The Urantia Book
PAPER 187
THE CRUCIFIXION
187:0.1 AFTER the two brigands had been made
ready, the soldiers, under the direction of a centurion, started
for the scene of the crucifixion. The centurion in charge of these
twelve soldiers was the same captain who had led forth the Roman
soldiers the previous night to arrest Jesus in Gethsemane. It was
the Roman custom to assign four soldiers for each person to be
crucified. The two brigands were properly scourged before they
were taken out to be crucified, but Jesus was given no further
physical punishment; the captain undoubtedly thought he had
already been sufficiently scourged, even before his condemnation.
187:0.2 The two thieves crucified with Jesus
were associates of Barabbas and would later have been put to death
with their leader if he had not been released as the Passover
pardon of Pilate. Jesus was thus crucified in the place of
Barabbas.
187:0.3 What Jesus is now about to do, submit to
death on the cross, he does of his own free will. In foretelling
this experience, he said: "The Father loves and sustains me
because I am willing to lay down my life. But I will take it up
again. No one takes my life away from me -- I lay it down of
myself. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to
take it up. I have received such a commandment from my Father."
187:0.4 It was just before nine o'clock this
morning when the soldiers led Jesus from the praetorium on the way
to Golgotha. They were followed by many who secretly sympathized
with Jesus, but most of this group of two hundred or more were
either his enemies or curious idlers who merely desired to enjoy
the shock of witnessing the crucifixions. Only a few of the Jewish
leaders went out to see Jesus die on the cross. Knowing that he
had been turned over to the Roman soldiers by Pilate, and that he
was condemned to die, they busied themselves with their meeting in
the temple, whereat they discussed what should be done with his
followers.
1. ON THE WAY TO GOLGOTHA
187:1.1 Before leaving the courtyard of the
praetorium, the soldiers placed the crossbeam on Jesus' shoulders.
It was the custom to compel the condemned man to carry the
crossbeam to the site of the crucifixion. Such a condemned man did
not carry the whole cross, only this shorter timber. The longer
and upright pieces of timber for the three crosses had already
been transported to Golgotha and, by the time of the arrival of
the soldiers and their prisoners, had been firmly implanted in the
ground.
187:1.2 According to custom the captain led the
procession, carrying small white boards on which had been written
with charcoal the names of the criminals and the nature of the
crimes for which they had been condemned. For the two thieves the
centurion had notices which gave their names, underneath which was
written the one word, "Brigand." It was the custom, after the
victim had been nailed to the crossbeam and hoisted to his place
on the upright timber, to nail this notice to the top of the
cross, just above the head of the criminal, that all witnesses
might know for what crime the condemned man was being crucified.
The legend which the centurion carried to put on the cross of
Jesus had been written by Pilate himself in Latin, Greek, and
Aramaic, and it read: "Jesus of Nazareth -- the King of the Jews."
187:1.3 Some of the Jewish authorities who were
yet present when Pilate wrote this legend made vigorous protest
against calling Jesus the "king of the Jews." But Pilate reminded
them that such an accusation was part of the charge which led to
his condemnation. When the Jews saw they could not prevail upon
Pilate to change his mind, they pleaded that at least it be
modified to read, "He said, `I am the king of the Jews.'" But
Pilate was adamant; he would not alter the writing. To all further
supplication he only replied, "What I have written, I have
written."
187:1.4 Ordinarily, it was the custom to journey
to Golgotha by the longest road in order that a large number of
persons might view the condemned criminal, but on this day they
went by the most direct route to the Damascus gate, which led out
of the city to the north, and following this road, they soon
arrived at Golgotha, the official crucifixion site of Jerusalem.
Beyond Golgotha were the villas of the wealthy, and on the other
side of the road were the tombs of many well-to-do Jews.
