The Crucifixion – A Love Story

My family and I saw the movie The Passion of the Christ when it came out in 2004. Our church had rented out a local movie theater, so we saw it with our church friends, but after it was over, we experienced the oddest reaction to a movie I’ve ever seen, before or since…

At the end, as the credits started rolling, after that glorious (but too brief) resurrection scene, everyone just sat there in stunned silence for at least a minute. Slowly, very slowly, we all got up, gathered our things and languidly filed out, all of us lost in thought.

Without a single word being said by anyone.

I’m still trying to digest the incredible sacrifice both God the Father and Jesus Christ, God’s resurrected Son, offered up for all of us. I think I’ll spend the rest of my life attempting to wrap my head around it all. So think of this article as nothing more than what it is:

A tiny sand crab on the beach, doing his best to explain the ocean.

Yeah, not my best metaphor, but it’ll do in a pinch.

Let’s face it: God is untouchable, man. The memes you see on social media, where Jesus is arm wrestling the devil for control of the universe, are complete hogwash. God rules over the devil, and has to approve his every move. For a biblical foundation regarding this fact, please read my blog, “When Satan Left,” https://brokenpeople.blog/2019/05/21/when-satan-left/.

The Bible states that blessing requires sacrifice, which is why animal sacrifices were common in the Old Testament. For a “once and done,” perfect sacrifice, where no animal had to shed their blood again, Jesus would have to give His life.

I wonder if He knew this from the creation of the world. Knowing God, that was always the plan, but think about it: Jesus didn’t have to do anything. He could’ve remained on His cushy throne, being worshipped by all of Earth and Heaven, but He didn’t. He chose to lower Himself to the status of “human,” so we could approach God in prayer and not have to go through a Rabbi or Priest.

He chose to be punched in the face by those Roman Centurions. Now, you know those dudes were tough, so I’m sure a strike from them was like getting hit by a freight train.

He chose to be whipped. Bible History.com states, “The Romans would, according to custom, scourge a condemned criminal before he was put to death. The Roman scourge…was a short whip made of two or three leather (ox-hide) thongs or ropes…knotted with a number of small pieces of metal…(and) bones, or heavy indented pieces of bronze. Scourging would quickly remove the skin.” *  

He chose to endure that torturous scourging. I can’t fathom the pain Jesus, the very real, very human Jesus (while still being 100% God), had to endure. He could’ve summoned enough angels from on high to wipe out the entire country; He could’ve literally damned His tormentor’s souls to HELL, but He purposefully endured…

For me, and for you.

He chose to carry that cross. His enemies/tormentors/murderers could’ve been sent to the next world in a heart beat, but they remained fully unaware of His power at that time. Picture this: He’d already been beaten and scourged so severely that He didn’t look like a man. Isaiah 52:14 says, “But many were amazed when they saw Him. His face was so disfigured He seemed hardly human, and from His appearance, one would scarcely know He was a man” (NLT).

Yet He chose to lie still while soldiers pounded spikes through His wrists and ankles. Oh man, I’m tellin’ ya, that part of the Passion movie is almost unwatchable for me, simply because it looks TERRIFYINGLY painful.

His every move—His every thought—screamed, “I love you!”

He chose to die. Why? Second Corinthians 5:19 says, “In Christ, God did not hold people guilty for their sins” (ERV). Once Jesus shed His perfect blood for our sins, God and man could be reconciled again. I know, that’s deep, and 50 years after giving my life to Christ, I still struggle to understand the depth of it. I’m not a theologian, but work with several, and even though their explanations are no doubt better than mine, they themselves still find it difficult to grasp.

After Jesus gave His life and rose from the dead on the third day, there was no longer a chasm, a gulf, between God and man. The “bridges” of animal sacrifices and priestly “secret prayer rooms” were needed no more.

God created humans. He loves us more than we know, and was willing to watch His son be tortured to death for us. Even though He is God, the agony of watching His only Son being slowly murdered over a several-hour period must have been horrendous. But God saw the end-game, and both He and Jesus knew it needed to be done.

Watching The Passion of the Christ is a yearly, Easter tradition for my son Trey and me. While it’s difficult to watch the torture scenes in The Passion, the part that always makes us both cry is when Jesus falls and His earthly mama runs toward Him, to rescue her son. In this scene we suddenly understand how she sees her son: as a little boy. He falls, and she goes to help Him.

When she gets to Him, however, instead of Jesus begging her for help, or complaining about His ordeal, He simply says, “See, Mother, I make all things new.” I’m tellin’ ya, that part gets us every time.

We do pretty good at not crying, until THAT scene comes on. We steel ourselves because we know it’s coming. Every year we wonder, “Will that scene still impact us the way it always has?” And every year, the tears flow from both of us, during that scene.

Ya see, we’re both fathers, and I’m a grandpa (you can call me “Poppy”), so we feel the pain of that little boy falling, and want to help Him. We wanna scoop Him up in our arms and protect Him. We wanna shield Him from harm. We wanna tell Him, “Everything is gonna be ok.”

But it wasn’t ok, at least not for a while. Eventually, though, He could utter those famous last words: “It is finished.”

That being said, I’d like to say the same to you: Everything is gonna be ok…eventually.

“He reached down from heaven and rescued me; He drew me out of deep waters. He led me to a place of safety; He rescued me because He delights in me” (Psalm 18:16,19 NLT).

Like the song says, God never promised our lives would be a rose garden. If God Himself didn’t stop the crucifixion from happening to His own Son, you can bet He won’t stop some of our trials from hitting us hard. But His love, that great love which spawned the creation of the universe…that great love which caused Him to give humanity a second chance after the Flood…that great love which compelled Him to send His own Son to be murdered for us…will see us through.

In John 16:33b, Jesus said, “Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world” (NLT, emphasis added). It doesn’t say we “may” have trials and sorrows; it promises them, but also promises that Jesus has already overcome the world.

Jesus died for us because He loves us. It’s just as simple as that.

Blessings.

* The Roman Scourge, Bible-History.com, accessed April 16, 2025 https://bible-history.com/past/flagrum