Read: Ephesians 1:18   I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people.

If you visit Jerusalem today to trace the footsteps of Jesus on the Via Dolorosa, it is difficult to ignore the physical and psychological torture that Jesus endured before He was nailed to the cross. One such place is the Church of St. Peter in Gallicantu, just outside the Old City. If you climb down the steps in the church, you arrive at an ancient dungeon where it is believed Jesus was held. There are some depressions in an overhead rock where His hands may well have been locked into metal rings so that the guards could beat Him.

The descriptions in the Bible are shocking: “Then they spit in his face and struck him with their fists. Others slapped him…” (Matthew 26:67). Imagine the Lord being forced to stand up the whole night, His bruised hands held in the metal rings, His face and back bleeding, His eyes swollen. The Creator of the universe bloodied and imprisoned by an ungrateful and violent world. Anyone who takes time to stand in that deplorable dungeon cannot escape the pain and the humiliation, the suffering, and the sheer injustice the Lord endured.

The cross was deliberately kept short, such that the one on it was at eye level, the Roman intention being to frighten and terrorise their subjects.

Paintings of the scene of crucifixion usually depict at tall cross, which was not what it was like at the time of Jesus. The cross was deliberately kept short, such that the one on it was at eye level, the Roman intention being to frighten and terrorise their subjects. People did not like to look at those who were being crucified, nor to acknowledge they were human. How much more, then, to acknowledge Jesus as God? Only a few people looked into the eyes of Jesus at the cross. “The people stood watching” (Luke 23:35) but there was no redemptive impact on them. They walked away, trapped in their own prisons.

What about us? Do we sanitise the cross and remove from it all the pain that the Lord endured? We are quick to remove the wounded and helpless figure on the cross so that we do not need to look at His face or meet His eyes, thus avoiding facing up to our guilt. We freely discuss all the theories about what happened on the cross and the technical details of how He died, but refuse to look into his eyes. If we stand there and look deeply, and feel the profound pain and truly appreciate the sacrifice of divine love, then we would be ready to deeply celebrate the resurrection of the One who was cruelly beaten and humiliated on the cross.

…to appreciate what He endured in the flesh (as well as in His soul) is to be ready to experience the new life of Easter.

To reduce the death of Jesus to an idea is to miss the depth of His suffering, and to deny His incarnation in human flesh. But to appreciate what He endured in the flesh (as well as in His soul) is to be ready to experience the new life of Easter. May God open the eyes of our heart (Ephesians 1:18) to see Jesus of Nazareth face to face—painfully crucified and gloriously risen.

Consider this:

Read the crucifixion narratives in the Gospels and take time to reflect on what is written—as if you were an eye-witness. How does this exercise help you to relate to Jesus not just as a concept or doctrine but as a real person? How does this affect your relationship with Him?

 

Excerpted and adapted from Apprenticed to Jesus: Learning from Him, Living Like Him by Robert Solomon. © 2014 by Robert M. Solomon. Used by permission of Armour Publishing. All rights reserved.

 

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