‘The son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’
Luke 24:7 (New International Version)
“It Wasn’t Looking Good”
On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross; the emblem of suff'ring and shame.
It was on that rugged cross that Jesus experienced the cruelty of crucifixion. The cruelty of crucifixion can be accurately calculated by grappling with the reality that crucifixion was an intricate act of self-suffocation that took hours to overtake one’s body. After Jesus was stapled to two large wooden beams, he was hoisted high for everyone around to see. As time passed, Jesus’ leg muscles would have started to weaken until the point where they could no longer support his own body weight. Jesus would have begun to slouch so far down that his lungs would have started to compress due to the pressure weighing down on his internal organs. The only sense of relief from the physical pressure upon his lungs would have come by lifting himself upon his nail-pierced wrists and feet while gliding his body across the splintered wooden structure. Jesus had been affixed, agonized, accused, attacked, abandoned, abused, and afflicted! In short, the situation wasn’t looking good.
Yet, in Luke 24:7, we are confronted and comforted by a divine proclamation that still resonates and reverberates through the corridors of time. Here, we are reminded that the journey to redemption and resurrection was not possible without sacrifice. Jesus, the embodiment of divine love, willingly bore the weight of our sins. He endured the agony of the cross, the sting of betrayal, and the loneliness of abandonment. Yet, in the darkest hour, when all seemed lost, the dawn of redemption broke forth as Jesus triumphantly rose from the grave.
So I'll cherish the old rugged cross, Till my trophies at last I lay down; I will cling to the old rugged cross, And exchange it someday for a crown!
Fraternally,
Brother (Minister) Christopher A. McCroy
8th District Chaplain
