What is all that stuff displayed for Lent at Mater Dolorosa?
It is a reminder to us of all Jesus suffered so that we could be
saved. The things depict the instruments
of torture used on him during the course of preparing for and crucifying him
There’s a whip
to remind us of his scourging. The one
the Romans used was called a flagrum, or flagellum. It was a connection of two or
three not real long ox-hide thongs attached to a handle.
Along the strips of hide they knotted little pieces of metal and bone. Sometime they would add
a hook to the end of each thong. They called this the “scorpion.” [We see this in 1 Kings 12:14 when King Rehoboam, Solomon's son, threatened to be harsher to the people than his father was so that they would follow him without question. He said, "My father beat you with whips, but I will beat you with scorpions." (It backfired and the kingdom divided into two.)]
During a scourging, the criminal was made to stoop so that the
lashes from the shoulder to the waist would go deeper into the body. Deep cuts tore the flesh and exposed the
muscles. Severe bleeding would occur
through this torturous action. The Roman
Centurion in charge of the scourging would order a stop before the criminal
died, as it was to be punishment to a criminal before being humiliated even more by his
public crucifixion.
The railroad ties are reminders of the large nails which were pounded into the lower hands – near the wrists. They had to be inserted into that area of the hand/wrist/forearm where all the bones meet so that they could hold the body to the cross. If they were pounded into the middle of the hand, the weight of the body on those small hand-bones would break and tear and the person would fall off the cross. The Romans had Crucifixion down to a science. They made the convicted person bend his legs and nailed all the nails into a spot where the nerves would be agitated. This was to cause the maximum amount of pain they could. Because of the hanging weight, the victim could not breathe well and in order to do so, he would have to push himself up with his feet to fill his lungs. That would further irritate the nerves and cause even more pain. So, every time Jesus took a breath, it hurt like crazy! And think, he did this for three hours!
The crown of thorns we display is nowhere near being the object of pain that it was. I have read that in the holy land area there grows shrubby type of evergreen with thorns as long as a person’s hand. It is called "Christ's Thorn Jujube." (Zizyphus Spina Christi - is its botanical name.) It grows a fruit which was often made into bread - which I think is really interesting as Jesus was the Bread of Life! Although there are many thoughts about what actual plant was used, the information surrounding why it could have been this tree has a ring of truth to it and I venture to say that it was what they used to make his crown. When the soldiers put it on his head, they thrust it into his head and those thorns pierced into it. Think of when you get caught in the briers and how the bushes scratch your arms and legs. It hurts a lot, doesn’t it? What if those thorns were five or six inches long and pierced your body and stayed inside it? That’s what Jesus suffered!
The dice and money represent the soldiers’ gambling for
his clothing at the foot of the cross.
They actually “cast lots” to see which item each person would get. We often think of throwing dice when we talk about casting lots. However, they actually had a
cup of smooth stones. All were
white except for one, which was black. My
understanding is that when they cast lots, each person took a stone out after
they shook the cup and the person who received the black one was “out.” (We have the term ‘being black-balled’ which
is of this same ilk.) They would continue casting
the stones until there was one person left in the group and that person would
be the winner of the item. They’d start
again on the next item. Imagine that Jesus has been literally beaten to a pulp then hung up in a torturous
way so that he had to struggle for each breath. His blood was probably dripping on the ground
right next to them. Most likely they could
hear him groaning.
People all around them would have been crying for him, jeering him, or encouraging
him. But the soldiers were indifferent and kept
gambling for their prize. That lack of concern was another humiliation to Jesus - and yet another sin on their part.
Lastly, why the bread on the little shelf? Because Jesus is the bread sent from heave; the bread of life.
The display of these items is for us to think about how much LOVE Jesus had for us, and for God. He could have called upon the angels to take him away from all this at any time. He could have come down from the cross and said he was finished, that he didn't like what was going on, that he'd had enough. He could have called lightning from heaven to sizzle his executors. But he didn’t. He knew that in order for us to be able to walk again with God as Adam and Eve did before the fall we had to be redeemed. The only one who could redeem us had to be fully human – because Adam and Eve were fully human and it had to be a human to repay a human debt. But, the person who redeemed us had to be fully God because the only one who could pay a God-type debt would be someone who could deal with ‘God-type currency’ (so to speak). That someone had to be divine. Jesus, fully human and fully divine was the only one who fit that bill.
He suffered. He felt the pain. But he loved us so much that he endured it so that our debt to God would be paid. Thank you, Jesus!
