Jesus is too weak to protest when the crown of thorns is fitted onto his head and the spikes pressed hard into his skin. Blood pours down his face. Jesus stands humiliated in the small prison as soldiers dance around him—some punching him, others spitting, and still others getting down on both knees to praise their “king.”
But just when it seems that Jesus can’t take any more, the soldiers receive word that Pilate would like to see the prisoner. Once again, he is led out into the public square, where the Sanhedrin and its loyal followers stand waiting.
Jesus’s vision has blurred. Fluid is slowly building around his lungs. He is having a hard time breathing. He has predicted his death all along, but the details of his demise are shocking.
The high priests and religious leaders watch as Jesus steps forth, the crown of thorns still on his head. They remember that Jesus humiliated them in the temple courts just three days ago. They can see his suffering now. Yet they have no sympathy. Jesus must die, the more painfully, the better.
It is mid-morning as Pilate takes his seat again on the judgment throne. He tries one last time to release Jesus. “Here is your king,” he snarls at the assembly of religious leaders and their disciples. These men should be in the temple courts, for the slaughter of the lambs is soon to begin.
“Take him away,” the religious leaders chant. “Take him away. Crucify him.”
Pilate is tired of arguing. The Roman governor is not known for his compassion and believes he has done all that he can do. The fate of Jesus is simply not worth the effort.
“Shall I crucify your king?” he asks, seeking a final confirmation.
“We have no king but Caesar,” a chief priest replies. If taken at face value, those words are an act of heresy, for he has rejected his own Jewish God in favor of a god of the Roman pagans. Yet the followers of the Sanhedrin see no irony in the situation.
“What crime has he committed?” Pilate yells back.
“Crucify him!” comes the response.
Pilate orders that a small bowl of water be brought to him. He dips his hands into the chalice and theatrically makes a show of ritual cleansing. “I am innocent of this man’s blood,” he tells the religious leaders. “It is your responsibility.”
But in fact, the responsibility belongs to Pilate. Only the Roman governor possesses the ius gladii—the right of the sword. Or, as it is also known, the right to execute.
So it is that Pilate orders his executioners to take control of Jesus. As they lead him away to be crucified, Pontius Pilate prepares for an early lunch.
CHAPTER 28
CRUCIFIED
FRIDAY, APRIL 6, AD 30 GOLGOTHA MID-MORNING TO AFTERNOON
The purple cloak is ripped away, but the crown of thorns remains. The death squad places a chunk of unfinished wood on Jesus’s shoulders. It weighs between fifty and seventy pounds and is just a little less than six feet long. Its splinters quickly find their way into his open wounds. The humiliation at Pilate’s palace now complete, the procession toward the place of execution begins.
At the front of the line is the exactor mortis. By tradition, this centurion holds up a sign written in Greek, Aramaic, and Latin. Today, the words JESUS THE NAZARENE: KING OF THE JEWS are written on the sign. Normally, a man’s crimes are listed on the sign, which will be nailed onto the cross above him. This way, any passerby will know why the man was crucified. So if treason is the charge, then that is what the sign should state.
But Pontius Pilate is changing tradition. In a last attempt to get the better of Caiaphas, the governor writes the inscription himself.
“Change it,” Caiaphas demands before the crucifixion procession gets under way.
Pilate refuses, his condescension apparent.
So the sign leads the way as Jesus and his four executioners make the painfully slow journey to Golgotha, the hill used as the Roman execution ground. The trip is slightly less than half a mile, taking Jesus through the cobbled streets of Jerusalem’s Upper City, then out the Gennath Gate to the low hill on which a vertical pole awaits his arrival. It is getting close to noon. A substantial crowd has gathered to watch, despite a blazing sun overhead.
The exactor mortis becomes concerned as Jesus repeatedly stumbles. As a former builder and carpenter, Jesus knows the proper way to carry a length of lumber but now lacks the strength to do so. He is constantly on the verge of fainting. Should Jesus die before reaching the place of execution, it is the exactor mortis who will be held responsible. So a pilgrim bystander, an African Jew named Simon of Cyrene, is enlisted to carry the crossbar for Jesus.
