Death on a cross is a slow, painful death by asphyxiation & exposure to the elements. This way of death was so painful they had to make a word for it, excruciating; the Latin root being ex, out of, cruciare, to be tortured on a cross (crux in Latin)[1]. The Gospels record Christ’s death on the cross slightly different than people knew it in that day, as people would take days to die, unless they tried to hasten their death by slouching on the cross. First the Gospels record that Christ died in one day[2]. This means that Christ could not have died due to exposure to the elements. This would mean that it would seem that Christ then died because of asphyxiation, but Matthew would say something different, as when Christ died He “cried out again with a loud voice”[3] and most of us know someone who is dying of being unable to breathe can’t cry out in a loud voice. This could be attributed to another form of death, a heart attack, what some would call “the divine broken heart”; that the weight of our sin was so great on the Son that the Father had to look away, where Christ cried out Psalm 22. Christ was so heartbroken by our sins, his heart stopped. Evidence of this can be seen in the fact that water & blood[4] poured out of Him when His heart sac was pierced, a reference to pericardial effusion[5] . Then Christ gave up His spirit while Matthew doesn’t tell us what it is that Christ said, but John records what it is that Jesus said when He cried out in a loud voice “It is finished”[6].
Hark! the voice of love and mercy
by Jonathan Evans
Hark, the voice of love and mercy,
Sounds aloud from Calvary!
See, it rends the rocks asunder,
Shakes the earth and veils the sky!
“It is finished, It is finished,”
Hear the dying Savior cry.
“It is finished,” O what pleasure,
Do these charming words afford.
Heavenly blessings, without measure,
Flow to us from Christ the Lord.
“It is finished, it is finished,”
Saints the dying words record.
Finished all the types and shadows,
Of the ceremonial law;
Finished all that God had promised;
Death and hell no more shall awe.
“It is finished, it is finished,”
Saints from hence your comfort draw.
Tune your harps anew, ye seraphs;
Join to sing the pleasing theme;
Saints on earth and all in heaven,
Join to praise Immanuel’s name.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Glory to the bleeding lamb!
The death, the sacrifice, the work, required for our sins to be forgiven is done. This is a gift that is freely given to us, there is nothing that we can do to merit or earn this gift; if there was it would not be a gift but a commodity. The things that we do are not because we want to earn God’s love, rather it’s because God loves us and we want to, have to, show it to others. So how is God’s love & gift manifesting itself in your life?
