Isaiah 53:1-12 – The Fatal Torment
In April 1996, the entertainment world suffered a loss. Larry LaPrise, the Detroit native who wrote the song "The Hokey Pokey", died at age 83. That’s right, somebody actually wrote the song. He led a full, quiet and happy life, and he died peacefully in Boise, Idaho. Still it was a difficult time for the family and it was especially difficult for to get him in the casket. They put his left leg in and... well, that was when the trouble started.
We joke about it, but death is truly no laughing matter. Today, I want to look at the suffering and the death of Jesus Christ. Last week, I began a series on why we can believe the Resurrection really happened. I spoke of the importance of the Resurrection of Jesus. And I mentioned that some people, even though they believe that Jesus really existed, some believe that He really didn’t die on the cross. They believe what is called the Swoon Theory – that is, Jesus didn’t really die on the cross, but only swooned or fainted. Then, He was revived in the cool of the tomb, so that when He came up from the grave on Sunday, He was not resurrected but only resuscitated.
Today I continue on why we can believe in the Resurrection, using the word FEAT. The letter F stands for Jesus’ Fatal Torment – He really did die. I want to show you that the Swoon Theory is a flimsy theory. I want to walk you through the last stages of Jesus’ life for 2 reasons: 1) so that you can see more clearly what He went through for you and for your forgiveness – after all, Paul said he wanted to know Christ and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings. And, 2) so that you can believe more strongly in what the Bible says, and not in what popular skeptics say. Let’s read words written 800 years before Christ was even born, from the prophet Isaiah, chapter 53. Isaiah 53:1-12.
Let’s walk through Jesus’ final hours on earth. Thursday night, the night before Passover, the night families would eat the Passover meal together before the ritual sacrifice the next day. This night would find Jesus and His disciples gathered for what we call the Last Supper. Judas left and arranged with the chief priests to be the formal witness in laying charges against Jesus. Jesus shared some teachings with His followers, and then led his closest friends to the Garden of Gethsemane. There He prayed that He would not have to go through what He was about to go through. However, He submitted His plans to God the Father – “Not what I want, but what You want.”
And as He prayed He experienced what is called hematidrosis – literally, sweating with blood. It’s a rare biological occurrence that happens under extreme pressure - because of hemorrhaging into the sweat glands, the skin becomes fragile and tender. This set the stage for what would happen within hours.
So, Judas came with the priests and Roman soldiers, and Jesus was arrested. During the next few hours, all during the night, Jesus went through legal trials. Illegal, rather. False witnesses, trumped up charges, and so on. There were 3 Jewish trials, and 3 Roman trials. The very last trial, before Pilate, was the beginning of the end.
Bowing to the whims of the crowd, Pilate condemned Jesus to death. Torture for Jesus was fairly elaborate. Pilate thought he could appear as a good leader before the influential people, so he went above and beyond torture for a regular prisoner. The soldiers made a crown of thorns, in mockery of his claims to be a king, and then struck Jesus in the head with a scepter, a short staff.
And the Bible says Jesus was flogged. This is a simple word to describe the punishment, of a multi-tipped whip, studded with small balls and fragments of glass and bone, lashed repeatedly across the back, often just up to the point of death. This caused massive blood loss and inflicted horrible pain. It reduced the skin on the back to ribbons. Once again to mock his claims of kingship, the soldiers put an old faded robe on Jesus, over the fresh wounds. Enough time passed that just before they led Him to the cross, they ripped the robe off Him, ripping off the freshly matted blood, opening all the wounds again. By this time Jesus has lost a lot of blood, and it’s not over yet.
Crucifixion was certainly a well-refined experiment in torture. Above all, it was a slow smothering, designed to be as painful along the way as possible. (DESCRIBE) When the body became too tired to lift up, when too much blood had been lost, when too much dehydration had happened, the victim died. And death became a welcome relief.
Now, people who subscribe to the Swoon Theory say Jesus wasn’t dead when they took Him down off the cross. Jesus did die sooner than most. The Bible says He gave up His life. This surprised the soldiers. So, just to make sure, one of them poked a spear in His side, between His ribs. Blood and water flowed out. What that did was burst the pericardium, the sac of fluid surrounding the heart – water. As well, it broke open the heart. And since the heart had stopped pumping, the blood had started clotting. So, blood and water flowing out were seen as separate. Jesus was dead. And even if He weren’t, the spear thrust into His heart would have killed Him anyway.
Now, several people declared Him dead as well. The soldier who thrust his spear into Jesus’ side thought He was dead. The Roman centurion on hand thought He was dead. In fact, he reported Jesus dead to Pilate. All these people would have made sure. Joseph of Arimathea, who prepared Jesus’ body for burial, certainly would have noticed even the faintest hint of breathing from his leader and friend. As well, the chief priests who wanted Jesus dead would have made sure as well. Everyone that cared figured Jesus was dead.
But, let’s assume for a minute that perhaps Jesus didn’t die. Even though the overwhelming evidence says that He most certainly did die, let’s imagine for a second if He hadn’t. Let’s suppose that somehow, in the cool of the tomb, He was revived. He woke up. That means we will have to assume that He was OK, despite lack of food, lack of blood, lack of water, lack of medical attention, and lack of oxygen. Then we will have to assume He was able to get out of the 75 pounds of spices used to embalm Him, spices wound together with strips of cloth becoming a gooey sticky mess. Then we will have to assume that He was able to roll the 2000-lb boulder from in front of the tomb, out of its crevice, out of its groove, and away from the opening. Then we will have to assume He overpowered the guards and made them forget what happened. Then we will have to assume He walked on nail-pierced feet to find the disciples. That’s a lot of assuming.
And even if that did happen, what would be the response of the disciples who saw Him? Wonder? Love? Awe? No, pity. They would not think He had beaten death – they would think He sneaked by it. They would not worship such a sight; they would pity Him. They would take Him to a doctor. This is not the stuff new religions are made of.
Even back 2000 years ago, people were not stupid. Believing in someone rising from the dead isn’t a normal happening in any generation. They would not have been fooled easily into believing it. Something had to happen to cause those early followers to leave their religion, their worship, their jobs, their families, their lives… and that something was seeing their leader die and rise again.
And He did it for us. The torture was for us. The humiliation was for us. The death was for us. A perfect sacrifice was needed to cleanse our hearts. The blood of a spotless sacrifice was needed for forgiveness, and to be right with God. Colossians 2 says Jesus defeated the enemy at the cross. It also says He defeated all the laws and customs that make it difficult for us to follow Him. In other words, following the laws will not get us to God, but following Jesus will.
And Romans 6 says that Jesus’ death defeated sin in our lives. We do not have to sin! 1 Peter says that He bore our sins in His body on the tree, that we might die to sins and live for righteousness. Jesus really did die so that we could be really forgiven. He took our place, tasting the death we deserve.
George MacDonald, a Scottish preacher, once said this: “Christ died to save us, not from suffering, but from ourselves; not from injustice, far less from justice, but from being unjust. He died that we might live – but live as he lives, by dying as he died who died to himself that he might live unto God. If we do not die to ourselves, we cannot live to God, and he that does not live to God, is dead.” His death has brought us life.
And yet, does it make a difference in us still? Or have we heard it so much it’s common for us? Do we realize the drastic measures God took to forgive us? Is there any way we can ignore Him? Forget Him? Not appreciate Him?
