Insights on Crucifixion

Today is Good Friday, the day that Jesus was crucified. Tonight is also opening night for Angels of the Empyrean: Journey to the Empty Tomb. Tonight I get to portray Jesus, and one of the scenes is the cross. Over the past few weeks as we've rehearsed the scene I've gained some new insights on crucifixion.

In the play I'm not having nails driven through my wrists and feet. I'm not being beaten with sticks or a whip with shards of metal on the tips. I don't have to carry a 300 pound cross over rough, uneven streets barefoot. My arm isn't pulled out of socket to make it fit the beam. And though I do have a crown of thorns, it isn't real, and it doesn't cut into my forehead. Because I don't have to undergo all of that, it has opened my eyes to another aspect of crucifixion.

As your arms are spread out and the weight of your body works with gravity, blood doesn't flow easily to your arms, and they begin to fall asleep. It gets to the point after twenty minutes that i cannot get my hands out of the rope loops on my own. Every little movement gives that uncomfortably painful feeling you get as your limb begins to wake up. And every time you take a breath while being crucified you have to pull yourself up.

On top of this, during the scene I'm not able to move my feet/legs since we're going for realism and during a real crucifixion they would have been nailed down. Since I can't move them and they are in one position on a small platform (not nearly as small as an actual crucifixion) there begins to be a cramp that moves down my entire leg. And again, being unable to move, I just have to deal with it.

And I only have to be on the cross for about twenty minutes, Jesus was up there for six hours. I don't have to endure the torture that Jesus did as well. So He got to deal with all of that, and the little discomforts that are just icing on the cake.

This experience has given me a new insight into the pain that Jesus endured. Yes it may seem small and insignificant, He may not have even noticed it with everything else He was going through, but it's a thought to add as we reflect on the sacrifice of today.

"I have been young and now I am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his descendants begging bread."

To God alone be the Glory!

Peace be with you