JOIN US FOR EASTER! 🙌 Saturday, March 30 - 5 PM // Sunday, March 31 - 8:30, 10, 11:30 AM.

This Week's Notes

Follow along with the latest message from The Way Bible Church!

Paid In Full – At What Cost

Community is our step in 2024 to help fulfill the Vision of TWBC. Community is how we will lead people to an encounter with God, resulting in life change. Accountability + Transparency = Community

 

Accountability - means you can count on me. It is caring for those you are in Community with. 

Transparency – being real about where you are so we can help you get in alignment with who you are.

Community – Is caring and being cared for where you are so we can help you get to where you need to be. 

 

Today we are going to take a transparent look at the crucifixion of Jesus. As we look at the cost of the cross it will establish exactly what you are worth. 

 

Matthew 27:26

“…And when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified.”

 

12:00 AM - 6:15 

Just after midnight Jesus is betrayed and arrested.

He was held in 3 different illegal trials of Annas, Caiaphas, The Sanhedrin where he was beat and abused by the Sanhedrin. (Matthew 26:57-68, Mark 14:53-65, Luke 22:54-71, John 18:12-27)

6:15 Daybreak 

The Sanhedrin bring him to a civil trial before Pilate. (Matthew 27:2;11-14, Mark 15:1-5, Luke 23:1-5, John 18:28-38)

Pilate sends him to a civil trial before Herod Antipas where he is beaten. (Luke 23:6-12)

Herod sends him back to Pilate for the final trial where he is scourged, mocked, crown of thorns (the last trial probably started around 8 AM)

Matthew 27:15-30, Mark 15:6-20, Luke 23:13-25, John 18:39-19:16

 

When a decision was made to scourge an individual, the victim was first stripped completely naked so his entire flesh would be open and uncovered to the beating action of the torturer’s whip. Then the victim was bound to a two-foot-high scourging post. His hands were tied over his head to a metal ring, and his wrists were securely shackled to the metal ring to restrain his body from movement. When in this locked position, the victim couldn’t wiggle or move, trying to avoid or dodge the lashes that were being laid across his back.

Once the victim was harnessed to the post and stretched over it, the Roman soldier began to put him through unimaginable torture. One writer notes that the mere anticipation of the first blow caused the victim’s body to grow rigid, the muscles to knot in his stomach, the color to drain from his cheeks, and his lips to draw tight against his teeth as he waited for the first sadistic blow that would begin the tearing open of his body.

The scourge itself consisted of a short, wooden handle with several 18- to 24-inch-long straps of leather protruding from it. The ends of these pieces of leather were equipped with sharp, rugged pieces of metal, wire, glass, and jagged fragments of bone. This was considered to be one of the most feared and deadly weapons of the Roman world. It was so ghastly that the mere threat of scourging could calm a crowd or bend the will of the strongest rebel. Not even the most hardened criminal wanted to be submitted to the vicious beating of a Roman scourge.

Most often, two torturers were utilized to carry out this punishment, simultaneously lashing the victim from both sides. As these dual whips struck the victim, the leather straps with their jagged, sharp, cutting objects descended and extended over his entire back. Each piece of metal, wire, bone, or glass cut deeply through the victim’s skin and into his flesh, shredding his muscles and sinews.

Every time the whip pounded across the victim, those straps of leather curled tortuously around his torso, biting painfully and deeply into the skin of his abdomen and upper chest. As each stroke lacerated the sufferer, he tried to thrash about but was unable to move because his wrists were held so firmly to the metal ring above his head. Helpless to escape the whip, he would scream for mercy that this anguish might come to an end.

Every time the torturers struck a victim, the straps of leather attached to the wooden handle would cause multiple lashes as the pieces of metal, glass, wire, and bone sank into the flesh and then raked across the victim’s body. Then the torturer would jerk back, pulling hard in order to tear whole pieces of human flesh from the body. The victim’s back, buttocks, back of the legs, stomach, upper chest, and face would soon be disfigured by the slashing blows of the whip.

Historical records describe a victim’s back as being so mutilated after a Roman scourging that his spine would actually be exposed. Others recorded how the bowels of a victim would actually spill out through the open wounds created by the whip. The Early Church historian Eusebius wrote: “The veins were laid bare, and the very muscles, sinews, and bowels of the victim were open to exposure.”

