Part Two, An Analytical Look at the Cross

The Cross
After all the beating, mockery, and betrayal, Jesus was forced to carry the very instrument of his death. Up the Hill to Golgotha, the place of the skull (or the hill of the condemned), he bore the weight of the cross. This wasn’t the planed down, smooth, varnished-looking beam we have in the building supply stores. This was hand chopped, splintered, rough cut wood, weighing between 150-180 pounds (according to historians). It would’ve had dried blood and pieces of hide from others who had been executed upon it. Probably getting so heavy that the weakened, beaten Man struggled to carry it alone.

Finally, after falling numerous times from the weight of it coming down across his already injured back, they made a man grab the cross and help Jesus carry it on up the hill.

At the top of the hill, with the beam laid down, they threw Christ upon it. As the soldiers stretched out his arms, forcing his shoulders out of socket and tearing the rotator cuffs, they took big, square-shaped spikes and began to hammer Christ to the crossbeam. These spikes were placed right above the hand in the opening where the two bones (radius and ulna) joined together above the wrist. We know this because the scripture says not a bone was broken (John 19:36).

As the nails pierced his skin they ran into the medial nerves of the wrist or the carpel tunnel as we call it today. Medical doctors say that with just the lightest touch of wind to the exposed nerve in this area is so excruciating it would cause you to pass out. Now forget about the light wind, this is a metal spike! It wasn’t the sharp nail we use today, remember they were experts in torture and pain. So electric-like bolts of pain coursed through the outstretched arms of Christ. Then the pain dramatically increased as they began to hoist the cross up into place. The whole weight of our Savior was placed on his nailed wrists. The nails and his body weight began to stretch and tear apart the joint were the wrist and hand meet.

Reach down and find this area I’m talking about on your own wrist. Then take your thumb and finger on either side, pinching down as hard as you can. Do you feel the pain and pressure? And you didn’t even touch the nerve, you just pinched into ligaments and muscles. As they lifted up the beam, they went above the resting brace of the cross beam so that they could drop it down into place. This would have jarred Christs’ body to every fiber of His being.

Then they placed the bottom plate were his feet were going to be placed. They shoved it up far enough his knees would have to bend. This would make him have to raise up on his bailed feet to be able to take a breath, because with his arms stretched out it constructed his diaphragm under his lungs to restrict air flow. Then they folded his feet one on top the other and with the same kind of spike, they hammered his feet in place. If you are like me, I can’t stand my feet to be touched let alone gave an object placed on it just to be hammered through them.

Now here comes a problem because the same way the hands were nailed above the wrist is the same way the feet were nailed. We always imagine that they went through the top of Jesus’ feet but they couldn’t because those nails would have broken the bones in the feet. His legs would have been shoved up and the spikes placed right above the ankles where the tibia and fibula meet. So, his legs were folded one on top the other and then twisted so that his legs right above the ankle was hammered through to fasten his feet to the cross. This puts a completely different light on this subject of torture.

Now not only was Jesus suffocating from his outstretched arms, but he was also twisted at his hips so that his feet could be nailed to the cross. Try this, have someone tie your ankles and knees together tightly. Then put your back against the wall. Have them turn your legs one way or the other pressing your bent knees into the wall. Now your back and knees both pressed against the wall try raising and lowering yourself up and down. Don’t forget to stretch your arms out as if you were “nailed” to the wall. Jesus’ back was forced against the crossbeam because of his arms being nailed outstretched across the beam. Then his legs were bent at his knees enough he would have to force himself up to be able to take a breath. He couldn’t even take a deep breath because of his bruised abused back and ribs. Then his knees were shoved to the side causing him to be twisted at his hips because of the way they had to fasten his feet to the cross.

You see we always picture Christ being bent at the knees but straight because we always thought that his actual feet were hammered through. But they couldn’t have been. The nail would have shattered several small bones in his feet and scripture says there wasn’t a bone broken. And so, when Jesus raised and lowered he had to do so from twisted hips, placing more pain and torture to his knees, back and shoulders. And putting an ungodly amount of pressure on the pivots of the nail pierced wrist and ankles.
Such pain and suffering He endured.

I know I’ve painted a very graphic picture but let me add one more thing here. They did all this stripping Jesus completely naked. So here was our Christ completely exposed. Nothing hidden. Every eye could see as he hung between Heaven and earth. Just like our sins are hanging right between Heaven and Hell, completely exposed. We think we are hidden and do things in secret. Guess again friend! Just like Jesus was completely exposed so is our sin.

The Word says that Christ who knew no sin became sin for us. He became what He was saving us from. He became the scape goat and sacrifice needed to be the payment for sin. Completely humiliated and completely exposed! Nothing hidden! When we stand before God, when it’s our time, just like Jesus hung in front of the world, we will be completely exposed. And unless we receive Christ as our own and allow the blood He shed to cover us then we will stand blood guilty in the second death.