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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they gave him a drink of wine mixed with bitters; but when he tasted it he would not drink it.
and sat down there to keep watch over him.
and about three o'clock Jesus gave a loud cry, "Eli, eli, lema sabachthani" (that is, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?)
One of them ran off at once and took a sponge, which he soaked in vinegar and put on the end of a stick to give him a drink.
Now when the army-captain and his men who were watching Jesus saw the earthquake and all that happened, they were dreadfully afraid; they said, "This man was certainly a son of God!"
and at three o'clock Jesus gave a loud cry, "El?i, El?i, lema sabachthanei" (which means, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?)
He asked them a third time, "But what crime has he committed? I have found nothing about him that deserves death; so I shall release him with a whipping."
Two criminals were also led out with him to be executed,
Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, they do not know what they are doing." Then they distributed his clothes among themselves by drawing lots.
The soldiers made fun of him too by coming up and handing him vinegar,
"I tell you truly," said Jesus, "you will be in paradise with me this very day."
Then with a loud cry Jesus said, "Father, I trust my spirit to thy hands," and with these words he expired.
Then Pilate took Jesus and had him scourged.
Now when the soldiers crucified Jesus they took his clothes and divided them into four parts, one for each soldier. But as the tunic was seamless, woven right down in a single piece,
So when Jesus saw his mother and his favourite disciple standing near, he said to his mother, "Woman, there is your son!"
After that, as Jesus knew that everything was now finished and fulfilled, he said (to fulfil the scripture), "I am thirsty." A jug full of vinegar was lying there; so they put a sponge full of vinegar on a spear and held it to his lips. read more. And when Jesus took the vinegar, he said, "It is finished," bowed his head, and gave up his spirit. Now, as it was the day of Preparation, in order to prevent the bodies remaining on the cross during the sabbath (for that sabbath-day was a great day), the Jews asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies removed.
but when they came to Jesus and saw he was dead already, they did not break his legs; only, one of the soldiers pricked his side with a lance, and out came blood and water in a moment.
Hastings
CRUCIFIXION
1. Its nature.
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As they went out they met a Cyrenian called Simon, whom they forced to carry his cross.
they gave him a drink of wine mixed with bitters; but when he tasted it he would not drink it. Then they crucified him, distributed his clothes among them by drawing lots,
They also put over his head his charge in writing, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
One of them ran off at once and took a sponge, which he soaked in vinegar and put on the end of a stick to give him a drink.
Now when evening came, a rich man from Arimathaea, called Joseph, who had become a disciple of Jesus,
The inscription bearing his charge was: THE KING OF THE JEWS.
He asked them a third time, "But what crime has he committed? I have found nothing about him that deserves death; so I shall release him with a whipping."
(For there was an inscription over him in Greek and Latin and Hebrew characters, THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.)
Look at my hands and feet. It is I! Feel me and see; a ghost has not flesh and bones as you see I have."
Look at my hands and feet. It is I! Feel me and see; a ghost has not flesh and bones as you see I have."
Then Pilate took Jesus and had him scourged.
Pilate had written an inscription to be put on the cross; what he wrote was, JESUS THE NAZARENE, THE KING OF THE JEWS.
Pilate had written an inscription to be put on the cross; what he wrote was, JESUS THE NAZARENE, THE KING OF THE JEWS.
Now, as it was the day of Preparation, in order to prevent the bodies remaining on the cross during the sabbath (for that sabbath-day was a great day), the Jews asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies removed.
Now, as it was the day of Preparation, in order to prevent the bodies remaining on the cross during the sabbath (for that sabbath-day was a great day), the Jews asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies removed.
only, one of the soldiers pricked his side with a lance, and out came blood and water in a moment.
and when the rest of the disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord," he said, "Unless I see his hands with the mark of the nails, and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I refuse to believe it."
The God of our fathers raised Jesus whom you murdered by hanging him on a gibbet.
As for what he did in the land of the Jews and of Jerusalem, we can testify to that. They slew him by hanging him on a gibbet,
and, after carrying out all that had been predicted of him in scripture, they lowered him from the gibbet and laid him in a tomb.
Christ ransomed us from the curse of the Law by becoming accursed for us (for it is written, Cursed is everyone who hangs on a gibbet),
He cancelled the regulations that stood against us ??all these obligations he set aside when he nailed them to the cross,
Jesus Christ, he it is who came by water, blood, and Spirit ??not by the water alone, but by the water and the blood.
The witnesses are three, the Spirit and the water and the blood, and the three of them are in accord.
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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Then with a loud cry Jesus said, "Father, I trust my spirit to thy hands," and with these words he expired.
Indeed the Son of man must be lifted on high, just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert,
so Jesus said, "When you have lifted up the Son of man, you will know then who I am, and that I do nothing of my own accord, but speak as the Father has taught me.
No one takes it from me, I lay it down of my own accord: I have power to lay it down and also power to take it up again; I have my Father's orders for this.
But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself."
And when Jesus took the vinegar, he said, "It is finished," bowed his head, and gave up his spirit.
knowing as we do that our old self has been crucified with him in order to crush the sinful body and free us from any further slavery to sin
I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, Christ lives in me; the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself up for me.
Christ ransomed us from the curse of the Law by becoming accursed for us (for it is written, Cursed is everyone who hangs on a gibbet),
But no boasting for me, none except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me and I crucified 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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went to Pilate and asked him for the body of Jesus. Pilate then ordered the body to be handed over to him.
So off they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the boulder and setting the guard.
Now when the soldiers crucified Jesus they took his clothes and divided them into four parts, one for each soldier. But as the tunic was seamless, woven right down in a single piece,
Now, as it was the day of Preparation, in order to prevent the bodies remaining on the cross during the sabbath (for that sabbath-day was a great day), the Jews asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies removed.