“They took Jesus. He was bearing his own cross to the place called the “place of the skull” which in Hebrew is called Golgotha, and there they crucified him with two others, one on either side and Jesus was between them.” John 19:17-19. As you may know because you have heard the story before, Jesus was crucified at Golgotha. The Roman means of execution was crucifixion. The Romans were professionals at crucifixions; they did them by thousands, and recorded the dirty details of their executions in their history books. No human rights like we have today. No watch dogs etc. On the other hand, if Jews were going to kill somebody, they would stone them and kill them. The Jews killed by stoning, but the Romans killed by crucifixion. Jesus was sentenced to die by the Roman courts and he was sentenced to die by crucifixion outside the city walls of Jerusalem. One more crucifixion wouldn’t bother the soldiers. It was all in a day’s work. Do you know of any execution chamber in your city, town or village? If your answer is yes, I would imagine it would be an uncomfortable place to visit.
Therefore, as happened at other Roman crucifixions, the Roman soldiers whipped Jesus. For those was have watched the latest film “THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST” know the gruesome moments Jesus faced before death. We know from history books that those crucified received thirty-nine lashes across their backs. If you can imagine a man’s back that has been whipped or lashed thirty nine times, it is not a pretty sight. Jesus was then given a long wooden log; about six feet long, the cross of execution was shaped like a letter “T.” After receiving the thirty-nine lashes, Jesus and other criminals would carry this heavy piece of wood through the streets of Jerusalem, narrow winding streets that were about twelve feet in width. It was about a ten-minute walk from the place where Jesus was sentenced to the Place of the Skull outside the city wall. It was a ten-minute walk if there were not crowds, but on that day, the crowds were crushing against one another as a badly whipped Jesus slowly carried that top piece of the cross to the place of his execution, the Place of the Skull.
Jesus finally came outside the city wall to that cliff; with the eye sockets carved into the mud walls and those eye sockets made the cliff look like a skull. The Roman soldiers stripped him naked and then placed the cross bar on the top of the upright, vertical beam. The soldiers lifted the body of Jesus onto the cross. The soldiers then took some ropes and tied Jesus around beneath the arms and tied his body to the cross so he wouldn’t fall. With long heavy ten-inch spikes, they nailed his wrists, not the palms of his hands as is in all medieval paintings, to the cross, so he also hung by his wrists. They also nailed his feet to the bottom of the cross. Jesus was hanging there in agony, having no clothes, stark naked.
Today, over two thousand years later, there is still a fascination with the cross. People still want to hear the story of the cross and still want to hear the absurdity that the cross is the throne of Christ and that Christ still rules from the cross. Why is it that after this long, we still want and need to hear the story of the cross? Are we fascinated with the cross because we are sadistic? Why are we drawn to Golgotha? (In my next presentation I will look at GOLGOTHA.)Why is there a pull to this place? Why do people speak about it after so many years? No story has been told for so many years than the story of the Cross. The more it is told the more the listeners want to hear.
The cross is the central symbol of the Christian faith so we think. We are drawn to the cross because we sense that the cross is the key that unlocks the whole Christian faith. The cross is the key that unlocks the mystery of God. The cross is the key that unlocks the mystery of our lives. We sense that in the cross. It is like a code that narrates Christianity. It is the one strongest and most central symbol of the Christian faith, symbolizing both the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. The cross symbolizes the love of God through pain and suffering; the cross also triumphantly symbolizes the resurrection to new life forever. Good Friday and Easter. The tragedy and the triumph. The humanity and the divinity. Both eternal messages are in the cross.
The cross is the throne of Jesus Christ. How absurd but Christians have believed that for centuries. Christ is king and the Gospel of John tells us that when he was crucified, he was glorified. That is the message of the cross. That is what the cross says. It is only in the cross that we see the face of God’s love. Not in the sun. Not in the stars. Not in the atoms. It is only in the cross. The cross is that glorious window through which we see God’s great love, a love so great that God was willing to die for you, that God’s son was willing to lay down his life for you and me.
Credits
Cladwin Commentary on the Gospel of John
Henry Matthews Commentary on the Gospel according to St. John.