Committed to the Cause

Opening

Anniversary trip

Rocky Mountain National Park

Past solo hike,

Hallet Peak, 10miles, 3200 feet elevation gain and the top of Hallet peak is only 12700

Mutual hike to Hallett peak

Considering scripture during the hike

Typical for me to hear from the Lord

I had not yet, but then I realized I had only been in the mountains for two days, it was still early in my estimation.

Entering the narrative where Christ is crucified

Christ suffered so much to pay the penalty for Sin

Christ suffering was on my mind as we made our way up the mountain. It was even more so on my mind as we went down the mountain

That may seem a strange thing to ponder in such a serene environment, but it was actually very inspiring and motivating to reflect on what the Lord was willing to endure.

So today we will review Christ’s sufferings:

After arrest… The suffering of Christ began shortly after His arrest. He was arrested and brought before the Annias and Caiaphas where He was abused during His sham trials.

The beatings begin… The thugs of the Sanhedrin beat and spit on Him

Mark 14:65 “And some began to spit on him and to cover his face and to strike him, saying to him, “Prophesy!” And the guards received him with blows.”

Attacked Him and His gifting… Not only did they beat Him they mocked Him while they did it. Christ gave many prophecies during His ministry. In fact in John He gives another prophecy as they march Him away to execute. He has been beaten repeatedly, spit on, flogged and mocked when gives yet another prophecy.

Covered His face to insult Him… To insult His prophetic gift, they covered His face while they struck Him. They wanted to prove He was not extraordinary in any way. If He could not predict or stop any of the abuse the would do to Him He was just an ordinary man, not a prophet.

An insult aaand a beating… This wasn’t just a beating. No that wasn’t good enough. They needed to insult Him as well. Physical injury alone wasn’t enough. Victims of the cross were supposed to be completely torn down.

Lead away bound… From the Sanhedrin court He was bound as a prisoner and led away bound like a dangerous criminal to the Romans

Mark 15:1 “And as soon as it was morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council. And they bound Jesus and led him away and delivered him over to Pilate.”

Once Pilate sentenced Jesus to crucifixtion he had Him flogged.

Mark 15:15 “So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified.”

Flogging vs scourging… Being scourged and flogged are the same things. I have spoken before on the horror of flogging.

Courtesy of CBCG I gathered a description of the practice of Roman flogging.

Flogging- was a legal preliminary to every Roman execution, and only women and Roman senators or soldiers (except in cases of desertion) were exempt. 

Everyone who was sentenced to death by crucifixion was first scourged.

The usual instrument was a short whip with several single or braided leather thongs of variable lengths, in which small iron balls or sharp pieces of sheep bones were tied at intervals.  For scourging, the man was stripped of his clothing, and his hands were tied to an upright post.  The back, buttocks, and legs were flogged either by two soldiers (lictors) or by one who alternated positions.  The severity of the scourging depended on the disposition of the lictors and was intended to weaken the victim to a state just short of collapse or death.  As the Roman soldiers repeatedly struck the victim’s back with full force, the iron balls would cause deep contusions, and the leather thongs and sheep bones would cut into the skin and subcutaneous tissues.  Then, as the flogging continued, the lacerations would tear into the underlying skeletal muscles and produce quivering ribbons of bleeding flesh.  Pain and blood loss generally set the stage for circulatory shock.  The extent of blood loss may well have determined how long the victim would survive on the cross.  After the scourging, the soldiers often taunted their victim.

Pain, loss of consciousness, death… This would have been mind numbing pain. I am not even sure how men remained conscious after being scourged. Pieces of bone were sometimes torn from their ribs while being beaten. Some men simply died from the scourging itself. Remember this all took place before the sentenced was taken away to be executed.

Terror Propaganda… The Roman crucifixion was state sanctioned terror propaganda. They used it to keep the people they conquered in line. It was meant to inflict as much pain, humiliation and suffering as possible before the sentenced died.

The Jew’s had a law given to them by God governing how they flogged people.

Deuteronomy 25:1–3 ““If there is a dispute between men and they come into court and the judges decide between them, acquitting the innocent and condemning the guilty, then if the guilty man deserves to be beaten, the judge shall cause him to lie down and be beaten in his presence with a number of stripes in proportion to his offense. Forty stripes may be given him, but not more, lest, if one should go on to beat him with more stripes than these, your brother be degraded in your sight.”

