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The Crucifixion of Jesus (1) Feet and Twice Isin His Hard

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The Crucifixion of Jesus (1) Feet and Twice Isin His Hard ISSUE BULLETIN OF THE OLSEN the heel from slipping off the nail. Dr. N. Haas, of Hebrew University, PARK CHURCH who wrote the initial report about the remains, claimed that the size of 15.15 OF CHRIST Faithful Sayings the nail indicated that, “the feet had not been securely fastened to the cross” leading him to conclude that a seat such as those mentioned by April 14, 2013 Irenaeus and Tertullian must have been used to support the body (58). 2013 tullian both applied this prophe- The man’s legs were broken, similar to what is described of the thieves cy to Jesus (Justin, First Apolo- crucified with Jesus (John 19:32). gy 35; Dialogue 97; Tertullian, We cannot know exactly how Jesus was nailed to the cross. Josephus Services Against Marcian 3.19). What we records that during the siege of Jerusalem, Jews who were captured were Sunday: 9:30 AM don’t know is Goodwhether Jesus’ understanding feet crucified in different positions in order to mock them. At that time so 10:20 AM would have been crossed with a gains favor,many But were killedthe “room was wanting for the crosses, and crosses want- 6:00 PM single nail or with two nails. ing for the bodies” (Wars 5.11.1, Whiston). Whatever the form of cruci- Wednesday: 7:00 PM Plautus spoke ofway one put ofon a thefixion unfaithful we can know with certainty that it was a torturous way to die. Our cross being fastened “twice in his English word excruciating by derivation literally means “from the cross.” The Crucifixion of Jesus (1) feet and twice in his isarms” hard. (Mos- Elders: tellaria 2.1). In our next article we will look at how a victim sentenced to crucifixion By Kyle Pope actuallyProverbs died and what 13:15 Scripture tells us about what Jesus endured for us. Pat Ledbetter Were Jesus’ feet nailed Jeff Nunn with soles against the wood, or Works Cited Kyle Pope atthew 27:35 records the simple words: “Then they crucified Him, to the sides of the cross? In “Cross.” Reasoning from the Scriptures. Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible and Tract and divided His garments, casting lots” (NKJV). These few Society of New York, Inc., 1989. 89-93. 1968, north of Mount Scopus Deacons: Mwords record what was in the same moment the most horrific and in an area of Jerusalem known “Did Jesus Really Die on a Cross?” Watchtower: Official Website of Jehovah’s Wit- yet most wondrous event this world has ever known. Yet what do we know as Giv‘at ha-Mivtar, an ossuary nesses. May 5, 2012 [online] http://www.watchtower.org/e/200604a/ Dean Bowers about this? Do we really understand the scope of what Christ endured for us? (or bone box) was found con- article_01.htm. Eddie Cook The apostle Paul spoke of “the offense of the cross” (Gal. 5:11). The Roman taining the bones of an adult Haas, N. “Anthropological Observations on the Skeletal Remains from Giv‘at Steve Dixon statesman Cicero called crucifixion, “the most miserable and most painful male, dated to the first century. ha-Mivtar.” Israel Exploration Journal 20 (1970) 38-59. Jack Langley punishment appropriate to slaves alone” (Against Verres, 2.5.169). Crucifix- The man was clearly the vic- Neil Ledbetter ion was not considered an honorable way to die, and yet the Lord of all the Pope, Jesse Curtis. “Taking Up the Cross: The Death of the King.” Jesus for a tim of crucifixion as revealed Brady McAlister universe poured out His life on a cross. My brother, Curtis Pope has suggest- by the fact that a large nail was New Millennium: Studies in the Gospel of Matthew. Ed. Ferrell Jenkins. ed, “Knowledge of the process of crucifixion certainly adds profound mean- Florida College Annual Lectures, Feb. 5-8, 2001. Temple Terrace: Florida Walker McAnear still driven through the right ing to Matthew 27:35 which in understated fashion simply mentions ‘when College Bookstores, 2001, 150-160. Lance Purcell heel bone. Wood fragments they had crucified Him’ to record the horrors” of the cross (“Taking Up the were still present under the Sava, Anthony F. “The Wound in the Side of Christ.” The Catholic Biblical Quar- Rusty Scott Cross,” 152). In this article and the next we will explore what it really means head and tip of the nail, indi- terly 19 (1957) 343-346. when the Holy Spirit tells us “they crucified Him.” cating that it had first been driv- Wilkinson, John. “The Physical Cause of the Death of Christ.” Expository Times Evangelist: Roman Crucifixion en into a wooden plate before 83.4 (Jan. 1972) 104-107. Kyle Pope it was nailed through the man’s j While the Romans