The procession continues.
Meanwhile, just a few hundred yards away in the temple courts, the celebration of Passover is in progress, diverting the attention of many who revere Jesus and who might riot to intervene and save his life.
The execution site, Golgotha, is not a large hill. It is a low rise close to Jerusalem’s city wall. As the procession arrives atop Golgotha, the soldiers send Simon away and hurl the crossbar onto the dirt. The death squad takes control. They force Jesus to the ground, laying his torso atop the upper crossbeam, known as the patibulum. His hands are then stretched out, and two soldiers put all their weight on his extended arms, even as another approaches with a thick mallet and an iron nail with a square shaft. This spike is six inches long.
The soldier hammers the sharpened point into Jesus’s wrist. Jesus cries out in pain as the iron pierces its mark. The Romans use the wrist location because the nail never hits bone and passes all the way through to the wood in just a few sharp swings of the hammer. The wrist bones, meanwhile, surround the soft tissue, forming a barrier. So when the cross is hoisted upward, and Jesus’s body weight is suspended from those spikes, the bones keep the thin layer of muscle from ripping and prevent him from falling to the ground.
The first wrist secure, the executioner moves on to the second. A crowd watches from the base of the hill. Among them are Jesus’s devoted friend Mary Magdalene and his mother, Mary. She came to Jerusalem for Passover, not having any idea what would befall her son. Now Mary can do nothing but look on in anguish.
Study for a crucifixion by Michelangelo. Black chalk on paper. [The Bridgeman Art Library]
After Jesus is nailed to the crossbar, the executioners hoist him to his feet. A careful balancing act ensues, because the weight of the wood is now on Jesus’s back—not his shoulders. In his weakened state, he could easily fall over. Two soldiers hold up the ends of the crossbar, while a third steadies Jesus as they back him toward the vertical beam that will complete the cross.
The staticulum, as this in-ground pole is known, is close to eight feet tall. One soldier grabs Jesus around the waist and lifts him up as the other two hoist their ends of the crossbar. The fourth executioner stands atop a ladder that leans against the staticulum, guiding the crossbar into the small joint that has been carved into the top of the vertical piece. The weight of Jesus’s body holds the beam inside the groove.
And so it is that Jesus of Nazareth now hangs on the cross. Another moment of agony comes when his knees are bent slightly and then the feet lapped one over the other and nailed into place.
Finally, in the spot directly over Jesus’s head, the sign carried by the executor mortis is nailed to the cross. Their physical work done, the death squad begins mocking Jesus, throwing dice for his once-fine tunic and calling up to him, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.” The Roman death squad will remain on Golgotha until Jesus dies. They will drink their sour wine and even offer some to Jesus.
Three hours pass. The Passover celebration continues inside the temple courts, and the sounds of singing and blowing trumpets resound across the city to the execution site. Indeed, Jesus can see the Temple Mount quite clearly from his place on the cross. He knows that many are still waiting for him. The news of his execution has not traveled far, much to the delight of Pilate and Caiaphas, who still fear the possibility of Jesus’s supporters starting a riot when they hear of his mur
der.
“I am thirsty,” Jesus finally says. His voice is not more than a whisper. A soldier soaks a sponge in sour wine and reaches up to place it to Jesus’s lips, knowing that the liquid will sting. Jesus sucks in the tart fluid. Shortly afterward, he gazes on Jerusalem one last time before the inevitable happens.
“It is finished,” he says.
Jesus bows his head. He lapses into unconsciousness. His neck relaxes. His entire body rolls forward, pulling his neck and shoulders away from the cross. Only the nails in his hands hold him in place.
The man who once preached so fearlessly, who walked far and wide to give his people hope, and whose message of love reached thousands during his lifetime—and will one day reach billions more—stops breathing.
Jesus of Nazareth is dead. He is thirty-six years old.
