Let's Go Back to the Bible

Six Hours

What is the toughest six hours that you have ever experienced?  Give it a few minutes of thought.

Maybe it was the transcontinental flight you took. The one when you had to get up at 3:00 a.m. to catch the first flight out, then you had a screaming baby sitting right behind you.  That was a pretty tough six hours.

Maybe it was that marathon you ran. The one when you were making pretty good time, setting a good pace, but then half-way through someone accidentally stepped on your foot and your toes screamed in pain all the way to the finish.  That was a pretty tough six hours.

Maybe it was the first day of your freshman year of high school. The one when everything seemed to go wrong with your bus-ride, your locker, your lunch, your everything.  That was a pretty tough six hours.

Maybe it was taking the LSAT exam to get into law school (or equivalent). The one that you spent months and months in rigorous preparations, didn’t sleep well the night before, and then agonized over section after section of the exam.  That was a pretty tough six hours.

Maybe it was that drive from Atlanta to Birmingham that should have only taken two hours. The one when you were running late for your best friend’s wedding and there were two multi-car pile-ups on I-20 that cost you four extra long hours in traffic.  That was a pretty tough six hours.

Maybe it was your heart bypass surgery. The one when a routine doctor’s visit ended up sending you straight to the hospital and an immediate passage into pre-op for emergency surgery.  That was a pretty tough six hours.

What is the toughest six hours that you have ever experienced?  No matter how tough it was and how much you can hype it, nothing you ever go through will come close to comparing to the last six hours of Jesus’ life.  “Now it was the third hour, and they crucified Him” (Mark 15:25).  “And at the ninth hour…Jesus cried out with a loud voice, and breathed His last” (Mark 15:34-37).

Jesus suffered for six hours on the cross! He was scourged, mocked, spit upon, stripped, crowned, robed and burdened with His own cross before the six hours even started.  Then, He was nailed to a rough timber to be tortured with an excruciating death for six hours.  Nothing will ever compare!

And, those six hours were for you and for me!