And you must be willing to share my cross and experience it as your own, s as you continually surrender to my ways. Matt 16:24b (PT)

Being Crucified – Cross Series Part 4

Go to  PART 1  |  PART 2  |  PART 3

When Jesus spoke these words to his disciples, he was heading into possibly the most intense time of his ministry. He knew that death on a Roman cross awaited him. Crucifixion was not uncommon in Jesus day. The Romans used this method of execution as a device to subdue and conquer the realms they occupied. It was a long, painful and public death that sent a signal to one and all. Its destruction was powerful not only for the individual that hung upon it but those who watched on in tortured silence and grief.

When someone was nailed to a cross, it was Rome's way of saying that it didn’t matter who you were, what you did, or how much money you had, it was more powerful. Someone being crucified was stripped naked, tortured as they hung, becoming unrecognisable as an individual, being just barely a hunk of flesh and blood. Crucifixion stripped a person of their identity as being anything other than being dominated by Rome.

Seeing a cross in a field or on a hilltop for those in Jesus day communicated a strong and violent message.

One would think that to be saved from this way of living; from Roman occupation; to enter into freedom; to find justice and cultural redemption, that you would flee from crucifixion, fight it or at least walk away from it.

But Jesus walked towards it with intent and understanding (but not without a struggle “take this cup from me…”). He embraced this loss of identity and the destruction of constructs and submitted himself to the most painful, humiliating, vulnerable, and exposed death one can endure.

Strange move for a king.

Awkward move for a saviour.

Unbelievable and unacceptable behaviour from the most powerful force in the universe.

Jesus stared death in the face, he clothed himself with it and wore it on his back. He joined in our humanity and our suffering. And as he hung on a Roman cross, people staring in shock and horror, he was no longer a king or a saviour… He was reduced to a pile of flesh, forsaken and abandoned. His identity was shredded to pieces of skin and the slick of blood flowing down rough wood and into the ground…

The most awful, painful, violent and horrific thing that could happen to a human being happened to Jesus.

And it wasn’t the end.

Go to Part 5 – The Night »