Excruciating: Defined

When in high school, I remember my pastor once saying that the word "excruciating" was specifically created to describe the kind of pain Christ went through on Good Friday. The pain was so great that it begged a new word in the English language to envelope all its intensity.

Yet it's so easy for us to forget about the suffering and emphasize only His death. This may seem inconsequential at first, but I've lately been learning that we cannot forget or minimize all He took, all He willingly gave up. I cannot just remember that "Christ died for me," but must also keep in mind that "He suffered for me." As I've been studying Isaiah with BSF, I've gained a shocking awareness of how He was struck with My punishment. Physically, He was beaten beyond recognition. Emotionally, He was mocked and abandoned. Spiritually, He was forsaken by His Father. The cup of wrath intended for me was poured on Him--He bore more that day than any other man did or would in all of history.

While teaching in Bahrain, I taught my (Muslim) sixth graders The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. When discussing Aslan's sacrifice for Edmund, I asked them, "Why was Aslan willing to die in place of Edmund?" One of my students answered, "Because he knew he would come back to life." Honestly, this stumped me...until I realized my student was only thinking of death and not of suffering. The physical, emotional, and spiritual anguish was God's unleashing of judgment, which is why Isaiah emphasizes His suffering more than His death:
He was pierced through for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,
And by His scourging we are healed.
(Isaiah 53:5)

Still, in Isaiah 53: 11, it says this:

As a result of the anguish of His soul,
He will see it and be satisfied;
By His knowledge the Righteous One,
My Servant, will justify the many,
As He will bear their iniquities.

Isn't it so humbling to realize that God was satisfied with His sacrifice, pleased with His choice to bear the pain and death required by His just nature? He willingly drank that excruciating cup and now holds out a gift of mercy to any who will respond. May we not forget His sacrifice of heaven--to come and live amongst men. And may we not forget His suffering--to take on His body, soul, and spirit all the pain meant for us.