THE LAST WEEK OF JESUS' PUBLIC MINISTRY AND HIS CRUCIFIXION

On The Way to The Cross

Matthew 27:31-34; Mark 15:20-23; Luke 23:26-33; John 19:17

-Having ended the mockery of Jesus, the Roman soldiers removed the scarlet robe, put His own

 clothes on Him and led Him out toward the site of the crucifixion.

            -“The time of day was probably about eight o’clock in the morning...It was customary for a

             soldier to go in advance of the victim and carry a white wooden board on which was written

             the nature of the crime; next came four soldiers, under a centurion, with the hammer and

             nails, guarding the victim, who bore the cross on which he was to suffer ” (Boles, Matthew,

             pg 535-536).  This would have been the case regarding Jesus and the two other men who

             were crucified alongside Him.

-“Jesus goes to death with glory beyond; Pilate rests secure in his office, with shame beyond; the

 chief priests gloat over success which will destroy their polity; the people follow with exultation,

 not knowing it is the beginning of sorrows.  How different do things appear in the perspective

 of the future!  But Jesus goes onward to the cross.  A world needs salvation, which only he can

 give” (Dorris, pg 364).

            -“When we think of him who endured it all we can not contemplate the scene without a

             shudder.  Who can measure the grace of God or the depravity of man” (McGarvey/Pendleton,

             pg 722)?

-Initially, Jesus was made to bear His own cross.  We do not know the weight of the cross.  Some

 suggest that this was the full cross while others suggest that it may have been the cross beam only.

 In either case, the burden was a heavy one.  “And to one enfeebled by the horrible severity of the

 previous scourging, the carrying of such a burden would be an additional misery.  But Jesus was

 enfeebled not only by this cruelty, but by previous days of violent struggle and agitation, by an

 evening of deep and overwhelming emotion, by a night of sleepless anxiety and suffering, by the

 mental agony of the garden, by three trials and three sentences of death before the Jews, by the

 long and exhausting scenes in the Praetorium, by the examination before Herod, and by the brutal

 and painful derisions which He had undergone, first at the hands of the Sanhedrin and their

 servants, then from Herod’s bodyguards, and lastly from the Roman cohort.  All these added to the

 sickening lacerations of the scourging, had utterly broken down His physical strength.  His

 tottering footsteps, if not His actual falls under that fearful load, made it evident that He lacked the

 physical strength to carry it from the Praetorium to Golgotha” (Farrar, pgs 402-403).

            -For this reason, a man from Cyrene named Simon was “...compelled to bear his cross” (Matt.

             27:32). “Cyrene was a flourishing city in the north of Africa, having in it a large Jewish

             population...There were many Cyreneans afterwards engaged in spreading the gospel (Acts xiii.

             I), and since the sons of this man are spoken of as well known to Mark’s readers it is altogether

             likely that Simon was one of them...The Roman soldiers found Simon entering the city, and

             because he was a stranger and they needed a man just then, they impressed him...” (McGarvey/

             Pendleton, pg 723) to bear the cross of Christ.

-Luke’s account informs us that there was a great multitude of people that followed Jesus. 

 “This multitude was mingled with friends, foes, and those who were curious to see what was to be

 done...Women were the only ones recorded as weeping for Jesus as he marched to the place of

 crucifixion; women were the last at the tomb and the first at the tomb on the morning of the

 resurrection” (Boles, Luke, pg 447).

            -On the way to Golgotha, Jesus addressed these women.  We can clearly see that even though

             He was enduring severe suffering, His thoughts and concerns were focused upon others.

            -He was mindful of the fact that the city of Jerusalem would eventually be destroyed at the

       hands of the Romans in A.D. 70.  The inhabitants of Jerusalem would suffer severely - “For then

             shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor

             ever shall be” (Matt. 24:21).

                        -In those days, being barren - normally looked upon as a curse - would be considered a

                         blessing.  There would be no avenue of refuge for those in the city and even though they

                         would long for a sudden end to their suffering (mountains, Fall on us; hills, Cover us - Luke

                         23:30) their misery would be prolonged.

            -“The fires of suffering consuming Jesus (the green tree) would be nothing to compare with the

             fires of destruction that would burn up the dead tree (Jerusalem, judicially and morally dead)”

             (Coffman, Luke, pg 497).  In other words, if they would cause an innocent man to suffer in

             such a manner, just imagine what they would do to a rebellious city and her people. 

