A PLACE CALLED GOLGOTHA

FIVE PLACES YOU’VE JUST GOT TO SEE

A PLACE CALLED GOLGOTHA

I PETER 2:21-24

As Christians we believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.  We believe that as a God/Man He was born to a virgin.  We believe that He was God Himself and that He was also 100% man.  He thought the thoughts that we think.  He did the things that we do.  He liked the things that we like.  He was tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin.  And He hurt just like we hurt. 

We believe that He gave His life on a cross to die for our sins.  In so doing, the shedding of His blood became the sacrifice for our sins.  We also believe that if we recognize Jesus as our Savior and accept Him as our Lord, He will apply that blood to our lives and forgive our sins.

Over the last few weeks we have studied the events of the last days of Jesus’ physical life here on earth.  Last week we followed Him to a garden on the Mount of Olives.  We watched as He clawed the ground.  We were present at “The greatest battle ever fought”. 

We understand now that after His stressful, crushing night in the “oil press” of Gethsemane that He was arrested and tried illegally.  He was placed before the scrutiny of five different court-like proceedings.  We are told that He was forced to walk more than 2 and ½ miles from place to place that night, traveling from the garden to Annas’ house, to Caiaphas’ palace, to Pilate’s hall, to Herod’s palace and then back to Pilate’s hall again. 

He was preparing to make a trip to another place that you and I just have to see.  He was being readied for a trip to a place called Golgotha.

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Being involved for many years in emergency medicine it interested me to look at the medical aspects of Jesus’ experience that night and the torture and suffering He experience on Golgotha.  I researched an article from The Journal of the American Medical Association done by the Mayo clinic.  It is entitled “On the physical death of Jesus Christ”.  Much of the information included here comes directly from that document. 

This information gives us a clear understanding of the extent of the pain and suffering that Jesus WILLINGLY submitted to for our sins.  We have talked about several times that we should “leave it all on the field”.  This was the ultimate sacrifice.  When Jesus left the field there was nothing else that He could have possible done for us. 

1.  Sweating blood:  (Luke 27:44) Last week we learned how that Jesus underwent so much mental and spiritual pressure in the garden that he actually sweated blood.  Is that physically possible? 

There is a medical condition known as HEMATIDROSIS which is brought on by intense emotional and mental stress in which the physical body actually does sweat blood.  This is how it happens. 

 

Surrounding each sweat gland there is a “net” of tiny blood vessels.  During stress the vessels will constrict and push the blood away from the glands.  Then as the stress begins to pass the vessels will dilate and the blood will ooze into the glands.  They exit the body mixed with the sweat and appear as drops of blood.    

There are those who state that this condition is not possible, however Leonardo de Vinci writes about observing this condition in a soldier about to go into a major battle. 

The loss of great amounts of sweat plus the loss of blood will result in dehydration.  Let me give you some of the signs and symptoms of the condition called dehydration. 

·         Head aches

·         Muscle cramps especially in the legs

·         A drop in blood pressure

·         Dizziness, fainting

·         Rapid heart rate

Severe cases of dehydration alone are known to cause death. 

So it is easy to understand that as Jesus was led out of the garden of Gethsemane that night He was already in a weakened condition.

2. (Luke 22:63; Mark 14:65; Matt 27:29) The Crown of Thorns: We are told in the gospel accounts of that night that was blindfolded and slapped with the palm of the hands.  That He was hit with a reed and that He had a crown of thorns placed on His head. 

The head and face are the most vascular parts of the body.  Even a small cut to the scalp or face will produce copious amounts of bleeding. This would again contribute to the condition of dehydration and hypovolemic shock. 

The signs and symptoms of hypovolemic shock are much the same as dehydration. 

·         Decrease in blood pressure

·         Increased heart rate

·         Cold, clammy skin

·         Dizziness and disorientation.  .