certainly perfected its practice, they did not invent heal and into the cross. This crucifixion. In the period between the Old and New Testament, the Seleucid likely was intended to prevent king Antiochus Epiphanes practiced crucifixion (Josephus, Antiquities 12.5.4), 4700 Andrews Ave. and the Hasmonean ruler Alexander Jannaeus crucified 800 men (Ibid. Amarillo TX 79106 13.14.2). The Qumran text known as the Temple Scroll commands “hanging on wood” (thought to be an allusion to crucifixion) as the punishment for Faithful Sayings Issue 15.15 April 14, 2013 806-352-2809 www.olsenpark.com treason (11QTemple 64.6-13). Faithful Sayings Issue 15.15 April 14, 2013 Roman crucifixion was often resulted in death (Horace, Satires 1.2.41; Seneca, On Mercy 1.15.1; stauros and xulon (applied in the New Testament to the cross) of as objects of veneration. However, usually carried out in three phas- Babylonian Talmud, Ketuboth 86b). Eusebius records accounts of wit- these same shapes of crosses (Lucian, Judicium Vocalium 12; the clear claims of early church es: flagellation (a severe scourg- nesses to the scourging of Christians in the second century seeing their Plutarch, On The Delays of Divine Vengeance 9; Epictetus, Dis- writers, the linguistic usage of ing intended to weaken the vic- bodies torn to such a degree that their “entrails, and organs were exposed courses 3.26.22; LXX, Deut. 21:22-23; cf. 11QTemple 64.6-13). stauros and xulon, and the evidence tim); crucifixion (the actual to sight” (Ecclesiastical History 4.15.4). from pagan Greek and Roman au- binding of the victim to a cross); The Form of Jesus’ Cross thors force us to acknowledge that When a victim was finally put on the cross, crucifixion was usually and finally, crurifragium (break- The New Testament does not specify the form of cross on two-beamed crosses were in com- a slow and lingering death. Horace described ravens feeding on the bod- ing the legs of the victim to has- which Jesus was crucified, but it is likely that it was a cross- mon use in the first century. ies that hung on a cross (Epistles. 1.16.48). Seneca wrote: ten death) (Sava, “The Wound beam form of some type. Four second century writers support One of the earliest evidences in the Side of Christ,” 343). Al- Can anyone be found who would prefer wasting away in pain dying limb by this conclusion. Ignatius speaks of the “rope” that draws one up of this in connection with Christ, though flagellation (or scourg- limb, or letting out his life drop by drop, rather than expiring once for all? Can to be “raised up” on a cross (Second Epistle to the Ephesians is found in the so-called Alexa- ing) could be administered any man be found willing to be fastened to the accursed tree, long sickly, al- 14), possibly referring to raising a patibulum into place. Justin menos Graffito discovered etched alone, it was often the first stage ready deformed, swelling with ugly wounds on shoulders and chest, and draw- described Jesus’ cross as a beam set upright with a beam raised ing the breath of life amid long drawn-out agony? He would have many excus- into a plaster wall on the Palatine of crucifixion. Lucian wrote of up to it (Dialogue 91). Tertulluan described Jesus’ cross as con- es for dying even before mounting the cross (Moral Epistles to Lucilius 101.14). Hill in Rome. This mocking, anti- “those who died by the scourge sisting of a “cross-beam (antenna)” and a “projecting seat Christian graffiti depicts Christ on and the cross” (Cataplus 6.18- The Instruments of Crucifixion (sedile)” (Ad Nationes 1.12; cf. Contra Marcian 3.18). The sedile a two-beamed cross with the head 20) or who “die by crucifixion was a short post that went between the victim’s legs in order to There were different forms of crosses that were used. The most basic, of a donkey. Beneath, is a worship- or the scourge” (Juppiter Tra- bear some of the weight of the body. The first century pagan the Romans called the crux simplex (or stipes) - I. This was a simple verti- per with the words “Alexamenos goedeus, 19). The severity of the Roman author Seneca attests to the common use of the sedile cal stake to which a victim was nailed, tied or even impaled (Seneca, Mor- worships his God.” This etching is scourging determined the time (Moral Epistles to Lucilius 101.10-12). Justin Martyr described al Epistles to Lucilius 14.5). It is believed that the Romans first adopted believed to date between the first the victim spent on the cross. It the sedile of Christ’s cross projecting “out like a horn” (Dia- the use of this form of punishment from the Phoenicians after the Punic and third centuries, and is now is well attested that scourging wars.
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