A Garden, A Hill, And A Resurrection

Guest Blog by Ron Wofford

We live in a Microwave Society. A world that is looking for a quick fix. They want the blessing without paying the price to obtain it. God does indeed want to bless you. That is just his way. He can even do certain things in your life although you aren't really sold out to Him. But you must not make the mistake of believing that just because you are blessed by God that you are right with God.

But at some point, when you really confront who you are and where you are at and you decide that you need more than an occasional experience with Him, you will find that to go any further will take some effort on your part.

I love the Easter Story. Jesus Christ arose the third day from the grave victorious over death, hell and the grave. It is the story of the greatest defeat of an enemy and triumph by the victor ever recorded in human history.

The world is frantic. The Romans are gloating and rejoicing that Jesus has been crucified and buried three days earlier. Mary and Martha are emotionally distraught and beyond consolation. The disciples are disillusioned and are ready to go back to being fishermen and tax collectors and doctors. It seems as if everything they have believed in and worked for has been taken from them. There are no miracles, no healings, no words of wisdom and comfort from Jesus.

Indeed, Jesus is in a tomb outside of Jerusalem. It is to this tomb that Mary makes her way early in the morning. She is looking for a place to be close to Him in her sorrow. When she arrives she sees that the stone is rolled away. Instantly a fresh wave of grief envelops her. She doesn't think her heart can stand anymore. She runs to Simon Peter and declares that they have taken the body of the Lord and no one knows where He is.

Peter and John run to the tomb and enter in. They see the grave clothes and the empty tomb. The Bible says that they then leave the tomb and return home again. But Mary watched them leave and still she stands there. Finally, she gets the courage to stoop down and enter again into the tomb, still consumed with grief. She then notices the two men in white raiment that look at her. They say the words that bring life and joy back into her heart. "Why seek ye the living among the dead?" "Go and tell everyone that He has risen!!"

You can only imagine how Mary felt. Where there was sorrow, now there is joy, where there was hurt there is comfort, where hope was gone, instantly it was reborn and life began again. It is an incredible story! It is the answer to the problems the world was facing. It is the answer to the problems that you and I are facing. This resurrection story that we celebrate at Easter really is the answer! And indeed, many of you are here today to celebrate His resurrection and rightfully so, it should be celebrated. But just as it was with Jesus, please understand that a resurrection does not just happen. Without a Garden and a Hill, there is no resurrection!

Jesus as an emotional person. He felt the full range of human emotion. He had compassion on the multitudes; He smiled while the children played around His feet; He shared laughter in the house of His friends; He wept when Lazarus had died.

Probably the greatest expression of His emotions is found in His time of prayer in the Garden. It is the last few days of His life. He feels the incredible pressure of what He is called to do. He begins to travail and sweats as if it were great drops of blood. He made the request "Let this cup pass from me." In other words, "If it is possible, can we find another way?" He then immediately says "Nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt." He then goes and finds His disciples asleep.

A second time He begins to pray concerning the cup that has been given Him. This time though the prayer is different. "Oh my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me except I drink it, thy will be done." It would have been awesome had there been a microwave answer from heaven; but that was not to be. Jesus knew that if the sin problem of the world was ever really going to be taken care of then it would begin here in the garden with a surrendering of His will to the will of God.

Understand this was not a "Now I lay me down to sleep prayer." The incredible emotion and burden of Jesus Christ is shown in the effort of the prayer.

The physical trauma of Christ begins in Gethsemane with one of the initial aspects of his suffering - the bloody sweat. It is interesting that the physician of the group, Luke, is the only one to mention this. He says, "And being in agony, He prayed the longer. And His sweat became as drops of blood, trickling down upon the ground."

Though very rare, the phenomenon of Hematidrosis, or bloody sweat, is well documented. Under great emotional stress, tiny capillaries in the sweat glands can break, thus mixing blood with sweat. This process alone could have produced marked weakness and possible shock. This intense prayer, which weakened Him, was for you and for me.

Calvary, or dying to sin, could never have happened without a total surrender in the garden.

After the prayer and arrest in the garden, events begin to happen quickly. Immediately after the arrest in the middle of the night, Jesus was brought before the Sanhedrin and Caiaphas, the High Priest. A soldier struck Jesus across the face for remaining silent when questioned by Caiaphas. The palace guards then blindfolded Him and mockingly taunted Him, spat on Him, and struck Him in the face as they each passed by.

In the early morning, Jesus, battered and bruised, dehydrated, and exhausted from a sleepless night, is taken across Jerusalem to the Praetorium of the Fortress Antonia. It was there, in response to the cries of the mob, that Pilate ordered Bar-Abbas released, and condemned Jesus to scourging and crucifixion. Preparations for the scourging are carried out. The prisoner is stripped of His clothing and His hands are tied to a post above His head. The Roman legionnaire steps forward with the flagrum in his hand. This is a short whip consisting of several heavy, leather thongs with two small balls of lead attached near the ends of each. The heavy whip is brought down with full force again and again across Jesus' shoulders, back and legs. At first, the heavy thongs cut through the skin only. Then, as the blows continue, they cut deeper into the subcutaneous tissues, producing first an oozing of blood from the capillaries and veins of the skin, and finally, spurting arterial bleeding from vessels in the underlying muscles. The small balls of lead first produce large, deep bruises which are broken open by subsequent blows.

Finally, the skin of the back is hanging in long ribbons and the entire area is an unrecognizable mass of torn, bleeding tissue. When it is determined by the centurion in charge that the prisoner is near death, the beating is finally stopped.

