Fact #2: Jesus Christ died on a Roman Cross by Crucifixion

  Jesus died on a Roman cross, at a place of execution just outside the city of Jerusalem in approximately A.D. 32-33. Crucifixion was a common method of execution that the Roman government would use primarily for violent, treasonous and lower class criminals and slaves. It was an “extreme penalty” as the Roman historian Tacitus noted . Cicero, the Roman writer, described the crucifixion as “the cruelest and most hideous punishment possible”. The Appian Way is one of the most famous ancient roads. It was built in 312 B.C. and it spanned 350 miles. It might be the most famous for its part in the slave revolt that Spartacus led in 73 B.C. After the Roman army defeated the slave insurrection, they crucified over 6,000 slaves and lined the Appian way for 130 miles with their crosses. On each cross was a crucified slave. This event established a clear indication of how Rome dealt with its enemies.

The Gospels confirm Jesus’ death on the Cross

All four Gospel accounts establish the fact of Jesus Christ’s death was on a Roman cross and almost every book in the New Testament either mentions or alludes to the reality of His death on a cross. “When they had scourged Jesus, he (Pilate) delivered Him to be crucified. Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole garrison around Him. And they stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him. When they had twisted a crown of thorns, they put it on His head and a reed in His hand. And they bowed the knee before Him and mocked him saying Hail, King of the Jews. Then they spat on Him and took the reed and struck Him on the head. And when they had mocked Him, they took the robe off Him, put His own clothes on Him and led Him away to be crucified. Now as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. Him they compelled to bear His cross” . – Matthew 27:26-32. “And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? Which is translated My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?… And Jesus cried out with a loud voice and breathed His last…. Now when evening had come, because it was the Preparation Day, that is the day before Sabbath, Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent council member, who was himself waiting for the Kingdom of God , coming and taking courage went in to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Pilate marveled that He was already dead: and summoning the centurion he asked him if He had been dead for some time. So when he found out from the centurion, he granted the body to Joseph. Then he bought fine linen, took Him down and wrapped Him in the linen. And he laid Him in a tomb which had been hewn out of the rock and rolled a stone against the door of the tomb. And Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses observed where He was laid” – Mark 15:34,37,42-46. The following Gospel accounts and New Testament passages confirm Jesus’ death on the cross – Matthew 27; Mark 15; Luke 23; John 19; I Corinthians 11:26; Philippians 2:8; I Peter 3:18.  

Secular Historians confirm Jesus’ Death on the Cross

Lucian of Samosata (A.D. 170) wrote – “ The Christians, you know, worship a man to this day – the distinguished personage who introduced their novel rites and was crucified on that account” 5The Jewish Talmud states – “ on the Eve of Passover Yeshua (Jesus) was hanged”. – 6 The word “hanged” can refer to crucifixion and even the New Testament passages in Luke 23:39 and Galatians 3:13 describe the crucifixion of Christ in this manner. The Jewish method of capital punishment was stoning a person as prescribed in the law. The fact that the term “hanged” rather than the term “stoning” was used here, points to crucifixion as the execution method that was used with Jesus Christ.When the Gospel accounts are examined, the reality of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ is without question affirmed over and over. Here on the cross Jesus went through the horrible and lingering death of the cross. However, there were also events of suffering and devastating punishment that Jesus endured prior to the cross.

