If You Ever Doubt His Love

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,
that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
(John 3:16 NKJV)

Most of us have asked this question at some time or another, when darkness and pain is overwhelming and there doesn’t appear to be an end in sight. “Where are You, Lord? Do you really care?”

To answer this, I will simply point you to the cross. You cannot spend time at the foot of the cross, meditating on what He did, and leave doubting His love for you.

He could have come at a kinder period in history – when executions were carried out with bullets or guillotines, when death was comparatively quick and merciful. Instead, He came when the method of execution was violent and cruel. But His timing was perfect and purposeful.

Here is a description of death on a cross during Roman times. Who would voluntarily offer themselves up to this?

Before the cross came the scourging. Jesus was whipped with a “flagrum,” a whip with long leather tails that had bits of sheep bone or small bits of metal braided into them, which would cut deep into His skin and subcutaneous tissues. As the flogging continued, the lacerations would have become so deep they would have reached the underlying skeletal muscles, resulting in long ribbons of bleeding flesh. A scourging typically resulted in rib fractures and bruising of the lungs, with bleeding into the chest cavity. The Romans were experts at this form of torture and knew exactly how to inflict the most damage without killing the person. Jesus would have been bleeding and trembling with shock when he was returned to Pilate. No wonder He couldn’t carry His cross to Golgotha and Simon the Cyrene had to be conscripted to carry it for him.

Then came the crucifixion. Death on a cross was usually a result of excessive blood loss, traumatic shock, or cardiac and respiratory arrest.

Victims were nailed to the cross through the hand at the base of the palm and at an angle so that the nail came out through the wrist. This would support the body’s weight but also cause excruciating pain. Hanging by the arms results in the pectoral muscles becoming paralyzed, making the intercostal muscles unable to act. Air can be drawn into the lungs but not exhaled. Jesus would have had to push up on His legs to try to breathe. (The reason legs were often broken was to hasten death because the person would no longer be able to push up and, thus, would die more quickly from suffocation.) This horrific cycle of pushing up and then sinking down would have continued for hours as He struggled to breathe. The movement up and down against the rough wood of the cross would have exacerbated the pain from the deep lacerations in His back. His pericardium would slowly have filled with blood and compressed his heart.

That’s just the physical description of the pain of the crucifixion and what led up to it. Add to this the indescribable agony of being separated from His father, the Trinity being torn apart, and the unspeakable horror of taking the sins of all mankind on Himself so that we might live.
In spite of His agony, He asked the Father to forgive those who were crucifying Him. He heard the repentant plea of the thief hanging beside Him and pulled Him safely into the Kingdom just as the gates were closing. He also remembered His mother and consigned her safely into the care of His beloved disciple, John.

Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do” (Luke 23:34 NKJV).

Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise” (Luke 23:42-43 NKJV).

When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman, here is your son,” and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home (John 19:26-27 NKJV).

As Jesus hung there, He saw each one of us and was willing to suffer a horrific death so we could all be in heaven with Him one day. 

The cross, an instrument of torture, became an instrument of life and a symbol of everlasting love. Two bars—one reaching up to heaven, one reaching out to the world. Amazing grace.