Month: April 2014

THE REMOVAL AND BURIAL OF JESUS – John 19:31-42

Bible sermon, Bible sermons, burial of Jesus, crucifixion, death, Jesus' birth, New Testament sermon, Uncategorized

INTRODUCTION:

When the Lord Jesus came into this world as an infant, there were also miraculous signs that accompanied His birth.  Luke 2 tells us of the angel who suddenly appeared to the shepherds, and the glory of the Lord shone around them.  After the angel made the announcement of the Savior’s birth, a whole multitude of angels appeared in the sky singing, “Glory to God in the highest . . . “.  Then there was a star that pointed the way for the Magi from the East to find Jesus.

Jesus’ death was also followed by some amazing events.  Matthew 27 tells us that immediately after Jesus said “It is finished!”, the earth shook and the rocks were split apart.  Also, tombs opened up and bodies of the saints were raised and entered the holy city of Jerusalem.  When the centurion who was guarding Jesus saw these things happening, he said, “Truly, this was the Son of God!”.  The Lord Jesus revealed His deity to a few people both at His birth and at His death.

I.  REMOVAL FROM THE CROSS (verses 31-37)

As we read in verse 31, the Jewish leaders asked Pilate that the legs of those crucified should be broken so that they would soon die, and then could be taken off their crosses before the Passover Sabbath began.  Breaking their legs would result in a quick death because the crucified person would no longer be able to lift himself up to exhale, and would soon die from asphyxiation.

Pilate granted their request, and the soldiers broke the legs of the two thieves, but they didn’t break Jesus’ legs because they could see that He was already dead.  So in verse 34 it says that “one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear”.  The middle of the spear’s head was a hand-breadth wide.  Out of Jesus’ side flowed blood and water.  It’s believed that the sword pierced the membrane surrounded the heart, and the serum with clots of blood in it was proof that Jesus had already died.

These events fulfilled two Old Testament prophesies.  The first was the instructions for cooking and eating the Passover lamb.  Exodus, chapter 12, says that as you eat the lamb, you are not to break any bone of it.  This command not to break any of the bones of the Passover lamb is repeated in Numbers 9:12 as they celebrate this feast day each year.  Secondly, the piercing of Jesus’ side fulfills the prophesy in Zechariah 12:10, which is quoted here in verse 37:  “They shall look on Him whom they pierced”.

II.  THE BURIAL (verses 38-42)

The Romans had made an exception by taking Jesus and the two thieves down from the cross.  Normally the Romans left those who were crucified on their crosses until their flesh was eaten by birds of prey.  Guards kept watch over the bodies in order to keep friends and family members from taking them away.  But Pilate made an exception in this case.

Up until now, Joseph of Arimathea had been a secret believer for fear of the Jews.  Now, in verse 38, he boldly comes forward to claim the Lord’s body for burial.  Why did Pilate hand over the body of Jesus to Joseph?  Joseph wasn’t even related to Jesus, and that was against Roman law.  Perhaps it was because Pilate was convinced that Jesus wasn’t guilty.

In verse 39 Nicodemus joins Joseph, bringing with him a hundred pounds of spices.  Why so great an amount of spices to prepare one man’s body for burial?  That’s’ enough spices for a king’s burial!  That’s exactly what they wanted to do for Jesus – give Him a king’s burial!  The spices were probably in a powdered form, or a paste.  They put some of the spices directly on Jesus’ body, wound strips of linen cloth around His body from His feet to His shoulders, and put more spices between each layer of cloth.

Verse 41 says that “in the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb.”  Matthew 27 tells us that it was Joseph’s new tomb, which he had hewn in a rock.  This hill called “Golgotha”, on the edge of town was considered a God-forsaken place.  No expensive tombs were constructed by the Jews in this area.  Most wealthy Jews had burial places on the property where they lived.  It’s very possible that when Jesus was arrested and sentenced to death, Joseph of Arimathea hurriedly bought that piece of land in the garden and hired a crew of laborers to cut that tomb in the rock so that Jesus could be buried there.  There wasn’t time to take the body of Jesus very far because it was almost time to prepare for the Passover meal.  Matthew 27 tells us that they rolled a large stone against the entrance of the tomb after they put Jesus inside, and the chief priests and Pharisees put a guard there.  They didn’t believe Jesus’ prophesy that He would rise from the dead in three days, but they wanted to make sure no one could steal the body and start a rumor that Jesus rose from the dead.

