The Crucifixion: Pt. 2

The cross is one of the most recognizable symbols in the world. Although most people generically associate with "religion" without giving much more thought to it than that. Even us believers, the few, often take for granted what the cross symbolizes. Even though it is an emblem of love and salvation, it is also an image that represents pain and brutality.

The Physical

According to a South African Medical Journal, crucifixions most likely began with the Assyrians, babylonians and Persians. After adopting the practice, the Romans would spend the next several hundred years "perfecting" it. They would not normally do this to Roman citizens, but this execution would be used for slaves, Christians, foreigners, political activists, etc. Crucifixion was a shameful and horrific way to die.

After the people cried out to crucify Jesus, Pilot took Jesus and scourged him. This is where the physical torture began. Pilot's soldiers began savagely whipping Jesus. Over and over and over. This was common for Roman crucifixions in that day. The victim would be naked and whipped repeatedly with a weapon called a flagrum, which consisted of three or more separate throngs (whips) each ending with a set of two crudely shaped metal balls. These balls added weight and would tear the flesh of the victim, even fracturing bones. (Matt. 27:26, John 19:1) Victims were normally tied to a post to receive their punishment so they could not move and the entire backside of the body would be exposed and vulnerable.

After the scourging, the soldiers created a crown made of thorns and pressed it onto Jesus' head. This was not a delicate adornment. This was something crudely fashioned and beaten onto his head. I can't imagine any of the soldiers wanting to use their hands to push it onto Jesus. This was of course meant not only to inflict pain but to mock Jesus and his claims. With blood now dripping down his face and his back torn to shreds, they mocked him further by putting a scarlet/purple robe on him, giving him a reed in his right hand, and bowed the knee before him saying "Hail, King of the Jews!" (Matt. 27:28-29) Then they began smacking and punching him with their hands and fists. They took the reed from his hand and cracked it across his already beaten and bloody body. They spat on him and removed the purple robe as they continued their mocking.

Jesus, broken, bloody and in excruciating pain, carried his cross into Golgotha, the place of the skull. It's believed that the cross in it's entirety would have been too heavy for any man to carry alone and was moved in two pieces by cart. But even just the cross beam alone would have been torturous to haul any distance by hand. It's also believed that the cross were used repeatedly for many crucifixions and not made with fine craftsmanship. So, Jesus, who at this point has lost a tremendous amount of blood, his body beaten beyond recognition, is forced to carry a huge crudely-crafted, blood-stained beam up to a place of death.

Here they offered him vinegar mixed with gall to drink, which he refused. Then they drove large nails through each hand and both feet and into the beams of the cross. They hoisted the cross upright and into its hole with a sign above his head that read "This is Jesus, the King of the Jews" to further mock him even in death. Jesus hung, bleeding, nailed to that cross for over three hours. The soldiers cast lots for his clothes. Others mocked him and looked on him with disgust. With his body completely broken, flesh torn, covered in blood, Jesus looked down and saw his mother and said "Woman, behold thy son!" His own mother, who still saw the little boy she loved and raised, watched as he was brutally put to death.

Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished that the scripture might be fulfilled, asked for a drink. And upon receiving the vinegar to drink, he said "It is finished", bowed his head and gave up the ghost. Christ allowed his body to be brutally and savagely tortured. He endured the agonizing pain and harrowing torment until it was time for his body to die. He did this all for us. The ultimate sacrifice. The greatest, most transcendent act of love and salvation was all done for us... by Jesus, the King of the Jews.