Beaten Beyond Recognition

One of my best friends in high school was in a bad fight one time and he was really badly beaten up. The other kid had just moved to Lebanon, MO (my hometown) from somewhere in California. I don’t remember how the fight even started. It may have been that California was flirting with my friend’s girlfriend.

All I know is that I didn’t see the fight and when I heard about it I skipped classes and went over to my friend’s house. What I saw when I walked in the door shocked me. The way my friend was sitting, I could only see part of the left side of his face and it was swelled up like a pumpkin. His right side looked fairly normal. Evidently, California had hid something in his hand while they were fighting.

I don’t remember many details after all these years, but I do remember how hard it was to look at my friend when he was beaten so severely. It was hard to stomach and I can’t imagine the pain that he went through. I’m relaying this story because it’s easy when we read words on a paper to…well, just read words. Even when we read the Bible, I’m afraid sometimes we just read words. Many of you have heard about how Jesus walked this earth 2,000 years ago and how He lived a perfect life. You have probably heard about how Jesus never sinned. He always did the will of God the father. You’ve probably even heard about how He was betrayed by Judas Iscariot’s kiss. You’ve probably heard about how He was beaten with 39 lashes of the whip and how He was nailed to the cross.

Most of us have heard about how Jesus suffered and died on the cross and how He was buried and rose from the grave 3 days later. You’ve probably heard about how Jesus defeated sin, death, Hell and Satan. You’ve probably heard that He paid the sin debt that you and I owe. You’ve probably heard how Jesus is the only way of salvation, how He is the only Savior of mankind. Since we live in America, you have probably heard all of this before. But have you really thought about what Jesus went through? Have you ever really thought about how much He suffered for guilty sinners like you and me?

Around 1,000 years before Jesus – the Son of God came to earth, David, king of Israel, through the power of the Holy Spirit wrote Psalm 22. This psalm was written about the future suffering of Jesus. Listen to these select passages. Psalm 22:1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? why are you so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring? Verses 6-8: But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people. All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip they shake the head, saying, He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.

Psalm 22:12-18 states, Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round. They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion. I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels. My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaves to my jaws; and you have brought me into the dust of death. For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have enclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet. I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me. They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.

Please notice Psalm 22:16, they pierced my hands and my feet. Folks, David wrote this before crucifixion had even been invented. The goal of the Romans was to publicly execute people, in the most painful way possible; that wasn’t a quick death. They wanted people to suffer horribly, so that criminals would think twice before they broke the law. It was a truly excruciating way to die.

Please listen to the following verses very closely. Isaiah 50:6 predicted: I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting. Isaiah 52:14 As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men. Isaiah 53:1 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? 2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.

3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. 7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. 8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.

9 And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. 10 Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.

11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

Psalm 22 and Isaiah 52:14 and Isaiah 53:1-12 were all prophecies of the suffering Christ would endure and the way that He would die. Then the New Testament tells us about Christ’s suffering. John 12:27 says Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour. Luke 22:47-48 states And while he yet spake, behold a multitude, and he that was called Judas, one of the twelve, went before them, and drew near unto Jesus to kiss him. But Jesus said unto him, Judas, betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss?

Luke 22:63-65 tells us And the men that held Jesus mocked him, and smote him. And when they had blindfolded him, they struck him on the face, and asked him, saying, Prophesy, who is it that smote thee? And many other things blasphemously spake they against him. And Matthew 27:27-30 says Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the common hall, and gathered unto him the whole band of soldiers. And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe. And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews! And they spit upon him, and took the reed, and smote him on the head.

Mark 15:15 says, And so Pilate, willing to content the people, released Barabbas unto them, and delivered Jesus, when he had scourged him, to be crucified. Scourged. It’s very easy to read over this word. But back in Jesus’ day, when the Roman soldiers scourged, you they stripped your clothes off you and then they beat you with a whip. Not just any whip, but a whip that had many leather straps connected to it and toward the end of the straps were metal, stone and glass fragments connected to the straps.

