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Men of Integrity, Mar/Apr 2000
| Suffering—Isaiah 42-61 |
Saturday, April 22
|
Up Close & Personal with James
MacDonald
Tortured for Me
Q. What did Jesus suffer?
A. At His trial, Mark 15:19 tells us, "Again and again they struck him on
the head with a staff." Then Jesus was flogged. An article in the Journal
of the American Medical Association states that "the iron balls would
cause deep contusions, and the leather thongs and sheep bones would cut into
the skin and subcutaneous tissues. The lacerations would tear into the underlying
skeletal muscles and produce quivering ribbons of bleeding flesh. Pain and blood
loss generally set the stage for circulatory shock."
In The Crucifixion of
Jesus, Dr. Truman Davis describes crucifixion: "As the arms fatigue,
great waves of cramps sweep over the muscles. With these cramps comes the inability
to push oneself upward. Air can be drawn into the lungs but cannot be exhaled.
The person presses himself up to get a breath of air and then to release the
pain of pulling on the nails he lets down and then up again and then down, until
finally the person has no strength left and suffocates."
Why did Jesus have to
suffer?
To pay for the sins of
mankind. 1 John 4:10 says, "God … sent his Son to be the payment for
our sin." We used to sing this chorus: "He paid a debt He did not
owe. I owed a debt I could not pay." Why did He have to pay? To satisfy
the demands of God's wrath.
Romans 5:1 says, "Therefore,
being justified by faith we have peace with God." Peace with God is the
absence of anger. As much as He loves you, he hates your sin with a holy, burning
hatred that you cannot comprehend. The only way He could embrace you was to
take His hatred for your sin and make someone else pay for it, someone perfect.
Since we're all sinners, He came Himself and died for us. That's the gospel:
Jesus suffered to pay for the sins of mankind.
— James MacDonald pastors Harvest Bible Chapel in Rolling
Meadows, Illinois, and teaches on the national radio program "Walk in the Word."
Credits: Adapted from— Preaching
Today
Copyright © 2000 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of
Integrity. For reprint information click here.
March/April 2000, April 22, 2000
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