I'M THE ONE!

 

“And having scourged Jesus, delivered him to be crucified. Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor's headquarters, and they gathered the whole battalion before him.28 And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, 29 and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’ 30 And they spit on him and took the reed and struck him on the head. 31 And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and led him away to crucify him. 32 As they went out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. They compelled this man to carry his cross. 33 And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull), 34 they offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall, but when he tasted it, he would not drink it.35 And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots. 36 Then they sat down and kept watch over him there. … 39 And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads … 41 So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, … 44 And the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way.”’ 

Matthew 27:24-44

I’ve been thinking a lot about our beloved song, “I’m the One,” and our Lord and Savior's ultimate sacrifice, His scourging and crucifixion. Every time I hear and sing this moving song, I cannot help but be torn up over what our Lord and Savior endured at the hands of wicked and lawless men to redeem and reconcile us to our Father in heaven. Words cannot express my gratitude, but more than words, I must be devoted to a life lived in righteousness in exchange for what my Savior did on Calvary for me. We were dead in our sins and trespasses without hope. 

The Romans executed their worst criminals by the cruelest form of capital punishment. In Matthew 27:26, we read that the people asked that Pilate release Barabbas, a murderous robber, instead of Jesus. Jesus, they scourged and delivered over to be crucified. Scourging was the worse and most cruel form of beating, where the one being scourged was tied up and beaten mercilessly with flagellum or rods. Flagellum was a whip with parts of bone or metal woven into the ends of leather. The centurion would stop the scourging only when the back was bloody and so severely torn that death was near. 

After our Lord Jesus was stripped of His garments, a scarlet robe was put on His back, a crown of thorns upon His head, and a reed in His right hand. 

"And they were striking his head with a reed and spitting on him and kneeling down in homage to him. 20 And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. And they led him out to crucify him" (Mark 15:19-20). 

But that was not enough for them, for they kept beating His head with a reed, spitting at Him, and mocking Him (kneeling and bowing before Him).

"And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads 40 and saying, 'You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.' 41 So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, 42 'He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. 43 He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.'"  (Matt. 27:39-43)

After mocking Him, they took the purple robe off of Him and dressed Him again in His old garments. Just pause for a second and imagine you were in Jesus’ place, lacerated and covered with a piece of cloth. Afterward, when your blood had enough time to clot and mingle with the cloth, the cloth was then removed without care. This brutal action would reopen the wounds. Later on, to make things worse and more painful, you would be dehydrated from losing so much blood and beaten to the point of exhaustion. 

You see, our Lord Jesus needed to endure such humiliation and anguish. Imagine our Lord carrying a horizontal beam that weighed more than 100 lbs. on the back of His wounded shoulders after being scourged nearly to death. He had to carry this cross until a man called Simon of Cyrene was forced to carry it the rest of the way.

"And the soldiers led him away inside the palace (that is, the governor's headquarters), and they called together the whole battalion. 17 And they clothed him in a purple cloak, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on him. 18 And they began to salute him, 'Hail, King of the Jews!' 19 And they were striking his head with a reed and spitting on him and kneeling down in homage to him. 20 And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. And they led him out to crucify him.  21 And they compelled a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross." (Mk. 15:16-21)

Jesus’ wrists were then nailed to this horizontal beam. His feet were nailed to the vertical beam, which was then put into the ground. The cruelest part of the horrible ordeal of crucifying was the death by suffocation, exhaustion, and the endless and devastating pain caused by the nails tearing and putting pressure on the nerves in both the wrists and feet. This must have been a very traumatic experience of pain for Jesus from beginning to end! Why? Because every time He had to breathe, He would have to lift His body by pushing his feet against the nails that impaled His feet. He experienced excruciating pain in His feet and legs just to take in a short breath of air. 

Jesus’ example of dying that cruel death on the cross is the ultimate sacrifice of love for us! Yet all of this was necessary for our redemption. Nothing could deter Jesus from His goal of shedding His precious blood to redeem us. 

"Knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot" (1 Pet. 1:18-19). 

“But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. 14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.” (Hebrews 10:12-14)  

Redemption is possible now. We have the hope of eternal life with Jesus because of His great sacrifice!

"But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:22-23).

There is no pain in our lives that we may experience that can come close to or be compared to what our Lord and Savior went through. We must reflect on what He did for us. 

“I could not do a single thing to hurt God’s only Son, 

But every time I sin on earth I feel that I’m the one. 

I’m the one who shouted “crucify,” 

I’m the one who made His cross so high, 

I’m the one who stood and watched Him die; 

What have I done? I’m the one.” 

Do you shout, “Crucify Him!" every time you sin?  When we engage in sin, we take Jesus’ blood for granted and are thankless, forgetting what He has done for us and the cleansing from our sins made possible through His precious blood.

"For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins" (2 Pet. 1:9). 

We must have thankful hearts and refuse to return to sin. Each sin is like another nail in Jesus’ hands. Your sins and mine caused our Lord and Savior to be crucified. Therefore, every time we are faced with temptation, why not examine our hearts and ask ourselves, "Shall we crucify our Lord and Savior again?"

"He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.  4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.  5 But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.  6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.  7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.  8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people?  And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth... Yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors."  (Isaiah 53)

I hope the words of this hymn move you deeply the way it does me!

I’m The One

I was not in the garden when He knelt to God and prayed;

I did not kiss Him on the cheek when Jesus was betrayed;

I could not do a single thing to hurt God’s only Son,

But every time I sin on earth, I feel that I’m the one.

I was not at the trial when the crowd jeered at His name;

I did not make Him bear a cross or walk a road of shame;

I could not do a single thing to hurt God’s only Son,

But every time I sin on earth, I feel that I’m the one.

I was not on the hillside when He gave His life that day;

I did not His precious hands or take His robe away;

I could not do a single thing to hurt God’s only Son,

But every time I sin on earth, I feel that I’m the one.

Chorus,

I’m the one who shouted, “Crucify!”

I’m the one who made His cross so high;

I’m the one who stood and watched Him die.

What have I done? I’m the one.

Luci