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Who would I have been at Calvary?

David Child urges us to consider our response to the sacrifice Jesus made for us on that first Good Friday.

The soldiers of Pontius Pilate, the governor of Judaea, carried out what was the norm before a crucifixion; they stripped Jesus, tied His hands above His head then flogged Him with a scourge - a short whip made out of several braids of leather thongs of variable lengths in which small iron balls and sharp pieces of sheep bones were embedded. The number of strokes and severity was in the hands of the floggers and how they felt that day.
 
Since He had been dubbed King of the Jews the soldiers ridiculed Him and gave Him the full treatment. Jesus’s back and legs were lacerated. He had deep cuts to the skin and tissue, flesh torn from the bone, it was known amongst the soldiers as “The almost death.” Then he had a crown of thorns crammed on to his head and with the cross on his back was dragged through the streets of Jerusalem to Golgotha.
 
When Jesus arrived at Calvary, who would I have been in the throng on the hill?

  • A Roman soldier efficiently ignoring the pain inflicted? “Just doing a job” as I hammered nails through his hands and feet, then made a bit of money gambling for His clothes.
  • Maybe one of the laughing, ridiculing group, shouting “If you’re so special do something about it, go on, get down off the cross”.
  • Or a member of the great and the good, who were neither great nor good, but with so much to lose. Our power, and influence threatened by the voice of a carpenter’s son, so we orchestrated his crucifixion, we stood relieved and cheering not knowing our arranging of his torturous death was a failure.
  • Was I one of the “not fussed one way or another” type? A, “It does not mean anything to me,” spectator, just out for the day for a bit of fun.
  • Perhaps I would have been amongst the doubters, “Not really sure if I believe this man is the Son of God; that he loves me and is dying for me”.
  • Would I have been with those who love him, his mother Mary and the three other ladies, traumatised and weeping at the foot of the cross during his hours of agonising suffering and sacrifice? 

One was the loneliest number as he died. After 6 excruciating hours on the cross saying “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” the darkness fell, the ground shook and the curtain in the temple was ripped in two - the Chief Priest’s power had vanished, as his plan disintegrated. A Roman Centurion controlling the crucifixion, said, “This has to be the Son of God!”

The pathway to my salvation was opened, all I need, and nothing else, is to directly ask Jesus into my life. No one else is needed. Forgive me Jesus for not walking that pathway much, much sooner and for not having the courage to proclaim your gift, instead hiding in the herd and walking away from Calvary rather unmoved when the show was over. 
 
This article was first published in the Easter edition of Stalham Community Scene.


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David Child is a deacon at Stalham Baptist Church, and editor of Stalham Community Scene.

 


 

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