The Roman torturer would so aggressively strike his victim that he wouldn’t even take the time to untangle the bloody, flesh-filled straps as he lashed the whip across the victim’s mangled body over and over again. If the scourging wasn’t stopped, the slicing of the whip would eventually flay the victim’s flesh off his body.

With so many blood vessels sliced open by the whip, the victim would begin to experience a profuse loss of blood and bodily fluids. The heart would pump harder and harder, struggling to get blood to the parts of the body that were profusely bleeding. But it was like pumping water through an open water hydrant; there was nothing left to stop the blood from pouring through the victim’s open wounds.

This loss of blood caused the victim’s blood pressure to drop drastically. Because of the massive loss of bodily fluids, he would experience excruciating thirst, often fainting from the pain and eventually going into shock. Frequently the victim’s heartbeat would become so irregular that he would go into cardiac arrest.

This was a Roman scourging. 

According to Jewish law in Deuteronomy 25:3, the Jews were permitted to give forty lashes to a victim, but because the fortieth lash usually proved fatal, the number of lashes given was reduced to thirty-nine, as Paul noted in Second Corinthians 11:24. But the Romans had no limit to the number of lashes they could give a victim, and the scourging Jesus experienced was at the hands of Romans, not Jews. Therefore, it is entirely possible that when the torturer pulled out his scourge to beat Jesus, he may have laid more than forty lashes across His body. In fact, this is even probable in light of the explosive outrage the Jews felt for Jesus and the terrible mocking He had already suffered at the hands of Roman soldiers.

So, when the Bible tells us that Jesus was scourged, we now know exactly what type of beating that Jesus received that night. What toll did the cruel Roman whip exact on Jesus’ body? The New Testament doesn’t tell us exactly what Jesus looked like after He was scourged, but Isaiah 52:14 says, “As many were astonished at you— his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind.”

If we take this scripture literally for what it says, we can conclude that Jesus’ physical body was marred nearly beyond recognition. As appalling as this sounds, it was only the overture to what was to follow. Matthew 27:26 continues to tell us, “…and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified.” This scourging was only the preparation for Jesus’ crucifixion!


Jesus, looking at you and I right now says, “You were worth it all!”

8:45 AM

He is led to Golgotha (The place of the skull) on the way Simon from Cyrene is forced to help carry his cross. 

Matthew 27:32 “32 As they went out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. They compelled this man to carry his cross.” Matthew 27:31-34, Mark 15:21-22, Luke 23:26-32, John 19:17

 

9:00 AM 

They make it to Golgotha. Where the pain of being nailed to the cross begins. 

He is hung between 2 thieves.

Offered Wine mixed with gall which is a bitter herb possibly poisonous (they are offered this as a narcotic to deaden the pain.) 

A Sign “King of the Jews” is place over his head & they gamble for his clothes. Matthew 27:35-38, Mark 15:23-28, Luke 23:33-38, John 19:18-24

 

Crucifixion, a method of slow and painful fatal execution in which a victim is tied or nailed to a large wooden beam and left to hang for several days until eventual death from exhaustion and asphyxiation. This was thought to be invented by the Persians in 300 B.C., and perfected by the Romans in 100 BC. 

The victim was forced to carry the heavy cross beam to the place of their execution. Upon arrival a Roman solider would nail or tie the person to the beam by their wrist. Then solider would lift the cross beam with the victim attached and fasten the beam to the post making the cross. Then they would put one foot on top of the other and nail them to the post. 

 

The following details about crucifixion were assembled Dr. C. Truman Davis. He is a nationally respected ophthalmologist, vice president of the American Association of Ophthalmology.

 

1. It is the most painful death ever invented by man and is where we get our term "excruciating."

2. It was reserved primarily for the most vicious of male criminals. Jesus refused the anesthetic wine which was offered to Him by the Roman soldiers because of His promise in Matthew 26:29, "But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father's kingdom."

3. Jesus was stripped naked and His clothing divided by the Roman guards. This was in fulfillment of Psalm 22:18, "They divide My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots."

4. The Crucifixion of Jesus guaranteed a horrific, slow, painful death. Having been nailed the Cross, Jesus now had an impossible anatomical position to maintain.

5. Jesus' knees were flexed at about 45 degrees, and He was forced to bear His weight with the muscles of His thigh, which is not an anatomical position which is possible to maintain for more than a few minutes without severe cramp in the muscles of the thigh and calf.