Why the law?… Did you catch the reason why they were not supposed to lashed over 40 times?

“lest, if one should go on to beat him with more stripes than these, your brother be degraded in your sight.”

Every child of God is due dignity… So that the man’s dignity remained. Every man, no matter the sin, is still a man and deserves the dignity owed Him as a creation of the Father above. At no point is a human being supposed to treat another human being as less than human, even the convicted.

Let that sink in. According to God every Human being deserves basic dignity even if they have transgressed the Law. The describes the way God interacts with us.

We have all transgressed the Law yet He pursues us as valuable children and calls us into right relationship despite our sins.

The Jews wouldn’t do it themselves… God’s laws require that no man be denied the dignity of being made in His image. The Jews knew this and would not violate it but were perfectly at peace with handing Jesus over to someone who would.

This was absolute Hypocrisy.

Spectacle… Jesus became a spectacle in front of the local Roman army.

Mark 15:16 “And the soldiers led him away inside the palace (that is, the governor’s headquarters), and they called together the whole battalion.”

battalion: Greek cohort; a tenth of a Roman legion, usually about 600 men

Humiliation… It was not enough to just execute enemy’s of the State to the Roman Empire. They were also publicly humiliated.

Mark 15:17 “And they clothed him in a purple cloak, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on him.”

The crowns meaning… The Romans meant for the crown to represent Jesus’s royalty as King. But there is so much more.

The crown of thorns vs unity with God… There is a tremendous amount of symbolism in the crown of thorns. I think of the unity mankind was created to experience with God.

This interwoven and seamless nature where we take on the very nature of God Himself as we become one.

As we weave ourselves into God, becoming more like Him we become a source of life, light and hope. I think of the beautiful depictions of halos artist would draw around angle's heads. While maybe not factual the symbolism of holiness a purity is evident by the halo.

A crown is two ends of a single unified piece coming together with perfect symmetry to be coming something beautiful and seamless. We are meant to be so in tune with God the we seamlessly join with Him.

The symbolism of the crown of thorns… The crown of thorns they wove together reflected the nature of the men who created it. Not a nature of holiness and unity but Sin. Instead of the seamlessness of a perfect union with God there was the thorns representing the Sin mankind committed and the curse he came under so long ago.

Genesis 3:17–18 “And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field.”

Jesus bore the curse upon the cross… That crown only brought pain and suffering like sin always does. Underneath that crown of thorns Jesus, fully man and fully God, was punished as a cursed man, for all of cursed mankind.

Dt 21:22–23 “And if a man has committed a crime punishable by death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, 23 his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, for a hanged man is cursed by God.

The cloaks color… The color of cloak they dressed Christ in was somewhere between Red and Purple. Mark records it as scarlet. Matthew and Luke record it was a purple robe. That might seem like a contradiction until you consider how differently people see color from person to person. In fact one of the colors men in particular are most likely to see the least of in the color spectrum is red. The way each man saw the color red, part of the purple color, would certainly account for the apparent differences in color between the accounts.

Scarlet as a type of clothe… There is also a very convincing argument that the English word scarlet used to mean a type of clothing fabric, not a color. Scarlet fabric was typically red in color so the fabric type, scarlet, over time became a descriptor of the color and not the fabric.

The differences lend credibility… These differences in accounts is another reason why I believe the gospel even more. Clearly the writers did not get together to make them all say the same thing. Clearly over the years as the bible was translated and copied over and over the accounts were not changed by men to say the same thing.

These are the truthful accounts of separate individuals recalling different details of the same event.

Luke... didn’t even record the color Jesus was dressed in. He either didn’t remember it or thought it unimportant.

Royalty… The robe they dressed Jesus in was meant to signify the royalty of Jesus. Purple was only worn by the elite. To dye even one robe purple 9,000 mollusks were used. It was a very expensive color. It mockingly represented to those present Jesus was the “King of the Jews”.