A. Jesus was scourged. – Matthew 27:26; Mark 15:15; John 19:1.

The Gospel narratives affirm that before Jesus was crucified, He was led from His trial to a place of flogging. Roman flogging was a brutal act of punishment inflicted on a victim. They were usually limited to 39 lashes but there was no standing Roman order or requirement to limit the number to only 39 and certainly there could have been more inflicted on Jesus depending on the desires of the Roman soldiers. When a victim was scourged he was bound to a post by his wrists high over his head so that the flesh of his back was tight. The lashing process was so severe that in some cases it was fatal. Scourging was conducted with a whip known as a flagellum. It consisted of a wooden handle with metal tipped leather thongs attached to it. When a person was whipped with this instrument of torture, it was a fearful and dreadful event.Eusebius of Caesarea (A.D 260-339), the 3rd century church historian stated regarding the Roman scourging, the victim’s “veins were laid bare , and…. the very muscles, sinews and bowels of the victim were open to exposure”. 7An issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association dated March 21st, 1986 provided the following description of a Roman flogging – “The instrument was a short whip….with several single or braided leather thongs of variable lengths, in which small iron balls or sharp pieces of sheep bones were tied at intervals… the man was stripped of his clothing and his hands were tied to an upright post….. The back, buttocks and legs were flogged….the scourging… was intended to weaken the victim to a state just short of collapse or death…. As the Roman soldiers repeatedly struck the victims back with full force, the iron balls would cause deep contusions and the leather thongs and sheep bones would cut into the skin and the subcutaneous tissues. Then as the flogging continued, the lacerations would tear into the underlying skeletal muscles” 8

This scourging procedure that Jesus endured was a bloody and torturous beating and it no doubt left Him in a state of physical and mental shock.

B. Jesus was beaten and mocked. – Matthew 27:27-30; Mark 15:16-20; John 19:2,3.

After the bloody and painful ordeal of the scourging, Jesus was led from the place of flogging to the Praetorium where the entire garrison ( approximately 600) of the Roman soldiers had gathered. The Praetorium was possibly a part of Pilate’s residence which was located in the Antonia fortress. Here they stripped Jesus of His clothing again and put on Him a scarlet robe, which was probably a military cloak belonging to one of the soldiers. They placed a crown of thorns and pressed it into His head and then they proceeded to beat Him with a reed, strike Him on His head with their fists and spit on Him. The reed was similar to a wooden broom handle which allowed for significant striking power, beating again on the already open wounds from the scourging. They followed this by mocking and jeering Him as a “king” with taunting acts of worship. All of this was done to totally de-moralize and de-humanize Him and to mock His claim of authority. It must be emphasized that all of this was done before His crucifixion.

C. Jesus was led to the place of crucifixion. – Matthew 27:31,32; Mark 15:21,22; Luke 23:26-32; John 19:16-20.

The scourging and beating of Jesus left Him depleted and weakened, and now He was led from the Praetorium to His place of execution bearing His cross. The Gospel records indicate that the place of crucifixion was outside of the city of Jerusalem and was called the “place of the skull”. Matthew, Mark and John refer to this place as “Golgatha” which is the Aramaic word for “skull”. Luke uses the word “Calvary” or ’Calvaria” which is the Latin word meaning “skull”. This place of the skull may have been on a hill that was skull shaped or it may have been named that because it was a place of execution and death and as result of this there was an accumulation of skulls from the executions that had taken place there. Although none of the Gospels mention a hill, there are two sites in Jerusalem today that are considered the most probable sites of Jesus’ crucifixion, one that is located on a hill that has formations that appear like a skull.

Jesus was led outside the city gates on His way to the place of crucifixion with two other men who were criminals and were also going to be crucified. The notable feature of the crucifixion process was the stigma of disgrace and indignity that the person had to endure. The victim would have a placard or sign hung around his neck that stated either his crime or some feature of the cause for his crucifixion and then he had to publicly carry his cross to the place of crucifixion. The sign that was hung around Jesus’ neck stated “This is Jesus of Nazareth, The king of the Jews”. Each Gospel reports the wording somewhat differently. Both Luke and John state that the inscription on the sign was written in three languages – Greek, Hebrew and Latin and the minor variants of each Gospel record is the result of the different manner in which the three languages translate along with the possibility that each Gospel writer may have provided the information that was the most pertinent to his narrative. This placard was later attached at the top of the cross –Matthew 27:37; Mark 15:26; Luke 23:38; John 19:19.Bearing the cross was essentially carrying the cross beam portion of the cross. The cross beam was the horizontal bar which would have weighed about 200 pounds. It was later in this process attached to the vertical main cross post and these two pieces together formed the crucifixion structure. The Gospel accounts state that Jesus carried the cross (cross beam) as far as the city gate but due to His loss of blood and His weakened state, He was no longer able to carry it and someone else had to be compelled to carry it the remainder of the way. Simon of Cyrene was watching this procession and was enlisted by the soldiers to carry Jesus’ cross. The Gospels indicate that this processional was witnessed by a large “multitude” of people, some who were sympathetic, others who were mocking and jeering and then those who were simply bystanders witnessing the process.

