courtesy: Rev. Dennis Matthews- DKUMC

The Crucifixion

A medical doctor provides a physical description:

The cross is placed on the ground and the exhausted
man is quickly thrown backwards with his shoulders against
the wood. The legionnaire feels for the depression at the
front of the wrist. He drives a heavy, square wrought iron
nail through the wrist deep into the wood. Quickly, He moves
to the other side and repeats the action, being careful not
to pull the arms too tightly, but to allow some flex and movement.
The cross is then lifted into place. The left foot is pressed
backward against the right foot, and with both feet extended,
toes down, a nail is driven through the arch of each, leaving
the knees flexed.
The victim is now crucified. As he slowly sags down with more
weight on the nails in the wrists, excruciating fiery pain
shoots along the fingers and up the arms to explode in the brain.
The nails in the wrists are putting pressure on the median nerves.
As he pushes himself upward to avoid this stretching torment, he
places the full weight on the nail through his feet.
Again he feels the searing agony of the nail tearing through
the nerves between the bones of his feet. As the arms fatigue,
cramps sweep through his muscles, knotting them deep relentless,
throbbing pain.
With these cramps comes the inability to push himself upward to
breathe. Air can be drawn into the lungs but not exhaled. He fights
to raise himself in order to get even one small breath. Finally,
carbon dioxide builds up in the lungs and in the blood stream, and
the cramps partially subsided. Spasmodically, he is able to push
himself upward to exhale and bring in life-giving oxygen. Hours of
limitless pain, cycles of twisting, joint wrenching cramps,
intermittent partial asphyxiation, searing pain as tissue is torn
from his lacerated back as he moves up and down against rough timber.
Then another agony begins: a deep, crushing pain deep in the chest
as the pericardium slowly fills with serum and begins to compress
the heart. It is now almost over. The loss of tissue fluids has
reached a critical level-the compressed heart is struggling to
pump heavy, thick, sluggish blood into the tissues and the tortured
lungs are making frantic effort to gasp in small gulps of air. He
can feel the chill of death creeping through his tissues...
Finally, he can allow his body to die...
All this the Bible records with the simple words,
"and they crucified Him". (Mark 15:24)
What wondrous love is this? Many people don't know the pain and
suffering of this sentence is given to only the worst offenders of
the law. Thieves, murderers, and rapists would be the types of
creeps who got crucified. Yet, here Jesus is being crucified
between two hardened criminals...What did Jesus do? Did he murder
anyone? Did he steal anything? The answer as we all know is NO!!
Jesus did nothing to deserve this type of death, yet he went
willing to die, in between 2 thieves, so that we might be saved.
And there, in between the sinners, was our Savior slain for our sins.
Passing this on to 2 or 10 people won't get you good luck,
no free pair of Gap Jeans, no cruise, no money, but it might
open someone's eyes.
God Bless

Award received  on 6-18-98