Duc in Altum

The month of July is set aside for special devotion to the Precious Blood of Jesus. One of the devotions associated with the Precious Blood, is a meditation on the seven references in Scripture to the shedding of Christ's blood. In this sixth installment, I would like to reflect on the Lord's crucifixion.

There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them. (John 19:18)

It has been a few hours since He first came struggling up the deathly hill. Even at that time, He looked like He lost enough blood that the cross would not be necessary. However, He continued on as the dogs roughly stripped Him of His clothes. Each pull on His clothes, reopened the wounds which had dried with blood and sweat. Little streams of fresh blood poured again as He stood naked before the callous soldiers.

Then He somehow managed to remain conscious as they laid Him across the cross, stretched out his arms, and pounded the nails through His hands. His body had writhed with each strike that the hammer made on the nail. It did not take too many blows of the hammer to get the job done; this was a well-seasoned group of executioners. They hauled up the cross weighed down with Him, dropped it in its hole in ground and then nailed his feet to the lower part of the cross. Blood was now everywhere. It poured from the newly formed holes in his hands and his feet. It mixed with the dried and caked blood which had come from His head and the countless openings in His flesh that the scourging had produced. I do not know how He could continue to give up so much blood.

Now several hours later, He continues the awful motion of the cross which forces Him to fight for every breath. He struggles on, occasionally speaking from what strength I do not know. He is bathed in His own blood, and His blood has colored the ground underneath Him. There seems to be no way that He could continue on, yet He somehow does.

His end will come. I cannot bear the thought that He will not be with me. Yet I want this misery of His to end. Although the soldiers think they are putting Him to death, He has shown that He is in control. He did not give up anything with which He did not willingly part. What He has given up in abundance is His Precious Blood. It has come from Him like a spring of water. It continues to pour out, and I stand here at the foot of His cross wondering just how much more He can give.

Next Installment: The Piercing of His Side

Previous Posts:

The Circumcision

The Agony in the Garden

The Scourging at the Pillar

The Crowning with Thorns

The Carrying of the Cross