Morning Star

Death of the Cross.

Crucifixion was a common mode of punishment among the Persians, Egyptians, Carthaginians, Greeks and Romans, the latter of which adopted the manner of the Maccabean princes. It was inflicted on servants guilty of crime, robbers, murderers and rebels; among which last Jesus was reckoned, because he declared himself king or Messiah. We purpose to consider some of the circumstances of this punishment so horrible that Cicero said: Ab oculis auribusque et omni cogitatione hominum removendum esse. "It should be removed from the sight, hearing, and thought of mankind." Our observations will be confined to the mode practiced among the Romans, as it was by their hands at the solicitation of the Jews that our Saviour suffered; and for many particulars we are indebted to Jahn's Biblical Archaeology:

I. The preparation. The individual was almost entirely divested of clothing, and in this state was scourged or beaten, sometimes with rods but generally with whips: so severe was this flagellation, that many died under the performance; and those who survived were much mangled, as the flesh was cut by the whips at every stroke. The crowning with thorns is not mentioned as a general custom, being performed only when it was desired to render the person ridiculous. Some suppose that this was an act of torture in the case of Jesus. But custom and the attending circumstances do not justify this opinion. It has been already remarked that the reason assigned by the Jews for the crucifixion of Christ, was that he made himself king or God. At the time of crowning him with thorns, they put a reed in his right hand, bowed before him and mocked him, saying, Hail king of the Jews. Matt. 27:29. The whole ceremony has the appearance of mockery and ridicule. The criminal was then obliged to carry his cross to the place of execution, which was usually a hill near the public way at some distance from the city. In the case of Jesus, one evangelist says that Simon was compelled to bear his cross, and another, that Jesus bore it; which Dr. Clark reconciles by supposing that Jesus bore his cross a part of the way; but being exhausted by the cruel treatment received, he was unable to bear it alone, and therefore Simon was called to his assistance. He remarks that it was a constant practice among the Romans to oblige criminals to bear their cross to the place of execution. The cross consisted of a piece of wood about 10 feet long, to the end of which another was attached, the two parts intersecting each other at right angles so as to resemble the letter T. An inscription of the crime for which the individual suffered, was placed on the transverse piece, near where it was joined to the other. A custom prevailed among the Jews, while under the jurisdiction of the Romans, of administering to condemned persons before the commencement of their sufferings, a mixture of wine and myrrh, to produce intoxication, that the sufferer might be less sensible of pain. Jesus refused this portion, choosing to die with his mental faculties undisturbed and unclouded.

II. The crucifixion. Many things combine to render this the most cruel mode of punishment imaginable.

1. Position. The cross stood perpendicular, being firmly fixed in the ground; the victim's hands were then bound by a rope to the transverse beam, and nailed through the palms, so that the arms were extended back & nearly immoveable. The feet were each nailed with a spike to the upright beam. No individual can stand any considerable time with the arms extended without much fatigue; what then must be his suffering whose hands and feet are transfixed! If the least motion was made, a sensation of extreme pain was experienced in the hands and feet being thus pierced, and in the back, which was lacerated with stripes.

2. The Wounds. The nails piercing those parts of the hands and feet which abound with nerves and ligaments, produce the most exquisite anguish. The body is not indeed sustained wholly by the hands and feet, but a piece of wood projects near the centre of the perpendicular beam, on which the person sits, else his weight would tear away the hands from the nails. On the effect of transfixing the hands & feet Dr. Clark remarks, "As the hands and feet are the grand instruments of motion, they are provided with a greater quantity of nerves: and the nerves in those places, especially the hands are peculiarly sensible. Now as the nerves are the instruments of all sensation or feeling, wounds in the parts where they abound, must be peculiarly painful; especially when inflicted with such rude instruments as large nails, forced through the pieces by the violence of a hammer: thus tearing asunder the nervous fibrillae, delicate tendons, and small bones of those parts." The body lacerated by scourging, & the wounds produced upon the hands and feet are all exposed to the open air; an inflammation succeeds, which increases the poignancy of distress every moment.

3. Irregular circulation of the blood. In those parts of the body which are distended or compressed, more blood flows through the arteries than can be carried back in the veins. The consequence is, that a greater quantity of blood flows into the head and stomach, than would be carried thither by a natural and undisturbed circulation. This causes violent pain in the head, internal excitement, exertion and anxiety intolerable as the anguish of death itself. All the large vessels, veins and arteries in the vital system, on account of the accumulation and pressure of blood, are the source of inexpressible misery.

4. Protracted Suffering. The degree of anguish gradually increases, and some have lived under it three, and even seven days. In some cases the bodies were suffered to remain on the cross, till eaten by vultures, which frequently commenced their attacks upon them before life was extinct: but, in general, to put a speedy end to their sufferings, so that they might be buried the same day, the bones of their legs and thighs were broken with large mallets. This operation was performed upon the two thieves, but not upon Jesus, it being ascertained that he was already dead. Such was the death of the cross, a punishment not only considered the most dreadful of all others, but the most ignominious that could be inflicted on the vilest of people. Christian, sinner, this was the death of Jesus Christ; this was the price of thy redemption!