Basic HTML Version
Cruel Crucifixion
43
His greater concern was for their future. Where would they be for
eternity?
Arriving at the place of execution, the three prisoners were bound
to their torture stakes. Both thieves resisted and had to be wrestled
onto their crosses, but Jesus offered no resistance. Mary, supported
by John, watched, hoping that somehow Jesus would demonstrate
His power and free Himself. At the same time His words describing
the very scene she now witnessed came into her mind.
Mary’s mind swirled with many questions. Would her Son, who
had raised the dead, allow Himself to be crucified? Would she have
to give up her belief in His Messiahship? Was there no way for her
to reach out and give Him some comfort? She watched each step in
the cruel process until she saw the soldiers take His hands and drive
spikes through them. At that she fainted and had to be carried away.
Through the entire ordeal Jesus never spoke a word of complaint.
He breathed only this compassionate prayer: “Father, forgive them;
for they do not know what they are doing.”
Luke 23:34
. The prayer
[53]
He offered that day included every person in the world, from creation
to the end of time. We all bear guilt for the crucifixion of Jesus,
but Jesus offers us forgiveness so we can experience peace now and
claim His promise of eternal life.
After the soldiers had nailed Jesus to His cross they lifted it
up and dropped it violently into place. This caused Jesus the most
intense physical agony. They nailed a sign above His head that
read, in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin: “Jesus of Nazareth the King of
the Jews.” Providentially, through that sign thousands of visitors
from the surrounding countries who had come to Jerusalem for the
Passover feast heard for the first time the truth about Jesus
In a small gesture of humaneness, Romans soldiers were permit-
ted to give a drug to the victims of crucifixion to diminish some of
their excruciating pain. When they offered it to Jesus, however, He
tasted it and refused it. He would not allow His mind to be dulled in
this way. His mind must remain clear to find strength to hold on to
God through faith.
Ridicule continued as the day wore on. The religious leaders
joined the mob in mocking Jesus with cruel taunts: “If you are the
Son of God, come down from the cross.” “He saved others; he cannot
save himself.”
Matthew 27:40, 42
. Their taunts contained a cruel
