Sunday, May 3, 2020

No Shame!


While I was meditating and praying one morning I heard the Holy Spirit say, "He Was Crucified Naked." A word of knowledge, and I had been wondering if Jesus was actually crucified with or without a covering over His private area. The Lord answered my question! And I believe what I heard!

Many others have also researched this topic and found that the Roman way of crucifixion was to strip the one being crucified of ALL clothing, leaving them completely naked and exposed. Even if you don't believe that the Shroud of Turin is the burial cloth of Jesus, the image on the shroud shows a man that was crucified and only his hands are covering his pelvic area.

A quote from a blog I read say's this:

"[Bishop St.] Melito, the second century AD bishop of Sardis, wrote in his sermon on the passion of Christ: ‘The Sovereign has been made unrecognizable by his naked body, and is not even allowed a garment to keep him from view.’ Because people of his day had witnessed crucifixions, Melito knew that the victims were executed without clothing” (Lexham Bible Dictionary)."

The scriptures also tell us that roman soldiers divided up His clothing and cast lots for them, however, the scripture does not explicitly say that Jesus was completely naked. But one would ask if the Roman way of crucifixion was to strip the person of all clothing leaving them naked, why would they treat Jesus any different? The scriptures tell us plainly He was treated worse than a common criminal! Even Barabbas, a notorious prisoner was treated better!

King David who was also a prophet, prophesied in the book of Psalms.

Psalm 22:16-18

"For dogs have surrounded Me; The congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and My feet; I can count all My bones. They look and stare at Me. They divide My garments among them, And for My clothing they cast lots."

Matthew 27:32-35

"Now as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. Him they compelled to bear His cross. And when they had come to a place called Golgotha, that is to say, Place of a Skull, they gave Him sour wine mingled with gall to drink. But when He had tasted it, He would not drink. Then they crucified Him, and divided His garments, casting lots, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet: “They divided My garments among them, And for My clothing they cast lots.”

For a more in-depth look at the topic at hand you can read this short blog post found here:

https://catholicconvert.com/blog/2017/04/12/was-jesus-naked-when-crucified/

Another topic I want to insert in this post is that of shame, was Jesus ashamed of being exposed on the cross? His mother was right there, John the disciple whom Jesus loved was right there, Mary Magdalene and Salome were near the cross, along with some other women disciples who stood at a distance watching, possibly Joanna, and Susanna, etc...., and it's very likely they could see everything that was going on.

I have been dealing with a lot of shame over the years, ashamed of different aspects of my life when I should be bold and confident. Ashamed to speak up when something is wrong, ashamed to proclaim the name of Jesus and speak His word boldly, ashamed of my anointing and talents as if I should dumb down so that I won't be perceived as trying to be better than someone else.

I was even ashamed to say I'm a Christian! Likely some oppression I received from my childhood and the devil will use whatever evil we have in us to hinder us from the abundant life that Jesus promised us.

But thank God saints that we have a friend in Jesus! A deliverer who set's us free from all the bondage that sin causes and the strongholds of the devil that oppress our minds and souls!

I personally believe that Jesus had NO shame! And why do I believe that? Because the scriptures tell us He was tempted in every way but was without sin, and Jesus Himself said that satan had nothing (evil) in Him! And shame is definitely a consequence of sin, or could even be generational, cultural, and totally evil!

Hebrews 4:15

"For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin." (Jesus was a perfect man!)

John 14:30

"I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me." 

Jesus was like Adam and Eve before the fall! Can we become like the man Jesus who was God manifested in the flesh? YES WE CAN! 

If you believe it, you can receive it! The scriptures admonish us to walk as Christ walked and Jesus Himself said we could become like our Teacher!

Luke 6:40

"A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher."

Genesis 2:25

"And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were NOT ASHAMED."

In His Service
Tyrone