Did He Sleep?

[MissyP89]

Do you think Jesus slept at all the night before He went to Calvary?

[CatherineM]

No. I think it is one of the contributors to his relative quick death on the cross, along with the shock from the blood loss. When crucified, you basically die of asphyxiation when you no longer have the strength to raise yourself up to breathe.

[HisChildForever]

I believe right after the Last Supper, He went to the Garden...we know the Apostles fell asleep but Christ was in so much emotional agony that, besides His great desire to pray, probably distracted Him from feeling tired. I suppose there was a period between Him being captured and Him being brought to the high priests (the step before He was brought to Pilate) but again, I seriously doubt the thought of sleep crossed His mind. To add to what Catherine said (that His lack of sleep quickened His death on the cross), this could also explain why He fell when carrying the cross. Of course the cross was heavy, but Jesus was a carpenter, He did a LOT of walking, and He was young...so I assume He was in great physical shape. But with sleep deprivation (and I seriously doubt they gave him a decent meal) He was weak to begin with.

[Theologian in Training]

5 years ago Mel Gibson released one of the most inspiring, beautiful and heart-wrenching movies we had ever seen. He simply titled it: “The Passion of the Christ;” a moving account of the last few days of Jesus’ life here on earth and a graphic depiction of the tremendous suffering and abuse He had to endure. It was a movie that sparked great controversy for many things, but the biggest was the feeling that it may have been too violent of a depiction, too graphic of an account. Yet, truth be told, the movie pales in comparison to the reality of what Jesus actually suffered.

And, though that may sound strange to say, I don’t know that we truly understand the extent of His suffering, because, in some sense, it has become too familiar to us, as common as the crucifix on our wall.

Yet, we need only look to our first reading to know that truly His suffering was tremendous and the depth of His pain unfathomable, for as Isaiah says: “So marred was his look beyond human semblance and his appearance beyond that of the sons of man so shall he startle many nations, because of him kings shall stand speechless.”

But this was after, this was how He looked towards the end, because even before this, He was already suffering, before this He was being wounded emotionally, psychologically and spiritually and though we can’t see those wounds, though we can’t see the expression upon His face knowing that one friend will deny Him and another will outright betray Him, though we can’t see that inner turmoil, what we do see is blood coming out of His pores where sweat once was, what we do see is a small glimpse of a man who is experiencing the worst of human suffering.

And, that was only the beginning. He was then chained, beaten, spit upon and then scourged. The scourging alone could cause death because while the Jewish people had a law that one could only be scourged 39 times, the Romans did not have that same law. So, Jesus was scourged nearly to the point of death, on all parts of His body, legs, arms, back and chest and while many thought the movie depicted too graphic of a scourging, a real scourging would tear the skin down to the muscle, so His muscles would have been exposed, given to the sun, the sand and the wood of the cross, so that His every movement on that cross was a new pain.

However, Jesus experienced this to a greater degree, because when He sweat blood the night before, it made His skin tender, more sensitive than normal. This was why when they adorned Him with a robe and crowned Him with thorns, while the thorns digging into His head would have been more than enough, the adorning of the garment made the pain all the more apparent.

And then He had to embrace His cross, whose weight was clearly too much, knocking Him to the ground more than once, already weakened by the scourging, by the beatings and the lack of sleep. The intensity so great that they had to have someone help Him and when He finally reaches the cross, He is stripped and every wound is opened again, every pain as new as the first. Then His hands and feet are nailed and His only support is the propping of His legs, granting Him just enough breath to speak His final words, and then He breathes His last.

It is difficult to handle, to hear, but it reminds us that there was a reason and the reason was simple, to show us that no human being on the face of this earth could endure nor would be able to endure the extent of such suffering and live, only to die, but, even more so, to show us how our own suffering is to be understood, to show us as a holy nun once told me that: “all human pain has passed through Christ’s own body.” That everything we endure in this life, Christ has also endured, that all of our suffering, no matter the kind, great or small, means something when it is united to the cross.

That is why we cannot but help to want to come forward to venerate the cross, to kiss or to touch it, because it was upon it that our love was laid and it is upon it that, truly, our lives are found.

[url="http://lordifyouwill.blogspot.com/"]http://lordifyouwill.blogspot.com/[/url]

[kenrockthefirst]

[quote name='HisChildForever' post='1830450' date='Apr 10 2009, 12:52 AM']I believe right after the Last Supper, He went to the Garden...we know the Apostles fell asleep but Christ was in so much emotional agony that, besides His great desire to pray, probably distracted Him from feeling tired. I suppose there was a period between Him being captured and Him being brought to the high priests (the step before He was brought to Pilate) but again, I seriously doubt the thought of sleep crossed His mind. To add to what Catherine said (that His lack of sleep quickened His death on the cross), this could also explain why He fell when carrying the cross. Of course the cross was heavy, but Jesus was a carpenter, He did a LOT of walking, and He was young...so I assume He was in great physical shape. But with sleep deprivation (and I seriously doubt they gave him a decent meal) He was weak to begin with. [/quote]
Keep in mind also that by the time Jesus had to carry His Cross, he had already been flogged, which itself would have resulted in blood loss.

[LouisvilleFan]

[quote name='MissyP89' post='1830435' date='Apr 10 2009, 01:32 AM']Do you think Jesus slept at all the night before He went to Calvary? [/quote]

Nope, but Peter and the disciples did.

[Moosey]

Lazy bums.

