Once when I was talking about the crucifixion to some Key Stage 1
children one child asked “Did that really happen?” I said yes
and then the child looked at a picture of Jesus on the cross with
blood all over his body, and said “It must have really hurt.”
That child suddenly understood the reality of what happened to Jesus
on the cross: a real human, with flesh and blood like us suffered an
agonising death. We tend to sanitise the events of Good Friday; even
though our churches are full of crosses most of them are smooth, and
a lot of them are shiny – and few of them show the dying Jesus
hanging on them. This latter point reminds us, of course, that Jesus
didn't stay dead but rose from the dead on Easter Sunday, however it
seems to me that all too often we rush past Jesus' death to get to
his resurrection.
And even when Jesus is depicted on the cross we don't see the
suffering: he is often already dead and looking peaceful; the blood
is minimal and his nakedness is covered. But does all this matter?
Crucifixion is a cruel and, literally, excruciating death but that
doesn't mean we need to show it in all its harrowing reality. But
what we do need to do is to remember that it was an horrific event,
not just to witness but for Jesus himself. Because if we don't
comprehend the appalling nature of Jesus' death, if we think of it as
just something Jesus did as easily as eating and sleeping, then we might
never ask the question 'why?'
“Why did Jesus willingly and intentionally go through such an
agonising death?” is perhaps one of the most important questions we
can ever ask. In the face of it a lot of our misconceptions about
Jesus are shattered. If he was just a wise teacher, his death
stopped him being able to teach more people in more places. If he
was a revolutionary, he gave up without a fight. He didn't die to
take someone's place in a hostage type situation, nor as a martyr for
a philosophical, moral or religious principle. Humanly-speaking
Jesus' death was pointless and unnecessary.
So
why did Jesus willingly and intentionally go through
such an agonising death? It can only be because it achieved his
mission. Jesus said that he came “to seek and to save the lost”
(Luke 19:10 - 'the lost' being sinners [Luke 15]), and that he would
“give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). 700 years
beforehand, Isaiah had written about Jesus' death: “he was wounded
and bruised for our sins. He was beaten that we might have
peace; he was lashed—and we were healed! We—every one of
us—have strayed away like sheep! We, who left God’s paths
to follow our own. Yet God laid on him the guilt and sins of
every one of us!” (Isaiah 53:4-6 The Living Bible). No wonder we
want to ignore the reality of the crucifixion – the agony Jesus
suffered is a result of our sin, but amazingly it is also our
salvation.
Image: Theyre Lee-Elliott "Crucified tree form - the agony".
Image Copyright © Trustees for Methodist Church Purposes. https://www.methodist.org.uk/our-faith/reflecting-on-faith/the-methodist-modern-art-collection/
