Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”
For those of you who read these studies regularly, you might have become frustrated when I breezed through one of the most important statements Paul ever made. PEACE! We’re getting there.
To understand what Paul meant by being crucified with Christ, you must first understand the process of crucifixion. Here is a medical description of the suffering of Jesus from the book by Lee Strobel, The Case for Christ. The description is courtesy of Dr. Alexander Metherell.
“When Christ prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane before he was captured, he sweated blood out of distress about the crucifixion. “This is a known medical condition called hematidrosis. It’s not very common, but it is associated with a high degree of psychological stress,” Metherell adds.
“What this did was set up the skin to be extremely fragile so that when Jesus was flogged by the Roman soldier the next day, his skin would be very, very sensitive. Roman floggings were known to be terribly brutal. They usually consisted of 39 lashes but frequently were a lot more than that …
“The soldier would use a whip of braided leather thongs with metal balls woven into them,” he continued. “When the whip would strike the flesh, these balls would cause deep bruises or contusions, which would break open with further blows. And the whip had pieces of sharp bone as well which would cut the flesh severely.
“The back would be so shredded that part of the spine was sometimes exposed by the deep, deep cuts. The whipping would have gone all the way from the shoulders down to the back, the buttocks, and the back of the legs. It was just terrible.
“A third century historian by the name of Eusebius described a flogging by saying, ‘The sufferer’s veins were laid bare and the very muscles, sinews and bowels of the victim were open to exposure.'”
Metherell adds, “We know that many people would die from this kind of beating even before they could be crucified.”
But Christ survived, only to face more suffering on the Cross.
Metherell then provides further medical analysis as he describes the site of the Cross where there was a vertical beam already in the ground. The Romans then drove tapered spikes through Christ’s wrists, attaching Him to a horizontal beam called a patibulum.
“This was a solid position that would lock the hand; if the nails had been driven through the palms, his weight would have caused the skin to tear and he would’ve fallen off the cross. So the nails went through the wrists. …
“It’s important to understand that the nail would go though the place where the median nerve runs,” Metherell says, explaining that this is the largest nerve going out of the hand and would be “crushed” by the pounding nail.
“Do you know the kind of pain you feel when you bang your elbow and hit your funny bone … well, picture taking a pair of pliers and squeezing (as he twists his hands) and crushing that nerve. The pain was absolutely unbearable.” Jesus’s feet were nailed and those nerves were similarly crushed.
The doctor explains that Christ’s arms would have been stretched 6 inches and his shoulders dislocated.
Strobel notes in his book that Metherell provides explicit details about how Christ died an “agonizingly, slow death by asphyxiation.” The doctor explains that the stress on the diaphragm put the chest into an inhaling position and that in order to exhale, Christ would have had to push up using his painful feet in order relieve pressure on the diaphragm and temporarily exhale. “In doing so, the nail would tear through the foot, eventually locking up against the tarsal bones.”
Metherell said this breathing motion would go on and on, Christ scraping His shredded back against the coarse wood until He became completely exhausted and unable to push up and breathe.
“As the person slows down his breathing, he goes into what is called respiratory acidosis — the carbon dioxide in the blood is dissolved as carbonic acid, causing the acidity of the blood to increase. This eventually leads to an irregular heart beat.”
“In fact, with his heart beating erratically, Jesus would have known that he was at the moment of death, which is when he was able to say, ‘Lord, into your hands I commit my spirit.’ And then he died of cardiac arrest.”
Separated from that crucifixion by nearly two millenia, we are used to crosses of all kinds, including beautiful gold ones set with precious jewels. But the fathers of the church chose the cross as a symbol of their faith so that nobody would ever forget the terrible price Jesus paid for the sins of the world. Crucifixion was one of the most shameful deaths available and the founders of the church wanted to emphasize that Jesus bore our shame in his body.
When Paul says that he has been crucified with Christ, he means that he has confessed his sins, literally nailing them to a cross. Just as Jesus has died to the world, so Paul is announcing that he regards himself as dead to the world, paying attention only to the will of God through Jesus Christ, God’s Son. It is now the power of God through Christ Jesus that is keeping Paul alive, inspiring him, giving him the energy to do God’s work. Paul feels that Jesus has taken over his life, and he is thrilled about it.
Following Jesus is always an individual thing. One friend who owns a sailboat in Long Island has asked if God would force him to give up the sailboat. We replied, “Why?” That sailboat gives our friend entry into a group with whom we cannot identify, namely yacht owners. Jesus has died for yacht owners, so why won’t Jesus want our friend to keep his boat but use it to spread the good news of salvation?
We never know what God will do when we turn our lives over to Him completely. Millard Fuller was a millionaire chasing money until he met Clarence Jordan, a true believer who led him to the Lord and helped fuel the vision for housing for the poor. Fuller and his family wound up moving to Zaire, now Democratic Republic of Congo, where he realized the need for affordable housing. Fuller returned to the U.S. and founded Habitat for Humanity. By 2019, Habitat was helping families somewhere in the world gain housing every 21 seconds, an astounding record. Perhaps the most notable volunteer to work for Habitat has been former U.S. President Jimmy Carter. All of this began because Millard Fuller said “Yes” to Jesus, allowing Jesus to live in him.
Being crucified with Christ is not a one-time thing but is a daily decision. We can choose to go our own way or to follow Jesus. Yes, giving up our right to ourselves is painful, but living for Jesus makes it worth it. The difference is results. What will your choice be today?
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord Jesus, we confess that we are sinners and without you we are nothing. Please come live in us and take over our lives so that people will see You in everything we do. In Your mighty and precious Name, Lord Jesus. Amen.
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