CHAPTER 29
ENTOMBED
APRIL 6, AD 30 GOLGOTHA LATE AFTERNOON
The race is on. The Roman death squad has had a hard day, but there is still more work to be done. It is their usual practice to leave a man on the cross for days after he dies. But Jewish law dictates that a body cannot remain on a “tree” during the Sabbath, which begins at sundown today and continues throughout Saturday. So the men must take Jesus down from the cross. First, the executor mortis verifies Jesus’s death by thrusting a spear into his chest. Body fluid pours out, mixed with blood. Extracting the spear tip, the captain of the guard then orders his men to remove Jesus from the cross. It is a crucifixion in reverse, with the men using ladders and teamwork to bring Jesus and the crossbar back to the ground. Once again, Jesus is laid flat. But now the death squad works hard to remove the nails—unbent. Iron is expensive, and spikes are reused as much as possible.
Wood carving of the entombment of Jesus carved in the 16th century, from the Beguine Convent in Cambrai, France. [The Bridgeman Art Library]
Most who witnessed Jesus’s crucifixion have departed. Mary, his mother, and Mary Magdalene are among those who remain. But as the soldiers now go about the hard physical labor of uncrucifying a man, the Sadducee named Joseph of Arimathea steps forward. This wealthy member of the Sanhedrin and secret disciple of Jesus was one of the few dissenting voices during the illegal trial. Another of those voices was that of Nicodemus the Pharisee, and he, too, is present. They have received permission from Pilate to take the body, as the governor wants to put this execution to rest as soon as possible.
Somewhat shockingly, Joseph and Nicodemus are publicly declaring their allegiance to Jesus. Joseph takes Jesus to his own private family tomb, a brand-new man-made cave carved out of the soft Jerusalem rock on a nearby hillside. The Jews believe that to touch a dead body on Passover makes one unclean and disqualifies the person from eating the Seder meal. By law, Joseph and Nicodemus will be declared impure and must undergo a seven-day cleansing ritual.
No matter, these two bold men express their discipleship as followers of Jesus by carrying his limp corpse down from Golgotha and then to the nearby tomb, where they lay it down on the carved rock ledge. There is no time to perform the ritual washing and anointing of the corpse with oil. But they do make the gesture of coating the body in expensive myrrh and aloes, to overwhelm the coming smell of decomposition. Then they wrap the body tightly in linen, making sure to keep it loose around Jesus’s face in case he is not really dead, but merely unconscious. In this way, he will not suffocate. Jewish tradition dictates that all bodies be examined three days after apparent death. Thus, the tomb will be reopened, and Jesus will be observed on Sunday.
The Shroud of Turin, a centuries-old linen cloth that bears the image of a crucified man. Some believe it is the cloth used to wrap Jesus in the tomb. [Corbis]
But all of this is merely adherence to ritual. For Jesus is clearly dead.
The men say a formal good-bye and then step outside the tomb. A hand-carved round stone weighing hundreds of pounds is in position at the top of a downhill slope. Mary, the mother of Jesus, watches as the two men strain to roll the stone across the tomb entrance. The shaft of daylight penetrating the tomb grows smaller and smaller as the rock rolls into position.
When death is formally pronounced on Sunday, Jesus’s body will rest inside the tomb for a full year. Then his bones will be removed and placed in a small stone jar known as an ossuary, either to be stored in a niche carved into the tomb wall or removed to a new location.
Jesus of Nazareth predicted his death. Now it is done, and the silence of the grave is complete. Alone in the darkness of the tomb, Jesus of Nazareth finally rests in peace.
CHAPTER 30
GUARDED
SATURDAY, APRIL 7, AD 30 PILATE’S PALACE, JERUSALEM DAY
Pontius Pilate has visitors. Once again, Caiaphas and the Pharisees stand before him. But now they are inside the palace, no longer fearful of being made unclean by the governor’s presence, for Passover is done.