3.  Flogging/ scourging:  (Mark 15:15)

We discussed on Sunday night a little about the process of flogging or scourging.  It was done with an instrument called a “Flagrum or flagellum”.  This whip-like instrument had a wooden handle with 3-4 braided leather straps emerging from it.  Braided into the straps were pieces of broken bones and at the ends of the straps were pieces of round metal “balls”. 

The victim was tied to a post and stripped of his cloths.  A soldier stood on either side and alternately beat the victim with the whip. 

The bone pieces would naturally cut into the skin causing capillary and venous bleeding. The metal balls would cause deep contusions or bruising, which is nothing more than bleeding deep within the muscle tissue.  As the beating continued the bone chips and leather would tear open the muscle and cause intense spasms in the legs, back and shoulders of the victim.    
 

This process would go on as long as the ruler allowed and usually it was as long as the soldiers wanted to swing.  They were skilled in the art and would stop just prior to the death of the victim. Often the flesh would literally be hanging from the victims back, shoulders and legs when the beating was over.   

Already being in shock from the dehydration and blood loss, weak from lack of sleep, food and water, Jesus now was taken to the point of death by this unmerciful beating. 

4.  The trip to the cross:  We saw pictures last Sunday night of the Via Dolorosa, “the way of sorrows” which is the route which is believed to have been taken on the way to the cross.  The cross beam on which Jesus would be hung was made of wood and usually weighed about 125.5 pounds.  A normal man in relatively good condition would have been able to carry that on his shoulders; however in Jesus’ physical condition He could not carry the crossbeam.  So He fell beneath the load. 

It was at this point that the Romans pulled a man from the crowd named Simon and he was forced to carry the crossbeam up to Calvary for Jesus.

5.  Nailed to the cross: After reaching Calvary Jesus was thrown down onto the ground again breaking loose the lacerations on his back.  A 5-7” metal spike was then placed at each wrist.  This was driven through the wrist between the radius and ulna bones. (Not through the palm as we have always assumed) In placing the spike here it would have severed the medial nerve causing a white hot, burning pain to shoot through both arms.  The spikes would not tear out of the wrist because they are held in by the metacarpal bones in the hand. 

6.  Nailed by the feet:  Another spike was then driven through the feet between the 2nd and 3^rd metatarsal bones.  Again this would have hit a nerve and caused that burning pain to shoot through the legs each time the nerve was pressed upon.

7.  Breathing:  The process of breathing is not exactly like we think.  Our intercostals muscle, along with the muscle in our shoulders and our diaphragm constrict to expand our chest thus allowing for air to flow into our lungs.  That inhalation process is aided by the raising of the arms.  If you will notice when you run or are short of breath you have a tendency to raise your arms over your head or at least take the pressure off of your chest by putting your hands on your hips so you can breath better.

As Jesus hung on that crossbeam His chest was forced into an inhalation position.  He could breathe in.  But in order to breathe out or exhale He would have to pull up on the nails and push up with His feet.  The point of the cross was to inflict pain, as much as possible, so with each breath, Jesus had to inflict pain upon Himself. 

A point that I realized while studying this really shook me.  We understand from the Gospel accounts that Jesus spoke 7 times from the cross.  Seven times He had to pull up against the spikes in His wrist.  Seven times He had to push against the spike in His feet in order to exhale and speak.  But it was important for Him to speak those 7 times.  The thing that shocked me is that I did not even know what He said at those times.  Do you?

Jesus put Himself through excruciating pain in order to utter seven statements and I don’t care enough to study and even know what He said!

I intend to study those words.  I intend to commit them to memory.  I intend to know what was so important that Jesus chose to inflict that pain upon Himself so that I could hear what He had to say. I hope you will study that too. (As a matter of fact, I think before we go on to the final place that we just have to see, that we have time to study the words of Jesus from the cross and will probably do that next week.)