6. Jesus' weight was borne on His feet, with nails driven through them. As the strength of the muscles of Jesus' lower limbs tired, the weight of His body had to be transferred to His wrists, His arms, and His shoulders.

7. Within a few minutes of being placed on the Cross, Jesus' shoulders were dislocated. Minutes later Jesus' elbows and wrists became dislocated.

8. The result of these upper limb dislocations is that His arms were 9 inches longer than normal.

9. In addition prophecy was fulfilled in Psalm 22:14, "I am poured out like water, and all My bones are out of joint."

10. After Jesus' wrists, elbows and shoulders were dislocated, the weight of His body on his upper limbs caused traction forces on the Pectoralis Major muscles of His chest wall.

11. These traction forces caused His rib cage to be pulled upwards and outwards, in a most unnatural state. His chest wall was permanently in a position of maximal respiratory inspiration. To exhale, Jesus was physiologically required to force His body to breath. 

12. To breathe out, Jesus had to push down on the nails in His feet to raise His body, and allow His rib cage to move downwards and inwards to expire air from His lungs.

13. His lungs were in a resting position of constant maximum inspiration. Crucifixion is a medical catastrophe.

14. The problem was that Jesus could not easily push down on the nails in His feet because the muscles of His legs, bent at 45 degrees, were extremely fatigued, in severe cramping, and in an anatomically compromised position.

15. Unlike all Hollywood movies about the Crucifixion, the victim was extremely active. The crucified victim was physiologically forced to move up and down the cross, a distance of about 12 inches, in order to breathe.

16. The process of respiration caused excruciating pain, mixed with the absolute terror of asphyxiation.

17. As the six hours of the Crucifixion wore on, Jesus was less and less able to bear His weight on His legs, as His thigh and calf muscles became increasingly exhausted. There was increasing dislocation of His wrists, elbows and shoulders, and further elevation of His chest wall, making His breathing more and more difficult. Within minutes of crucifixion Jesus became severely short of breath.

18. His movements up and down the Cross to breathe caused excruciating pain in His wrist, His feet, and His dislocated elbows and shoulders.

19. The movements became less frequent as Jesus became increasingly exhausted, but the terror of imminent death by asphyxiation forced Him to continue in His efforts to breathe.

20. Jesus' lower limb muscles developed excruciating cramp from the effort of pushing down on His legs, to raise His body, so that He could breathe out, in their anatomically compromised position.

21. There was pain from His two shattered median nerves in His wrists exploded with every movement.

22. Jesus was covered in blood and sweat.

23. The blood was a result of the Scourging that nearly killed Him, and the sweat as a result of His violent involuntary attempts to effort to expire air from His lungs. Throughout all this, He was completely naked, and the leaders of the Jews, the crowds, and the thieves on both sides of Him were jeering, swearing and laughing at Him. In addition, Jesus' own mother was watching.

24. Physiologically, Jesus' body was undergoing a series of catastrophic and terminal events.

25. Because Jesus could not maintain adequate ventilation of His lungs, He was now in a state of hypoventilation (inadequate ventilation).

26. His blood oxygen level began to fall, and He developed Hypoxia (low blood oxygen). In addition, because of His restricted respiratory movements, His blood carbon dioxide (CO2) level began to rise, a condition known as Hypercapnia.

27. This rising CO2 level stimulated His heart to beat faster to increase the delivery of oxygen, and the removal of CO2.

28. The respiratory center in Jesus' brain sent urgent messages to his lungs to breathe faster, and Jesus began to pant.

29. Jesus' physiological reflexes demanded that He took deeper breaths, and He involuntarily moved up and down the Cross much faster, despite the excruciating pain. The agonizing movements spontaneously started several times a minute, to the delight of the crowd who jeered Him, the Roman soldiers, and the Sanhedrin.

30. However, due to the nailing of Jesus to the Cross and His increasing exhaustion, He was unable to provide more oxygen to His oxygen-starved body.

31. The twin forces of Hypoxia (too little oxygen) and Hypercapnia (too much CO2) caused His heart to beat faster and faster.

32. Jesus' heart beat faster and faster, and His pulse rate was probably about 220 beats/ minute, the maximum normally sustainable.

33. Jesus had drunk nothing for 15 hours, since 6 p.m. the previous evening. Jesus had endured a scourging, which nearly killed Him.