187:1.5 Crucifixion was not a Jewish mode of
punishment. Both the Greeks and the Romans learned this method of
execution from the Phoenicians. Even Herod, with all his cruelty,
did not resort to crucifixion. The Romans never crucified a Roman
citizen; only slaves and subject peoples were subjected to this
dishonorable mode of death. During the siege of Jerusalem, just
forty years after the crucifixion of Jesus, all of Golgotha was
covered by thousands upon thousands of crosses upon which, from
day to day, there perished the flower of the Jewish race. A
terrible harvest, indeed, of the seed-sowing of this day.
187:1.6 As the death procession passed along the
narrow streets of Jerusalem, many of the tenderhearted Jewish
women who had heard Jesus' words of good cheer and compassion, and
who knew of his life of loving ministry, could not refrain from
weeping when they saw him being led forth to such an ignoble
death. As he passed by, many of these women bewailed and lamented.
And when some of them even dared to follow along by his side, the
Master turned his head toward them and said: "Daughters of
Jerusalem, weep not for me, but rather weep for yourselves and for
your children. My work is about done -- soon I go to my Father --
but the times of terrible trouble for Jerusalem are just
beginning. Behold, the days are coming in which you shall say:
Blessed are the barren and those whose breasts have never suckled
their young. In those days will you pray the rocks of the hills to
fall on you in order that you may be delivered from the terrors of
your troubles."
187:1.7 These women of Jerusalem were indeed
courageous to manifest sympathy for Jesus, for it was strictly
against the law to show friendly feelings for one who was being
led forth to crucifixion. It was permitted the rabble to jeer,
mock, and ridicule the condemned, but it was not allowed that any
sympathy should be expressed. Though Jesus appreciated the
manifestation of sympathy in this dark hour when his friends were
in hiding, he did not want these kindhearted women to incur the
displeasure of the authorities by daring to show compassion in his
behalf. Even at such a time as this Jesus thought little about
himself, only of the terrible days of tragedy ahead for Jerusalem
and the whole Jewish nation.
187:1.8 As the Master trudged along on the way
to the crucifixion, he was very weary; he was nearly exhausted. He
had had neither food nor water since the Last Supper at the home
of Elijah Mark; neither had he been permitted to enjoy one moment
of sleep. In addition, there had been one hearing right after
another up to the hour of his condemnation, not to mention the
abusive scourgings with their accompanying physical suffering and
loss of blood. Superimposed upon all this was his extreme mental
anguish, his acute spiritual tension, and a terrible feeling of
human loneliness.
187:1.9 Shortly after passing through the gate
on the way out of the city, as Jesus staggered on bearing the
crossbeam, his physical strength momentarily gave way, and he fell
beneath the weight of his heavy burden. The soldiers shouted at
him and kicked him, but he could not arise. When the captain saw
this, knowing what Jesus had already endured, he commanded the
soldiers to desist. Then he ordered a passerby, one Simon from
Cyrene, to take the crossbeam from Jesus' shoulders and compelled
him to carry it the rest of the way to Golgotha.
187:1.10 This man Simon had come all the way
from Cyrene, in northern Africa, to attend the Passover. He was
stopping with other Cyrenians just outside the city walls and was
on his way to the temple services in the city when the Roman
captain commanded him to carry Jesus' crossbeam. Simon lingered
all through the hours of the Master's death on the cross, talking
with many of his friends and with his enemies. After the
resurrection and before leaving Jerusalem, he became a valiant
believer in the gospel of the kingdom, and when he returned home,
he led his family into the heavenly kingdom. His two sons,
Alexander and Rufus, became very effective teachers of the new
gospel in Africa. But Simon never knew that Jesus, whose burden he
bore, and the Jewish tutor who once befriended his injured son,
were the same person.
187:1.11 It was shortly after nine o'clock when
this procession of death arrived at Golgotha, and the Roman
soldiers set themselves about the task of nailing the two brigands
and the Son of Man to their respective crosses.
