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CRUCIFIXION
After judgment was passed on the prisoner, he was fastened to an upright pole, severely lashed to the point of serious injury, and there forced to carry a beam of wood through the streets to the place of execution. Normally, this was done naked, to increase the prisoner's shame. (Since the Jews had a strong sense of public decency, clothing was allowed for crucifixion in Jerusalem.) Having reached the place of execution, the prisoner was either nailed through the wrists to the wooden beam he has carried, the arms being first extended as far apart as possible, or tied to the beam in the same position. The use of nails or ropes seems to have been picked depending on how long the executioner wanted the prisoner to live. An ideal crucifixion could keep the prisoner alive for several days. Nails in the wrists, in addition to being more painful, caused muscle spasms in the arms, and caused an earlier death than did ropes. After the prisoner was attached to the beam, the beam was then hoisted in one of several ways, either to a notch in the top of a vertical pole, which was a permanent placement at the place of execution, or to a groove carved into the pole part way up. The cross beam was then roped into place and the victim left to dangle. As long as the prisoner could hold himself upright by the use of his arm muscles, he was alright. As they weakened, he gradually sank down until he was hanging by his wrists, thus compressing his rib cage until he could no longer breathe. Then he would pull himself up in order to breathe, then sag down again, and on and on until he was exhausted, and suffocated in front of the bystanders. If the prisoner was particularly hated, he would be crucified only a few inches from the ground, so that the spectators could yell in his ears, spit at him, or inflict torture of their own. If a spectacle was more important, the crucifixion could be quite a bit higher, so that it was visible from farther away. Further refinements — for a quicker death, the condemned was left to dangle without support; for a longer torture, a foot rest could be provided at foot level, or a small wooden spoke called a saddle, at seat level, or the feet could be nailed either separately, or crossed over each other, to the vertical beam, providing a foot rest of a particularly vicious sort. If the victim died on the cross from suffocation, or as a result of the earlier scourging, all well and good. If they lingered on past the point the authorities felt convenient, the end could be hastened by using a heavy wooden bat to smash the prisoner's kneecaps; being unable to stand or use his legs as a support, suffocation would shortly follow. Or, if they were in a real hurry, one of the soldiers would just run him through with a sword or spear. After death, the body was left to rot on the cross as a warning to passersby, who would see the horrible sight, and read the sign that was always affixed to the vertical beam, telling of the crime he had committed. The "INRI" sometimes seen on a crucifix, is not authentic. The Gospel reports that there was a sign, in Latin, Greek and Hebrew, reading "Jesus of Nazareth. King of the Jews". A sign describing the crime was normal procedure, either hung about the criminal's neck, or tacked to the cross. Since Latin has no "J", "INRI" is the first letters of the four Latin words Jesus (of) Nazareth, King (of the) Jews". Since three languages were fit onto one sign, the script would have to be small, and the sign was probably put fairly low on the cross, so that it could be seen by onlookers. Putting a sign at the top would have made no sense. THE CRUCIFIXION OF CHRIST Christ's crucifixion, which took place on Good Friday, almost certainly on April 7 in the year 30 AD was a typical Roman crucifixion in most points. He was scourged to the point of exhaustion at the place of judgment. The Crown of Thorns mentioned in the Gospel of St. Matthew, seems to have been unique in His case, because He was called The King of the Jews and the soldiers chose to mock Him with a crown, and later* a purple robe. Since the Jews had a great sense of public decency, Christ was clothed in some fashion during the carrying of the cross, instead of being forced to go through the streets stripped, as would have occurred elsewhere in the world. Also, the use of Simon of Cyrenia to help with the cross beam was not normal, but did fit in with the intent to get Him to the execution spot alive. The whole purpose of a crucifixion was to have the prisoner die publicly in torment, not quietly in the streets. The paintings which show Jesus carrying the whole cross through the streets, and nailed to the cross through His palms, are certainly unrealistic. The first is totally against Roman practice, the second is physically impossible (nails in the palms will not support a body -- nails in the wrists will). At the place of crucifixion the Gospels do not report that He was nailed to the cross, rather than tied, but after the Resurrection, St. John reports that doubting Thomas remembers that He had "holes in His hands and side" -- so nails must have been used. Christ's death, which took only a few hours, was much quicker than normal, but He stayed alive long enough to be insulted and reviled by the crowd, as intended. The sign over His head was in accord with Roman law, and the action of the soldier, in stabbing Him to make sure He was dead, was according to proper procedure. - Rev. John Keaveney |
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