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Keep the Blood Warm


A man being tortured to the worst capacity. Soldiers unapologetically whipping this man with leather cords having glass, nails, and other brutal objects attached to the end, while mocking him and laughing as they tear his flesh. Crowds cheering on while watching as if this kind of thing is normal. How could anything be worse? 

 

This man must have committed the worst of the worse crimes. He must have been caught doing something unimaginably evil. But something is different. Something is different about the man being tortured beyond human capacity. He doesn’t try to last minute plead innocent. He doesn’t yell back and curse the soldiers who spit in his face and whip him countless times. He doesn’t defend his reputation when people in the crowds say he is a blasphemer. Instead he prays for God to forgive them? What? Who is this man? Maybe he is a criminal. Maybe he is not. Maybe he knows the punishment he deserves. 

 

He’s more than half dead at this point. After enduring countless, ruthless beatings he is hardly recognizable. In fact, I lost count after the thirtieth strike. He is forced to carry his cross up the hill where he will end up dead. The man can barely stand on his own. They should just kill him already. The crowds are still shouting. There is another group among the crowd.  They aren’t shouting in anger, but crying out in agony. Maybe they’re his friends? His family? They cannot understand why this is happening to someone they love. They had heard the man say before that this would happen, but they didn’t really think the Son of Man would actually have to endure such a torturous death. It takes everything in them to hold back from doing anything to save him. They know deep down that it must go on to fulfill the Scriptures although they do not understand. So he continues to bear his cross. Almost there. Just a few steps more. 

 

He made it. Everyone gathers as this man reaches the place where his cross will stand. He is still breathing. He is still alive. How is this possible? There’s so much blood. He should have been dead hours ago. The soldiers roughly throw the man into the position he will be displayed when he is raised up. They start looking for something to hit the 6 inch nails through the wood. What are they pinning to this man’s cross? They begin to position the nails….over his hands. The nails break through flesh, through his hands, into the wood. More blood. It’s sickening to watch. It’s over. But no, another nail through his feet. The man cries out in agony. Some of the women watching nearby cry out even louder. More blood. The people who were once shouting wince in disgust. 

 

The man goes silent. Is he dead? They swing his cross to an upright position, only now with him nailed to it. More cries. He’s alive. This man doesn’t want to die. He says something again, “Father forgive them.”  More blasphemy? In some of his final breaths he is still doing the thing that got him in this situation in the first place? Who is this man? He says something else, “Father why have you forsaken me?” What does he mean? Maybe this man truly was innocent. One more time he painfully takes a breath and cries out, “It is finished.” And his body is lifeless, finally. Silence overtakes the crowd. They got what they wanted. Shouldn’t they be cheering? The ground begins to shake. The sky is darkened with black clouds. A storm? It’s midday, people begin to scatter out of fear. They aren’t afraid to watch a man have nails driven through his hands, but bad weather is just too much. 

 

Chaos erupts. Women are still crying, soldiers still standing at the foot of the cross, and people fleeing from the scene. This storm wasn’t by accident. This man’s death wasn’t by accident. As much as I want to deny it, this man was meant to die. But why? Who is he? Surely he is who he claimed to be. There is no other explanation. Surely this man was Jesus. He was the Son of God. I believe it. And now he’s dead. 

 

 

What would have gone through your mind if you were there during Jesus’ crucifixion? Would you have been shouting alongside those who wanted him dead, or would you be crying in sorrow with Jesus’ mother and brother? We will never know what we would have done if we had been there. I’m sure if we had been there, we would never have forgotten the experience. We would never be able to get the image of Jesus being brutally beaten out of our minds. It would be the kind of thing that we would think about every day. More than once a day. We would dream about it. We would tell people about it. It would urge us to act differently. It would change our lives. 

 

The good news is that the story of Jesus still has the power to change lives. It doesn’t matter that we were not there on the day that He was wounded for our transgressions (Isaiah 53:5). We still get the opportunity to dwell on the immeasurable sacrifice that God made for us by sending his Son to become flesh and take on the sins of the world. What a sacrifice that we should never ever take lightly. The sacrifice of the never ending cycle of our failures and short comings and God remaining faithful despite them. Something the Lord has been teaching me is the importance of remembrance of this sacrifice. 

 

Living in remembrance of the cross forces you to see things from a different perspective, to respond differently, to act differently. May we never become numb to the cross. May we never forget that the story doesn’t end there. Jesus did not stay dead. He rose from the dead and is alive and working in each of our hearts even when we don’t see it. We get to not only live in remembrance of the cross but be a testimony of his resurrection!! Praise God! We are given the privilege to live on the other side of Jesus’ death and be living proof that Jesus is raised from the dead! May we walk worthy of the testimony of Jesus. Of the crucifixion!! Of the resurrection!! May we walk worthy of the GOSPEL!! I pray it allows you and I to love more, give more grace, and never hesitate to share the incredible testimony of the life of Jesus and the ways He is still working in our lives. I pray that we don’t let the blood run dry and we keep the cross at the forefront of our minds and allow it to direct our lives. I pray we keep the blood warm and live our life for Him because our God deserves at least that and so much more. 

 

His love and mine,

Sadie

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”

??Hebrews? ?12:1-3? ?

3 Comments

  1. Wow, Sadie! This is so awesome! You definitely have a gift of writing and expression! So thankful for the amazing, unconditional, sacrificial love of Jesus. All that He chose to go through was for His great love for us! He gave us eternal life, peace, hope! Hallelujah He’s not dead, He is risen!

  2. Thank you, Sadie.
    Well written. Not just for “Holy Week,” but 365 days a year – for a lifetime.

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