And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads and saying, “You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” Matthew 27:39-40
Golgotha is the site of the crucifixion. It is situated at a major intersection outside the city. Those who passed by stared at Jesus, the condemned King of the Jews, hanging on the cross.
Slowly He began to sag down more and more. The downward pull of His weight, held up only by nails pierced through His wrists, caused excruciating pain to shoot up His arms. In an attempt to relieve the pain, Jesus pushed up on the two wounds in His feet, resulting in even more agony. Hour after hour, He endured wrenching pain in His arms and legs. After awhile, the pain made it impossible to move at all.
Dr. Truman Davis analyzed the gospel account and came to the following medical conclusion: By now, cramps would have swept over the muscles, knotting them in deep, relentless, throbbing pain. With these cramps came the inability to push Himself upward.
Hanging by His arms, the pectoral muscles were paralyzed and unable to act. Air can be drawn into the lungs but it can’t be exhaled. Finally, carbon dioxide builds up in the lungs and in the blood stream, causing partial asphyxiation. There would now be a deep crushing pain in the chest as the pericardium slowly begins to fill with fluid and compresses the heart. All this would lead to a certain, inescapable, excruciating death.
The critics and cynics around were hurling insults at Jesus, shaking their heads and saying, “If You are truly the Son of God, save Yourself! Come down from the cross!” Why didn’t Jesus, the Son of the living God, the Creator of the Universe, do that?
Jesus could have come down. But He stayed on that cross because
(1) He loved us so unconditionally.
(2) He wanted to free us from the bondage of sin.
(3) He wanted to take our infirmities and bear our sicknesses.
(4) He wanted to set us free from every curse of poverty and defeat.
(5) He wanted to reconcile us back to Father God and give us a home in heaven. As you meditate on God’s Word today, fix your eyes on “Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb. 12:2).
Golgotha is the site of the crucifixion. It is situated at a major intersection outside the city. Those who passed by stared at Jesus, the condemned King of the Jews, hanging on the cross.
Slowly He began to sag down more and more. The downward pull of His weight, held up only by nails pierced through His wrists, caused excruciating pain to shoot up His arms. In an attempt to relieve the pain, Jesus pushed up on the two wounds in His feet, resulting in even more agony. Hour after hour, He endured wrenching pain in His arms and legs. After awhile, the pain made it impossible to move at all.
Dr. Truman Davis analyzed the gospel account and came to the following medical conclusion: By now, cramps would have swept over the muscles, knotting them in deep, relentless, throbbing pain. With these cramps came the inability to push Himself upward.
Hanging by His arms, the pectoral muscles were paralyzed and unable to act. Air can be drawn into the lungs but it can’t be exhaled. Finally, carbon dioxide builds up in the lungs and in the blood stream, causing partial asphyxiation. There would now be a deep crushing pain in the chest as the pericardium slowly begins to fill with fluid and compresses the heart. All this would lead to a certain, inescapable, excruciating death.
The critics and cynics around were hurling insults at Jesus, shaking their heads and saying, “If You are truly the Son of God, save Yourself! Come down from the cross!” Why didn’t Jesus, the Son of the living God, the Creator of the Universe, do that?
Jesus could have come down. But He stayed on that cross because
(1) He loved us so unconditionally.
(2) He wanted to free us from the bondage of sin.
(3) He wanted to take our infirmities and bear our sicknesses.
(4) He wanted to set us free from every curse of poverty and defeat.
(5) He wanted to reconcile us back to Father God and give us a home in heaven. As you meditate on God’s Word today, fix your eyes on “Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb. 12:2).
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