily shows my appreciation by all I do, say, and even think.

Last thought for this blog:  More than ever, the story of Jesus' death leads me to despise Satan's ways and to embrace God's.  All of these things that were done to Jesus fall on Satan's side of the fence.  Yet all of what Jesus did - forgive, endure, maintain self-control, be unselfish, and most of all - love us to the point of dying for us, are God's ways. 

Please understand when I say this that I am still tempted to do evil and unfortunately always will be this side of the grave.  But in my heart more than ever I want to embrace God 110%, and to reject Satan with the same fervor.  I hope you feel the same way.

Till next time!