The Easter Series Episode 2 -- Crucifixion

As the Easter season is around the corner, some may just dismiss it as another holiday without giving it a second thought.

Easter is really about the resurrection of Jesus Christ after being crucified on (Yep you guessed it) Good Friday.

When I was a kid who didn't know who on Earth Jesus was, I was wondering, as many of you would, why was a day of crucifixion called "good"? One of my friends came up with an answer to this question, that it's because "the death brought life".

Yes, it's that simple.

The reason why Jesus came in the first place is not just to teach us how to live a righteous life (although he did do a lot of that), but also to take our punishment by being crucified on a cross.

We have been created to have friendship with God, but sin (attitude of rebellion towards God) caused us to be separated from him. God wants to forgive us, but his holy nature does not allow sin to go unpunished. The Bible says that the wages (due "payment") of sin is death. Spiritual death, and eternity in hell. Jesus took the crucifixion so that those who trust him can be cleansed from past sins.

Jesus, the Son of God, came as a human, but a sinless one, so that he can really bear our judgement. Otherwise, if it's another sinful human who died, he/she would just be recieving what he/she deserves.

Another reason why Jesus came is to share in all the possible sufferings we'll face. The Bible says that we was bearing our weaknesses and diseases when he was whipped (using lead-tipped whips!) before the crucifixion.

There was once when I was thinking, was the 12 hours of pain enough to share in the pain of some, which will often last long beyond that?

To digress a bit, I think a good way to torture a person is to place him before a toilet bowl and not let him use it when he's having a stomachache.

The fact was that before he was crucified, Jesus said that he actually had thousands of angels who would obey his command if he called them to save him. Of course, since he is the Son of God. I believe the angels would still be there watching Jesus through all the whipping and nailing.

My "toilet analogy" was similar to what Jesus was going through at that time when he was going through all those torture. Most of us, when we face problems and pain, would just lose hope and think that there's no solution to the problems we face. For Jesus, however, he was going through all the torture when the very solution to the "problem" was before his eyes! Angels who could minister to him and bring him comfort were to watch him, their Lord, going through the scourging just to take the punishment we deserved.

All these just to make us able to be his friends.