Thursday, June 10, 2010

Buzzwords: Crucified

We hear this word all the time. Jesus was crucified. Several years ago now the movie was released "The Passion of the Christ" and with its release came a renewed sense of appreciation for the agony that Jesus went through. There were stories of people having heart attacks during the movie because of its graphic nature. I can tell you two things for sure about that movie... It was the most accurate depiction of the crucifixion we have ever seen on film, and it is still nowhere close to conveying the pain that Jesus experienced. Movies are fake, actors are protected, sets are guarded, the government has regulations on what can be shown. It was far more painful than that. So painful in fact that they had to invent a word for it... excruciating, which means "out of the cross".

But you want to know the real dirty secret...? Watching those scenes makes me understand what Jesus went through, but it doesn't help me experience it. I really can't relate to the physical pain Jesus felt because (believe it or not) I have never been crucified. I broke my hand once, it kind of hurt, I thought it might be broken, but that's nowhere close to the same thing.

However, I can experience just a glimpse of what Jesus felt if I fully understand what He did. The greatest pain Jesus experienced on the cross was not from the crack of a whip, or the pressure of a thorn, or the impact of a fist, or the splinter of wood, or the pierce of a nail. It was from experiencing the pain that the sins of everyone who would ever live put in His heart. I may not know what everyone's sin feels like, but I know mine. I know the pain I feel when I let someone down, I know the pain I feel when I am disgusted with myself, I know the pain I feel when the consequences of my sin hit. If I can remember that pain and magnify it infinitely... THAT is what Jesus felt. MY Savior, MY Lord, MY God took that willingly so I would be free from it for eternity in Heaven.

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