During the days of Lent Christians around the world begin to focus on the crucifixion of Jesus. It was on a Roman cross in behalf of all who would believe in Him that Jesus took our penalty for sin, which is death, upon Himself. There is no way to make any instrument of death appealing – especially crucifixion! It has to rank right up there on a very short list of tortuous ways to die.
Executions today are, for the most part, private events. They are private in the sense that, though they may be viewed by a few people, they are not viewed by the general public. The Romans wanted the people they ruled to know that the penalty for breaking their laws would be brutal, and extreme. They had already tried death by boiling in oil, impalement by spear, stoning, strangulation, drowning, and burning. They stopped using these methods because the person or persons being executed died too quickly.
The Romans discovered that nailing someone to a cross was ideal because it.was both slow and painful. Those who were tried and adjudged guilty were placed in highly visible places where citizens could be impressed by the price anyone would have to pay to displease Rome. In addition to the slowness and pain of dying on a cross, those who were being executed were crucified nude. This added to their shame.
New Testament scholar William Barclay calls crucifixion “the dreadful routine.” Klausner, a Jewish historian, said, “Crucifixion is the most terrible and cruel death man has ever devised.” Cicero, who was well acquainted with it, said, “It was the most cruel and shameful of all punishments.” The condemned person was stripped naked, hands were nailed to the horizontal beam, and the feet were nailed to the vertical beam, and the cross was then raised and placed in a hole that had been dug in the ground.
There are instances on record of persons surviving for as many as nine days on the cross. Crucifixion was originally practiced by the Persians, passed on to the Egyptians, and finally adopted by the Romans. The Romans embraced it, refined it further, and used it frequently.
Scholars tell us that the arms of Jesus, when nailed to the raised cross, were in a “V” position. The pain in his wrists became difficult to endure. Muscle cramps knotted His forearms and upper arms and shoulders. The pectoral muscles at the side of His chest were momentarily paralyzed. This tended to induce an involuntary panic because He could pull in air, but found it difficult to exhale. It is not difficult to understand why Jesus had prayed in Gethsemane, “Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me (Matthew 26:39).
When I was in Israel in 1973 I stood below a hill that has the shape of a skull and is believed by many Christians around the world to be the one where Jesus was crucified between two persons charged with insurrection, found guilty, and crucified. Two thousand years ago it was just outside the city wall and beside a main road where those who passed by every day would be able to see those three raised crosses. Standing there, realizing what God’s Son did for me was one of the most moving experiences of my life.
The Bible says: “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23 NASB). It then explains how our sin problem can be solved: “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). In other words, Jesus took our penalty for sin upon Himself by dying in our place. But God’s plan for redeeming mankind was still not fully completed.
Beyond the cross was an empty tomb. This is news worth celebrating! Easter is coming!
The Paper Pulpit 
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