2. THE CRUCIFIXION
187:2.1 The soldiers first bound the Master's
arms with cords to the crossbeam, and then they nailed his hands
to the wood. When they had hoisted this crossbeam up on the post,
and after they had nailed it securely to the upright timber of the
cross, they bound and nailed his feet to the wood, using one long
nail to penetrate both feet. The upright timber had a large peg,
inserted at the proper height, which served as a sort of saddle
for supporting the body weight. The cross was not high, the
Master's feet being only about three feet from the ground. He was
therefore able to hear all that was said of him in derision and
could plainly see the expression on the faces of all those who so
thoughtlessly mocked him. And also could those present easily hear
all that Jesus said during these hours of lingering torture and
slow death.
187:2.2 It was the custom to remove all clothes
from those who were to be crucified, but since the Jews greatly
objected to the public exposure of the naked human form, the
Romans always provided a suitable loin cloth for all persons
crucified at Jerusalem. Accordingly, after Jesus' clothes had been
removed, he was thus garbed before he was put upon the cross.
187:2.3 Crucifixion was resorted to in order to
provide a cruel and lingering punishment, the victim sometimes not
dying for several days. There was considerable sentiment against
crucifixion in Jerusalem, and there existed a society of Jewish
women who always sent a representative to crucifixions for the
purpose of offering drugged wine to the victim in order to lessen
his suffering. But when Jesus tasted this narcotized wine, as
thirsty as he was, he refused to drink it. The Master chose to
retain his human consciousness until the very end. He desired to
meet death, even in this cruel and inhuman form, and conquer it by
voluntary submission to the full human experience.
187:2.4 Before Jesus was put on his cross, the
two brigands had already been placed on their crosses, all the
while cursing and spitting upon their executioners. Jesus' only
words, as they nailed him to the crossbeam, were, "Father, forgive
them, for they know not what they do." He could not have so
mercifully and lovingly interceded for his executioners if such
thoughts of affectionate devotion had not been the mainspring of
all his life of unselfish service. The ideas, motives, and
longings of a lifetime are openly revealed in a crisis.
187:2.5 After the Master was hoisted on the
cross, the captain nailed the title up above his head, and it read
in three languages, "Jesus of Nazareth -- the King of the Jews."
The Jews were infuriated by this believed insult. But Pilate was
chafed by their disrespectful manner; he felt he had been
intimidated and humiliated, and he took this method of obtaining
petty revenge. He could have written "Jesus, a rebel." But he well
knew how these Jerusalem Jews detested the very name of Nazareth,
and he was determined thus to humiliate them. He knew that they
would also be cut to the very quick by seeing this executed
Galilean called "The King of the Jews."
187:2.6 Many of the Jewish leaders, when they
learned how Pilate had sought to deride them by placing this
inscription on the cross of Jesus, hastened out to Golgotha, but
they dared not attempt to remove it since the Roman soldiers were
standing on guard. Not being able to remove the title, these
leaders mingled with the crowd and did their utmost to incite
derision and ridicule, lest any give serious regard to the
inscription.
187:2.7 The Apostle John, with Mary the mother
of Jesus, Ruth, and Jude, arrived on the scene just after Jesus
had been hoisted to his position on the cross, and just as the
captain was nailing the title above the Master's head. John was
the only one of the eleven apostles to witness the crucifixion,
and even he was not present all of the time since he ran into
Jerusalem to bring back his mother and her friends soon after he
had brought Jesus' mother to the scene.
187:2.8 As Jesus saw his mother, with John and
his brother and sister, he smiled but said nothing. Meanwhile the
four soldiers assigned to the Master's crucifixion, as was the
custom, had divided his clothes among them, one taking the
sandals, one the turban, one the girdle, and the fourth the cloak.
This left the tunic, or seamless vestment reaching down to near
the knees, to be cut up into four pieces, but when the soldiers
saw what an unusual garment it was, they decided to cast lots for
it. Jesus looked down on them while they divided his garments, and
the thoughtless crowd jeered at him.
