Jesus on the cross
Jesus on the cross
The hill called Golgotha
At the hill called Golgotha, the soldiers fixed Jesus to the cross. They stripped the prisoner naked for this. This caused great shame for Jews especially. Then they hammered in the nails. As the soldiers did this, Jesus prayed. He said, ’Father forgive them. They do not know what they are doing.‘ (Luke 23:34)
They offered Jesus wine with a drug when he was on the cross. This would have reduced the pain, but he refused it. He needed to be aware of everything to the end. There were more tests to come.
The way that the soldiers fixed Jesus to the cross made prophecy come true. A thousand years earlier, David wrote Psalm 22. It is an exact prophecy of the crucifixion. These words from Psalm 22 describe exactly what happened.
16 Wicked people are everywhere around me.
They are ready to attack me,
like a group of wild dogs.
They tear apart my hands and my feet.
17 My body is so weak
I can count all my bones.
My enemies look at me and they laugh.
They are happy because I have pain.
18 They have taken my clothes,
and they choose what they want for themselves.
They throw dice to decide who receives each piece.
Psalm 22:16-18 EasyEnglish Bible (EASY)
Death by crucifixion
Crucifixion was a very cruel way to die. There were the painful injuries, the hot sun, the insects. Worse than all this, the weight of the man's own body was very heavy. The man had to struggle for every breath. At last, the man‘s own weight would pull his body right down so that he could not breathe. Sometimes the cross had a part where a foot could rest, to support the weight. Then that would break off. The purpose of this was to make the man suffer longer. Usually, the man would die because he could not breathe. It would take several days. Crucifixion was a painful, slow death. All the time the angry crowd would shout insults.
Jesus' clothes
The soldiers usually took the prisoner‘s clothes, and cut them up. They would share the cloth. But Jesus wore one long shirt made from one piece of cloth. The person who made it did not sew together separate pieces of cloth. From the neck to the feet, this shirt was whole. The soldiers did not want to spoil this shirt. So, they did not cut it up. Instead, they played a game to win it. In this way, they made words from the Bible come true (Psalm 22:18, John 19:24).
The notice above the cross
Pilate had written a notice which the soldiers fixed to the cross. The notice read:
"The King of The Jews"
The notice was in three languages, Greek, Latin and Hebrew. Perhaps the people who wrote that meant it as a joke. God made sure that the notice was correct! Perhaps it made some people think about the spread of the good news about Jesus all over the world.
The crowds insult Jesus
The crowds always insulted a prisoner on a cross. It was like a game to them. The Bible records these words:
35 The people stood there and they were watching. The Jewish leaders were laughing at Jesus. They said, ‘He saved other people, did he? Then he should save his own life! Then we will know that he is really the Messiah, the man that God has chosen.’
36 The soldiers also laughed at him. They came up to him and they offered him cheap wine to drink.
Luke 23:35-36 EasyEnglish Bible (EASY)
These words remind us of the time when the Devil tested Jesus three years earlier (Matthew 4:3). The Devil said then, ’If you are the Son of God, save yourself. Make these stones into bread.‘ In fact, these insults made prophecy come true. Psalm 22 has these words:
6 People insult me.
They think that I am worth nothing.
It seems that I am only a worm,
and I am not really a man.
7 Everyone that sees me laughs at me.
They laugh and they shake their heads.
8 They say, ‘He should trust in the Lord!
The Lord should save him.
If the Lord is really happy with him,
the Lord should rescue him.’
Psalm 22:6-8 EasyEnglish Bible (EASY)
'Nobody respects me. Everyone who sees me laughs at me' says the Psalm. There was no escape. Some of the words show how the crowd tried to test Jesus. 'Let your God deliver you now.' Evil people have said such words many times, when they killed Christians. But those Christians died because they trusted Jesus. Jesus himself suffered the same insult. The crowd did not know that they cried out the very words of Psalm 22:8. See Matthew 27:39-43. Remember also the shouts and cruel jokes in court. Remember the cruelty of the soldiers. Remember Herod's insults.
Peter wrote about the behaviour of Jesus at this time. Jesus did not accuse anyone or say anything in anger. He did not even speak in judgement.
21 When God chose you to be his servants, he wanted you to be brave like that. Christ had trouble and pain on your behalf. He has shown you how you should live when trouble comes. 22 The Bible says this:
‘He never did anything that was wrong.
He never said anything that was not true.’
23 People insulted Christ, but he did not say any bad thing to answer them. People caused him to have trouble, but he never tried to hurt them in return. Instead, Christ trusted God to help him. He knew that God always judges people fairly. 24 When Christ died on the cross, he carried our sins in his own body. He took this punishment so that sin would no longer rule over us. Instead, we can now do the right things that God wants us to do. Because people hurt Christ's body, you have now become well.
1 Peter 2:21-24 EasyEnglish Bible (EASY)
The two criminals who were dying at the same time as Jesus
Jesus hung on the cross between two criminals. Probably they had tried to begin a revolution. One criminal started to shout at Jesus, but the other criminal stopped him. Luke records what he said:
40 But the bad man on the other cross told him that he should be quiet. He said, ‘You should be more afraid of God. We will die here, as well as him. 41 We two men have done very bad things. So it is right that we should die. But this man has not done anything wrong.’ 42 Then the man said to Jesus, ‘Remember me, Jesus, when you start to rule in your kingdom.’
Luke 23:40-42 EasyEnglish Bible (EASY)
The way that Jesus had behaved on the cross had done this. It had helped this criminal to repent and believe in Jesus. Jesus promised him that he would be with him in paradise that very day.
Jesus speaks to his mother
Women who were relatives of prisoners usually came to a crucifixion. There was no danger for them. Mary (the mother of Jesus) was there, together with some other women. Jesus knew that his mother would suffer to see him on the cross. He knew that there might be trouble for her afterwards. So he spoke to her and to the apostle John. He pointed to John and said, 'Woman, look at your son!' Then he said to John, 'Look at your mother!' (John 19:26-27) So, Jesus told John to look after Mary, as if she was his mother.
Even at this time, Jesus still cared for other people.
