This is the fourth of seven core characteristics of Jesus we’ve been called to imitate and thus disciple our kids toward using the ACT Bible Study Method. Learn more about this family discipleship method here.
TLDR: Jesus displayed superabundant generosity in giving completely of himself on the cross. This is the generosity that we are to disciple our kids to have for others.
Being generous always costs us something. It might cost us everything. It did for Jesus. In John 10:14–18, Jesus describes himself as the good shepherd, and in doing so, he mentions four times that he would lay down his life for the sheep (vv. 15, 17, and 18 twice). Jesus is not a shepherd who lords over the lowly sheep, although he has every right to do so. Instead, he is a shepherd who sacrifices himself—who gives of himself to the fullest measure so much so that it becomes giving himself. This was his choice. No one forced him to make it. It’s hard to miss that point in this passage:
“I lay down my life…” (v. 15).
“I lay down my life…” (v. 17).
“No one takes it away from me…” (v. 18).
“I lay it down on my own free will…” (v. 18).
“I have the authority to lay it down…” (v. 18).
Jesus wanted to make it abundantly clear that no one took his life from him; his death was of his own volition. To understand the depth of Jesus’ generosity in choosing to give up his life, then, we must understand the sordid details of the cross.
Jesus’ Generous Gift of Life
Crucifixion was one of the cruelest punishments ever devised. It was so cruel that Roman citizens could not be crucified; only slaves, notorious criminals, and insurrectionists could. After carrying the crossbeam of the cross to the place of crucifixion, the condemned would either be tied or nailed to it, and then that beam would be hoisted into place.1 A small footrest would be nailed in place, or the criminal’s ankles would be nailed to the upright post. This would relieve some of the criminal’s weight and allow him to push up at times to breathe more easily. Most people who were crucified died of asphyxiation, which could take two or three days. Historical records indicate that at times, birds and animals would come and feed on those hanging on the cross before they had even died. At some point, however, the criminal would lose the strength to push himself up. Unable to do this, air would not fill his compressed lungs and death would soon follow. This is why the Roman soldiers broke the legs of the criminals around Jesus—to speed up their deaths by making them unable to push up sooner rather than later.
This was the death Jesus chose.
Jesus’ Generous Gift of Pain
But before Jesus was nailed to the cross, he was scourged (or flogged) with a flagellum, a leather strap with pieces of bone, lead, metal, or glass attached to it. Scourging would tear at the criminal’s flesh, often exposing his entrails and bones. Many criminals never made it to the cross because they died from this brutal beating.
In addition to the scourging, Jesus’s head was also beaten with a reed, although this may have been done less to inflict pain and more to mock the supposed King of the Jews with the reed intended to be a mock scepter. As the Romans struck Jesus on the head with this reed, he wore a crown of thorns, a parody of a crown they had given to him. Like the reed, this crown may have been only for mockery, inflicting no pain with the crown’s thorns either pointing away from Jesus’ head to imitate light rays that were supposed to emanate from the head of the divine, or the crown being made of vegetation without thorns. Alternatively, this crown may have had thorns that the soldiers turned inward to dig into Christ’s head. If this were the case, even blows with a light reed would have inflicted pain.
Jesus’ Generous Gift of Humiliation
Jesus then traveled to the site of the crucifixion clothed, but once there he would have been stripped naked before being nailed to the cross. We usually see images of the crucifixion with Jesus having some sort of cloth wrapped around his waist, but this is likely inaccurate. While there is a chance that the Jews pleaded for this allowance for crucifixions in their district to preserve some form of public modesty, it’s more likely that they didn’t care, and even if they did, the Romans likely would not have complied.
As if this indignity were not enough, Jesus then experienced relentless mocking that may have lasted the several hours he hung on the cross. The Roman soldiers, who had begun the mocking with their royalty parody, hurled insults at the man who dared to claim to be a king challenging their emperor. Even their offer of wine was likely further brutality rather than a moment of compassion. The wine may have been a sour drink offered to Jesus as a cruel response to his thirst, or it may have been drinkable wine given to slow his death, thus prolonging his agony. Joining the mocking of the Roman soldiers was the crowd, who questioned why a man who was supposed to have such great power couldn’t save himself. Their taunts to Jesus that “if you are the Son of God” were reminiscent of Satan’s temptations (Mark 4:3, 6), leaving no doubt that the nation of Israel had rejected its Messiah. The leaders, who had clearly rejected Jesus before this, echoed the crowd, but their mocking was done in the third person, further dehumanizing Christ. Finally, the criminals crucified alongside Christ even joined the mocking, theirs perhaps being the vilest of all. With Jesus’ disciples having already abandoning him, this left Jesus completely alone. Well, almost completely.
Jesus’ Generous Gift of Isolation
There was still One with Jesus, but this One was about to abandon him, too. It was time to bear the “cup” that Jesus had prayed to be taken from him if possible. It was not. It was time to bear the weight of sin. In this moment, above all the pain and mocking, as Jesus experienced the greatest horror of the cross, he cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matt. 27:46). Referring to “my God” instead of “my Father” as he usually did hints at the depth of the abandonment he felt. In this moment, Jesus was all alone, with only your sins and my sins to keep him company.2 Physical, emotional, and spiritual suffering all collided in this moment, to a degree greater than we can imagine.
This was the death that Jesus chose.
Jesus’ Generous Gift of Selflessness
Yet, amid all this anguish and suffering, Jesus’ loving generosity was on full display. Even as he suffered, Jesus thought of the needs of others above his own. John’s Gospel records Jesus making provision for John to care for his mother, likely a widow in her mid-forties to early fifties with her other sons living out of the region. Beyond that, Jesus extended salvation to one of the criminals being crucified with him, and then interceded on behalf of the very ones who were responsible for his crucifixion. Jesus’ love, a love that compelled him to want to see God give forgiveness to humanity and which prompted him to give his life so generously, was evident in his battered and bloodied body on the cross.
While we often think of Jesus generously giving forgiveness on the cross—and we should—he gave even more than that. Jesus also generously gave us his righteousness (2 Cor. 5:21). Jesus, the obedient and sinless Son of God, stood in the place of sinful humanity and was treated as sin by God. As a result, disobedient and sinful people like us who trust in Jesus are treated as obedient and righteous children of God. This is what radical generosity looks like. This is what we want our kids to live like too.
NEXT: The Hospitality of Jesus
brian dembowczyk 