As you’ve read this sermon, have the events surrounding the death and burial of Christ made an impression on you?   The centurion who observed these events was amazed and afraid, and his attitude toward Jesus Christ changed.

ILLUSTRATION:  One day two non-Christians were riding along on a railroad train discussing Christ’s wonderful life.  One of them said, “I think an interesting romance could be written about Him”.  The other man replied, “Yes, and you are just the man to do it, setting forth the correct views of His life and character.  I advise you to tear down the idea of His divine nature, and paint Him and He was – just a man living among men.”  The recommendation was acted upon and the novel was written.  The man who made the suggestion was Colonel Ingersoll, and the author was General Lew Wallace.  The book was entitled “Ben Hur”.  I imagine that many of you have read the book or seen the movie.

In the process of writing that book, Wallace learned some amazing truths.  The more he studied Jesus’ life and character, the more he become convinced that Jesus was more than just a great teacher.  Like the centurion in Matthew’s Gospel, he became persuaded that “Truly, this was the Son of God”!  I pray that you might also reach that conclusion, act upon it, and enjoy the privileges of being a “child of God”.

EVIDENCE FOR CHRIST’S RESURRECTION – I Corinthians 15:1-11

Bible sermons, Easter message, Easter sermon, Jesus' resurrection

INTRODUCTION:

Throughout the centuries, men have tried to honor their heroes by building large and beautiful monuments.  The great pyramids of Egypt were built as resting places for the Egyptian Pharaohs.  The glistening Taj Mahal in India is the tomb of an Indian emperor and his favorite wife.  There is Lenin’s tomb in Russia’s Red Square, and Mount Vernon is the site of President George Washington’s body.  Jesus’ simple grave can’t compare with these costly tombs, but the grave of Jesus Christ excels all of these in the most important respect.  It lies empty!  He is not there!  At the very heart of the Christian faith is the claim that Jesus Christ, on the third day, rose from the dead and is alive forevermore.  No other world religion has dared to make such a claim about its founder.

Dr. Seamands, who was a missionary to India, tells of a Muslim who became a Christian in Africa.  Some of his friends asked him, “Why have you become a Christian?”  He answered, “Well, it’s like this.  Suppose you were going down the road and suddenly the road forked in two directions, and you didn’t know which way to go, and there at the fork in the road were two men, one dead and the other one alive.  Which one would you ask which way to go?”  The answer to that question is obvious, isn’t it?

The most extensive treatment of the doctrine of the resurrection in all of Scripture is found here in I Corinthians 15.  Verse 1 tells us that the doctrinal problem in the church at Corinth was not their disbelief in the resurrection of Christ.  Their confusion was concerning their own resurrection from the dead.  In verses 1-11 Paul reviews the evidence for Christ’s resurrection so that he could later show how their own hope for resurrection is tied to the fact of Christ’s resurrection from the dead.  Paul gives us five evidences here for the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

I.  THE CORINTHIAN CHURCH (verses 1-2)

Paul’s first evidence for the resurrection of Christ is the Corinthian Church, the recipients of this letter.  The fact that these Corinthian Christians had received the Gospel message, believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, and were living changed lives, is a strong evidence for the resurrection of Christ.  Every group of believers across the face of the earth that meets together for worship is evidence that Jesus Christ is alive and is building His church.

Dr. George Sweeting, the former president and chancellor of the Moody Bible Institute, tells of an incident in the early 1920s when Communist leader Nikolai Bukharin was sent from Moscow to Kiev to address an anti-God rally.  For an hour he abused and ridiculed the Christian faith until it seemed as if the whole structure of belief was in ruins.  Then questions were invited.  An orthodox priest rose and asked to speak.  He turned, faced the people, and gave the Easter greeting:  “He is risen!”  Instantly, the assembly rose to its feet and the reply came back loud and clear.  “He is risen indeed!”  All that ridicule and abusive language by the Communist party leader didn’t change the people’s faith in the risen Christ one bit, did it?

