The Roman death squad and the three prisoners who had been sentenced to death approached the place of crucifixion. The rock formation that formed the hill had a skull shape, so it was called Golgotha, meaning place of a skull. A fitting name for a place of death.
They began early in the day, about 9:00 in the morning. They quickly and efficiently nailed the two thieves to the cross. Then they turned to Jesus. They lay Jesus down over the cross beam and hammered a spike through each wrist and into the wood. They lifted the crossbeam up and attached it to the vertical beam. Next, they put His feet together and drove a spike through both feet.
Often the criminals the Roman’s crucified screamed and ranted, blaming everyone around them. But not this man, Jesus said,
“Father forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.”
It was customary to put the sign over the head of the condemned so passersby could know their crimes. The death squad picked up the sign prepared for Jesus by Pilate himself that read “This Jesus the King of the Jews” in Hebrew, Greek and Latin. After seeing the sign, the Roman soldiers mocked Jesus saying, “If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself.”
(When the chief priests saw the sign, they were irritated. They immediately returned to Pilate. They wanted Pilate to change the sign to say, “He said I am the King of the Jews.” Pilate told them “What I have written I have written.”)
Once the soldiers had secured each prisoner to their crosses, they gave them a drink of gall and vinegar that would slightly dull the pain. Jesus refused it. (A fulfillment of Psalm 69:21, “They also gave me gall for my food, and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.”)
As was the custom, the four soldiers divided the clothing of the condemned. They divided up Jesus’s clothes between them. But His outer garment was made in one piece and it didn’t make sense to rip it apart. So they agreed to cast lots to see who would get it. (A fulfillment of Psalm 22:18 “They divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.”)
Now the soldiers sat down to wait. The agonizing deaths of the condemned took a long time.
People from Jerusalem walked by to see Jesus on the cross. They shook their heads and taunted Him saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross.”
The chief priests, scribes, and elders came to see the man they hated hanging on a cross. They delighted to get rid of him for good. They couldn’t resist mocking the man now that they had won and he was dying. One said, “He saved others; He cannot save Himself. He is the King of Israel; let Him now come down from the cross and we shall believe in Him.”
Another said, “He trusts in God; let Him deliver Him now, if He takes pleasure in Him; for He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”
One of the thieves hanging on a cross joined in to mock Jesus saying, “Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!”
But the second thief rebuked the first one by saying, “Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” He turned to look at Jesus. He understood his own guilt, and recognized Jesus for who He was. “Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!”
Jesus looked at the thief and saw a man who now believed in Him. “Truly, I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.”
Carla Killough McClafferty