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298. The Crucifixion

Matthew 27:33-37, Mark 15:22-25, Luke 23:33, John 19:17 & 23-24
Key Verse: When they came to the place called, The Skull, there they crucified Him, along with the criminals; one on His right, the other on His left.
Luke 23:33

The gospel writers did not need to spend any time going into details about crucifixion, how it was done, or how the crucified one would suffer. Crucifixions were all too common in Jesus’ day. Crosses could be found along the roadside, or as in Jesus’ case, on a hill, in full view of everyone. It was much like the gallows of, even our earlier American history in which a hanging would take place in the public square.

Executions today are usually done behind closed doors, so even today most of us don't know about gas chambers and electric chairs. I thought that since crucifixion is definitely not a part of our experience, it would be fitting to give a brief description of a crucifixion so that you can better understand what Jesus endured for the last six hours of His earthly life.

The scourging Jesus endured produced deep stripe like lacerations and appreciable blood loss, and it probably set the stage for shock induced by that blood loss, as evidenced by the fact that Jesus was too weakened to carry the crossbar to Golgotha.  At the site of crucifixion, his wrists were nailed to the cross bar and, after it was lifted onto the upright post, his feet were nailed to that.

The major effect of crucifixion was the difficulty in breathing, with the arms outstretched and supporting the weight of the body, it was very difficult to fill the lungs with air. Only shallow breathing was possible. When this produced the sensation of suffocation, the reflexive need for more air required the victim to suffer the pain of supporting his weight on the nails through his feet. Death resulted primarily from loss of blood and eventual suffocation after exhaustion. Jesus' death was ensured by the thrust of a soldier's spear into his side.  It is just amazing to me how cruel we humans can be to one another.

Remember too that, not only was this done in public, but the person being crucified was completely naked. The Gospels make note of the fact that the soldiers took His clothing and divided it among them, gambling to determine even who would get His underwear. It was just a further humiliation for our Lord to endure. Yet, even this was a fulfillment of prophesy. In Psalm 22:18, one of the Messianic Psalms, it says: "They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing." Nothing about this event was a surprise to our Lord.

In the Garden of Eden, they had been naked and unashamed. With sin came shame over the exposed human body. Yet Jesus bore this shame, in His nakedness, for you and me.

"When I Survey the Wondrous Cross"

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