187:2.9 It was well that the Roman soldiers took
possession of the Master's clothing. Otherwise, if his followers
had gained possession of these garments, they would have been
tempted to resort to superstitious relic worship. The Master
desired that his followers should have nothing material to
associate with his life on earth. He wanted to leave mankind only
the memory of a human life dedicated to the high spiritual ideal
of being consecrated to doing the Father's will.
3. THOSE WHO SAW THE CRUCIFIXION
187:3.1 At about half past nine o'clock this
Friday morning, Jesus was hung upon the cross. Before eleven
o'clock, upward of one thousand persons had assembled to witness
this spectacle of the crucifixion of the Son of Man. Throughout
these dreadful hours the unseen hosts of a universe stood in
silence while they gazed upon this extraordinary phenomenon of the
Creator as he was dying the death of the creature, even the most
ignoble death of a condemned criminal.
187:3.2 Standing near the cross at one time or
another during the crucifixion were Mary, Ruth, Jude, John, Salome
(John's mother), and a group of earnest women believers including
Mary the wife of Clopas and sister of Jesus' mother, Mary
Magdalene, and Rebecca, onetime of Sepphoris. These and other
friends of Jesus held their peace while they witnessed his great
patience and fortitude and gazed upon his intense sufferings.
187:3.3 Many who passed by wagged their heads
and, railing at him, said: "You who would destroy the temple and
build it again in three days, save yourself. If you are the Son of
God, why do you not come down from your cross?" In like manner
some of the rulers of the Jews mocked him, saying, "He saved
others, but himself he cannot save." Others said, "If you are the
king of the Jews, come down from the cross, and we will believe in
you." And later on they mocked him the more, saying: "He trusted
in God to deliver him. He even claimed to be the Son of God --
look at him now -- crucified between two thieves." Even the two
thieves also railed at him and cast reproach upon him.
187:3.4 Inasmuch as Jesus would make no reply to
their taunts, and since it was nearing noontime of this special
preparation day, by half past eleven o'clock most of the jesting
and jeering crowd had gone its way; less than fifty persons
remained on the scene. The soldiers now prepared to eat lunch and
drink their cheap, sour wine as they settled down for the long
deathwatch. As they partook of their wine, they derisively offered
a toast to Jesus, saying, "Hail and good fortune! to the king of
the Jews." And they were astonished at the Master's tolerant
regard of their ridicule and mocking.
187:3.5 When Jesus saw them eat and drink, he
looked down upon them and said, "I thirst." When the captain of
the guard heard Jesus say, "I thirst," he took some of the wine
from his bottle and, putting the saturated sponge stopper upon the
end of a javelin, raised it to Jesus so that he could moisten his
parched lips.
187:3.6 Jesus had purposed to live without
resort to his supernatural power, and he likewise elected to die
as an ordinary mortal upon the cross. He had lived as a man, and
he would die as a man -- doing the Father's will.
4. THE THIEF ON THE CROSS
187:4.1 One of the brigands railed at Jesus,
saying, "If you are the Son of God, why do you not save yourself
and us?" But when he had reproached Jesus, the other thief, who
had many times heard the Master teach, said: "Do you have no fear
even of God? Do you not see that we are suffering justly for our
deeds, but that this man suffers unjustly? Better that we should
seek forgiveness for our sins and salvation for our souls." When
Jesus heard the thief say this, he turned his face toward him and
smiled approvingly. When the malefactor saw the face of Jesus
turned toward him, he mustered up his courage, fanned the
flickering flame of his faith, and said, "Lord, remember me when
you come into your kingdom." And then Jesus said, "Verily, verily,
I say to you today, you shall sometime be with me in Paradise."
187:4.2 The Master had time amidst the pangs of
mortal death to listen to the faith confession of the believing
brigand. When this thief reached out for salvation, he found
deliverance. Many times before this he had been constrained to
believe in Jesus, but only in these last hours of consciousness
did he turn with a whole heart toward the Master's teaching. When
he saw the manner in which Jesus faced death upon the cross, this
thief could no longer resist the conviction that this Son of Man
was indeed the Son of God.
