No Limit to God’s Love

Read Mark 15:33-39

And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, saw how he died, he said, “Surely this man was the Son of God!” –Mark 15:39

There was no more agonizing way to die in the ancient world than crucifixion. Even today, the pain of the cross shows up in our language. When J.K. Rowling (author of the Harry Potter series) chose a word from ancient Latin for the forbidden spell that tortures a person to death, she chose the word “Crucio!” When we experience unbearable pain, we might describe it as “excruciating” (literally, “from the cross”).

The first part of the crucifixion was the “scourging”. The victim would be stripped naked and beaten with a flagrum, a whip with multiple leather thongs, each containing metal balls or shards of bone. The whip was designed not just to sting, but to tear flesh from bone. Jewish law forbade someone from being struck more than forty times; the belief was that forty lashes would kill someone. Hence, the tradition that Jesus was struck thirty-nine times, one less than would have killed him then.

After this, the victim would carry the patibulum (the crossbar upon which he would be hung) in a grisly parade. The patibulum weighed up to 100 pounds; we can imagine the pain of this heavy bar upon the freshly whipped and bleeding shoulders. The condemned were forced to walk naked through the crowded streets, preceded by the titulus (a sign declaring their offense).

Criminals were hanged in elevated locations—most normally atop a hill or along a roadway. The patibulum was attached to a massive post, and then the criminal was stretched out upon the cross. Their arms were held to the cross by rope, while a five to seven-inch nail was driven through their wrists. (Contrary to many depictions, nails were not driven through the hands, as the weight of the body would tear the nails through the hand. The nail was instead driven in the space between the radius and the ulna.) Meanwhile, a single spike would be driven through both feet together. In some cases, a small “saddle” (called a sedile) was placed halfway down the cross, again to support the weight of the body.

Despite the incredible beating that the victim endured, the primary cause of death upon a cross was suffocation. The weight of the body on the arms made exhaling impossible, forcing the victim to push up with their nailed feet to breathe, leading to intense pain and exhaustion. In many cases, it would take multiple days for the crucified to finally die, which was the point. The Romans would leave them suffering on the cross as a warning to others.

Jesus had been upon the cross for six hours (from nine until three) when he finally cried out: Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani? It is a quote from Psalm 22: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” The 22nd Psalm is a profound lament—not only for its description of physical suffering (“all my bones are out of joint … my heart has turned to wax … my mouth is dried up like a potsherd”) but also for its sense of abandonment (“I cry out by day, but you do not answer; by night, but I find no rest”). The Psalmist has been left utterly alone, surrounded by enemies who delight in his pain, who cast lots for my clothing, who taunt him with scorn and laughter.

If you keep reading, though, the 22nd Psalm does not end in despair. Even in his despair, the Psalmist reminds himself that “You are enthroned on the praises of Israel, in you they trusted and were not let down.” And he holds onto the hope that he will again praise the Lord and testify to his goodness:

I will declare your name to my people;    
in the assembly I will praise you.
You who fear the Lord, praise him!    
All you descendants of Jacob, honor him!    
Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!
For he has not despised or scorned    
the suffering of the afflicted one;
he has not hidden his face from him    
but has listened to his cry for help.

From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly;    
before those who fear you I will fulfill my vows.
The poor will eat and be satisfied;    
those who seek the Lord will praise him—    
may your hearts live forever!

All the ends of the earth    
will remember and turn to the Lord,
and all the families of the nations    
will bow down before him,
for dominion belongs to the Lord    
and he rules over the nations. (vv. 22-28)

In quoting the first part of this Psalm, Jesus was invoking it in full. His hope remained in the Lord.

Every person has a breaking point. There is a limit to how much we are willing to give or sacrifice, how much we can endure before losing hope. The testimony of the cross is that there was no “breaking point” to Jesus’ hope and love. He remained steadfast all the way to the end, such that the Roman centurion (who no doubt had seen many people before Jesus crucified) would declare that “Surely this man was the Son of God!”

I close with these words from William Barclay:

If Jesus had refused the Cross or if in the end he had come down from the Cross, it would have meant that there was a limit to God’s love, that there was something that love was not prepared to suffer for men, that there was a line beyond which it would not go.

But Jesus went the whole way and died on the Cross, and this means that there is literally no limit to God’s love, that there is nothing in all the universe which God’s love is not prepared to suffer for men, that there is nothing, not even death upon a cross, which it will refuse to bear.

When we look at the Cross, Jesus is saying to us, “God loves you like that, with a love that is limitless, a love that will bear every suffering earth has to offer.”

 **To reflect on the limitless love that God poured out through His Son, listen to the song “No Body” by Elevation Worship.