The Crucifixion Of Jesus

The crucifixion of Jesus is an event that occurred during the first century A.D. in which Jesus was arrested, tried by the Jewish Sanhedrin, and sentenced by Pontius Pilate to be scourged and finally executed on a cross. Jesus’ crucifixion is described in all four gospels, and has been written about in other contemporary sources of his time. Jesus’ suffering was fortold in the old testament, in Isaiah’s songs of the suffering servant.

Jesus was arrested in Gethsemane and following the Last Supper with the twelve Apostles, and forced to stand trial before the Sanhedrin, Pontius Pilate, and Herod Antipas, before being handed over for crucifixion.

The Process of Crucifixion began when the prisoner was arrested, where he was then held in a cell then brought before a court which decided what the outcome would be. If the person was found guilty, and condemned to die by crucifixion, he was often beat or whipped or caned beforehand.

Flogging involved stripping the prisoner and tying his hands to an upright post. A soldier stepped forward with the flagrum in his hand. A flagrum was a whip with a short wooden handle and leather thongs with small pieces of metal attached to the end of each thong. The metal pieces on the flagrum first bruised the skin, but over time would cut into the skin and tissues. At first, an oozing of blood from the capillaries and veins of the skin would happen, and finally spurting arterial bleeding from vessels in the underlying muscles.

The skin of the back would be gaping open and the entire area would become an unrecognizable mass of torn, bleeding tissue. Flogging was meant to punish, terrify and weaken the condemned man.

After being flogged, Jesus was mocked by Roman soldiers as the “King of the Jews”, clothed in a purple robe, crowned with thorns, beaten and spat on. Jesus then had to make his way to the place of his crucifixion.

At the place of execution, a heavy beam of wood, the crossbeam, was placed across the man’s shoulders, probably attached there by leather straps to prevent the weakened man from dropping it. The route taken by the procession of soldiers and condemned man was along a crowded street, so that his suffering was evident to as many people as possible – crucifixion was used as a deterrent to other citizens who might be tempted to commit the crime for which the condemned man was being punished.

Crucifixion began when the person was stripped naked, suffering further humiliation, and the beam across his shoulders was lowered to the ground. They would threw his body backwards, and a soldier drove a heavy, square, wrought-iron nail through the wrist, deep into the wood. When both wrists had been nailed, the beam was lifted into place at the top of posts already lodged upright in the ground.

Many condemned men were left in this position, with their legs tied to the upright beam, but in some architectural discoveries, it has been found that feet have been nailed to the wood as well. Nailing the would make it even more difficult for the person to push his body upwards to breathe. The additional blood loss at the feet would also mean the person may die quicker.

In Jesus’s case, he was hanging by his arms, and his chest muscles would began to to cramp. He would be able to breathe in, but it would have became increasingly difficult to breathe out. Carbon dioxide would have built up in his lungs and in the blood stream. It also said he was horribly dehydrated which would have been the case in this condition. The pericardium which is the sac surrounding his heart would have filled with fluid, compressing his heart, and he would have died of heart failure and suffocation.

Jesus died for YOU and I. He suffered the pain for us, took the hell for us, for ALL of humanity that they could have ever lasting life. In many accounts of Near Death Experiences, people say they feel an explosion of love, …….love that is so overwhelming. People who have seen Jesus in heaven say he has the nail holes where they pierced him on the cross. To reject God, is to live an erternity without God. Jesus took the penalty for you and for me. Recieving him is simply asking him into your life, as it can never be achieved by works, it is a free gift from him.

Here is how simple it is ……………. “Jesus,…..Thank you for dying on the cross for me. I ask you to come into my life and lead my life for where you want me to go. Thank you for taking the penalty of hell for me, for I know I am a sinner. I pray that you can open my eyes up to the sin in my life, so that you can change me and mould me for who you want me to become. Amen.

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