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Jesus went through six mock trials the night before He was crucified.  Consider what He went through to bring you back to Himself…

While feeling the intense pressure, Jesus is doing what He has done all through His life—He is, with each new attack, turning to the Father and, in His heart, is drinking in the Father’s life.  That life has strength and sanity in it, which preserves Him throughout this horrendous night.  Make no mistake about it. When those accusations first hit His mind, He felt the same as you do when the enemy is attacking your mind.   He felt the blows to His body just like you would feel them.  The difference was that, as soon as He felt them, He would—in that instant—look to the Father for another drink of His strength, His life that flows as a river from the throne of God (Revelation 22:1).  This was the way He had always lived, and He was showing us now, in the very worst mental and physical suffering, that we could still drink of the River of Life—indeed, we could have it flowing through us so that God’s life could also be viewed in us.

The trials would end sometime after daybreak, but not before Jesus had felt the devastating scourge known as the “cat-o-nine-tails”. (John 19:1-3)  As a means of punishing criminals condemned to a cross (as well as hastening their death), the Romans had devised a method of whipping, the pain of which was horrendous. But, as only God can do, He would take what man “intended for evil, and use it for our good.” (Genesis 45: 5-8)  Here’s what happened:

They bring Jesus into an area of the judgment hall designed for this “scourging”.  They strip Him of His clothing, so as to expose His bare skin to the lashes of the whip.  They stretch His body full length, hanging him from His bound wrists, so that no part of His backside can avoid the merciless “claws” of this whip. This cat-o-nine-tails was designed with cutting pieces of metal or other sharp objects imbedded in the ends of its nine leather thongs.  Jesus is hanging—almost suspended—in this exposed state when a big Roman soldier picks up the whip and moves closer to Him.  Jesus, knowing what is about to happen, looks to His Father to drink more of His life and faith so as to be able to endure the coming torture.  All of a sudden the air is filled with the whistling sound of the whip as the soldier whirls it around his head and lands it across the back of Jesus.  It connects with a thud, and those cutting “claws” in the end of the whip imbed into the back of Jesus.  He flinches, but makes no outcry.  Then, just as the claws sink into Jesus’ flesh, the soldier flicks his wrist and pulls the whip in such a way that the nine thongs of the whip are drug across the back of Jesus leaving bloody trails through the flesh they had just ripped open.  Then another whirl followed by more contact, more ripping, more blood.  Time after time the whip lashed Jesus.  After a few minutes, all up and down His body, chunks of flesh had been ripped out, exposing the blood and sometimes the bone.  After thirty-nine tormenting lashes the soldier stopped, out of breath himself due to the effort he had put into this merciless performance.  Jesus, His body weakened and wracked with pain, collapses to the ground once his bound wrists are finally cut loose.

He lies there briefly, heaving for breath, then a course Roman soldier yells, “Get up!  You’ve got a cross to carry.”  Jesus cries within to His Father for strength to get up and finish this course.  God gave Him that strength; though only God Himself knew was Jesus was about to suffer—for us as lost humanity.

The Bible says,

“Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living.”

(Romans 14:9)

You are one of the living.  Is He your Lord?

Think about it; because if you don’t, someone else will do your thinking for you—and for your children!  And you won’t like what that brings to you.  I’m Don Pinson; this has been Think About It.

(This message has been taken from our book Why God Birthed America.  You can order a copy of Why God Birthed America at HERE)