II.  THE OLD TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES (verses 3-4)

The second evidence for the resurrection of Christ is the Old Testament Scriptures.  In verses 3-4, Paul says, “that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He rose on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.”  What Scriptures?  The Old Testament Scriptures, right?  They clearly predicted Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection.  In Luke’s Gospel, chapter 24, Jesus used the Old Testament Scriptures to identify Himself as their risen Lord.  For example, Luke 24:27 says, “And beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He [Jesus] explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures”.  That must have taken quite a while!  Psalm 22:16-18 is one of the Scripture passages that prophesies Christ’s crucifixion, and Psalm 16:10 prophesies His resurrection.  The prophet Isaiah says in Isaiah 25:8, “He will swallow up death for all time.”  We also have the testimony of the patriarch Job who said, in Job 19:25, “I know that my redeemer lives.”

III.  THE TESTIMONY OF EYE-WITNESSES (verses 5-7)

The third evidence for the resurrection of Christ is the testimony of eye-witnesses of the resurrected Christ.  The list given in verses 5-7 is not exhaustive, but includes those who were most prominent in the Church at that time.  Peter is mentioned, as well as the twelve apostles, more than 500 brethren at one time and place, James, and all the apostles over a period of 40 days.  None of these people were expecting a resurrection.  The sheer number of these witnesses and the moral integrity of these witnesses validate their testimonies.  To doubt the resurrection of Jesus, you would have to say that all of these witnesses were deceived or were deceivers.  A prominent lawyer, Sir Edward Clarke, did a prolonged study of the resurrection of Christ.  He said, “To me, the evidence is conclusive, and over and over again in the High Court, I have secured the verdict on evidence not nearly as compelling.”

IV.  THE APOSTLE PAUL (verses 8-10)

The fourth evidence for the resurrection of Christ is the testimony of the writer himself:  the apostle Paul.  He refers to himself as “one untimely born”.  He was too late to be one of the 12 apostles, and yet he was called by Christ to be the apostle to the Gentiles.  What a turn-around in his life!  What a testimony to the truth and power of Christ’s resurrection!

V.  THE TESTIMONY OF A COMMON MESSAGE (verse 11)

The fifth evidence for the resurrection of Christ is found in verse 11.  It’s the testimony of a common message.  Without exception, the teaching and preaching of the New Testament church has been centered around the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.  This message was declared as objective facts based on the testimony of eye-witnesses, and empowered by the Holy Spirit.  Millions of people in every century and every culture have testified to the life-changing power of the risen Christ.

As Vice President, George Bush represented the United States at the funeral of former Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev.  Bush was deeply moved by a silent protest carried out by Brezhnev’s widow.  She stood motionless by the coffin until seconds before it was closed.  Then, just as the soldiers touched the lid, Brezhnev’s wife performed an act of great courage and hope, a gesture that must surely rank as one of the most profound acts of civil disobedience ever committed.  She reached down and made the sign of the cross on her husband’s chest.  There in the citadel of atheistic power, the wife of the man who had run it all hoped that her husband was wrong.  She hoped that there was another life, and that Jesus Christ who died on the cross and rose again, might have mercy on her husband.

CONCLUSION:

But there is a sixth evidence that isn’t mentioned specifically in this passage of Scripture.  That evidence is our own lives.  Have you repented of your sins, turned your life over to Jesus Christ, and invited Him to be your Savior and Lord?  If so, is your joy, your peace of mind and heart, and the power of the resurrected Christ obvious to those around you?  If the answer is “yes”, then you are a living, visible evidence of the resurrection of Christ to the world around you.  At the end of 1 Corinthians 15, the apostle Paul closes with an exhortation to the Corinthian Church and to us today.  He says, “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.”

Let me close with a modern-day, true story that communicates the meaning of Easter.  Little Philip, born with Down’s syndrome, attended a third-grade Sunday school class with several eight-year-old boys and girls.  Typical of that age, the children did not readily accept Philip with his differences.  But because of a creative teacher, they began to care about Philip and accept him as part of the group, though not fully.

