Matthew 27

I've been thinking about brutality lately.

cruelty.

Earlier in the text we read about a woman caught in adultery,
about to be stoned to death.

I can't think about stubbing my toe without a shiver,
so when I read about this it almost doesn't seem real to me.
My mind skips right over it.
People can't really DO that to each other, can they?

How many rocks would it take to actually kill me?

What exactly would I die of?
loss of blood pressure from all the bruising?
terror?

What kind of expression would I see on my accuser's faces
as they are hurling stones at me?

I know, there is still plenty of brutality and cruelty in the world today;
maybe I shouldn't be so shocked.
I recently watched a film showing people getting their fingers chopped off
under Saddam's regime,
and people with their hands tied behind their backs being pushed off three-story buildings
as punishment.
Maybe not deadly, just high enough to break lotsa bones.

Man, I shudder to think about stuff like that...

Mat 27:26 Then he released Barabbas to them.
And when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered Him to be crucified.

You know, when I was reading about John getting his head chopped off
I thought it was pretty gruesome.
Now that I think about it, maybe he had it easy.
(don't tell him I said so)

From what I have heard of the Roman custom of scourging;
if the prisoner began confessing,
the strokes would go lighter.
if he was silent,
they would get harder and harder.
the bits of bone and metal woven into the braid would tear out pieces of flesh from the back,
and many died from it.

Although the text doesn't say it here,
I believe Jesus was silent.

-=-=-

and then...

To be crucified for a crime I didn't commit,
wouldn't I be screaming my innocence to anyone that would listen?

I just can't imagine it.
I tried pushing my thumb into my palm,
just to see what the nerves there feel like.
I can still feel it even though it was ten minutes ago.

Some people say a nail driven into a palm would never support any weight,
and that it was probably placed between the bones of the forearm, right above the wrist.
Try to wiggle your thumb between those bones just to see what it feels like.

really.
try it.

Man, there is one seriously painful nerve there!
It seems like the nailing alone would kill me!

geez, I'm such a wimp....

I've also heard that sometimes on a cross
there was a little horn of wood to kind of sit on,
so often it took more than three days to actually die,
sometimes up to seven.

but these guys were in a hurry.
"Hey, we got a feast to go to, let's get this over with".
so Jesus probably didn't have that support,
and his body collapsed quickly.

Imagine bent legs and nailed feet,
and trying to push with your legs enough
to take the pressure off your arms enough
to take a breath of air.
Slowly suffocating as your lungs fill up with fluid.
Muscles giving out, bones slowly popping out of their joints.

excruciating.
Whoever invented this was evil.

Would I have refused the gall that would have masked some of the pain?
I doubt it....!

And if these distasteful events threaten to spoil the feast and festivities?
no problem!
We'll just smash up their leg bones with a hammer.
That will speed things up and get us home for dinner, eh?

If I this had been me:

Mat 20:22 But Jesus answered and said, You do not know what you ask.
Are you able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of,
and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?
They said to Him, We are able.

I hope I would have said
NO!
No, I am NOT able.

God I pray I never have to prove myself with martyrdom