-Jesus arrived at the scene of the crucifixion, “which is called Calvary”  (Luke 23:33).

            -Interestingly, this is the only reference in the scriptures to “Calvary,” “...a Latin word meaning

             ‘skull,’ or place of ‘skulls’” (Barnes).  The Greek word is “kranion” which means “a skull”

             (Strong’s).  Instead of  “Calvary,” a variety of translations make reference to “The Skull”

             (NASB, NIV, ASV, ESV and others).

            -“There is today a natural formation in rock on the side of a hill not far from the Garden tomb

             bearing great resemblance to a skull, and it is very possible that this was the site of the

             crucifixion” (Woods, pg 401).

-Once at the scene, Jesus was offered “vinegar...mingled with gall” (Matt 27:34), “wine mingled

 with myrrh” (Mark 15:23).  Upon tasting it, He refused it.

            -“This mixture of sour wine mingled with gall and myrrh was intended to dull the sense of pain

             of those being crucified or otherwise severely punished.  The custom is said to have originated

             with the Jews and not with the Romans.  Jesus declined it because it was the Father’s will that

             he should suffer.  He would not go upon the cross in a drugged, semi-unconscious condition”

             (McGarvey/Pendleton, pg 724).  “In the full possession of all his mental faculties he would

             ‘tread the winepress’” (Dorris, pg 366).

            -This would have been offered to Jesus prior to Him being nailed to the cross.  “...[I]t is not

             known whether he was nailed to the cross before it was erected, or after it was erected; both

             methods were used at that time” (Boles, Luke, pg 449).

                        -In their article entitled, “An Examination of the Medical Evidence for the Physical Death

                         of Christ” (www.apologeticspress.org/articles/119), Brad Harrub, Ph.D. and Bert

                         Thompson, Ph.D. note that “[a]rchaeological evidence strongly suggests that criminals

                         during the time of Christ were not forced to carry an entire T-shaped cross...but rather only

                         the crossbeam...”  If that is indeed the case, it was at this time that Jesus would have been

                         cast down to the ground by the Roman soldiers and His hands (wrists) nailed to the beam.

                         The cross may have been fully assembled and Jesus’ feet also nailed to it prior to being

                         raised up.  Or, the vertical beam may have already been put in place.  If so, Jesus would

                         have been raised up, the cross beam then attached and Jesus’ feet then nailed.

                                    -We would probably formulate a better and more accurate image of the “nails” if we

                                     referred to them as “spikes” and visualized them as being more similar to what we know

                                     as rail-road spikes instead of any type of “nails” used today.                            

-“Pictures of crosses high above the crowds are most likely incorrect; the feet of Jesus, on the cross,

 were no more than a foot or two from the ground; and thus he was able to look full into the faces

 of his tormentors” (Woods, pg 402).

-Let’s remember that our exhausted Savior had already been bruised and battered the night before

 and the morning of the crucifixion.  He had suffered abuse at the hands of the Jews and the Romans.

 He had endured the severity of the Roman scourging.  It is hard to imagine the pain that He had

 already experienced up to this point.  And now, the excruciating pain on the cross was underway.

 (“Excruciating” is derived from “crucifixion.”)

            -During the process of the crucifixion, as Jesus became more and more weakened, He would

             have had increased difficulty breathing as He hung on the cross.  In order to breath, He would

             have had to push up with His nailed feet and pull up with His nailed hands.  Such movement

             would have increased the pain of his wounded and exposed back against the rough timber of

             the cross.  As the sufferings upon the cross continued, His body’s systems would have

             eventually been overcome and would have begun the process of shutting down.  This would

             have resulted in immense suffering and anguish.  Eventually death would come. 

-“Crucifixion was a...horrible, lingering death, combining horrors of mind and body which words

 failed to describe; it was an ignominious punishment, reserved for slaves or the basest criminals;

 but to the mind of a Jew, it carried also the terrors of a religious curse.  We cannot analyze the

 sufferings one by one; the agonies, the shame, the horror and anguish of our Savior’s death no

 tongue can tell and no pen can describe” (Boles, Matthew, pg 539).

            -As Paul wrote in Ephesians 3:19, truly the “love of Christ...surpasses knowledge” (NASB). 

-“...[L]et us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author

 and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and

 has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such