04/20/2025
He endured 39 lashes because 40 were known to be fatal. They wanted Him alive.
They grabbed handfuls of His beard and hair, pulling them out by the roots. They wanted Him alive.
They kicked, punched, and spat on Him for hours, until there wasn’t a single spot on His body not covered in blood. They wanted Him alive.
They shoved a crown of thorns onto His head so harshly that it stuck into His skin. They wanted Him alive.
After hours of being beaten, mocked, whipped, flogged, and tortured, they made Him carry a cross—a rough piece of wood with splinters digging into fresh wounds. They wanted Him alive.
They wanted Him to feel every ounce of pain they could inflict. He had to feel it to heal us.
Crucifixion was historically one of the cruelest, most torturous deaths a human could face—hours upon hours of agony. Torture so severe that most of us cannot mentally fathom it; the cruelty isn’t normal, and our minds struggle to comprehend it.
We celebrate Easter with pastel colors, happy children hunting eggs, and chocolate. But the truth is, there was absolutely nothing happy about the day Jesus died. It was cruel, bloody, and gruesome.
He could have stopped all of it.
He could have called every angel in heaven to demolish every person standing and shouting, “Crucify Him!” But He didn’t. 
He knew that to have a Sunday, you have to have a Friday. He knew that to experience joy, you have to carry your cross.
He felt everything that day.
He felt how your heart broke wide open when you had to watch your baby die. He felt how heavy your life was when you were staring down the barrel of a gun, wondering if the man you called husband was going to shoot you. He carried the weight of the burden you’ve felt since your spouse died, and life just hasn’t seemed right since.
On that cross, He held the ra**st and the murderer, the sinner and the saint. He leveled every playing field and said, “All of you are worth it.”
He knew He had to carry the cross. He never promised that the cross you carry in this life would not be heavy. His wasn’t. His promise is that Sunday is coming.
No matter how heavy Friday is—financially, emotionally, mentally, or physically—Friday is heavy.
That cross is weighing you down, and you are about to crumble under its weight. His promise was simply this: He won’t make you carry it alone.
What kind of king would step down from His throne for this?
Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God, did. For you.
He did every bit of it for you and me. Oh yes, it is heavy. It is so heavy sometimes that you do not think you can take one more step. But look up, because Sunday is coming. 🙌
