Reference: Crucifixion
Easton
a common mode of punishment among heathen nations in early times. It is not certain whether it was known among the ancient Jews; probably it was not. The modes of capital punishment according to the Mosaic law were, by the sword (Ex 21), strangling, fire (Le 20), and stoning (De 21).
This was regarded as the most horrible form of death, and to a Jew it would acquire greater horror from the curse in De 21:23.
This punishment began by subjecting the sufferer to scourging. In the case of our Lord, however, his scourging was rather before the sentence was passed upon him, and was inflicted by Pilate for the purpose, probably, of exciting pity and procuring his escape from further punishment (Lu 23:22; Joh 19:1).
The condemned one carried his own cross to the place of execution, which was outside the city, in some conspicuous place set apart for the purpose. Before the nailing to the cross took place, a medicated cup of vinegar mixed with gall and myrrh (the sopor) was given, for the purpose of deadening the pangs of the sufferer. Our Lord refused this cup, that his senses might be clear (Mt 27:34). The spongeful of vinegar, sour wine, posca, the common drink of the Roman soldiers, which was put on a hyssop stalk and offered to our Lord in contemptuous pity (Mt 27:48; Lu 23:36), he tasted to allay the agonies of his thirst (Joh 19:29). The accounts given of the crucifixion of our Lord are in entire agreement with the customs and practices of the Roman in such cases. He was crucified between two "malefactors" (Isa 53:12; Lu 23:32), and was watched by a party of four soldiers (Joh 19:23; Mt 27:36,54), with their centurion. The "breaking of the legs" of the malefactors was intended to hasten death, and put them out of misery (Joh 19:31); but the unusual rapidity of our Lord's death (Joh 19:33) was due to his previous sufferings and his great mental anguish. The omission of the breaking of his legs was the fulfilment of a type (Ex 12:46). He literally died of a broken heart, a ruptured heart, and hence the flowing of blood and water from the wound made by the soldier's spear (Joh 19:34). Our Lord uttered seven memorable words from the cross, namely, (1) Lu 23:34; (2) Lu 23:43; (3) Joh 19:26; (4) Mt 27:46; Mr 15:34; (5) Joh 19:28; (6) Joh 19:30; (7) Lu 23:46.
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And they gave Him vinegar mingled with gall to drink: and tasting, He was not willing to drink it.
and sitting down, they continued to watch Him there.
And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, \i Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
And one of them running and taking a sponge, and filling it with vinegar, and extending it on a reed, gave Him drink.
And the centurion and those watching Jesus with him, seeing the earthquake, and the things which took place, feared exceedingly, saying, Surely this was the Son of God.
And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, \i Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
And he spoke to them the third time, For what evil hath He done? I found nothing in Him worthy of death: therefore having scourged Him, I will release Him.
And two malefactors were also led away with Him, to be executed.
And Jesus said, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they are doing. And dividing His garments, they were casting the lots.
And the soldiers were also mocking, coming and bringing the vinegar to Him,
And Jesus said to him, Truly I say unto thee, This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise.
And calling with a loud voice, Jesus said, Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit. And having said this, He expired.
Then Pilate took Jesus, and scourged Him.
Then the soldiers, when they crucified Jesus, took His garments, and made them four parts, a part for each soldier; and the vesture. And the vesture was seamless, woven from the top throughout.
Then Jesus seeing His mother, and the disciple whom He loved, standing by, said to His mother; Woman, behold, thy son.
After this, Jesus seeing that all things are already perfected, in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled, says, I thirst. Then a vessel was sitting by full of vinegar: and filling a sponge with vinegar and placing it on the hyssop, they brought it to His mouth. read more. Then when Jesus received the vinegar, He said, It is finished: and bowing His head, He gave up His spirit. Then the Jews, in order that the bodies may not remain on the cross during the Sabbath, since it was the Preparation (for the day of that Sabbath was a high day), asked Pilate, that they might break their legs, and take them down.
But having come to Jesus, when they saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs: but one of the soldiers pierced His side through with the spear, and immediately blood and water came out.
