We must take comfort in Christ’s final breath. After six hours on the cross of Calvary, we are told that our Saviour ‘cried out with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit’ (Matthew 27:50).
The primary way crucifixion killed its subject was by impairing their breathing as exhaustion set in. The longer you were on a Roman cross, the harder it was to breathe and allow air into your lungs. Is it not wondrous then, that upon the sixth hour, our Lord did not give a whisper, yelp, or mumble, but rather a loud cry?!
Moments beforehand, we see our Saviour in the depths. He knew the full weight of God’s justice towards our disobedience. As Spurgeon said, he ‘drank the veritable cup of our redemption to its very dregs’. He offered up perfect obedience to God that it might be exchanged for our curse.
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