187:4.3 During this episode of the conversion
and reception of the thief into the kingdom by Jesus, the Apostle
John was absent, having gone into the city to bring his mother and
her friends to the scene of the crucifixion. Luke subsequently
heard this story from the converted Roman captain of the guard.
187:4.4 The Apostle John told about the
crucifixion as he remembered the event two thirds of a century
after its occurrence. The other records were based upon the
recital of the Roman centurion on duty who, because of what he saw
and heard, subsequently believed in Jesus and entered into the
full fellowship of the kingdom of heaven on earth.
187:4.5 This young man, the penitent brigand,
had been led into a life of violence and wrongdoing by those who
extolled such a career of robbery as an effective patriotic
protest against political oppression and social injustice. And
this sort of teaching, plus the urge for adventure, led many
otherwise well-meaning youths to enlist in these daring
expeditions of robbery. This young man had looked upon Barabbas as
a hero. Now he saw that he had been mistaken. Here on the cross
beside him he saw a really great man, a true hero. Here was a hero
who fired his zeal and inspired his highest ideas of moral
self-respect and quickened all his ideals of courage, manhood, and
bravery. In beholding Jesus, there sprang up in his heart an
overwhelming sense of love, loyalty, and genuine greatness.
187:4.6 And if any other person among the
jeering crowd had experienced the birth of faith within his soul
and had appealed to the mercy of Jesus, he would have been
received with the same loving consideration that was displayed
toward the believing brigand.
187:4.7 Just after the repentant thief heard the
Master's promise that they should sometime meet in Paradise, John
returned from the city, bringing with him his mother and a company
of almost a dozen women believers. John took up his position near
Mary the mother of Jesus, supporting her. Her son Jude stood on
the other side. As Jesus looked down upon this scene, it was
noontide, and he said to his mother, "Woman, behold your son!" And
speaking to John, he said, "My son, behold your mother!" And then
he addressed them both, saying, "I desire that you depart from
this place." And so John and Jude led Mary away from Golgotha.
John took the mother of Jesus to the place where he tarried in
Jerusalem and then hastened back to the scene of the crucifixion.
After the Passover Mary returned to Bethsaida, where she lived at
John's home for the rest of her natural life. Mary did not live
quite one year after the death of Jesus.
187:4.8 After Mary left, the other women
withdrew for a short distance and remained in attendance upon
Jesus until he expired on the cross, and they were yet standing by
when the body of the Master was taken down for burial.
5. LAST HOUR ON THE CROSS
187:5.1 Although it was early in the season for
such a phenomenon, shortly after twelve o'clock the sky darkened
by reason of the fine sand in the air. The people of Jerusalem
knew that this meant the coming of one of those hot-wind
sandstorms from the Arabian desert. Before one o'clock the sky was
so dark the sun was hid, and the remainder of the crowd hastened
back to the city. When the Master gave up his life shortly after
this hour, less than thirty people were present, only the thirteen
Roman soldiers and a group of about fifteen believers. These
believers were all women except two, Jude, Jesus' brother, and
John Zebedee, who returned to the scene just before the Master
expired.
187:5.2 Shortly after one o'clock, amidst the
increasing darkness of the fierce sandstorm, Jesus began to fail
in human consciousness. His last words of mercy, forgiveness, and
admonition had been spoken. His last wish -- concerning the care
of his mother -- had been expressed. During this hour of
approaching death the human mind of Jesus resorted to the
repetition of many passages in the Hebrew scriptures, particularly
the Psalms. The last conscious thought of the human Jesus was
concerned with the repetition in his mind of a portion of the Book
of Psalms now known as the twentieth, twenty-first, and
twenty-second Psalms. While his lips would often move, he was too
weak to utter the words as these passages, which he so well knew
by heart, would pass through his mind. Only a few times did those
standing by catch some utterance, such as, "I know the Lord will
save his anointed," "Your hand shall find out all my enemies," and
"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Jesus did not for one
moment entertain the slightest doubt that he had lived in
accordance with the Father's will; and he never doubted that he
was now laying down his life in the flesh in accordance with his
Father's will. He did not feel that the Father had forsaken him;
he was merely reciting in his vanishing consciousness many
Scriptures, among them this twenty-second Psalm, which begins with
"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" And this happened to
be one of the three passages which were spoken with sufficient
clearness to be heard by those standing by.
