Stress Test Devotional May 4
May 04, 2024
SUNDAY| APRIL 4, 2021
JOHN 19:31-34 | 31 Since it was the day of Preparation, the Jews did not want the bodies left on the cross during the Sabbath, especially because that Sabbath was a day of great solemnity. So they asked Pilate to have the legs of the crucified men broken and the bodies removed. 32 Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who had been crucified with him. 33 But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34 Instead, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once blood and water came out.
LUKE 24:6-7 | 6 Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, 7 that the Son of Man must be handed over to
sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.”
“Crucified” was always the last word. The Romans were the world’s great engineers, building roads, aqueducts, and coliseums. They were also experts in the mechanics of death. Some men who were crucified lasted for a number of days, because the slow agony of exposure was part of the terrible deterrence intended by this punishment. Some endured longer than others but no one survived.
The other criminals had their legs broken so they could not support their weight and that induced bleed outs or heart attacks from respiratory overload. In Jesus’ case, 6 hours was enough and He died. Just to make sure, one of the execution squad stabbed Him with a spear. That way the bodies would not pollute the Sabbath.
“Crucified” was not the last word for Jesus, however. Egerthe, meaning raised or resurrected, is the only word that could make “crucified” penultimate and not final.
Has death lost its sting for you?
What is final if death is not?
