"They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him. And they began to call out to him, “Hail, king of the Jews!” Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him. Falling on their knees, they paid homage to him. And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him." Mark 15:17-20
Running can sometimes be painful. Between chafing, muscle soreness, black toenails and blisters, one might wonder why we do it. In one word... love. We simply love it. As we approach Easter, my mind wanders to a day thousands of years ago. A day when love inspired a man to suffer the worst pain imaginable, the agony of being beaten, scourged and then finally nailed to a cross. It wasn't just any man though, it was Jesus. And it was all for us.
Nobody performed an autopsy on Jesus’ mangled body after He was taken down from the cross. But doctors who have studied the Bible’s description of His death say the pain would have been beyond excruciating. In fact, the word excruciating means “out of the cross.” Jesus literally defined the worst pain anyone could feel. His suffering began in Gethsemane, when God laid the sins of the world on His beloved Son. The intense stress caused what physicians call hematidrosis, a condition in which blood seeps out of sweat glands. After His arrest, Jesus was flogged so mercilessly that his skin was stripped off His back, exposing muscle and bone. After being slapped, punched, crowned with thorns and beaten with reeds, He was covered with a red robe and led to Golgotha. There, Roman soldiers drove seven-inch nails into his wrists (most likely hitting the median nerve, causing more blinding pain) and then they rammed another nail into his feet. At that point, doctors suggest, Jesus would have suffered dislocation of His shoulders, cramps and spasms, dehydration from severe blood loss, fluid in His lungs and eventual lung collapse and heart failure. Yet He refused to take a pain-killing solution (see Matt. 27:34). He chose to endure the pain for us. http://www.charismamag.com/blogs/fire-in-my-bones/17198-how-jesus-endured-the-pain-of-the-cross
Did you get that last part? He chose to endure the pain for us. As we prepare to celebrate the resurrection of our Christ and the forgiveness of sins that it brings, let us choose to not forget the sacrifice of our Savior. In the words of a song, "It wasn't nails that held You to the cross. It was love, it was love, it was Your love. You took our place, carried our guilt and shame. All for us, all for us, all for us. It wasn't nails that held You, it was love".
Heavenly Father, how can we ever thank you enough for the blood you shed on the cross to save us from our sins and give us eternal life? What pain you suffered to save us sinners worthy of nothing more than death. Yet you chose to endure it. You chose to love us and you chose to die a sinner's death on a cross meant for us. Thank you Lord for loving us that much. May we spend our lives in service to You giving thanks and praise each and every day, every minute and every hour for the gift of salvation made possible only by your death and resurrection. It's in your precious name we pray, Jesus. Amen.
Happy Running!!!
It was love - Abandon
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