187:5.3 The last request which the mortal Jesus
made of his fellows was about half past one o'clock when, a second
time, he said, "I thirst," and the same captain of the guard again
moistened his lips with the same sponge wet in the sour wine, in
those days commonly called vinegar.
187:5.4 The sandstorm grew in intensity and the
heavens increasingly darkened. Still the soldiers and the small
group of believers stood by. The soldiers crouched near the cross,
huddled together to protect themselves from the cutting sand. The
mother of John and others watched from a distance where they were
somewhat sheltered by an overhanging rock. When the Master finally
breathed his last, there were present at the foot of his cross
John Zebedee, his brother Jude, his sister Ruth, Mary Magdalene,
and Rebecca, onetime of Sepphoris.
187:5.5 It was just before three o'clock when
Jesus, with a loud voice, cried out, "It is finished! Father, into
your hands I commend my spirit." And when he had thus spoken, he
bowed his head and gave up the life struggle. When the Roman
centurion saw how Jesus died, he smote his breast and said: "This
was indeed a righteous man; truly he must have been a Son of God."
And from that hour he began to believe in Jesus.
187:5.6 Jesus died royally -- as he had lived.
He freely admitted his kingship and remained master of the
situation throughout the tragic day. He went willingly to his
ignominious death, after he had provided for the safety of his
chosen apostles. He wisely restrained Peter's trouble-making
violence and provided that John might be near him right up to the
end of his mortal existence. He revealed his true nature to the
murderous Sanhedrin and reminded Pilate of the source of his
sovereign authority as a Son of God. He started out to Golgotha
bearing his own crossbeam and finished up his loving bestowal by
handing over his spirit of mortal acquirement to the Paradise
Father. After such a life -- and at such a death -- the Master
could truly say, "It is finished."
187:5.7 Because this was the preparation day for
both the Passover and the Sabbath, the Jews did not want these
bodies to be exposed on Golgotha. Therefore they went before
Pilate asking that the legs of these three men be broken, that
they be dispatched, so that they could be taken down from their
crosses and cast into the criminal burial pits before sundown.
When Pilate heard this request, he forthwith sent three soldiers
to break the legs and dispatch Jesus and the two brigands.
187:5.8 When these soldiers arrived at Golgotha,
they did accordingly to the two thieves, but they found Jesus
already dead, much to their surprise. However, in order to make
sure of his death, one of the soldiers pierced his left side with
his spear. Though it was common for the victims of crucifixion to
linger alive upon the cross for even two or three days, the
overwhelming emotional agony and the acute spiritual anguish of
Jesus brought an end to his mortal life in the flesh in a little
less than five and one-half hours.
6. AFTER THE CRUCIFIXION
187:6.1 In the midst of the darkness of the
sandstorm, about half past three o'clock, David Zebedee sent out
the last of the messengers carrying the news of the Master's
death. The last of his runners he dispatched to the home of Martha
and Mary in Bethany, where he supposed the mother of Jesus stopped
with the rest of her family.
187:6.2 After the death of the Master, John sent
the women, in charge of Jude, to the home of Elijah Mark, where
they tarried over the Sabbath day. John himself, being well known
by this time to the Roman centurion, remained at Golgotha until
Joseph and Nicodemus arrived on the scene with an order from
Pilate authorizing them to take possession of the body of Jesus.
187:6.3 Thus ended a day of tragedy and sorrow
for a vast universe whose myriads of intelligences had shuddered
at the shocking spectacle of the crucifixion of the human
incarnation of their beloved Sovereign; they were stunned by this
exhibition of mortal callousness and human perversity.
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