For the first time, Pilate notices that Caiaphas is actually terrified of Jesus’s power. What was not so obvious in Jesus’s lifetime is now quite apparent in death, for the chief priest is making an unheard-of request. Caiaphas tells Pilate directly, “That deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead.”
There is a certain logic to the request, for the disappearance of Jesus’s body might lead to an uprising if his followers convinced people that this man who claimed to be the Christ had actually proven himself to be immortal.
Pilate consents.
“Take a guard,” he orders. “Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.”
And so it is that a guard is placed at the tomb of Jesus, just in case the dead man tries to escape.
For Rome and the temple, that should have been the end of it. The troublemaker and blasphemer is dead. If Jesus’s followers have any plan for trouble, there is no sign of it. The disciples have proven themselves timid, still stunned that their Messiah is dead. They have gone into hiding and pose no threat to Rome.
Pilate is relieved. Soon he will be on his way back to Caesarea, there to once again govern without the constant interference of the temple priests.
But Caiaphas will not go away. Wearing his expensive robes and linen, he postures before Pilate, not knowing what the Roman governor will report back to Rome. Caiaphas has much at stake, and he is uneasy over Pilate’s hand-washing display. He will lose everything if Emperor Tiberius blames him for the death of Jesus. And so Caiaphas stands firm, looking for any sign of approval from Pilate. But the Roman governor has had enough of this arrogant priest. Without a word, he stands and walks away.
CHAPTER 31
THE TOMB IS EMPTY
SUNDAY, APRIL 8, AD 30 JESUS’S TOMB DAWN
The morning is dark. Dawn will soon break over Jerusalem, marking the third day since Jesus’s death. Mary Magdalene now takes it upon herself to perform the traditional task of examining the dead body. She travels with another woman named Mary—though not the mother of Jesus. Just as on the day Jesus was executed, the streets of the Upper City are quiet as the two women pass through. They exit the city walls at the Gennath Gate and now travel in Jesus’s footsteps as they walk toward Golgotha.
The vertical pole on which Jesus was crucified still stands on the hill, awaiting the next crucifixion. The two Marys look away from the gruesome object and walk around the hill to Jesus’s tomb.
They have practical matters on their minds. Mary Magdalene has not forgotten the many kindnesses Jesus showed her during his lifetime. And just as she once anointed him with perfume and washed his feet with her tears, so now she plans to anoint the body with spices. It is unconscionable to her that Jesus’s corpse molders and emits a foul smell. Perhaps a year from now, when she returns for Passover and is among those who roll away the stone in front of Jesus’s tomb to collect his bones, the smell of sweet perfume will pour forth from the cave entrance instead of th
e stench of death.
But this presents another immediate challenge: Mary is physically incapable of rolling away the tombstone. She will require help, but most of Jesus’s disciples are still in hiding.
As the two Marys approach the tomb, they are stunned. The tombstone has been rolled away. The cave is empty. No one is standing guard.
Mary Magdalene cautiously steps forward and looks inside. She smells the myrrh and aloes with which Jesus was anointed. She sees the linen shroud that wrapped the body. But there is nothing else there.
To this day, the body of Jesus of Nazareth has never been found.
AFTERWORD
What comes next is the very root of the Christian faith. The New Testament gospels that most believe were written by the disciples Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John many years after Jesus’s death record that Jesus’s body was not stolen. Instead, this Scripture says that Jesus rose from the dead and ascended into heaven. After his body was discovered to be missing, the gospels state that Jesus appeared twelve times on Earth over a forty-day period. Witnesses to these apparitions range from a single individual to groups of more than five hundred on a mountain in Galilee. Some in that large crowd spoke vividly of the event for years to come. Twenty-five years later, the disciple Paul included the mountain appearance in a letter he wrote to an early Christian group in Corinth, Greece. The belief in the divinity of Jesus is at the core of the Christian faith.
The Jews of today do not believe that Jesus was the Messiah, but consider him simply a man, because he did not fulfill the prophecy that the anointed one would build a Third Temple, gather all Jews back to Israel, and usher in an era of world peace.
The Last Days of Jesus Page 12