The symbolism of the reed … In Jesus’s hand they placed reeds. A plant local to their area. Meant to signify the royal scepter of a King. The King’s royal scepter was a symbol of his might. In the Kings throne room lowering it could sentence his enemies to death, or raising it could bring friends to their feet.

He was struck with the same reeds… The same scepter they placed in Jesus’s hand in Mark, Matthew records them striking Him with.

Matthew 27:30 “And they spit on him and took the reed and struck him on the head.”

Humiliated with his own scepter… To humiliate Him they beat Him with the symbol of His own power, the scepter of a King.

They spit on Him… One of the most disgusting and disrespectful things you can do to another person is spit on them. In the Jewish culture spitting on another person was the deepest symbol of contempt.

Mark 15:18–19 “And they began to salute him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they were striking his head with a reed and spitting on him and kneeling down in homage to him.” ”

Bowed and saluted… Jesus, the King of the Jews, they beat, spit on, dressed up like some play thing, bowed and saluted too.

They were contemptuous and needlessly cruel.

The Romans had absolutely no respect for the Jews what soever, but neither did the Jews who turned Jesus over to them. They were no different than their Roman opressors.

Treating anyone without respect… If you can treat any one person with so little humanity, with so little respect, because they are of no use to you, then you can treat any person who you decide is of no value to you, in that same way.

Their lack of respect displayed their true nature… On full display was the depth of mankind's fallen nature. Not even a fellow man was sacred and special enough to have the dignity of life. Jesus was treated by those who crucified Him with the contempt someone has for something with no value at all. He was only another momentary task to be completed.

Lead away to be executed… After all Jesus’s abuse and their insults, He is led away to be executed.

Matthew 27:31–32 “And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and led him away to crucify him. As they went out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. They compelled this man to carry his cross.”

Of course He couldn’t carry the cross… Is it any wonder that Simon had to carry Jesus’s cross after all they did to Him? Its a wonder He is still alive and walking, let alone strong enough to carry the two large wooden beams He would be nailed to.

His injuries… His back, His buttocks and His thighs were ripped open and bloody. His face is swollen from the many assaults. Blood has been running down his face and into his eyes. He has been up all night long without sleep, food or water.

Isaiah 52:14 “As many were astonished at you— his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind—”

Beaten beyond recognition… Jesus was beaten beyond the recognition of a man, He didn’t even look human after all they had done to him.

Lk 23:32–33 And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left.

Little to say… The gospel authors have almost nothing to say about the act of crucifying Jesus. Only that He was crucified at Golgotha.

The locations of the nails, hands… In recent history Archeology has discovered others who have been crucified. It is believed that instead of the nails being driven through the hands they were instead driven through the wrists between the ulna and the radial bone. The nails being driven through this location of the body allowed for the weight of the victim to be supported by their bone structure instead of tearing through the softer hand bones and tissue. The Greek word translated hands in your bible can mean the hands but can also mean the area close to the hands like the wrists.

The location feet… The nails are believed to have been driven through the side of the heals for the very same purpose. The Romans didn't want their victims coming down from the cross before they removed them themselves.

Secured and lifted upright… Once the victim was secured, stretched across the supporting beams of the pole He was then lifted upright. The full weight of the person dragging against the nails driven through their body. The position on the pole elevated off the ground allowed for the victim to be easily seen by the on looking crowd and even make eye contact with them if they still had the strength to lift their head.

Waiting for Him to die… There on the cross Jesus hung to die. Any number of things could have killed Him.

Slow positional asphyxiation. Over time the weight of His own body would have made His breathing shallower and shallower. Until he no longer had the strength and space inside his own body to breath.

Cardiac arrest. The sheer volume of trauma and stress He endured is would have been enough to trigger a heart attack.

Pulmonary Embolism. Jesus’s wounds, both external and internal, from his many beatings would have placed Him at high risk of developing deep blood clots. Pulmonary Embolism occurs when the blood clots dislodge and move throughout the cardiovascular system. It can stop in dangerous locations and prevent blood flow to things like your heart, lungs and brain or other organs.

Efficient Roman soldiers got the job done… The Roman soldiers did such a thorough job their victim dying was a certainty.

Back to the mountain… Returning to my wife and I’s mountain escapade as I make my way up and especially down the mountain Christ suffering is on my mind.

