Pastor Sean Ward
By Pastor S.V. Ward
The Apostolic Way
United Pentecostal Church
To a world ravaged by death and deceit, a common man came with an uncommon message and uncommon power!
The religious people despised him and the common people adored him.
His message was pure, but rejected by many.
During the closing hours of His human life, we find Jesus in a garden praying. Luke records that Jesus was in agony when sweat as it were great drops of blood fell to the ground at His feet.
This is a condition referred to as hermatidrosis, where severe anxiety causes the capillaries to break down in sweat glands; sweat comes out tinged with blood, leaving the skin extremely sensitive.
After this garden prayer, Jesus was arrested and brought to trial. Shortly following His wrongful conviction, He was whipped.
Historians tells us that Roman beatings often would leave the back so shredded that at times parts of the spine would be exposed. Whipping would go from the shoulders to the buttocks, and down the back of the legs. Muscles, sinew, and bowels were open to exposure.
Hypovolemic shock then would set in, low blood causing fainting and extreme thirst.
The final torment took place as Jesus was nailed hand and foot to the cross beam. The nails would have been put through the wrist, resulting in a cut or severely-damaged median nerve.
The only way for a man to exhale on a cross would be for him to push up with the nailed feet, scraping the shredded back on the wooden upright, thus giving the diaphragm a moment to relax.
The crucified one actually would die of either asphyxiation or respiratory acidosis.
The pain was so intense during a crucifixion, a word was created to describe it: excruciating (i.e., “out of the cross”).
The shock from blood loss would, in the end, cause what is known as pericardial effusion, or the build-up of fluids in the membrane around the heart.
This comes together with John’s account that when the soldier pierced the side of Jesus, blood and water came out.
There is no possible way that Jesus could have survived the crucifixion.
Following the death of Jesus, after the soldiers reported the tomb to be empty, the chief priests paid money to the soldiers to let it be known that the disciples stole the body.
However, John Foxe, in his Book of Martyrs, records that these disciples, with the exception of John, all died horrific deaths for preaching the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.
The question then arises: why would someone die for a lie that he himself made up?
Less than two months later, hundreds and thousands of followers were being baptized in the name of Jesus as the power of the Holy Ghost gripped Jerusalem and the surrounding provinces.
They were filled with His spirit and spoke in heavenly tongues. Many were unlearned and ignorant, but it was said of them that they turned their world upside down!
Pentecost, in Peter’s day, was not a denomination or an organization but an experience of the saving power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ!
It is still available to you and your children today.