Because He did not exhale as He normally would, fluid built up within His lungs.  Today we call that pulmonary edema.  People who have congestive heart failure will experience this malady.  When this occurs it prevents the air in your lungs from getting to the blood stream.  One actually drowns in their own fluid.  Now Jesus is not only suffering from dehydration, hypovolumic shock, hemorregic shock but also respiratory shock.  This was happening to Jesus and increasing with every minute He hung there. 

Every person in shock needs oxygen.  That is one of the first treatments given by an EMT in the field.  Yet for Jesus that oxygen is being denied because of the design of the cross.  It was planned so that the man would die painfully and slowly.

Fluid loss, blood loss, exhaustion, dehydration, suffocation and heart failure, any one condition could kill a man.  Jesus was suffering from all of them.

8.  The spear in His side: Often men would be allowed to hang on a cross for days in torment but in the case of Jesus the following day was the Sabbath and it was not proper to allow a man to hang on a cross on the Sabbath.  The custom of the Romans was simple; they would simply take a sledge hammer and break the large bone (tibia) in each leg.  This would prevent the man from pushing up and exhaling and he would die.  The two men hanging next to Jesus were treated to this torture. But we are told in Jesus case that instead of breaking His legs (this was prophesied) they stabbed Him in the side with a spear.  Blood and water poured from the wound.

A reasonable assumption is that the spear punctured the lung and either the heart or a major vessel.  Naturally blood would flow out of the wound and the fluid (water) would be from the pulmonary edema in the lungs. 

I’ve worked train wrecks, plane crashes, helicopter crashes, 18 wheeler wrecks, auto wrecks of all kinds, shootings, stabbings, beatings, just about any way a man could die, I’ve see it.  But I have never, in over 40 years of emergency work, ever seen a man suffer in death the way Jesus suffered. 

  

And to think, He went there for me!  He suffered for me!  It was more than just death.  He didn’t get shot or go quickly, it was prolonged, intentional, pre-meditated, suffering.  After seeing what we have seen on Calvary, Is it any wonder that He struggled so in the garden about going to the cross?

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How can we walk away from this place and not feel ashamed?  How can we turn our backs on Calvary walk back down that hill, go home tonight to our warm, safe, comfortable houses and live like we have lived before?   How can we see what we have seen and not fall on our faces and cry FORGIVE ME?  Oh, not just forgive me of my sin but forgive me for not loving PEOPLE like you do.  Forgive me for not giving of myself as you did.  Forgive me for daring to call myself “Christ-like” and a Christian and not living at all like you did. Forgive me for being so selfish and thinking of me after seeing the sacrifice you gave.

I don’t know about you, but for me this year Easter will be different.  I have always loved Thanksgiving and Christmas and other holidays but have never had much feeling for Easter.  I will this year.  I see what it cost Him.  I don’t understand why He did it, I certainly didn’t deserve.  I could never deserve it. But I understand just a part of what He did for me. How can I go a day without telling someone about how much He loves them?  How can I sit through the Easter season and not be passionate about what happened in that horrible place that Friday so long ago?

Don’t let this slip by you.  Don’t just sit here and listen to the description of what this kind, tender, loving, compassionate man went through for you and say “amen” and go back home the way you came.  The very reason He chose to go through this was so that you will be different!  The planned purpose of the cross was to deliver you from the guilt of sin and the chains of sin.  Not accepting the gift, not devoting yourself to live the life He planned for you and purchased for you puts your spit on His face and your hand on the hammer. 

Go ahead, miss the message about the future from the Mount of Olives, miss the purpose of the Lord’s Supper, ignore the mental and spiritual suffering that Jesus endured in that great battle in Gethsemane BUT WHATEVER YOU DO, DON’T EVER FORGET WHAT YOU’VE SEEN ON CALVARY. DON’T MISS THE MESSAGE FROM GOLGOTHA! 

   

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We’ve got one more place to see before our trip is completed.  We will walk back outside the walls of Jerusalem, past the Mount of Olives, past the Garden of Gethsemane to a little hill near Bethany.  You won’t want to miss what we will see there.