What’s the connection to scripture… And so I asked the Lord, what is the connection in scripture to what I am doing now, climbing up this mountain.

I left out how much easier the time before was… What I did not tell you is that the last time I climbed that mountain it was much easier. I was in a season of my life where I was training frequently. Physically then I was up to the task.

Busyness and laziness… If I am being honest, I have slipped into a combination of both busyness and laziness since then. I am not in the shape I was then. The climb this time was very difficult.

Considered stopping… More than once, I caught myself wondering, was this worth it, and if I could live with myself if I stopped short of the top.

A nudge from the Holy Spirit… Then I picked up the nudge of the Holy Spirit. This is the kind of temptation Christ had to go through. The temptation to give up when things got tuff.

Christ remained committed… Christ went through the worst suffering imaginable. We walked through all the suffering we went over today and yet He remained committed to His Fathers will to pay the penalty for the sins of mankind.

He could have stopped… At any point He could have decided enough is enough, I didn't earn this, I’m out. He could have called 12 legions of angles. He could have easily argued His way out of court. Pilate did not want to sentence Him. I think if He decided to He could have stepped down off that cross if He wanted to. But instead, He embraced the weakness of being flesh and blood like you and me, His only real hope trusting in God the Father.

The Fathers will was first… Christ really wanted to do the Fathers will. So every other desire took a backstage seat.

My profession to climb mountains… The Holy Spirit then reminded me of my professed desire to climb not only the mountain I was one, but also all the other mountains I laid my eyes and heart on. And there are quite a few. I absolutely love mountains and want to reach the top of them.

Mountain Hiker in name only… And that’s when the conviction fell. I had been talking big talk and thinking grand things for so long but where was my commitment? If climbing the mountain I was on, only moderately difficult, or any other mountain I had set my eyes upon was so important, why was I struggling so much? Why hadn’t I done anything before hand to succeed and where was my commitment now.

I had not really been serious about my journey to climb any mountains for quite some time. I had become all talk or thought, and very little action. Without realizing it I had become a mountain hiker in name only. Someone who used prepare for and then hike mountains. I was living in the past, not the present.

And that’s when it hit me. What I was going through in the moment was example of danger we all face spiritually.

Of being professing Christians, who are no longer walking out the commitment of our faith. Of being Christians in name only. Church it is easy to be a little lazy and really easy to get really busy.

The Lord very clearly showed me my profession of faith needs to match my action of faith.

And He brought me back around to Christ willingness to suffer on our behalf.

I want to point out two of the many reasons that Christ’s suffering was so public

1. It allowed us to see what it looked like to remain committed to God under even the most difficult circumstances and to be encouraged to know that we too can do it. Christ in all His humanity bore the suffering of the cross and did not surrender then. We to can remain committed to the cause like Him.

and

2. It allowed us to really begin to grasp the cost of sin. The punishment He bore was the punishment for sin. Jesus has rescued us from so much through His physical suffering. If what He physically endured was not enough I think the next part is for worse.

Mark 15:33–34 “And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?””

Jesus bearing the sin’s of humanity, the curse of mankind, suffered the Father turning His back on Him. Church that’s separation from God. Far worse than anything we could endure in this life, is separation from Him eternally.

Closing

So my question to you today, is the question the Holy Spirit pricked my heart with on the mountain that day.

Are you really committed to living, even dying if need be, for God. If so, what are you doing about it? If you profess Jesus is Lord, are you truly living that life out, or are you a Christian in name only.

I must admit I allowed my life to drift from my passion of conquering mountains, something I love dearly. Because of that at least for a short time I have failed to see my dreams come true. But that love is only and earthly aspiration. It is nothing compared to being a follower of Christ.

Church if we live a life professing love for the God who saved us and nothing with our life to show it are we really Christians. When the day comes and we meet our maker how sad will we be to realize we gave up so much He desired because we did not truly commit ourselves to His will.

Church don’t halfheartedly serve God. Serve God with all that you are. Remain committed to call of the Lord. You won't be disappointed by what you find when you conquer the mountain He has called you to climb in this life. Fulfill the purpose He has for you. Our Lord received far more than He gave up after conquering sin and death. Your Father and all His many blessing await you.

Remain commited.