Day Thirty Seven: Related By Blood
Crucifixion was a bloody ordeal. Before being nailed to the cross (which would have drawn blood from someone’s hands and feet), those being executed in this manner would be scourged or viciously beaten with a Roman whip that was designed to rip most of the flesh off of a person.
In Jesus’ case, he was given the addition of having a crown of thorns pierce his scalp. While
some might occasionally lose consciousness from the severe pain and loss of blood. Crucifixion was not designed to kill you from blood loss, but by asphyxiation, as a person’s whole body weight was supported by their stretched-out arms.
Crucifixion was not simply a death penalty; it was a lynching, a symbol of terror, and an instrument of torture. Being crucified was the greatest shame you could place on your family, as you stood as a sign to all who passed by, “Don’t let this happen to you.” Parents would shield the eyes of their young children when passing a crucifixion and think to themselves, “Where did that person’s mother or father go wrong?”
And so, when Pilate orders that they write “The King of the Jews” above Jesus’ cross, the chief priests immediately want to reject the shame by association. Who would want to be associated with or related to a bloody monster, like one who hung on a Roman cross?
Four women and one of Jesus’ apostles (John) chose to associate. They stood by Jesus’ cross, close enough to where they could hear his voice, and he said to his mom, “Woman, behold, your son!” What must have gone through her mind when she heard those words? Jesus, with his hands bound and stretched out, had no ability to gesture as he said those words, “Behold, your son!”
Perhaps she thought of the prophecy of Simeon when he foretold that “a sword [would] pierce through [her] own soul” (Luke 2:35). The son she labored with and delivered, who she fed and taught, laughed and cried with, was now dripping with blood and gasping for air. Beholding her son in this state would surely have been its own form of torture.
But then the meaning of his words to his mother was transformed as he looked to John, saying, “Behold, your mother!” We know from other places in scripture that Jesus had other siblings (Matthew 13:55; Mark 6:3), one of whom was James, who would later become a follower of Jesus and write a letter to the church that we have in our Bibles today. Jesus’ statement is not meant to nullify or minimize the relationships Mary had with her other children. Rather, these words from the cross are meant to elevate and magnify the relationship that Jesus purchased with his blood. We often misquote an old proverb that says, “Blood is thicker than water,” to highlight the importance of our biological and genetic relations, but the original proverb fits more exactly with these words from Jesus, “the blood of the covenant is thicker than the waters of the womb.”
It is this relation, by His blood, that was purchased for us, that we should hold dear and ponder as we reflect on this cry from the cross.
In Jesus’ case, he was given the addition of having a crown of thorns pierce his scalp. While
some might occasionally lose consciousness from the severe pain and loss of blood. Crucifixion was not designed to kill you from blood loss, but by asphyxiation, as a person’s whole body weight was supported by their stretched-out arms.
Crucifixion was not simply a death penalty; it was a lynching, a symbol of terror, and an instrument of torture. Being crucified was the greatest shame you could place on your family, as you stood as a sign to all who passed by, “Don’t let this happen to you.” Parents would shield the eyes of their young children when passing a crucifixion and think to themselves, “Where did that person’s mother or father go wrong?”
And so, when Pilate orders that they write “The King of the Jews” above Jesus’ cross, the chief priests immediately want to reject the shame by association. Who would want to be associated with or related to a bloody monster, like one who hung on a Roman cross?
Four women and one of Jesus’ apostles (John) chose to associate. They stood by Jesus’ cross, close enough to where they could hear his voice, and he said to his mom, “Woman, behold, your son!” What must have gone through her mind when she heard those words? Jesus, with his hands bound and stretched out, had no ability to gesture as he said those words, “Behold, your son!”
Perhaps she thought of the prophecy of Simeon when he foretold that “a sword [would] pierce through [her] own soul” (Luke 2:35). The son she labored with and delivered, who she fed and taught, laughed and cried with, was now dripping with blood and gasping for air. Beholding her son in this state would surely have been its own form of torture.
But then the meaning of his words to his mother was transformed as he looked to John, saying, “Behold, your mother!” We know from other places in scripture that Jesus had other siblings (Matthew 13:55; Mark 6:3), one of whom was James, who would later become a follower of Jesus and write a letter to the church that we have in our Bibles today. Jesus’ statement is not meant to nullify or minimize the relationships Mary had with her other children. Rather, these words from the cross are meant to elevate and magnify the relationship that Jesus purchased with his blood. We often misquote an old proverb that says, “Blood is thicker than water,” to highlight the importance of our biological and genetic relations, but the original proverb fits more exactly with these words from Jesus, “the blood of the covenant is thicker than the waters of the womb.”
It is this relation, by His blood, that was purchased for us, that we should hold dear and ponder as we reflect on this cry from the cross.
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