IT ISN'T WHAT WAS DONE TO JESUS

The scene of Jesus' being beaten with a whip in the movie Passion was over six minutes long--a long, long time in movie minutes. I have heard many sermons--and have preached a few--going into detail over every part of Jesus' crucifixion. I think the unintentional effect of such movies and sermons is that attention is diverted to what was done to Jesus on the cross from what Jesus did on and by the cross. I am struck by the fact that the Gospel writers noted very few particulars of the act of the crucifixion: There is no mention of spikes, hammers, difficult breathing, bodily damage, details of suffering, etc. More attention is given to what the soldiers did to Jesus' garments than what they did to His body. Movies and messages extensively describe Jesus' being nailed to the cross. All four of the Gospel recorders simply said, "They crucified Him." It may be because the readers of their time had seen Roman crucifixions and needed no detailed narrative of the procedure or the sufferings it entailed. However, that would not account for what we today should take from the inspired record. That leads me to believe that the writers who shared with us the execution of Christ may have placed a different emphasis on Jesus' passion and suffering than we place on it. Not going into the details of Jesus' crucifixion, the Gospel writers saw the significance, not so much in what Jesus suffered, but in why He suffered and what He accomplished by what He suffered. Please understand. I do not wish to take anything away from the horribleness of what Jesus suffered. In fact, it is those extensive, detailed retellings of Jesus' crucifixion that lead me to a deep appreciation of how much Jesus suffered for me, on my behalf. Knowing the gory details increases our affection and gratitude for the One who went through all of that for us. However, Jesus was doing more than just suffering on the cross. Paul, perhaps the greatest proclaimer of the cross--ever, realized this "...Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it." (Col. 2:14-15). Paul doesn't describe how the nails pierced Jesus' hands but how those nails removed the list of God's laws we were indebted to keep but had not, could not. He doesn't write of how the evil powers of darkness ravaged Christ on the cross, but how by the cross Jesus conquered every evil power. The demons swarmed around the cross gleeful over what Jesus was suffering and too late recognized what He had done to them by His suffering. Isaiah in his pictorial prophesy (chapter 53) of the cross didn't focus on how deep, how festered, how painful the wounds, but that by them our transgressions were taken away. Certainly, with sad wondering I can gratefully contemplate the awful, painful wounds from which His life's blood flowed. However, my greatest focus and contemplation should be on what His blood does; it cleanses from all unrighteousness. It isn't what was done to Jesus. It is what Jesus did by what was done to Him.