The Sunday after Easter, the teacher brought L’eggs pantyhose containers, the ones that look like large eggs.  Each receiving one, the children were told to go outside on that lovely spring day, find some symbol of new life, and put it in the egg-like container.  Back in the classroom, they would share their new life symbols, opening the containers one by one in surprise fashion.  After running about the Church property in wild confusion, the students returned to the classroom and placed the containers on the table.  Surrounded by the children, the teacher began to open them one by one.  After each one, whether it was a flower, a butterfly, or a leaf, the class would ooh and ahh.

Then one was opened revealing nothing inside.  The children exclaimed, “That’s stupid!  That’s not fair!  Somebody didn’t do their assignment!”

Philip spoke up.  “That’s mine.”

“Philip, you don’t ever do things right!”, a student exclaimed.  “There’s nothing there!”

“I did so do it.”  Philip insisted.  “I did do it.  It’s empty!  The tomb is empty!”

Silence followed.  From then on, Philip became a full member of the class.  He died not long afterward from an infection most normal children would have shrugged off.  At the funeral, the class of eight-year-olds marched up to the altar, not with flowers, but with their Sunday school teacher, each to lay on it an empty pantyhose egg.

CHRIST’S RESURRECTION AND FIRST APPEARANCE – John 20:1-18

Bible sermons, Easter message, Easter sermon, Jesus' resurrection, John 20:1-18, resurrection of Christ

I.  INTRODUCTION:

Christians meet together for worship and fellowship on Sunday morning because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.  The Lord Jesus Christ rose from the dead on the first day of the week, and Christians have been worshiping on Sunday ever since. Throughout the centuries men have tried to honor their heroes by erecting lavish monuments.  The massive pyramids of Egypt were built as resting places for the Egyptian Pharaohs;  the glistening Taj Mahal in India is the tomb of an Indian emperor and his favorite wife.  Lenin’s tomb in Russia’s Red Square is where the body of the Marxist leader is preserved by some mysterious process, and the burial vault at Mt. Vernon is the site of George Washington’s’ body. Jesus’ simple grave can’t compare with these costly burial places.  But the tomb of Jesus excels all of these in the most important respect.  It’s empty!  He is not there!  At the heart of the Christian faith is the claim that Jesus Christ, on the third day after His death on the cross, rose from the dead and is alive forevermore.  No other world religion has dared to make such a claim about its leader.

I.  MARY AT THE TOMB (verses 1-2)

Let’s look at what happened in John’s Gospel on the third day after Jesus’ death on the cross.  In Verse l, Mary Magdalene comes to the tomb very early on the first day of the week.  Luke’s Gospel tells us that Mary was bringing spices to prepare His body for burial.  She must not have known that Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus had already done so. Why did Mary wait until the third day after Jesus’ burial?   The Jewish traditions taught that the soul hovered over the body of a dead person until the third day when it finally left.  Friends and family were often in the habit of going to the grave up to the third day, when corruption was supposed to begin, in order to make sure that the person was really dead. The first thing Mary sees is the stone that had been rolled away from the tomb.  The stone was a large disc-shaped stone that had been rolled down against the entrance to the tomb.  It would have taken many men to move such a heavy stone away from that tomb. Mary must have been in a state of shock as she ran to tell Peter and John what she had seen.  She tells them in verse 2 that “they have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have laid Him”.  Notice that Mary says, “WE do not know”.  Luke tells us in his Gospel that Mary was accompanied by Joanna and Mary the mother of James, as well as other women when she went to the tomb.

