From the Scriptures we discover that Jesus suffered in many ways, just for you and I.
Jesus suffered severely throughout His trials, torture, and crucifixion (Matt. 27; Mk. 15; Lk. 23; Jn. 19).
His suffering was physical: Jesus was flogged and disfigured beyond recognition. In His suffering, the Messiah was so bruised, beaten, marred, disfigured, mutilated, injured, torn apart, that His outward appearance was awful to behold.
The Scripture has this to say: “But many were amazed when they saw Jesus. His face was so disfigured He seemed hardly human, and from His appearance, one would scarcely know He was a man” (Isa. 52:14, NLT).
The scourge was the most cruel form of punishment as one was whipped 39 times using a whip known then as a ‘cat of nine tails’.
What kind of scourge did the soldiers use to flog our Saviour? This whip had nine strands each with pieces of sharp bones and metal and a heavy piece of lead at the end of the cord.
In Isaiah 50:6 Jesus said, “I offered My back to those who beat Me and My cheeks to those who pulled out My beard. I did not hide My face from mockery and spitting” (NLT).
In Psalms 129:3 Jesus said, “The plowers plowed upon My back…”
When He was flogged 39 stripes, I believe that for each stripe, as Jesus shouted a shout of pain, He was saying, “Cancer you are defeated, stroke you are defeated, epilepsy, asthma, malaria, migraine, arthritis etc. you are defeated!” Hallelujah!
It has been scientifically proven that there are 39 ways through which sicknesses come into the world. So, in other to make provision for ALL types of sicknesses, Jesus received 39 stripes, each stripe representing all the assorted kinds of diseases that man could ever suffer.
Beaten, bruised, swollen, weary and humiliated, Jesus bled on the inside. He was beaten and bruised (crushed) so much that He suffered from many internal injuries.
“…He was wounded for our transgressions; He was bruised for our iniquities…” (Isa. 53:5).
His suffering was emotional: “All the disciples deserted Him and fled” (Matt. 26:56). Even Peter, the head of the apostles, denied Him three times (Matt. 26:70-74).
His suffering was spiritual: “God the Father made Jesus who had no sin to be sin for us” (2 Cor. 5:21).
Jesus had the weight of the sins of the entire world on Him (1 Jn. 2:2). It was sin that caused Jesus to cry out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken Me?” (Matt. 27:46).
Jesus’ brutal physical suffering was augmented by His having to bear the guilt of the sins of the whole world and die to pay our penalty (Rom. 5:8).
Isaiah predicted Jesus’ suffering: “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces He was despised, and we esteemed Him not. But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed” (Isa. 53:3, 5).
This passage specifies the reason for Jesus’ suffering: “for our transgressions,” for our healing, and to bring us peace.
Jesus told His disciples that His suffering was certain: “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life” (Lk. 9:22; cf. 17:25).
Note the word “must” - He must suffer, and He must be killed. The suffering of Christ was God’s plan for the salvation of the world.
Psalm 22:14 details some of the suffering of the Messiah. In order for this and other prophecies to be fulfilled, Jesus had to suffer.
Why did Jesus have to suffer so badly? Jesus had to suffer because suffering is part of sacrifice, and Jesus was “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (Jn. 1:29).
Jesus’ physical torture was part of the payment required for our sins. We are redeemed “with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect” (1 Pet. 1:19).
Jesus’ suffering on the cross showed the devastating nature of sin, the wrath of God, the cruelty of humanity, and the hatred of Satan.
At Calvary, mankind was allowed to do his worst to the Son of Man as He became the Redeemer of mankind. Satan may have thought he had won a great victory, but it was through the cross that the Son of God triumphed over Satan, sin, and death. “Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out” (Jn. 12:31; cf. Col. 2:15).
Jesus suffered and died in order to secure salvation for all who would believe. The night of His arrest, as Jesus prayed in Gethsemane, He committed His all to the task: “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from Me; yet not My will, but yours be done” (Lk. 22:42).
The cup of suffering was not taken from Christ; He drank it all for us. There was no other way for us to be saved.
Here are eight things we should really think about:
1. He was betrayed by His disciple, Judas Iscariot. Jesus’ pain was not just physical. Can you imagine the sorrow He felt when one of His own trusted friends became the ultimate traitor? He was sold for 30 pieces of silver. All the pain Jesus endured on Good Friday began the night before, when Judas took blood money to have his Master arrested.
2. He was abandoned by His other followers. We often focus on Peter’s denial of Jesus. But the Scriptures remind us that all of Jesus’ disciples “left (forsook) Him and fled” after His arrest (Mark 14:50, NASB).
Jesus had to suffer alone. All the men He had taught and invested in for three and a half years abandoned Him in His hour of need.
3. He carried the burden of the sins of the world. Jesus’ greatest agony didn’t start on the cross. It began at Gethsemane, where God laid on His Son the sins of the world. Jesus agonized so intensely in those moments that He sweat drops of blood (Lk. 22:44).
Scholars say He probably developed a condition known as hematidrosis, in which blood is emitted through the sweat glands because of intense stress.
4. He was falsely accused and rejected by Jewish leaders. Can you imagine the heartache Jesus experienced when the very people He was sent to save spat in His face, buffeted Him, plucked out hairs from His face, blindfolded Him, cursed Him and accused Him of blasphemy? The Sanhedrin set up a kangaroo court and sentenced the Son of God to death.
5. He was mocked and abused by Roman guards. After Pilate caved into pressure from the Jews, Roman soldiers flogged Jesus with a whip, drove a crown of thorns into His scalp, beat His head with sticks and mockingly pretended to worship Him. The flogging alone - which would have involved leather cords with pieces of lead, iron or bone attached - would have drained much of Jesus’ blood.
6. He was crucified between two thieves. We cannot even fathom the pain of crucifixion. Nine inches metal spikes were driven into Jesus’ hands and feet, and He had to slide His mangled body up against the wood of the cross in order to catch His breath.
And because it was the habit of Romans to crucify criminals naked, Jesus endured the ultimate shame. What's more, He hung on that crude rugged cross next to two men who had been convicted for crimes - while He was completely innocent.
7. His body was pierced with a spear. Even after Jesus took His last breath, a soldier jabbed a spear up through the chest cavity - most likely to make sure Jesus was dead. John tells us that blood and water spilled out (Jn. 19:34). Jesus’ heart was literally broken for us.
8. He tasted death for all. This is the most horrible reality of the cross. Christ did not die metaphorically or symbolically. He died literally. The Son of God, who had never sinned - and who was least deserving of death - died so we could have life. His heart stopped beating, He stopped breathing and His Spirit left Him.
First Peter 3:18 says: “For Christ also died for sins once and for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God.”
Conclusion: This Resurrection season, do well to reflect on the steps the Savior took from Gethsemane to Golgotha. Look at His nail-pierced hands and feet. Take a careful survey of His wondrous cross, and thank Him for hanging there six hours for you and I.
Watch out for the Good News from the Pulpit!
- Your friend: I. I. MADUBUNYI (Senior Pastor).
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