34. He was bleeding from all over His body following the scourging, the crown of thorns, the nails in His wrists and feet, and the lacerations following His beatings.

35. Jesus was already very dehydrated, and His blood pressure fell alarmingly.

36. His blood pressure was probably about 80/50.

37. He was in First Degree Shock, with Hypovolemia (low blood volume), Tachycardia (excessively fast Heart Rate), Tachypnoea (excessively fast Respiratory Rate), and Hyperhidrosis (excessive sweating).

38. By about noon, Jesus' heart probably began to fail.

39. Jesus' lungs probably began to fill up with fluid causing Pulmonary Oedema.

40. This only served to exacerbate His breathing, which was already severely compromised.

41. Jesus was in Heart Failure and Respiratory Failure.

42. Jesus said, "I thirst" because His body was crying out for fluids.

43. Jesus was in desperate need of an intravenous infusion of blood and plasma to save His life.

44. Jesus could not breathe properly and was slowly suffocating to death.

45. At this stage, Jesus probably developed a Hemopericardium.

46. Plasma and blood gathered in the space around His heart, called the Pericardium.

47. This fluid around His heart caused a condition where the fluid around His heart would have prevented Jesus' heart from beating properly. (Cardiac Tamponade)

48. Because of the increasing physiological demands on Jesus' heart, and the advanced state of Hemopericardium, Jesus probably eventually sustained Cardiac Rupture. His heart literally burst. This was probably the cause of His death.

49. To slow the process of death the soldiers put a small wooden seat on the Cross, which would allow Jesus the "privilege" of bearing His weight on his sacrum.

50. The effect of this was that it could take up to nine days to die on a Cross.

51. When the Romans wanted to expedite death, they would simply break the legs of the victim, causing the victim to suffocate in a matter of minutes. 

52. At three o'clock in the afternoon Jesus said, "It is finished." At that moment, He gave up His Spirit, and He died.

53. When the soldiers came to Jesus to break His legs, He was already dead. Not a bone of His body was broken, in fulfillment of prophecy.

54. Jesus died after six hours of the most excruciating and terrifying torture ever invented.

55. The Son of God, Jesus, died so that ordinary and sinful people could go to Heaven.

The final 7 hours must have felt like an eternity for Jesus, but it was for our eternity that He did it.

If you have ever questioned your value and what you are worth, reflect back on the price Jesus paid. Do not let culture devalue who you are because there was an extremely high price paid for you. 

 

But still the work of Christ had still not been completed.

Luke 24:1-7

But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. 2 And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. 5 And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? 6 He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, 7 that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.”

 

After all that, Jesus’s job was still not done. There was still more trial that had to take place. The job of the High Priest was to sprinkle the blood of the sacrificed lamb on the Mercy Seat of the Ark of the Covenant. Jesus, being the perfect sacrifice as the Lamb of God now had to stand before the Father as Priest and present himself and put his own blood on the heavenly mercy seat. 

Jesus stood before God, the Judge, as the offeror (High Priest) and the offering (The Sacrificed Lamb).

 

Daniel 7:9-12

9 “As I looked, thrones were placed, and the Ancient of Days (The Father) took his seat; his clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool; his throne was fiery flames; its wheels were burning fire.10 A stream of fire issued and came out from before him;

a thousand thousands (1 million) served him, and ten thousand times ten thousand (100 million) stood before him, the court sat in judgment, and the books were opened.

11 “I looked then because of the sound of the great words that the horn (power of sin) was speaking. And as I looked, the beast (sin – 1 of the 4 beasts in Daniel) was killed, and its body destroyed and given over to be burned with fire. 12 As for the rest of the beasts (the other 3 beasts), their dominion was taken away, but their lives were prolonged for a season and a time.

 

Romans 6:14 “14 For sin will have no dominion over you.” The beast, sin, was killed sin no longer has dominion. 

Even better “the rest of the beasts (the other 3 beasts), their dominion was taken away.” 

 

Daniel 7:13-14

13 “I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven (Hebrews 12:1 The Clouds of Heaven)

 there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. 14 And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.

 

Daniel 7:21-22

21 As I looked, this horn made war with the saints and prevailed over them, 22 until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was given for the saints of the Most High, and the time came when the saints possessed the kingdom.

 

After knowing all this what do I do now? 

John 1:12-13

12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

 

The tomb is empty, the price is Paid in Full, your freedom awaits. Come to Jesus.