Does He Still Feel the Nails?
By Shauna Leis
“Does He still feel the nails
Every time I fail?
Does He hear the crowd cry ‘crucify’ again?
Am I causing Him pain? Then I know I’ve got to change.
I just can’t bear the thought of hurting Him.”
Ray Boltz
Roman crucifixion was probably one of the most severe forms of punishments that you could exact on someone. It was not to be taken lightly, and the Romans normally saved it for only the most hardened of criminals. Convicted criminals were either tied or nailed to two pieces of rugged wood and then left to die. The death was not quick, and it was extremely painful. People that were subjected to this form of capital punishment were left to basically suffocate to death, slowly. As a criminal was hanging on the cross (The ropes or nails were only meant to hold them in place.), the weight of their bodies would slowly pull down enough to crush their lungs. If the death was taking too long, soldiers would eventually break their legs so that they could no longer hold themselves up, and death would soon be imminent.
Now I tell you all of that, not to try to gross you out, but rather to force you to think about the type of death that our precious LORD and Savior chose to endure for you and for me. He could have called down angels from Heaven to attend to Him while He was on the cross; however, He remained there, knowing that His sacrifice on the cross was the only way to bridge the gap between us sinful creatures and our Holy, Heavenly Father. Philippians 2:8-11 says it this way, “And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross!& Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Jesus did all of this for you and for me to save us from our sins because we cannot save ourselves. It required the ultimate sacrifice to be able to forgive us for all of the sins that we have already committed and will commit for the rest of our lives. So, there are a couple of questions that I think we must ask ourselves while we are living these lives. Ray Boltz said it so well in the song above, and I hope that you will read his words again fresh and truly picture that in your mind. Ask yourself, “Every time I sin, does He still feel the nails?” Can you just hear that PING……PING……PING as they are nailing our Sweet Jesus to the cross because of our sins? I know my heart just cringes when I have to come before my Jesus and beg for forgiveness when I have sinned. I now picture that every time I fail Him, I have nailed Him onto that cruel cross one more time.
Please do not misunderstand that I am suggesting that Jesus had to die more than once - quite the contrary. I firmly believe that His death once and for all gave me this forgiveness and the opportunity to be with Him in Heaven for eternity. However, with this imagery of seeing Him nailed to the cross over and over again when I sin, it forces me to rethink some of my actions and decisions and hopefully sin less and less.
I hope that we never doubt what Jesus did, either. John 20:27 records this exchange with Thomas, “Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.’” Please do not doubt the price that Jesus paid for our sins and how He longs for us to believe in Him. Trust in Him today since He willingly went to the cross to give us a way to the Father. Thank Him for loving us that much!
Pray with me:Precious LORD and Savior. I cannot even begin to imagine what You had to endure on that cross for me. I hear the echoes of the hammer hitting the nails as the Roman soldiers attached You to the cross. I know that it was my sin (past, present, and future) that placed You on that cross. It was Your love for me and Your desire for me to have a relationship with God that made You choose to endure all that You went through. My heart’s cry is that I will never forget what You went through. I will never take for granted the type of death that You died out of love for me. Forgive me Lord, when I do take it for granted, and make the “PINGs” ring ever louder in my ears to remind me. I love You so very much and want only to be in Your will, living for You. Be my guide – the lamp to my feet and the light to my path. I pray all these things in the precious name of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior, Jesus!