Now that Resurrection Day is past and we are celebrating Jesus rising from the tomb, we sometimes lose sight of the pain and suffering that preceded that event.
I have heard several pastors explain the pain of the scourging and how it was conducted, with some variations. They have explained the agony of Jesus’s hands and feet being nailed to the cross, which finally resulted in his death.
On Good Friday, Sweetheart and I went to a church where the journey to the cross was being simulated. A video was playing of an actor portraying what it would look like to be nailed to a cross. It was not a pretty sight. I saw the faces of Jesus’s followers—the disciples, the women, his mother. Then I looked at the centurion and the soldiers who were carrying out the execution.
What kind of people do such things? What kind of a heart and mind do you need? Do you have to block out your conscience in order to follow the commands of your superiors? Do you go home and beat your wife and children, or do you shut out the violence of the day and show love and tenderness? Or, are you just so mean and ornery that you have no wife and children? Do you sleep well at night?
Suppose you’re an unmarried Roman female at a wine and cheese party at the governor’s house. You see a handsome soldier standing against the wall and you strike up a conversation with him. You ask him what he does for a living.
He says, “I torture people. I flog them within an inch of their life, then I drag them off to a wooden cross, where I nail their hands and feet and watch them die a slow, painful death.”
What do you say to that? “Oh,” in a subdued voice, as you slowly meander to the farthest corner of the room—away from him.
Methods of torture have changed through the ages—the rack in Medieval times, the ovens in Nazi Germany. Today, terrorists in the Middle East behead people.
Ask a terrorist what he does for a living. “I behead people,” he says. “I get paid by the head.”
So, what is the point of all this torture? Apparently, some groups of people think what they believe is the only way to believe. You better believe that way, too—or else. Some extreme punishments are more subtle, even emotional, financial and social, rather than corporal.
Be brave. No matter what the punishment is, believe what you think is right. There is a Resurrection Day for all of us.
Dorothy is the author of two books—“Miles and Miracles” and “Getting It All Together “. You can purchase a book or send a comment by emailing her at dorothybutzknight@gmail.com