In a previous letter, I told our readers that I was doing a daily meditation on the before, during, and after of the cross. It has been a life changer for me. I never wanted to meditate on the way our friend Jesus had to die. I always hoped that somehow it was not as bad as the Gospels described. I hoped that our Father may have made it so He didn’t feel the pain.
In fact, it was worse than any of us ever knew. It was hell! I always thought that Jesus went into hell after his death, but the hell he experienced started in Gethsemane and got steadily worse until his death on the cross. Every detail of the cross was preordained.
Man was invited to do his worst as He, Jesus, made a trap of his body for every part of the sinful nature that is in man. He faced the horror of a Roman torture death in his mind and perspired great drops of blood that fell to the ground. He knew exactly what they would do to him. I am not going to mention all of the horror—you can read that for yourself—but I can see how he trapped the emotions of fear and jealousy of the leading priests in himself.
I started this study by writing down which emotions were present, and it was fear and jealousy that crucified Christ. In fact, it was all the principalities that were involved. Treachery, intimidation, and false accusation—the powers of darkness were all involved. But they were not aware that they were being led into a trap.
Why would everybody want to hurt the only man who never sinned? It was as if everybody was insane at the time; there was no logic to killing a man who could heal the sick, raise the dead, walk on water, and feed four thousand people out of a single person’s meal. Pilate knew he was not guilty, yet still had him scourged with the Roman torture whip that was designed to tear the flesh and bruise sinew and bone. Without this, we would not be healed by his stripes. He was bruised for our iniquities.
Why would a battalion of Roman soldiers mock such a man who never hurt any person? Well, the crucifixion was absolute torture, and it was much more than we will ever know without experiencing it ourselves. The fact is that Jesus was in hell and did this for us. He died to the flesh and rose in the spirit so we can follow Him, and do so daily. When he finally gave up the ghost, releasing his spirit to the Father, every bad thing in the world was crucified and hanging inside a dead body. Every bad thought and emotion was trapped and died inside that dead body, along with every sickness and disease that ever plagued mankind. Every wicked, sorrowful, or ignorant thing that causes chaos was crucified, and truthfully, it was finished.
The question is, why do we allow all this wickedness to be resurrected in our minds and accepted as being alive and able to do us harm? Cancer died on the cross along with every bad thing that presents itself in our minds as alive. It is not true; the works of the flesh are dead. Lack and poverty were crucified, and they died that day. It happened that terrible day, but we must implement it with our authority.
The scripture says He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. Not one word of condemnation came out of his mouth. He did not threaten or talk about revenge, but ministered to the women there, saved a man’s soul, and forgave everybody. Some say Pilate is still washing his hands in hell. That is not true; Jesus forgave him, and even the fearful Jewish priests.
This is the man whom I follow daily—to die to the flesh and to rise in the spirit. I know no one braver, more compassionate, kind, life-giving, and loving than Jesus.