3 Hidden Lessons from the Crucifixion of Jesus. #3 is Huge | Easter Reflections

Do you believe in miracles? Have you ever experienced a miracle? Some would argue that if you’ve experienced the birth of a child, you have.

But imagine you were witnessing someone’s arrest, and in the middle of the arrest, you also witnessed a miracle. That seems rather unlikely, doesn’t it?

Yet, this happened! On this Good Friday, I wanted to share some observations from the crucifixion of Jesus, which are lessons I think are easily missed in the overall “story”.

The focus always seems to be on the sacrifice Jesus made through the crucifixion.

And really, rightly so.

It is the most important part of what happened and I am in no way trying to minimize the focus. But I do think there are other great lessons to be learned as well.

1. I’ll start with the miracle already referenced.

The first time this miracle was impactful in my life was when I watched The Passion of the Christ when it was first released. This scene is my favorite out of the entire movie:

I could not help but be amazed at the portrayal of this soldier in this movie. This is not something I think I would have ever thought about from reading the story in the Bible. It’s easy to read over Bible passages and not give much thought to how a certain scene might be “played out” with emotion, tone of voice, etc., all of the things that are easily missed with the written word.

But when I saw this scene for the first time in this movie, I thought about what it must have been like for this man to be touched and healed by the very one he was there to help arrest and take into custody.

From the time of Jesus’ birth right through his very death, he touched so many people in so many ways, and their lives were never the same again.

That is the power He has … to totally transform lives … or situations …. or marriages …. or anything! Whatever you may be going through right now, He can help. He may or may not change the situation, but He can change you in the midst of the situation and help you through it … if you will let Him.

2. The second sort of hidden lesson I’ve gleaned from Jesus’ crucifixion is actually from the time in his life just before the arrest.

He was praying in the Garden of Gethsemane and three times he pleaded with God in prayer. For what? That He would not have to experience what was about to happen, yet, He also surrendered to the will of God.

Here we find a great display of the mystery of God in the flesh, as well as a picture of a struggle between the two persons of the trinity, Jesus and the Father. These are matters of faith that are probably impossible for any human being to fully comprehend, but what we know from this experience of Jesus in the garden is that the flesh part of him very much dreaded what was shortly to come. Yet, He knew that this was the only way forward, if the sins of the world were to be justified. Which is where we can begin to have a much deeper understanding of the absolute love he has for us, even if we can’t fathom all the details of the how of the Trinity and the God-in-flesh part of it.

This scene, more than any other in the entire Bible, has shown me that Jesus understands the extreme struggle we have between the hardships in life and understanding and accepting “God’s plan”. Many things in our faith walk or experience are difficult, or sometimes impossible, for us to understand completely. But it has given me great comfort to know that it’s okay to struggle, but I need to be willing to surrender to whatever His plan may be, even if it’s not what I want and even if it is not something I can understand.

I think in any given situation, He wants us to reach a place of neutrality. That as difficult the struggle may be, because we know Him and Who He is, we know that He can be trusted and that He will keep His promise to never leave or forsake us. This means that He will carry us through whatever we face.

The thing we have to keep in mind no matter what comes our way is that this life is just the beginning, and a very small, very brief part of eternity. What is beyond this world is infinite, another concept impossible for a finite mind to understand completely. But if we can just grasp the basic meaning of this, we can at least see that if we hold on to Him through life’s fiercest storms, He will not let us go, and He will carry us into the other side that is past this life when our time comes for that transition.

I have personally been through a number of extremely difficult experiences, and I can testify, without a shred of doubt, that He was with me every moment providing for my every need. He will do the same for you … if you will trust Him.

3. And finally, this last one …. when Jesus was on the cross …. and He asked WHY? I think this is such a huge lesson that we cannot miss.

When tragedy strikes, it’s not long before you can hear people asking … why? Why does God allow this to happen? I touched on this topic in my first Easter series post earlier this week called, What The Butterfly and the Resurrection Have in Common. It’s Not What You May Think. So I will not repeat what I said there here.

But rather, the lesson that I see in this one, where Jesus asked:

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

Is that it is okay for us to ask why. I’ve heard people ask this before, if it is okay to ask God why something is happening or not happening?

The Bible teaches us to have a reverence, or respect, for God. So in that respect, we aren’t sure if asking why might show disrespect?
But we are also told in the Bible that we can be friends with God and that we can call him a more intimate name, like Daddy:

Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” (Galatians 4:6)

So how do we strike the right balance here when things are happening around us and our spirit within screams, “Why?!”

I think the key is in the attitude of our heart and where the Bible tells us that God can be found by those who seek Him:

… those who seek me find me. (Proverbs 8:17)

And then Proverbs 18:15 says:

The heart of the discerning acquires knowledge, for the ears of the wise seek it out.

If we are asking God why from an attitude of shaking our first in the air at Him and demanding answers, even possibly challenging His goodness, well, then that’s probably not okay. I think of the time when Job said in Chapter 30, verse 21:

You turn on me ruthlessly; with the might of your hand you attack me.

And then God, in Chapter 40, verse 2, answers Job:

Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him? Let him who accuses God answer him!

Well Job has a change of attitude in verses 4-5:

I am unworthy – how can I reply to you? I put my hand over my mouth. I spoke once, but I have no answer – twice, but I will say no more.

But then, I think if we are asking why from a humble heart that really is just seeking better understanding, but also realizing that God is God and for whatever reason, He may or may not give us more answers, then yes, I think this okay with Him.

As I said before, I think He ultimately wants us to reach a place of neutrality in any given situation, where, like Jesus, we ask our questions and we pray for things to happen or that we might avoid certain experiences, but we know and trust Him so much that we understand there is a bigger picture that we cannot see and He may have a reason for allowing the very things that we don’t want into our lives.

I’m reminded of a song called, Blessings, by Laura Story, and part of the lyrics of that song are:

What if 1,000 sleepless nights are what it takes to know you’re near?

So …. what if?

What if some of the hardest times in our lives are to draw us into a more intimate relationship with our Heavenly Father? What if He is preparing us for something coming down the road? What if we need to learn how to trust Him more fully or just … more regularly or consistently? What if He is trying to teach us that His grace is sufficient, that He is enough?

I can honestly say, looking back, that I would not trade the hardest experiences of my life for the lessons that I did learn through them. My faith did grow stronger through them, and I did have moments of questioning why? But it was always out of a humble heart and just not understanding, never accusing God or blaming Him.

When I made it through to the other side, I could look back and see ways that He had ministered to me in special ways during the storm. He provided the right person at the right time to offer words of encouragement or to pray for me. He provided Bible verses that I literally clung to that helped me walk by faith, and not by sight.

What about you? Have you learned any valuable lessons from extreme trial, hardship or dark times in your life?

If we share our experiences we can possibly help someone else who may be going through something as they read this now. And that, in and of itself, gives meaning and purpose to the pain or struggle.