A Bloody Sacrifice

The Roman soldier stood waiting by the upright wooden beam that was already in the ground. In his rugged hands were four seven-inch square nails and a heavy hammer. He watched the approaching spectacle as it slowly came up the hill.

A man in a robe, with a crown of thorns on his head, being led by chains by soldiers, while another man carries the crossbeam beside him. Following them is a ragtag group of women and a few men who were his followers. The man, Jesus, can barely stand, his back lacerated and his flesh hanging in bloody ribbons.

His face is unrecognizable, having been beaten by dozens of Roman fists. His face resembles a raw pound of hamburger meat. Finally there, the Roman guard strips the man, Jesus, naked and begins his work of fastening this condemned man to the cross.

The soldier rudely pushes Jesus to the ground. As his lacerated back falls backwards on the crossbeam, then the work of crucifixion begins. The Roman soldier brings the hammer up with one hand while holding the seven-inch nail over the left wrist of Jesus.

Four solid blows drive the nail through the bone of the wrist, fastening it to the wood. Then the other hand is placed on the beam, and it is nailed solid to the wood. Then the Roman soldier takes the left foot of Jesus and presses it backwards against the right foot.

With both feet extended toes down, a seven-inch nail is driven into the arch of each foot. Now the Roman puts away the hammer, for the Christ is now fastened to the cross as he is lifted up several feet from the ground. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.

There, Jesus is crucified between two common criminals on Calvary's hill. The onlookers gather in groups, divided between strangers, those who were his followers and the sects of the Jewish religious leaders who mock and torment him as they wag their heads and say, He saved others. Let him save himself.

Blood drips down the cross from Jesus's open wounds. The wood is streaked with crimson red stains as drops of blood fall to the earth. Jesus strains and writhes in agony on the cross as he is a bloody scandal to behold.

Blood oozes from his head. Blood oozes from his hands and feet as he hangs on that ignoble cross. Look at that blessed man on the cross.

See him as he hangs there, with his arms outstretched, beckoning you to come to him. Look at that blood-stained Savior from sin as he says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me.

While Roman soldiers shoot crap at the foot of the cross, the sky darkens and the wind begins to pick up, drawing clouds of dust in the air, as the voice of the Son of God exclaims, O my God, O my God, why hast thou forsaken me? All hell is breaking loose on Calvary as the forces of darkness are pushed away, as the Christ takes the sins of the world upon him, becoming sin for us. And the crucified Christ has to endure the physical pain of death by crucifixion. He has to endure the mockery and cruelty of man.

He has to endure becoming a curse for us, as he endures the hardest part of the cross, which is the turned face of the Father. He cries, It is finished! And the earth goes to shaking, and all creation seems to groan. While the sky goes black and the temple curtain is torn asunder, God had come to earth to reconcile sinners back to him through the bloody sacrifice of his only begotten Son.

Jesus Christ suffered, died, and was buried, and he rose again and ascended back into heaven, where he is now, seated at the right hand of the Father, and he earned that right by way of a bloody cross. The only hope for a poor sinner like me is in his cleansing blood to where Christ's life is laid down and applied to me.