[HisChildForever]

[quote name='kenrockthefirst' post='1830769' date='Apr 10 2009, 10:52 AM']Keep in mind also that by the time Jesus had to carry His Cross, he had already been flogged, which itself would have resulted in blood loss.[/quote]

Argh, how could I forget about this. Thanks.

[Groo the Wanderer]

I often wonder which pain was greater. The physical pain described so well by Theo above, or the emotional pain He must have felt.

What would it be like to bear the sins of the world for all time? I know how badly I feel when I read the news. How much more did Christ feel knowing how much sin He had to bear? Then..compound it all. How much more the pain...knowing that in spite of bearing all this sin, in spite of paying the ultimate price, in spite of redeeming all of mankind...that many would refuse His grace, refuse His redemption, refuse His gift...and beaver dam themselves in the process.

Christ died for all His children, but not all will be saved. To me, the pain of knowing that is the worst of all. It would be enough to make one sweat blood...

[Vincent Vega]

[quote name='Theologian in Training' post='1830755' date='Apr 10 2009, 10:23 AM']5 years ago Mel Gibson released one of the most inspiring, beautiful and heart-wrenching movies we had ever seen. He simply titled it: “The Passion of the Christ;” a moving account of the last few days of Jesus’ life here on earth and a graphic depiction of the tremendous suffering and abuse He had to endure. It was a movie that sparked great controversy for many things, but the biggest was the feeling that it may have been too violent of a depiction, too graphic of an account. Yet, truth be told, the movie pales in comparison to the reality of what Jesus actually suffered.

And, though that may sound strange to say, I don’t know that we truly understand the extent of His suffering, because, in some sense, it has become too familiar to us, as common as the crucifix on our wall.

Yet, we need only look to our first reading to know that truly His suffering was tremendous and the depth of His pain unfathomable, for as Isaiah says: “So marred was his look beyond human semblance and his appearance beyond that of the sons of man so shall he startle many nations, because of him kings shall stand speechless.”

But this was after, this was how He looked towards the end, because even before this, He was already suffering, before this He was being wounded emotionally, psychologically and spiritually and though we can’t see those wounds, though we can’t see the expression upon His face knowing that one friend will deny Him and another will outright betray Him, though we can’t see that inner turmoil, what we do see is blood coming out of His pores where sweat once was, what we do see is a small glimpse of a man who is experiencing the worst of human suffering.

And, that was only the beginning. He was then chained, beaten, spit upon and then scourged. The scourging alone could cause death because while the Jewish people had a law that one could only be scourged 39 times, the Romans did not have that same law. So, Jesus was scourged nearly to the point of death, on all parts of His body, legs, arms, back and chest and while many thought the movie depicted too graphic of a scourging, a real scourging would tear the skin down to the muscle, so His muscles would have been exposed, given to the sun, the sand and the wood of the cross, so that His every movement on that cross was a new pain.

However, Jesus experienced this to a greater degree, because when He sweat blood the night before, it made His skin tender, more sensitive than normal. This was why when they adorned Him with a robe and crowned Him with thorns, while the thorns digging into His head would have been more than enough, the adorning of the garment made the pain all the more apparent.

And then He had to embrace His cross, whose weight was clearly too much, knocking Him to the ground more than once, already weakened by the scourging, by the beatings and the lack of sleep. The intensity so great that they had to have someone help Him and when He finally reaches the cross, He is stripped and every wound is opened again, every pain as new as the first. Then His hands and feet are nailed and His only support is the propping of His legs, granting Him just enough breath to speak His final words, and then He breathes His last.

It is difficult to handle, to hear, but it reminds us that there was a reason and the reason was simple, to show us that no human being on the face of this earth could endure nor would be able to endure the extent of such suffering and live, only to die, but, even more so, to show us how our own suffering is to be understood, to show us as a holy nun once told me that: “all human pain has passed through Christ’s own body.” That everything we endure in this life, Christ has also endured, that all of our suffering, no matter the kind, great or small, means something when it is united to the cross.

That is why we cannot but help to want to come forward to venerate the cross, to kiss or to touch it, because it was upon it that our love was laid and it is upon it that, truly, our lives are found.

[url="http://lordifyouwill.blogspot.com/"]http://lordifyouwill.blogspot.com/[/url][/quote]
A fitting reflection for today at this time.
Thank you, Father.

[Theologian in Training]

[quote name='USAirwaysIHS' post='1830937' date='Apr 10 2009, 03:34 PM']A fitting reflection for today at this time.
Thank you, Father.[/quote]

Thank you. It was actually my homily for the service today.

[MissyP89]

As gruesome as it is to hear just how badly they tortured Him, I think it's also necessary. The cross is always there, but sometimes we don't experience it on an emotional level. As always, good stuff Father.

[The Bus Station]

[quote name='USAirwaysIHS' post='1830937' date='Apr 10 2009, 01:34 PM']A fitting reflection for today at this time.
Thank you, Father.[/quote]

thank you Father.

[rizz_loves_jesus]

[quote name='The Bus Station' post='1831137' date='Apr 10 2009, 07:45 PM'] thank you Father.[/quote]



----------------
Now playing: [url="http://www.foxytunes.com/artist/michael+bubl%c3%a9/track/everything"]Michael Bublé - Everything[/url]
via [url="http://www.foxytunes.com/signatunes/"]FoxyTunes[/url]

[Theologian in Training]

My pastor preached mostly the same thing, except when he preached they had the scourging scene from The Passion playing in the background.