The Roman soldiers prided themselves in being the most ferocious in their day and they struck with all the violent force that they could muster. They struck Jesus with this awful, torturous device 39 times across His back. Each violent blow ripping His skin, muscles and nerves. Some say that the straps went so deeply and destructively that even His bones were exposed by the time the blows ended.

After enduring this unbearable torture, Jesus was then forced to carry His own cross up to Golgotha. Before He reached the end of that journey, He collapsed in pain and agony. Simon of Cyrene was forced to carry the cross the rest of the way. But once there, the Roman soldiers nailed Jesus’ hands and His feet to that cruel cross. Then they rammed it into the ground with our Lord hanging on it. Jesus endured this additional agony and suffering for six long torturous hours. People literally suffocated from blood and water filling up in their lungs during crucifixions. So in order to breathe, a person had to lift themselves up just to take a breath. Can you imagine how painful that must have been for Jesus every time He lifted Himself up to take a breath? With His bloody, mangled back scraping against that rough, rough cross?

So Jesus was beaten beyond recognition and suffered more than any human being has ever suffered. And yet, the night before when Jesus prayed to God to take this cup from Him, it wasn’t the physical pain that He was begging to be released from, at least that wasn’t the primary reason for His prayer. Obviously, Jesus knew what was in store for Him and I’m sure that He didn’t want to go through it. No, that wasn’t what made Him sweat large drops of blood and water. No, the cup that Jesus asked to keep from drinking was the cup of the wrath of God. As bad as the physical pain was, it was the wrath of God that Jesus didn’t want to face.

Jesus drank that awful cup of wrath, the very same cup of wrath that you and I rightly deserve. God poured all that anger over sin; your sin and my sin, upon His one and only Son (1 John 2:2). Make no mistake, God is angry over your sins and someone will pay for those sins (Revelation 19:15). Either Jesus paid your sin debt, once and for all while He bore the wrath of God on the cross or you will endure the wrath of God for all of eternity, in Hell (2 Thessalonians 1:8-9).

The choice should be a no-brainer. But men love their sins. John 3:19 says And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. People do not want to surrender their lives to Jesus Christ our Lord. So many, many people are suffering eternal damnation right now because of their love of sin. You will join them if you continue down the broad road to destruction that you are currently traveling. That is, unless you have surrendered your life to Jesus already.

God is angry with guilty sinners. But Romans 5:8 tells us that God commended his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Is Jesus Christ your Lord and Savior? Have you submitted to His authority? Have you turned away from your sins and turned to the one and only Savior?

Are you saved today? Please consider all that Christ suffered on your behalf. He was beat beyond recognition. Really think about that for a minute. Can you see each violent crack of the whip across His back, ripping the flesh each time the whip was yanked back? Can you see this being done over and over again – 39 times? Can you picture His mangled, bloody body? Can you see His bloody, swollen face? The same face that was beaten beyond recognition? Can you see the drops of blood pouring down from the crown of thorns upon His head? Can you picture how painful it must have been to have large spikes driven into His hands and His feet? Can you picture Him hanging on that cruel cross? Can you see Him crying out, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

Jesus paid the debt; your sin debt in full that you owe and that you could never repay on your own. He offers the free gift of salvation to each and every one of us. But you must receive this gift. Just knowing about it won’t save you. Just intellectually acknowledging that Jesus died on the cross does not save you.

If you foolishly refuse this amazing gift, then you still owe your sin debt and it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. After you die, you will stand before God on Judgment Day. If Jesus is not your Lord and Savior, then you will foolishly represent yourself. You will be without excuse. The Bible says that every mouth will be stopped. You will literally have no defense; you will literally have no excuse.

When you stand before our righteous, Holy God, you will be found guilty. Judgment Day is not a hearing; it is a day of sentencing. If you have never been born again, if your name is not written down in the Lamb’s book of life, you will be found guilty and you will be cast into the lake of fire and brimstone. The smoke of your torment will rise day and night; you will have no relief. You will suffer in pain and agony forever and ever. Again, the choice is a no-brainer. Repent and believe the Gospel. Receive the free gift of salvation offered by the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Your sins can be washed clean, but you must surrender your life to Jesus the Christ. Be saved today. Turn away from your sins and put your faith in Him.