Hastings
CRUCIFIXION
1. Its nature.
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And going out they found a Cyrenean man, Simon by name: they compelled him that he should bear His cross.
And they gave Him vinegar mingled with gall to drink: and tasting, He was not willing to drink it. And crucifying Him, they divided His garments, casting the lot,
And they placed over His head, His accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
And one of them running and taking a sponge, and filling it with vinegar, and extending it on a reed, gave Him drink.
And it being evening, a rich man came from Arimathea, whose name was Joseph, who himself also was a disciple to Jesus.
And the superscription of His accusation was written over Him, THE KING OF THE JEWS.
And he spoke to them the third time, For what evil hath He done? I found nothing in Him worthy of death: therefore having scourged Him, I will release Him.
And the superscription was also over Him: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
See my hands and my feet, that I am He: feel me; and see, because a spirit has not flesh and bones, as you see me having.
See my hands and my feet, that I am He: feel me; and see, because a spirit has not flesh and bones, as you see me having.
Then Pilate took Jesus, and scourged Him.
And Pilate also wrote His title, and placed it upon the cross. And it was written, JESUS THE NAZARENE THE KING OF THE JEWS.
And Pilate also wrote His title, and placed it upon the cross. And it was written, JESUS THE NAZARENE THE KING OF THE JEWS.
Then the Jews, in order that the bodies may not remain on the cross during the Sabbath, since it was the Preparation (for the day of that Sabbath was a high day), asked Pilate, that they might break their legs, and take them down.
Then the Jews, in order that the bodies may not remain on the cross during the Sabbath, since it was the Preparation (for the day of that Sabbath was a high day), asked Pilate, that they might break their legs, and take them down.
but one of the soldiers pierced His side through with the spear, and immediately blood and water came out.
Then the other disciples said to him, We have seen the Lord. And he said to them, Unless I may see the print of the nails in His hand, and thrust my finger into the place of the nails, and thrust my hand into His side, I will not believe.
The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you have slain, hanging him on the wood;
And we are witnesses in the country of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they even slew, hanging him on the wood.
and when they perfected all the things which had been written concerning him, taking him down from the cross, placed him in a sepulchre.
Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: because it has been written; Cursed is every one having been hung on the wood:
having blotted out the handwriting which was against us in ordinances, which was antagonistical to us: and took it out from the midst, having nailed it to the cross;
He is the one having come through water and blood, Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood; the Spirit is the one who bears witness, because the Spirit is the truth.
the Spirit and the water, and blood: and these three are one.
Morish
The most painful and the most degrading capital punishment, reserved for the worst crimes and for the lowest class of people. The Romans used a short beam fastened to a long upright one, on which was placed a piece of wood for the feet to rest on. Nails were driven through the hands and feet; but historians say that sometimes the feet were only tied. The torture was dreadful, and the thirst great; but in some cases life lasted three days, none of the vital parts being reached. The crucifixion of the Lord Jesus and of the two malefactors are the only cases named in scripture: crucifixion was not practised by the Jews. A stupefying draught was given to the prisoners, but the Lord refused it. He would drink the bitter cup to the dregs. It is clear from scripture, by His crying with a loud voice just before His death, that as stated in John's gospel (Joh 10:18) He gave up His life. Lu 23:46; Joh 19:30. The Lord referred to the manner of His death as being lifted up out of the earth, so that death by stoning would not have answered to this. Joh 3:14; 8:28; 12:32. We also read that He was made a curse for us; for "Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree." Ga 3:13; De 21:23. Thus did the blessed Lord in saving rebellious man go down to the very lowest form of death.
The crucifixion is used metaphorically to instruct those who are associated with Christ: of believers it is said their 'old man' is crucified with Him. Ro 6:6. Paul could say that he was crucified with Christ; and that by Christ the world was crucified to him, and he to the world. Ga 2:20; 6:14. He accepted the judgement of himself in the cross, and he was cut off from the world by the same means.
