Lord, I would follow Thee

Have you ever thought about the last day of our Savior's mortal life?

When my life is unfair and I am being tested, remembering the last day of Jesus's mortal life helps me keep my own troubles in perspective.

It started with Jesus staying up all night suffering for the pain and the sins of all mankind. Have you ever stayed up all night? Skipping a night's sleep is tiring to be sure, but I know of nothing more exhausting than prolonged pain.

In the morning a fatigued Jesus sought out His friends, and was immediately betrayed by one of them. Have you ever had someone betray you? Instead of getting angry, Jesus paused to help and lift another; He reached out and healed the ear of one of the soldiers who had come to take Him away.

Next, Jesus was publicly humiliated with false accusations in court. Have you ever been falsely accused? Jesus carefully lived His entire life without sin of any kind, nevertheless He was condemned to die a convicted criminal, the exact opposite of how He had lived His life.

Then Jesus was flogged with a leather whip that had bone and glass woven into the ends. Roman flogging was so brutal that sometimes people died from it, never making it to the cross. At any point during the flogging Jesus could have called down fire from heaven. As Jehovah He did this very thing at Elijah's request, but with His own persecutors, He would show a gentle heart.

Jesus was then forced to carry a cross through Jerusalem, uphill, to Golgotha. Remember, His back was freshly mutilated by a whip of leather, bone and glass, so just imagine the pain of each step as His cross pressed into and rubbed against his torn flesh. Nevertheless, He walked the path that He was shown.

The reason Romans crucified people was because it was the cruelest way they could come up with to kill a person.

Just preparing His body for the crucifixion was barbaric. Men literally drove nails through the hands of a living human being, then drove nails through His wrists, then through His feet.

Then they lifted Him up on the cross. As he hung, His broken and bloodied skin burned and blistered under the desert sun. "I thirst," he gasped.

The whole while, people mocked Him. Why do people do this? Putting others down doesn't put you above them.

Putting others down doesn't put you above them.

They say one of the greatest heartbreaks a person can know is losing a child. So imagine how Jesus must have felt watching the pain in His mother's face as she slowly lost her child right before her eyes.

And this isn't even the worst of it.

Have you ever felt the panic of not being able to get enough air?

When a person hangs with his arms outstretched, it forces the weight of his body to press down on his ribs, making it very difficult to take full breaths in and out. He can get some air, but not enough, causing him to partially and slowly suffocate with each breath. It is an indescribably desperate and painful predicament.

If you were to watch a person dying of crucifixion, you would see and hear Him fight for breath. To help Himself breath, He would push up with His feet to hold His weight. However, no one can do that indefinitely, especially if the weight of His body is tearing at the wounds in His feet.

So eventually pain and fatigue would force Him to collapse, leaving Him once again hanging from His arms and heaving and panting in vain for breath.

This sadistic cycle of pushing from His feet, then hanging from His arms, would repeat for hours under a ruthless, hot sun until at last He would finally succumb to the most agonizing death you can imagine.

"Although in agony he hung, No murmuring word escaped his tongue." ("Behold the Great Redeemer Die", Hymns number 230).

Remarkably, even in this state of incomprehensible suffering, Jesus was not consumed with His own problems; He was somehow still able to think of others.

For example, even though what these soldiers had done was grossly unjust, He did not blame. Instead he prayed, "Father, forgive them, for the know not what they do" (Luke 23:34).

Two thieves were crucified with Jesus. I won't say they deserved their punishment, but at least they were actually guilty. Nevertheless, Jesus sought to comfort one of them, saying "Today, Thou shalt be with me in paradise" (Luke 23:43).

And "When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son! Then saith he unto the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home." (John 19:26).

We may not know, we cannot tell, What pains he had to bear, But I believe it was for me, He hung and suffered there." (See "There is a Green Hill Far Away", Hymns #194).

"The Son of Man hath descended below them all. Art thou greater than he?" (DC 122:8).

"The Son of Man hath descended below them all. Art thou greater than he?" (DC 122:8).

"These things I have spoken unto you," said Jesus, "That in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." (John 16:33)

I know that my Redeemer lives. "He lives to wipe away my tears. He lives to calm my troubled heart." (I Know that My Redeemer Lives", Hymns number 136).

"Savior, may I learn to love thee,
Walk the path that thou hast shown.
Pause to help and lift another,
finding strength beyond my own.
Savior, may I learn to love thee —
Lord, I would follow thee."
(Lord, I Would Follow Thee, Hymns number 220).