Execution by dying on a cross was one of the most terrible, harshest punishments the Romans gave to anyone.

The cross was considered the worst way to die. How horrible for anyone to be killed this way.  

Worst of all, for Jesus, the Son of God, who was innocent to be killed in such a horrible way.  On the surface, it looks dead wrong! He was innocent!

We are concluding our examination of the Life of Christ and others from the perspective of Living in a Crucible. 

It is my hope that you now understand that symbolically that a crucible is the fiery trials we experience as we grow and develop.

And though Crucibles are painful, although they are uncomfortable, and they do hurt, they are beneficial in developing our character.

From the Sabbath School Adult Bible Study Guide 2022 Quarter 3: Sabbath.School

See also Hope Sabbath School and 3ABN Sabbath School

Inviting the Holy Spirit’s Presence

Father, we are all sinners. In contrast to Jesus, we deserve death.

Your Son took our place and died for us.

Lord, help us to accept his death as the penalty for our sins.

In Jesus Name Amen.

Let us never forget that Jesus came to this world as a human being. His body was the same as ours. He came in human flesh.

When we consider that He existed in this world as a human being, in human flesh, the physical pain he experienced had to be excruciating, it had to have been unbearable.

He was beaten. He was whipped. Nails were hammered into His hands and feet.

Even worst, as Jesus hung on the cross, His own body weight pulled Him down against the nails and tore deep cuts in his hands and feet.

The pain had to have been awful! This was a terrible death, even for the worst criminal.

But Jesus was innocent. He had committed no crime!

How unfair that Jesus, an innocent man, should face such a horrible death.

Yet, Christ’s physical sufferings were, for lack of another word, mild compared to what really was going on behind the scenes.

This was more than just the killing of an innocent man.

There was more going on than what most people there at the time understood.

The following events give us a better understanding of what was happening at Jesus’ death.

Total Darkness over the land: Matthew 27:45

45 Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land. (Matthew 27:45)

Miraculous events: Matthew 27:51, 52

51 Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split,

52 and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; (Matthew 27:51-52)

Veil of temple torn from top to bottom. Mark 15:38

38 And the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. (Mark 15:38)

The veil was torn from top to bottom as evidence that no human hands could have done it.

The following helps explain the reason for the events that took place.

As Jesus hung upon the cross and cried, “It is finished,” the veil of the temple was rent into from top to bottom, to signify that God would no longer meet with the priests in the temple, to accept their sacrifices and ordinances, and also to show that the partition wall between the Jews and the Gentiles was broken down.

Here is what was going on!

Jesus had made an offering of Himself for both Jews and the Gentiles, and if saved at all, both must believe in Him as the only offering for sin, Jesus, the Saviour of the world.

Early Writings, p. 209.

So, for sure, much more was happening than just the death of an innocent man.

The scriptures let us know that God’s anger against sin, our sin, was poured on Jesus. In yielding up His precious life, Christ was not upheld by triumphant joy. All was oppressive gloom. It was not the dread of death that weighed upon Jesus. It was not the pain and humiliation of the cross that caused His inexpressible agony. Christ was the prince of sufferers; but His suffering was from a sense of the disease of sin, a knowledge that through familiarity with evil, man had become blinded to its magnitude. Christ saw how deep is the hold of sin upon the human heart, how few would be willing to break from its power. He knew that without help from God, humanity must perish, and He saw multitudes perishing within reach of abundant help.—The Desire of Ages, pp. 752, 753.

Thus, Jesus on the cross suffered God’s divine anger against sin, the sins of all human beings.

So, we can be sure Jesus suffered something deeper, darker, and far more painful than any human can ever feel, know, or experience.

Jesus suffered for us personally on the cross. Though a sinner, this should give us hope and comfort that through His suffering, pain, and death, we can accept him as our Savior. Because of Him, we do not have to experience eternal death for the punishment of our sins. The wage of sin is death. But God offers us a gift. In the place of death, He offers us eternal life. Jesus is our gift. He is our sacrificial lamb. He is our sacrifice for sin.

But to receive the benefit of the gift, we must accept it.

God suffered for us! Yes, in this world, as we know it, we will suffer, but our suffering does not compare to what Jesus suffered while living on this earth as a human being. Though you may suffer now, we have the assurance of something better because of what Jesus did for us on the Cross.

Find out more about the something better in Day 6: The Suffering God.