The half-fainting Jesus is then untied and allowed to slump to the stone pavement, wet with His own blood. The Roman soldiers see a great joke in this provincial Jew claiming to be a king. They throw a robe across His shoulders and place a stick in His hand for a scepter. A small bundle of flexible branches covered with long thorns is pressed into His scalp.

Again there is copious bleeding (the scalp being one of the most vascular areas of the body). After mocking Him and striking Him across the face, the soldiers take the stick from His hand and strike Him across the head, driving the thorns deeper into His scalp. Finally, they tire of their sadistic sport and the robe is torn from His back. This had already become adherent to the clots of blood and serum in the wounds, and its removal, just as in the careless removal of a surgical bandage, causes excruciating pain - almost as though He were again being whipped, and the wounds again begin to bleed.

The heavy beam of the cross is then tied across His shoulders, and the procession of the condemned Christ, two thieves and the execution detail, begins its slow journey. The weight of the heavy wooden beam, together with the shock produced by copious blood loss, is too much. He stumbles and falls. The rough wood of the beam gouges into the lacerated skin and muscles of the shoulders. He tries to rise, but human muscles have been pushed beyond their endurance.
At Golgotha, the beam is placed on the ground and Jesus is quickly thrown backward with His shoulders against the wood. The legionnaire feels for the depression at the front of the wrist. He drives a heavy, square, wrought-iron nail through the wrist and deep into the wood. Quickly, he moves to the other side and repeats the action, being careful not to pull the arms too tightly, but to allow some flexion and movement. The beam is then lifted in place at the top of the posts and the titulus reading "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews" is nailed in place.

The left foot is pressed backward against the right foot, and with both feet extended, toes down, a nail is driven through the arch of each. As He pushes Himself upward to avoid the stretching torment, He places His full weight on the nail through His feet. Again there is the searing agony of the nail tearing through the nerves between the metatarsal bones of the feet.

As the arms fatigue, great waves of cramps sweep over the muscles, knotting them in deep, relentless, throbbing pain. With these cramps comes the inability to push Himself upward. Hanging by His arms, the pectoral muscles are paralyzed and the intercostals muscles are unable to act. Air can be drawn into the lungs, but cannot be exhaled. Jesus fights to raise Himself in order to get even one short breath.

Finally, carbon dioxide builds up in the lungs and in the blood stream and the cramps partially subside. Spasmodically, He is able to push Himself upward to exhale and bring in the life- giving oxygen.

There are hours of this limitless pain, cycles of twisting, joint-rending cramps, intermittent partial asphyxiation, searing pain as tissue is torn from His lacerated back as He moves up and down against the rough timber. Then, another agony begins. A deep crushing pain deep in the chest as the pericardium slowly fills with serum and begins to compress the heart.

The compressed heart is struggling to pump heavy, thick, sluggish blood into the tissues - the tortured lungs are making a frantic effort to gasp in small gulps of air. The markedly dehydrated tissues send their flood of stimuli to the brain. Jesus gasps, "I thirst."

He can feel the chill of death creeping through His tissues. With one last surge of strength, He once again presses His torn feet against the nail, straightens His legs, and takes a deeper breath.

Jesus lived only six hours on the cross. Why? John gave us a clue when he recorded that after the Roman soldier pierced Jesus' side to insure death, blood and water came forth. The cross was six feet in height. A raised spear would enter the chest cavity; only blood from the heart should exit the wound. What was the water?

The pericardium is a membrane that surrounds the heart. It is known that fluid can collect in the space between the heart and the pericardium after a non- penetrating blow to the chest (post cardiac-injury syndrome). If this effusion is large enough, cardiac tamponade can occur. This means the heart is constricted and is no longer an effective pumper of blood. Congestive heart failure and pulmonary edema develop. One's breathing becomes labored as the lungs fill with fluid. Jesus' breathing difficulty described previously was compounded by this condition. This helps to explain His short time on the cross. The pain associated with traumatic pericarditis is torturous.

After His death, we have another insight into a segment of His suffering. His heart was broken for me.

That is how Jesus purchased our salvation.

A huge chasm existed at Calvary between the benevolence of God and the gratitude of mankind. God had no guarantee there would be any human response to this supreme act.
The Roman centurion may grasp a small segment of the magnitude of the situation and exclaim, "Truly this was the Son of God."

Joseph of Arimathea may feel a twinge of guilt and beg for the body of Christ, but what would be the reaction of the human race? God could only hope that in the future someone would catch a glimpse of the unprecedented love exhibited at Calvary and return that love with the devotion of his life.

Folks, the truth is there is no quick fix. Too many come to Church looking for a quick fix. They come with problems and heartaches and tragedies. They have a concept that Jesus is a microwave way out of their dilemma. They have become accustomed to such a society and that is what they expect from their God.

Don't misunderstand; He is a God of the resurrection. In a moments time He can change the circumstances of your life. But it's not going to happen without a Calvary experience of dying out to this world and that will never happen if you don't go to the Garden and spend some time surrendering to His will.

Yes, I was there when He brought resurrection power into my life. But the resurrection happened only after I went to Calvary and died out to my sins. And Calvary did not happen, and indeed could not happen, until I spent some time in Gesthemane with Him.

That is exactly why a lot of people's repentance never lasts. They try to get to Calvary without any time in the Garden. But without surrendering your will to His will true repentance cannot and will not take place. You can say the words "I'm sorry" and unless your will is changed you will go back to doing what you have always done.

Whatever your circumstance today, Jesus really can't solve your problems until you go to the Garden and spend some time surrendering to His will. He has an answer for you but He cannot give it to you until you have been to the Garden and surrendered your will and then been to Calvary and died out to sin. I invite you today to come to a place where there is resurrection power.

Special thanks to Dr. Ray Kloepper for the Medical description of Calvary.