Day 40
John 19: 16b-18
So they took Jesus, 17and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. 18There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them.
The Crucifixion (John 19: 16b-18)
Jesus' crucifixion is described in simple, factual, unsentimental language.
The routine for crucifixion was always much the same. Once the criminal had been sentenced he would be placed in the centre of a quaternion (a squad of four soldiers), the cross would be put on his shoulders and he would carry it to the place of execution. 'Each criminal as part of his punishment carries his own cross on his back' (Plutarch, The Divine Vengeance). The prisoner would have to be goaded along the road, as he staggered to the place of crucifixion. Before the group of soldiers an officer would carry a sign bearing the prisoner's crime and offence. The soldiers and their prisoner are heading for 'the place of the Skull' (verse 17). 'Golgotha' is a transliteration (English letters for Greek) of a Greek word which was already a transliteration of the Aramaic 'Gulgolta' meaning skull. 'Calvary' is from the Latin calvaria also meaning skull.
Think: Why do you think John describes the crucifixion in simple, factual, unsentimental language?