II.  PETER AND JOHN (vs. 3-10)

After listening to Mary’s words, Peter and John have a foot race to the tomb in verses 3 and 4, and John wins.  It’s interesting to see the differences between these two men.  Verse 5 says that John looks inside the tomb, sees the linen wrappings, but does not go in.  Peter, however, is bolder.  He goes into the tomb, sees the linen wrappings lying there, and also sees the face-cloth rolled up in another place. In verse 8, John also enters the tomb, sees the linen wrappings, and believes.  What did John believe and why did he believe it?  John believed Jesus’ promise that He would rise from the dead, and he believed when he saw the linen wrappings.  The wrappings were strips of linen cloth.  The spices placed between the wrappings were like glue, and they held the strips of cloth together.  It was like a cocoon around Jesus’ body from His shoulders to His feet.  Jesus’ glorified body somehow passed through those wrappings, leaving them flattened but still wound together. A little boy once said sadly to his mother.  “I’m so disappointed!   You told me that something beautiful would come out of that brown thing I picked up the other day, but when I just now looked at it, I found a hole in it and only an empty skin was left!”  The mother said, “My child, you have looked in the wrong place for what I have promised.  Come with me.”  The mother took the boy back into the other room, and there, not too far from the empty cocoon, was a beautiful butterfly.  It had perched on the window sill so that it could dry its wings in the warmth of the noonday sun. Jesus’ disciples did not understand that Jesus must rise from the dead in fulfillment of Scripture, so verse 10 says that they went away to their own homes, to go back to their old way of life.  In much the same way these friends and followers of Jesus looked in the wrong place when they looked for the Savior.

III.  MARY AND THE ANGELS (verses 11-14)

In verse 11 we find Mary Magdalene remaining at the tomb weeping, and then, when she looked inside the tomb again, she saw two angels sitting one at the head and one at the feet of Jesus’ empty wrappings.  However, Mary did not realize that they were angels.  In verse 13 they ask her, “woman, why are you weeping”, and Mary gives her reason.  She says, “They have taken away my Lord, and I don’t know where they have laid Him.”  Mark’s Gospel tells us that the angel on the right tells Mary:  “You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified;  He is risen;  He is not here.”

IV.  MARY AND JESUS (verses 15-18)

You can imagine Mary’s confusion in verse 15 when she turns around and Jesus is standing there.  But Mary didn’t recognize Jesus, nor did anyone recognize Him.  He now had a glorified body and His physical appearance was changed.  Jesus asks her basically the same question that the angel asked her.  Mary didn’t recognize Him until verse 16 when Jesus said her name.  Then she recognized His voice and the way He always said her name.  She calls Him “Rabboni”, which means Teacher. Jesus is not chiding Mary in verse 17 when He says to her, “Stop clinging to me . . . “.  He is actually gently letting her know that the time is short and there is much to be done.  Then, in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus gives her a commission when He says, “Do not be afraid;  go and take word to My brethren to leave for Galilee, and there they shall see Me.”  Mary does so in verse 18.

CONCLUSION:

If Jesus had not been raised from the dead, He would not be God.  Our faith would be in vain and we would still be condemned for our sins.  But Jesus did rise from the dead just as He said.  J. Sidlow Baxter tells of a rumor which spread across Asia that the bones of Buddha had been discovered.  These bones were paraded through the streets of India where millions gave homage.  A Christian missionary watched the people prostrate themselves before the bones.  Then he said to a friend:  “If one bone of Jesus Christ were found, Christianity would fall to pieces.  He was right.  We serve a risen Savior, don’t we?  The resurrection of Christ is mentioned 108 times in the New Testament, and it is the greatest miracle in the New Testament.  For the believer, the cross of Jesus Christ closes the door to hell, and the empty tomb opens the gates of heaven.  Andrew Blackwood makes this observation:  “There is not a single pessimistic note anywhere in the New Testament after Christ’s resurrection.”

How does the Lord Jesus want us to respond to Him as a result of what He has done for us?  How can we express our joy to our risen Lord?  Colossians 3:1-2 says, “If then you have been raised up with Christ keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  Set your mind on things above, not on the things that are on earth.”

Near the end of Jesus’ public ministry, He said to His disciples in John 17:11 that it was His desire that “My joy might be in you and that your joy may be complete.”  Even when He told them of His approaching death, He added in John 16:22, “Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.”

Are you experiencing the joy of the resurrected Christ?  Is He living and reigning in your life?    May we experience that joy and peace every day of our lives. Let’s not let a day go by, or a waking hour go by without thinking about and thanking God for the death and resurrection of  His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and sharing that good news with others.

THE SUFFERING AND DEATH OF CHRIST – Mark 15:15-39

Bible sermon, crucifixion of Jesus Christ, Good Friday sermon, suffering and death of Jesus

Crucifixion was invented by the Phoenicians as a method of maximum torture.  It was later adopted by the Romans as their method of capital punishment. Crucifixion was a shameful and agonizing form of death reserved for slaves and the worst criminals.  In order for us to fully understand why Christ died, it may be helpful for us, first of all, to think about how He died, and what He experienced on the cross.

