Nov 1, 1998 8 min read old-sermon

The Pain of the Cross

if you like pain, there’s something wrong with you
yet the truth is, nobody will ever experience the sort of pain Jesus did on that Good Friday so long ago
as Jesus came closer to the cross, his suffering intensified
he told his disciples:
(Matthew 26:38) Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.”
Jesus was in anguish over his approaching death – not only the physical pain, but the separation from God, and the pain of bearing the sins of the world
I think it’s safe to say that nobody will ever experience the sort of pain that Jesus did
I’d invite you to consider with me four types of pain that Jesus experienced at the cross
these come from Wayne Grudem’s study of the Atonement in his Systematic Theology
THE FIRST TYPE OF PAIN JESUS EXPERIENCED WAS PHYSICAL PAIN AND DEATH
some people have died pretty awful deaths
the Bible never claims that the physical death that Jesus experienced is more painful than what anyone has ever experienced
but make no mistake: death by crucifixion was one of the most horrible forms of execution ever devised by man
Mark says curtly:
(Mark 15:24) And they crucified him.
if you lived at that time, you would have a pretty vivid picture of what crucifixion involved
now we have some idea, but the ugliness of that death is somewhat lost on us
death by crucifixion essentially involved slow death by suffocation
the criminal being crucified would have his arms outstretched, and a nail would be driven through the wrist, through median nerve, the largest nerve going from the hand
the pain would be worse than that terrible pain felt when you bang your funny bone – you know how painful that is
the two feet would be placed together, one on top of the other, and a nail would be driven through them
the cross would be raised, and the criminal would have a choice
either he could support most of the weight of his body with his arms, in which case his chest cavity would be pulled upward and outward, making it difficult to breath
or, when the criminal finally had to breath, he could push himself up with his feet, which would be excruciatingly painful, because it put all his weight on the nails holding the feet, and pulled upwards on the nails that went through the wrists
don’t forget that the criminal’s back had been torn open repeatedly by a previous flogging, and it would scrape against the cross with every breath
eventually, amid great pain, the one being crucified would die of asphyxiation
you wouldn’t want to die that way!
in some cases, crucified men would survive for several days, nearly suffocating but not quite
the English word “excruciating” comes from “the cross”
this is the physical pain that Jesus experienced for you and for me
but this wasn’t the only type of pain that Jesus experienced
HE ALSO EXPERIENCED THE PAIN OF BEARING SIN
how do you feel when you have sinned?
many of us know the anguish of letting God down
we feel terrible, even tortured when we carry the weight of a terrible sin
even more so when the sin is a significant one
and this only intensifies as we grow closer to God
remember that Jesus was perfectly holy
Jesus hated sin with his entire being
yet, out of obedience to the Father, and out of love for us, Jesus took upon himself all the sins of those who would one day be saved
he took upon himself all the evil against which his soul rebelled
every sin of every person who would one day believe was born on that cross by Jesus
(Isaiah 53:6) We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
(2 Corinthians 5:21) God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
(1 Peter 2:24) He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.
as the hymn says:
He took my sins and my sorrows; He made them his very own.
He bore the burden to Calvary and suffered and died alone.
I have a friend who is allergic to animal hair
we were walking through the Canadian National Exhibition’s farm exhibit when she started to gasp
we had to get out of that building pretty fast, or she literally would have died
her system reacted so strongly to animal hair that she couldn’t stand to be around animals for even a few minutes
the reaction that God has to sin is much stronger than that
God can’t abide being in the presence of sin
he hates it!
and yet Jesus willingly took upon himself our sins – all of our sins – just so that we could be forgiven by God
not only did Jesus experience physical pain and the pain of bearing our sins,
JESUS ALSO EXPERIENCED THE PAIN OF ABANDONMENT
you know when I really need my friends?
in times of trouble
when we are going through difficult times, that is when we really need our friends
Jesus was going through his darkest hour, and he cried out to his closest friends for their support:
(Mark 14:34) “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” he said to them. “Stay here and keep watch.”
and they let him down
his friends deserted him
when he was arrested, do you remember what happened?
(Matthew 26:56) Then all the disciples deserted him and fled.
these are the disciples of whom it is written:
(John 13:1) It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love.
these disciples, to whom Jesus had revealed his love, now turned their backs on him and left him
even worse is the abandonment of the Father
from eternity Jesus had joined uninterrupted fellowship with the Father
even on earth, his deepest joy was his fellowship with the Father
it was the one unfailing source of inward strength in and joy in a life filled with sorrow
when Jesus bore our sins on the cross, he was abandoned by the Father, who is “of purer eyes than to behold evil” (Habakkuk 1:13)
he cried out:
(Matthew 27:46) About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?”–which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
he was abandoned, temporarily, by his own heavenly Father, for the first time in eternity
