Chapter 51 - The Crucifixion

CHAPTER 51

THE CRUCIFIXION

AFTER the two brigands had been made ready, the soldiers, under the direction of a centurion, started for the scene of the crucifixion.

In foretelling this experience, Jesus said:

• "The Father loves and sustains me because I am willing to lay down my life. But I will take it up again. No one takes my life away from me -- I lay it down of myself. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up. I have received such a commandment from my Father."

It was just before nine o'clock this morning when the soldiers led Jesus from the praetorium.

On the Way to Golgotha

Before leaving the courtyard of the praetorium, the soldiers placed the crossbeam on Jesus' shoulders.

As the death procession passed along the narrow streets of Jerusalem, many of the tenderhearted Jewish women who had heard Jesus' words of good cheer and compassion could not refrain from weeping. And when some of them even dared to follow along by his side, the Master turned his head toward them and said:

• "Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but rather weep for yourselves and for your children. My work is about done -- soon I go to my Father -- but the times of terrible trouble for Jerusalem are just beginning. Behold, the days are coming in which you shall say: Blessed are the barren and those whose breasts have never suckled their young. In those days will you pray the rocks of the hills to fall on you in order that you may be delivered from the terrors of your troubles."

It was shortly after nine o'clock when this procession of death arrived at Golgotha. The Roman soldiers set themselves about the task of nailing the two brigands and the Son of Man to their respective crosses.

The Crucifixion

The soldiers first bound the Master's arms with cords to the crossbeam, and then they nailed his hands to the wood. When they had hoisted this crossbeam up on the post, and after they had nailed it securely to the upright timber of the cross, they bound and nailed his feet to the wood using one long nail to penetrate both feet. The upright timber had a large peg, inserted at the proper height that served as a sort of saddle for supporting the body weight. The cross was not high, the Master's feet being only about three feet from the ground.

Before Jesus was put on his cross, the two brigands had already been placed on their crosses, all the while cursing and spitting upon their executioners. Jesus' only words, as they nailed him to the crossbeam, were:

• "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."

The Apostle John, with Mary the mother of Jesus, Ruth, and Jude, arrived on the scene just after Jesus had been hoisted to his position on the cross. As Jesus saw his mother, with John and his brother and sister, he smiled but said nothing.

Those Who Saw the Crucifixion

At about half past nine o'clock this Friday morning, Jesus was hung upon the cross. Before eleven o'clock, upward of one thousand persons had assembled to witness this spectacle of the crucifixion of the Son of Man. Throughout these dreadful hours the unseen hosts of a universe stood in silence while they gazed upon this extraordinary phenomenon of the Creator dying the death of the creature, even the most ignoble death of a condemned criminal.

Standing near the cross at one time or another during the crucifixion were Mary, Ruth, Jude, John, Salome (John's mother), and a group of earnest women believers including Mary the wife of Clopas, Mary Magdalene, and Rebecca, onetime of Sepphoris. These and other friends of Jesus held their peace while they witnessed his great patience and fortitude and gazed upon his intense sufferings.

Many who passed by wagged their heads, and railing at him, said:

• "You who would destroy the temple and build it again in three days, save yourself. If you are the Son of God, why do you not come down from your cross?"

In like manner some of the rulers of the Jews mocked him, saying:

• "He saved others, but himself he cannot save."

Others said:

• "If you are the king of the Jews, come down from the cross, and we will believe in you."

And later on they mocked him the more, saying:

• "He trusted in God to deliver him. He even claimed to be the Son of God -- look at him now -- crucified between two thieves."

Even the two thieves also railed at him and cast reproach upon him.

Inasmuch as Jesus would make no reply to their taunts, and since it was nearing noontime of this special preparation day, by half past eleven o'clock most of the jesting and jeering crowd had gone its way. Less than fifty persons remained on the scene. The soldiers now prepared to eat lunch and drink their cheap, sour wine as they settled down for the long deathwatch. As they partook of their wine, they derisively offered a toast to Jesus, saying:

• "Hail and good fortune to the king of the Jews!"

And they were astonished at the Master's tolerant regard of their ridicule and mocking.

When Jesus saw them eat and drink, he looked down upon them and said:

• "I thirst."