I.  HOW JESUS DIED

Before His crucifixion, we read in verse 15 that Jesus was scourged. The scourge whip consisted of several leather strips that had sharp pieces of bone, metal, and stone sewn into them.  Jesus’ skin was literally stripped off His back in gouges, while His whole body went into spasms.  It was not uncommon for a person to die as a result of the scourging alone. When the scourging was over, it says in verses 17-20 that the soldiers dressed Him in purple, put a crown of thorns on His head and mocked Him, and spat on Him.  Luke and John’s Gospels also tell us that the soldiers punched him in the face and beat him on the head with a reed. When Jesus was crucified, historians tell us that 7-inch spikes were hammered into his hands and feet to secure Him to the cross.  On the cross, Jesus could breathe air into His lungs,  but He couldn’t exhale because His pectoral muscles couldn’t function in His stretched-out position. Jesus had to raise and lower His body again and again with each breath, and each time He experienced excruciating pain.  For six hours Jesus hung there in agony on that cross.

II.  WHY JESUS DIED

But despite all the intense physical suffering and the mental and emotional strain because of the jeering crowd, Jesus’ greatest agony was not physical, mental, or emotional, but spiritual.  Verses 33 and 34 tell us that for three hours, beginning at noon, there was darkness over the whole land.  The darkness signified that God had turned away from His Son.  Jesus experienced the fullness of God’s wrath for sin in our place.  In verse 34 Jesus said in His loneliness, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?”  Notice that Jesus did not say, “My Father” because He was experiencing a complete loss of fellowship with His Father as He became sin for us.  Isaiah 53:9 says, “He was pierced through for our transgressions;  He was crushed for our iniquities.”  Sin is so awful and so terrible in God’s sight that He would not and could not accept any other payment than the death of His own perfect Son.  Jesus satisfied God’s wrath by willingly taking our place.  The hymn writer said, “Bearing shame and scoffing rude, In my place condemned He stood. Sealed my pardon with His blood.  Hallelujah, what a Savior!” A Christian American Indian was once asked the question, “What did Jesus Christ do for you?”  He squatted, and with his hands gathered some leaves into a pile.  He picked up a worm and put it in the center of the pile of leaves and, striking a match, he lit the outer edges of the pile of leaves.  As the flames were about to engulf the worm, he quickly reached in, grabbed the worm with his hand, and put it in a safe place.  Then, looking up at the person, he said, “That’s what Jesus Christ did for me!” In verse 37 Jesus “uttered a loud cry”.  John 19:30 tells us that, with His last breath Jesus shouted, “It is finished!”  This was not a cry of defeat but of victory.  It is the word an artist would use after putting the finishing touches on his masterpiece.  Verse 37 also says,  He “breathed His last.”  Jesus did not die from the crucifixion.  He gave up His spirit when the Father was satisfied that He had paid the price for the sins of the world. At that moment, verse 38 says, “the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom”.  This was no ordinary veil. It was made of tightly-woven fabric and was six inches thick.  The tearing of this veil didn’t happen by accident.  God was demonstrating that the way into His presence was now open to all who believed in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

The choice is yours.  You can place yourself either under God’s wrath or under God’s mercy.  You can choose either eternal life or eternal separation from God. You can choose to live for God or for yourself.   It’s your choice.   You will be held responsible for your choice, and there are no other alternatives and no excuses.  Respond to His love and to the price He paid for your sins.  Sing with the hymn writer, Isaac Watts:  “And can it be that I should gain an interest in my Savior’s blood?  Died He for me, who caused His pain?  For me, who Him to death pursued?  Amazing love!  How can it be?   That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me!”

If you would like to see a visual depiction of the suffering and death of Christ, go to YouTube.com and type: “The Life of Jesus” film in the search engine.  The film is based on the Gospel of John.  It is very graphic and follows the Gospel of John closely.  Move the grey timeline at the bottom of the picture to 2:28:00 where the scourging begins.  I hope that watching the scenes from the movie will increase your understanding of what Jesus Christ suffered to pay the penalty for our sins.