The crucifixion of Jesus

Customarily, the condemned man carried his crossbeam, which weighed about 100 pounds, through the city streets and to the place of crucifixion. Due to the severity of the punishment that Jesus had already endured, He was too weak to carry this object (Jn 19:17). The soldiers randomly selected a passerby and forced him to carry the crossbeam for Christ. This man’s name was Simon, a native of Cryrene, who was probably a pilgrim who had come to Jerusalem for the Passover festival. Mark is the only Gospel writer to mention his sons, Alexander and Rufus, indicating that these two men became known disciples in Rome (see the mention of Rufus in Romans 16:13).

The soldiers led Jesus just outside the city wall to a place called Golgotha, meaning “Place of the skull.” It would seem that Golgotha either vaguely resembled the shape of a human skull or it was where human skulls from executions accumulated. According to Rabbinic tradition, Jewish women prepared a drink using myrrh for the condemned to drink which acted as a mild sedative. The soldiers gave this to Jesus but He refused to drink it. Jesus would endure the pain of the cross with all His human facilities in tact.

In simple terms, Mark records that they crucified Him. Other Gospel writers give more detail but Mark doesn’t as his Roman readers were very well aware of the process involved in this cruel and painful execution. Typically a man was stripped of all of his clothes and his personal belongings became the property of the execution squad. This 4-man squad (see Jn 19:23) cast lots, which was a form of dice, for the clothes of Jesus. By doing so, these men unknowingly fulfilled yet another specific prophecy regarding the Messiah as seen in Psalm 22:18.

Using Jewish time, Mark records the hour that Jesus was crucified as being the third hour (9am). John puts the time of Jesus’ final trial before Pilate at 6 am. This means that the time that Jesus spent being scourged, beaten and humiliated by the Roman Soldiers could have lasted up to 3 full hours of agony. It was a Roman custom to put the name of the condemned man and a description of his crimes above his head on the cross as a warning to other insurrectionists. All four Gospel writers refer to this reading a bit differently. Mark records the official charge as, “The King of the Jews.”

Jesus was crucified between two robbers which fulfilled another specific Messianic prophecy (Is 53:12). All the while He was on the cross He suffered continued verbal abuse at the hands of the bystanders who continually hurled insults at Him and mocked Him. The Jewish religious leaders also mocked Him. They ridiculed Him saying that He helped others but now He could not help Himself. They mocked His Messianic claims, challenging Him to prove that He was the Messiah by coming down off the cross.

The two thieves being crucified with Him also joined in the verbal assaults on Christ. One, however, would later repent and hear those beautiful words, “This day you will be with me in paradise (Lk 23:39-43)!”