Slideshow image

   Chances are you have a cross somewhere nearby right now. It might be hanging on the wall or sitting on a bookshelf. Maybe it's in a picture or painting or a piece of jewelry you're wearing. If you can see it right now, I want you to look at it for a moment; if you can't see on, close your eyes and picture a cross. 

 the vast majority of us, the cross we're looking at or picturing has one thing in common: Jesus isn't there. We don't see Him on the cross. And rightfully so. The cross wasn't the end of the story. As we like to say, "Sunday's coming."

But for six hours on the Friday that we call good, Jesus was there, on a very real cross, and what He experienced was agaony and enguish. It was suffering. Only, his suffering began before He even got there. 

Read Mark 15:6-39. After Pontius Pilate gave the people a choice between releasing Jesus and the muderous rebel Barabbas, they chose Barabbas. So, then, Pilate, mister "I wash my hands of this," decided crucifixion wan't going to be enough; he needed to have Jesus scourged first. And  this "scourging" wasn't some slap on the wrist. It wasn't a spanking. It was a beating with a whip that would often end up killing the person before any other type of punishment could be carried out. 

But it didn't stop there for Jesus. Pay attention to what follows. A whole company, about 600 hardened Roman soldiers, stripped Jesus of His clothes and paraded Him around in fake royal garments. They forced a crown of thorns on His head. They mocked Him. They beat Him with a stick. They spit on Him. They ridiculed Him. They forced Him to carry His cross until He physicall couldn't any longer. 

Only then did they crucify Him. They drove nails through His hands and feet and raised Him between two criminals. And after all this, everyone who was there, even some of those dying beside Him, continued to mock, insult, and make fun of Him. 

Yes, Jesus siffered. But He didn't just experience physical suffering and emotional suffering. The greatest pain He suffered was spiritual. 

Throughout all of the abuse Jesus endured, neither Mark nor any of the other Gospel writers recorded one moment of Him screaming in agony or cursing whose who tortured Him. But, after He there on that cross for six hours, enduring excruciating pain and struggling for every breath, Jesus finally broke His silence. 

Christ cried out, quoting Psalm 22,"my God, my God, why have you forsaken me/" If you read the rest of that psalm, you'll notice that like the psalmist, Jesus was also surrounded by mocking enemies and facing certain death. Like the psalmist, Jesus was abandoned by His friends, family and in Jesus' case, his followers. To make things worse, Jesus was even abandoned by the Father. At that moment, Jesus was completely and utterly alone. 

But it had to be this way. 

Jesus alone is God who took on flesh. Jesus alone faced every temptation and trouble in this world, yet He knew no sin. Jesus alone could bear our sin, every wrong thing you've ever done, every wrong thought I've ever conceived, every disobedience and rebellion committed throughout all time. He alone could suffer in our place. He alone could pay the penalty we owed. He alone could die for us. 

Why in this moment alone did Jesus cry out "my God" instead of "Father"? Because at that moment, God the Son had become the sinner's sacrifice. In turn, God the Father saw not His Son, but the sin of the world - my sin and your sin - and in His holiness, He turned away and left Him to die. 

Jesus died alone on that cross so you and I might live together with God in fellowship with Him. He suffered so we may be saved. And that's what makes this Friday so good. 

 

Something to think about:

 

1. Jesus is often referred to as a "man of sorrows" (Isaiah 53:3). How does it affect your understanding of who He is to also see Him as a man of suffering?

 

2. Read Psalm 22. In what ways do you see Christ reflected in the verses of this psalm?

 

3. Though perhaps not to the same extent, we also know what it's like to suffer or feel like we're surrounded by trouble. How does it help you to face those situation knowing Jesus is intimately familiar with the same things?

Content from "Alive Again" by YM360