When Jesus arrived at the place of the Skull (Golgatha, Calvary) He would have been made to lie down on the ground while His arms were stretched out and His wrists/hands nailed to the horizontal cross beam. The beam and the victim (in this case -Jesus) would have then been hoisted up and fastened to the main vertical post member and secured. His feet were nailed to the lower portion of the cross and a small wooden platform would be attached at His feet to serve as a platform. The placard listing His crime or indictment was secured at the top of the cross –“ This is Jesus of Nazareth, the king of the Jews”. This is where Jesus was crucified with the two criminals, one on His left side and one on his right. – Matthew 27:38; Mark 15:27; Luke 23:33; John 19:18, and where the crucifixion and death process would begin and end.

D. Jesus was crucified and died.

Crucifixion was a type of punishment and instrument of death that was passed on from the Persian Empire to the Romans. It was designed to be a shameful and lingering death. It was meant to establish in the minds of any Roman subjects who might consider opposing the authority, of the extent to which the Roman government was willing to go to punish anyone who resisted them. The visible nature of this process was employed to strike fear and to serve the public as a reminder of Rome’s ultimate power and authority. The crucified victims would be stripped naked and were always crucified in public view.In some cases the person being crucified would remain for days and would be eaten alive by wild animals or birds of prey. Most would die of exhaustion, fever, dehydration and suffocation. The platform at the feet of the crucified person was there to provide a support from which they could push up in order to assist with breathing. When the weight of the body could no longer be maintained by the legs and the pushing upward off of the platform, the diaphragm of the victim would be constricted making breathing impossible and suffocation would be the result. This platform near the feet was not there for comfort, but rather it was there to provide a means to lengthen the suffering. The victim would naturally try to breathe and would push upward with his legs to bring air into the lungs and thus prolong the torture. Victims were also offered a pain killing narcotic (wine mingled with gall or myrrh). This was not done to lessen pain for relief, but rather to keep the person conscious, fully awake and engaged in the torture process. Jesus was offered this but He refused. – Matthew 27:34; Mark 15:23; Luke 23:36.The clothes that the person being crucified had with them would become the property of the executioners . The Gospel accounts make it clear that at Jesus’ crucifixion ,the soldiers gambled between one another for His garments – Matthew 27: 35; Mark 15:24; Luke 23:34; John 19:23-24.The Law of Moses stated that the body of someone being executed should not remain at the site of execution overnight – Deut. 21:22,23. A person hanging or impaled was under God’s curse and to leave them publicly exposed would desecrate the land. In order to hasten death and not leave the victims in such a state, their legs would be broken with an iron mallet so that they would not be able to push upward off the platform and breathe. They would quickly die from asphyxiation.

“And bowing His head, He (Jesus) gave up His spirit (died). Therefore, because it was the Preparation Day, that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for the Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away. Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who was crucified with Him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. And he who has seen has testified and his testimony is true and he knows that he is telling the truth so that you may believe”. – John 19:30-35.Here the disciple John, who was an eye witness to this event, confirms that Jesus’ legs did not need to be broken to hasten death. The executioners saw that Jesus had died and did thrust a spear into His side but did not need to break His legs because He was obviously already dead. The stabbing of Jesus’ side by one of the soldiers with the result of the flow of blood and water, had to involve a significant penetration into His chest cavity. Most likely, His heart or the bottom of His chest was pierced to the extent that blood and water – fluids flowed out which would emphasize that Jesus was without any question, dead. All four Gospel accounts confirm that Jesus died on the cross and that the executioners, who were trained in death and crucifixions, confirmed this. Matthew 27:50; Mark 15:37, 42-45; Luke 23:46; John 19:30-35.