The captain of the guard took some of the wine from his bottle, and putting the saturated sponge stopper upon the end of a javelin, raised it to Jesus so that he could moisten his parched lips.

The Thief on the Cross

One of the brigands railed at Jesus, saying:

• "If you are the Son of God, why do you not save yourself and us?"

But when he had reproached Jesus, the other thief, who had many times heard the Master teach, said:

• "Do you have no fear even of God? Do you not see that we are suffering justly for our deeds, but that this man suffers unjustly? Better that we should seek forgiveness for our sins and salvation for our souls."

When Jesus heard the thief say this, he turned his face toward him and smiled approvingly. When the malefactor saw the face of Jesus turned toward him, he mustered up his courage, fanned the flickering flame of his faith, and said:

• "Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom."

And then Jesus said:

• "Verily, verily, I say to you today, you shall sometime be with me in Paradise."

Just after the repentant thief heard the Master's promise that they should sometime meet in Paradise, John returned from the city, bringing with him his mother and a company of almost a dozen women believers. John took up his position near Mary the mother of Jesus, supporting her. Her son Jude stood on the other side.

As Jesus looked down upon this scene, it was noontide, and he said to his mother:

• "Woman, behold your son!"

And speaking to John, he said:

• "My son, behold your mother!"

And then he addressed them both, saying:

• "I desire that you depart from this place."

And so John and Jude led Mary away from Golgotha.

After Mary left, the other women withdrew for a short distance and remained in attendance upon Jesus until he expired on the cross. They were yet standing by when the body of the Master was taken down for burial.

Last Hour on the Cross

Shortly after one o'clock, amidst the increasing darkness of the fierce sandstorm, Jesus began to fail in human consciousness. During this hour of approaching death the human mind of Jesus resorted to the repetition of many passages in the Hebrew scriptures, particularly the Psalms. The last conscious thought of the human Jesus was concerned with the repetition in his mind of a portion of the Book of Psalms now known as the twentieth, twenty-first, and twenty-second Psalms. While his lips would often move, he was too weak to utter the words.

Only a few times did those standing by catch some utterance, such as:

• "I know the Lord will save his anointed," "Your hand shall find out all my enemies," and "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

The last request which the mortal Jesus made of his fellows was about half past one o'clock, when a second time, he said:

• "I thirst."

The same captain of the guard again moistened his lips with the same sponge wet in the sour wine, in those days commonly called vinegar.

The sandstorm grew in intensity and the heavens increasingly darkened. Still the soldiers and the small group of believers stood by. The soldiers crouched near the cross, huddled together to protect themselves from the cutting sand. The mother of John and others watched from a distance where they were somewhat sheltered by an overhanging rock. When the Master finally breathed his last, there were present at the foot of his cross John Zebedee, his brother Jude, his sister Ruth, Mary Magdalene, and Rebecca.

It was just before three o'clock when Jesus, with a loud voice, cried out:

• "It is finished! Father, into your hands I commend my spirit."

When he had thus spoken, he bowed his head and gave up the life struggle. When the Roman centurion saw how Jesus died, he smote his breast and said:

• "This was indeed a righteous man; truly he must have been a Son of God."

From that hour he began to believe in Jesus.

It was common for the victims of crucifixion to linger alive upon the cross for two or three days. But the overwhelming emotional agony and the acute spiritual anguish of Jesus brought an end to his mortal life in the flesh in a little less than five and one-half hours.

After the Crucifixion

In the midst of the darkness of the sandstorm, about half past three o'clock, David Zebedee sent out the last of the messengers carrying the news of the Master's death. The last of his runners he dispatched to the home of Martha and Mary in Bethany, where he supposed the mother of Jesus stopped with the rest of her family.

After the death of the Master, John sent the women, in charge of Jude, to the home of Elijah Mark, where they tarried over the Sabbath day. John himself, being well known by this time to the Roman centurion, remained at Golgotha until Joseph and Nicodemus arrived on the scene with an order from Pilate authorizing them to take possession of the body of Jesus.

Thus ended a day of tragedy and sorrow for a vast universe whose myriads of intelligences had shuddered at the shocking spectacle of the crucifixion of the human incarnation of their beloved Sovereign. They were stunned by this exhibition of mortal callousness and human perversity.