one preacher put it this way: “His body was being destroyed in the worst possible way, but that was a flea bite compared to what was happening to his soul.”
if a mild acquaintance denounces and rejects you – so be it
if a good friend does the same, the hurt is much worse
but if your spouse walks out on you, that’s even more devastating
the longer, deeper, and more intimate the relationship, the more tortuous the separation
the Son’s relationship with the Father was eternal and infinitely greater than the most intimate and passionate human relationship
when Jesus was cut off from God, it caused pain in him that none of us can imagine
so Jesus experienced physical pain and death, the pain of bearing sin, the terrible pain of being abandoned by his friends and God
AND JESUS ALSO EXPERIENCED THE PAIN OF THE WRATH OF GOD
God is angry with sin
and when Jesus bore the guilt of our sins upon the cross alone, “God the Father, the mighty Creator, the Lord of the universe, poured out on Jesus the fury of his wrath: Jesus became the object of the intense hatred of sin and vengeance against sin which God had patiently stored up since the beginning of the world” (Wayne Grudem)
Romans 3:25 says:
(Romans 3:25 NLT) For God sent Jesus to take the punishment for our sins and to satisfy God’s anger against us. We are made right with God when we believe that Jesus shed his blood, sacrificing his life for us. God was entirely fair when he did not punish those who sinned in former times.
it’s a myth that God simply forgot about sin and the punishment for sin in generations before Jesus
he had forgiven sins, but stored up his righteous anger, generation after generation
at the cross all the fury of this stored-up wrath was unleashed against Jesus
the pain would have been immense
the Bible says:
(Hebrews 10:31) It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Jesus fell into the hands of the living God, in all his anger
he became the propitiation for our sins
propitiation is a word that means “a sacrifice that turns way the wrath of God, thereby making him favorable toward us”
God demanded that sin be paid for
and Jesus paid for the sin
Wayne Grudem writes:
To bear the guilt of millions of sins for even a moment would cause the greatest anguish of soul. To face the deep and furious wrath of an infinite God for even an instant would cause the most profound fear. But Jesus’ suffering was not over in a minute – or two – or ten. When would it end? Could there be yet more weight of sin? Yet more wrath of God? Hour after hour it went on – the dark weight of sin and the deep wrath of God poured over Jesus wave after wave. Jesus at last cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Why must this suffering go on so long? Oh God, my God will you ever bring it to an end?
this is the payment that Jesus made on our behalf on the cross
Jesus bore the punishment for us when he died
you can see that his death involved much more than physical agony
he also suffered from the weight of our sins, abandonment, and the fury of God
now think
Christ bore all the guilt of our sins
the bore the full wrath of God against sin, and the penalty that we deserved
if you are a believer, your account has been marked “paid in full”
as the song says, “Jesus paid it all; all to him I owe; Sin had left a crimson stain; He washed it white as snow”
think about what made him bear all this suffering
it was your sins and my sins
the Bible tells us in Romans 3:23 that we are all sinners
(Romans 3:23) for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
heaven saw this sin-problem and its tragic consequences:
(Romans 6:23) For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
this is a gift offered to us all
I read an article by Mart DeHaan that tells us about this free gift:
it’s a gift offered to all
God offers this gift to everyone
he is no respecter of persons
he does not defer to wealth or poverty
he doesn’t favor good looks or plainness
he doesn’t care if you’re intelligent or average
he offers this gift to every person of every nation and social status
this gift is needed by all
all of us need this gift, because no one can merit eternal life
all of us from birth have been guilty of rebellion against God
nobody could come up with a substitute for this gift
this gift cannot be deserved
there is nothing we can do to earn the mercy, love, or forgiveness of God
Paul wrote:
(Ephesians 2:8) For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God–
(Ephesians 2:9) not by works, so that no one can boast.
no one can earn the gift of salvation
(Romans 4:5 NLT) But people are declared righteous because of their faith, not because of their work.
this gift has been paid for
the gift which we can’t earn has been fully paid for and is available in our name
all legal debts can be cancelled as soon as we accept the offer
here’s the deal:
“Christ’s life for our life; his righteousness for our wrongs; his purchase for our willingness to be bought, released and adopted into the family of heaven”
this gift must be accepted by faith
there is only one condition for receiving this gift: belief
we must believe that we are sinners; that Jesus Christ died for our sins; that God wants to give life and forgiveness to all who will believe that Christ died for their sins
without faith, we cannot receive this gift
only those who trust God can know that he is their only hope for eternity
Jesus suffered the pain of the cross to give us this gift
thank God that he loved us enough to do this for us!
the question for you is clear:
will you accept this gift?

Darryl Dash

I'm a grateful husband, father, oupa, and pastor of Grace Fellowship Church Don Mills. I love learning, writing, and encouraging. I'm on a lifelong quest to become a humble, gracious old man.

Toronto, Canada

Darryl Dash

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