Lenten meditation

This week I received an e-mail from a long-time friend (thanks, Mary!) which is most appropriate reading for this Lenten season.  If you’re ready to pause and reflect on what this week is all about, read on…

60 seconds with God:

For the next 60 seconds, set aside whatever
you're doing and take this opportunity.
Let's see if Satan can stop this! 

  THE (SCIENTIFIC) DEATH OF JESUS 

  At the  age of 33,
Jesus was condemned to the death penalty.

 At the  time, crucifixion was the "worst" death. Only the worst criminals were condemned to be crucified. Yet, it was even more dreadful for Jesus.  For unlike other criminals condemned to death by crucifixion, Jesus was nailed to the cross by His Hands and Feet, rather than tied.

Each nail was 6 to 8 inches long.



The nails
were driven into His Wrists, not
into His Palms as is commonly
portrayed. There's a tendon in the wrist that 
extends to the shoulder.  The Roman guards knew
that when the nails were being hammered into the
wrist, that tendon would tear and
break, forcing Jesus to use His Back
Muscles to support Himself, so that He could breathe.

Both of His Feet
were nailed together. Thus, He was forced to 
support Himself on the single nail that
impaled His Feet to the cross.  Jesus could
not support himself with His Legs for long because of the pain, so He was forced to alternate between arching His
Back and using His Legs just to continue to 
breathe.  Imagine the struggle, the pain, the
suffering, and the courage.

Jesus endured this reality for over 3 hours.  Yes,  over 3 hours! Can you imagine this kind of suffering? A few minutes before He died, Jesus stopped bleeding. He was simply pouring water from His Wounds.  From common images, we see wounds to His Hands and Feet and even the spear wound to His Side.  But do we remember the many wounds  made to His Body.  A hammer driving large nails through the wrists, the feet overlapped and a nail hammered through the arches, then a Roman guard piercing  His Side with a spear.  And, before the nails and the spear, Jesus was whipped and beaten.  The whipping was so severe that it tore the flesh from His Body. The beating was so horrific that His Face was torn and His Beard ripped from His Face. The crown of thorns (two to three inch thorns) cut deeply into His Scalp.

Most men would not have survived this torture.

He had no more blood
to bleed out, only water poured from His 
Wounds.  The 
human adult body contains about 3.5 liters
(just less than a  gallon) of blood.

Jesus  poured all 3.5 liters of His Blood;
He had three nails hammered into His
Members; a crown of thorns on His Head, and, beyond
that, a Roman soldier who stabbed a spear into His 
Chest.

All  these without
mentioning the humiliation He passed after carrying His own
cross for almost 2 kilometers, while the crowd  spat in His
Face and threw stones (the cross beam was almost 30 kg of weight, to which His Hands were nailed).

Jesus had to endure this experience,
so that you may have free access to God,
and so that your sins can be "washed" away.
All of them, with no exception!
Don't ignore this!

JESUS 
CHRIST DIED...FOR YOU!

For you, who now reads this e-mail.
Do not believe that He only died for others
(those who go to church or for pastors, bishops, etc).

He died for you!
It is easy to e-mail jokes or silly photos,
but when it comes to God,
sometimes we feel ashamed to forward a message about Him on
to others.
We are worried of what they “may think.” 

Accept  the reality, the truth:
JESUS IS THE ONLY SALVATION FOR THE WORLD! 
God has special plans for YOU!
Share this with all your family and friends...
about what He went through to save you.
Really think about it!

May God Bless You!