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And calling with a loud voice, Jesus said, Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit. And having said this, He expired.
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so does it behoove the Son of man to be lifted up:
Then Jesus said, When you may lift up the Son of man, then you shall know that I am He, and I do nothing of myself, but as the Father has taught me, I speak the same things.
No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and power to receive it again. I received this commandment from my Father.
And if I may be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men towards me.
Then when Jesus received the vinegar, He said, It is finished: and bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.
knowing this, that our old man is crucified along with him, in order that the body of sin may be destroyed, that we may no longer serve sin;
I am crucified along with Christ; and I live no longer, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: because it has been written; Cursed is every one having been hung on the wood:
But it would be impossible for me to glory, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world:
Smith
was in used among the Egyptians,
the Carthaginians, the Persians,
the Assyrians, Scythains, Indians, Germans, and from the earliest times among the Greeks and Romans. Whether this mode of execution was known to the ancient Jews is a matter of dispute. Probably the Jews borrowed it from the Romans. It was unanimously considered the most horrible form of death. Among the Romans the degradation was also a part of the infliction, and the punishment if applied to freemen was only used in the case of the vilest criminals. The one to be crucified was stripped naked of all his clothes, and then followed the most awful moment of all. He was laid down upon the implement of torture. His arms were stretched along the cross-beams, and at the centre of the open palms the point of a huge iron nail was placed, which, by the blow of a mallet, was driven home into the wood. Then through either foot separately, or possibly through both together, as they were placed one over the other, another huge nail tore its way through the quivering flesh. Whether the sufferer was also bound to the cross we do not know; but, to prevent the hands and feet being torn away by the weight of the body, which could not "rest upon nothing but four great wounds," there was, about the centre of the cross, a wooden projection strong enough to support, at least in part, a human body, which soon became a weight of agony. Then the "accursed tree" with its living human burden was slowly heaved up and the end fixed firmly in a hole in the ground. The feet were but a little raised above the earth. The victim was in full reach of every hand that might choose to strike. A death by crucifixion seems to include all that pain and death can have of the horrible and ghastly, --dizziness, cramp, thirst, starvation, sleeplessness, traumatic fever, tetanus, publicity of shame, long continuance of torment, horror of anticipation, mortification of untended wounds, all intensified just up to the point at which they can be endured at all, but all stopping just short of the point which would give to the sufferer the relief of unconsciousness. The unnatural position made every movement painful; the lacerated veins and crushed tendons throbbed with incessant anguish; the wounds, inflamed by exposure, gradually gangrened; the arteries, especially of the head and stomach, became swollen and oppressed with surcharged blood; and, while each variety of misery went on gradually increasing, there was added to them the intolerable pang of a burning and raging thirst. Such was the death to which Christ was doomed. --Farrar's "Life of Christ." The crucified was watched, according to custom, by a party of four soldiers,
Joh 19:23
with their centurion,
whose express office was to prevent the stealing of the body. This was necessary from the lingering character of the death, which sometimes did not supervene even for three days, and was at last the result of gradual benumbing and starvation. But for this guard, the persons might have been taken down and recovered, as was actually done in the case of a friend of Josephus. Fracture of the legs was especially adopted by the Jews to hasten death.
Joh 19:31
In most cases the body was suffered to rot on the cross by the action of sun and rain, or to be devoured by birds and beasts. Sepulture was generally therefore forbidden; but in consequence of
De 21:22-23
an express national exception was made in favor of the Jews.
This accursed and awful mode of punishment was happily abolished by Constantine.
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He having come to Pilate, begged the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded that the body should be given:
And having gone, they secured the tomb, sealing the stone, with the guard.
Then the soldiers, when they crucified Jesus, took His garments, and made them four parts, a part for each soldier; and the vesture. And the vesture was seamless, woven from the top throughout.
Then the Jews, in order that the bodies may not remain on the cross during the Sabbath, since it was the Preparation (for the day of that Sabbath was a high day), asked Pilate, that they might break their legs, and take them down.