Dear Family and Friends,

I have a confession. I grew up with mixed emotions about my father, all because he did not finish high school. Although he was smart, successful at work, a great father, and one who lived out his Christian faith, I struggled with this one fact about his past.

Today, I am very proud to say my father dropped out of high school. Now let me tell you the rest of his story…

It was two years after he had passed when I first learned the whole truth about my father’s shortened academic career.

As I was caring for my mother who had terminal cancer, she shared that my father dropped out before he could graduate to work and help support their very large family. It was the year my uncle, my father’s older brother, left to fight in the war.

I share this story to make a point – context matters. I had not considered the times when my father made his decision, and it led to a very wrong conclusion.

With that in mind, let’s remember that when reading God’s word – context matters.

Today we’re going to briefly step away from the Bible so we can fully understand one aspect of Jesus’ story that many of us know very little to nothing about – crucifixion.

There are only 20+ verses in the Gospel that mention the word ‘crucify or crucifixion;’ none describe the horror of it all.

I suspect everyone in those times were fully aware of what happened on a cross, maybe even witnessing it personally.

Because this was not a topic that needed elaboration, it wasn’t. This was not a topic any self-respecting author would want to describe.

As a result, I suspect most of what we know about crucifixions come from the movies. 

Before we dive in, allow me to give credit to the writings of noted theologian NT Wright for some of this historical information. 

We begin with the testimony of a few witnesses describing this method of punishing people called crucifixion.

Roman orator, lawyer and statesman Marcus Tullius Cicero called crucifixion the “most cruel and terrifying penalty.”

Jewish historian Flavius Josephus called crucifixion the “most pitiable of deaths.”

Christian theologian and exegete (expounder or textual interpreter of scripture) Origen Adamantius refers to crucifixion as the “most shameful form of death, namely, the cross.”

The Roman philosopher Lucius Annaeus Seneca described crucifixion as “wasting away in pain, dying limb by limb, letting out his life drop by drop, fastened to the accursed tree, long sickly, already deformed, swelling with ugly tumors on chest and shoulders, and drawing the breath of life amid long-drawn-out agony.”

Amongst those who personally witnessed crucifixions, there is agreement that this was the cruelest way conceived by man to kill another man.

One key feature of crucifixion, unlike impaling or hanging or beheading, was that the victim was readily able to see and speak to family and friends. And to hear the taunting of foes. In their half dead state, they could cry out in pain or protest for hours or even days.

Whereas impaling and hanging and other forms of execution are quick, crucifixion is a lingering, intentionally drawn out process designed to send horror and pain not only to the executed but to the observers as well.

The process began with a whipping and scourging referred to as flogging in the Bible, designed to weaken the victim and prevent a struggle.

The Romans did not invent crucifixion, but they made it their own. It was the death of choice for two particular kinds of undesirables. Slaves, especially those who became rebels. And rebel leaders, to display them as no better than slaves. 

Crucifixion was the Romans’ way of asserting their absolute power and guaranteeing their victim’s absolute degradation. This was their way of keeping the peace in conquered lands.

Do you recall how they treated Jesus?

“Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand.

Then they knelt in front of him and mocked him. “Hail, king of the Jews!” they said. They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again.

After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.”  Matthew 27:27-31 NIV

The Romans typically crucified people beside busy roads or near the entrance to a city. This public display of horror was designed to make a statement, to issue a warning to anyone considering getting out of line.

And the horror did not end with death. There were times when friends or family took away a body for burial but most victims became food for vultures and vermin until there was nothing left to bury.

Crucifixion was indeed a cruel way to put someone to death. But it also had societal and political purposes. Crucifixion was not only a public shaming, not only a warning, but also a way to mock the ambitions of rebels.

Pilate treated Jesus as he would any rebel leader.

“Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek. The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, “Do not write ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews.” Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”  John 19:19-22 NIV   

You may wondering why I shared such a horrid message today.

Two reasons: First, context matters. And second, it’s spiritually healthy for us to read what is needed to be read, not just what we want to read. 

I’m guessing most of us gloss over the word ‘crucify’ when reading the last few chapters of the Gospel, not giving the horror behind that word a second thought.

I’m hoping that will change. Now that we have a better understanding of what it means to be crucified, perhaps the more grateful we will be for what Jesus did for us.

As we prepare our hearts for Good Friday next week, let’s feel in our souls the true weight of the sacrifice made that day. Let’s never forget that Jesus did not just die for our sins, He chose to die in the worst way possible.

Can you now understand the real pain Jesus felt in the Garden? “And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.” Luke 22:44 NIV

We all tend to be more grateful for gifts of higher value. My friends, there is no gift greater in value than the grace we received from Jesus.

In love always,