On Line Bible Study - For the Week September 9 - 15, 2013
Lesson 575
The Verdict
Mark 15: 15 Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released for them Barab'bas; and having scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified.
Luke 23: 25 He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, whom they asked for; but Jesus he delivered up to their will.
John 19: 15 They cried out, "Away with him, away with him, crucify him!" Pilate said to them, "Shall I crucify your King?" The chief priests answered, "We have no king but Caesar."
16 Then he handed him over to them to be crucified.
Jesus was guilty ... but of what? As noted in a previous study, the one thing brought up in each of the gospels is the accusation that he claimed to be "king of the Jews". He also claimed to be the Christ. The charges really couldn't be made to stick such that they warranted the death sentence, but death is what awaited Jesus.
The Sentence: Crucifixion
St. John tells us Jesus "went out bearing his own cross" (John 19:17.) The synoptic gospels tell us he had assistance from a man from Cyre'ne named Simon. St. Luke adds one interesting detail mentioned in neither Mark nor Matthew: Simon carried the cross behind Jesus. Perhaps Luke was sharing this image with us to remind us of both the place and the cost of being a disciple. St. Mark not only mentions Simon; he tells us the names of Simon's two sons (Alexander and Rufus). Fr. Raymond Brown wonders if perhaps this family was known in the circle of Christians to and for whom his gospel is written. Could it be that Mark wants to acknowledge - perhaps memorialize - one of their own as playing a critical role in the final hours of Jesus' life?
There is a problem, however, with the idea of Simon carrying Jesus' cross. It was Roman practice, according to Plutarch, that "every wrongdoer who goes to execution carries his own cross to the execution site."
Another explanation for Simon carrying Jesus' cross is that following the beatings and torture, Jesus was too weak to do it himself. This would also explain why Jesus died so quickly as to cause an expression of surprise from Pilate (recorded only by Mark).
St. Luke alone tells us a "a great multitude of the people followed as Jesus made his way to Golgotha. And many women who bewailed and lamented him were also with him. But as Jesus speaks to them, he makes it clear that tears shed in sympathy won't remove one from what is to come. One is reminded of the "slaughter of the innocents" found in Matthew's gospel as part of the birth narrative. Weep not for me, says Jesus, but for your city, and for yourselves.
Where is "Golgotha"? While many, especially Evangelical Protestants, prefer to think of Gordon's Garden as the place of crucifixion and burial, attestation to the site is much stronger for the place now occupied by The Church of the Sepulcher. The Greek name for "Golgotha" is Kranion - a word from which the word cranium is derived. Whether the topography of the place looked like a skull, or the section of the city was simply called "the place of the skull", we are not certain.
Each gospel tells us Jesus was crucified between two others - "robbers" according to Mark and Matthew; "criminals" according to Luke. No specific reference to their crime or character is mentioned by John. Luke alone gives us the conversation between Jesus and the thief who comes to faith. That conversation has sparked much debate as to just what it means to be a follower of Jesus ... is faith at the last minute of life sufficient for salvation?
Crucifixion in the Roman world was a form of execution used only on slaves - it was not only a horrible physical punishment. It also signified the epitome of shame. This might explain the text in Paul's letter to the Philippians:
The method of crucifixion is uncertain. Were Jesus' hands and feet nailed to the cross, or just his hands? Was there a cross-beam or foot-rest upon which he could stand? Jesus died quickly on the cross, leading scholars to believe there was no foot-rest. We simply don't know all the details of the crucifixion. What we DO know is that it was a painful death associated with those whose actions merited both shame and pain in their dying.
Each evangelist gives us a different rendering of the words of Jesus as he was dying. Each "remembers" the event in ways that speak to their particular community; but it may well be that each in conversation with the other gives us a clearer understanding of what the Christian Community was like - what they hoped for, how they experienced their Savior, and what they both remembered and had come to believe as the first century after the birth of Jesus came to a close.
What does his crucifixion mean to you?
For a discussion of various methods used for crucifixion, this descriptive (graphic) article that appeared in the Expository Times (February, 1973) may be of interest.
The Verdict
Mark 15: 15 Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released for them Barab'bas; and having scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified.
Luke 23: 25 He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, whom they asked for; but Jesus he delivered up to their will.
John 19: 15 They cried out, "Away with him, away with him, crucify him!" Pilate said to them, "Shall I crucify your King?" The chief priests answered, "We have no king but Caesar."
16 Then he handed him over to them to be crucified.
Jesus was guilty ... but of what? As noted in a previous study, the one thing brought up in each of the gospels is the accusation that he claimed to be "king of the Jews". He also claimed to be the Christ. The charges really couldn't be made to stick such that they warranted the death sentence, but death is what awaited Jesus.
The Sentence: Crucifixion
St. John tells us Jesus "went out bearing his own cross" (John 19:17.) The synoptic gospels tell us he had assistance from a man from Cyre'ne named Simon. St. Luke adds one interesting detail mentioned in neither Mark nor Matthew: Simon carried the cross behind Jesus. Perhaps Luke was sharing this image with us to remind us of both the place and the cost of being a disciple. St. Mark not only mentions Simon; he tells us the names of Simon's two sons (Alexander and Rufus). Fr. Raymond Brown wonders if perhaps this family was known in the circle of Christians to and for whom his gospel is written. Could it be that Mark wants to acknowledge - perhaps memorialize - one of their own as playing a critical role in the final hours of Jesus' life?
There is a problem, however, with the idea of Simon carrying Jesus' cross. It was Roman practice, according to Plutarch, that "every wrongdoer who goes to execution carries his own cross to the execution site."
Another explanation for Simon carrying Jesus' cross is that following the beatings and torture, Jesus was too weak to do it himself. This would also explain why Jesus died so quickly as to cause an expression of surprise from Pilate (recorded only by Mark).
St. Luke alone tells us a "a great multitude of the people followed as Jesus made his way to Golgotha. And many women who bewailed and lamented him were also with him. But as Jesus speaks to them, he makes it clear that tears shed in sympathy won't remove one from what is to come. One is reminded of the "slaughter of the innocents" found in Matthew's gospel as part of the birth narrative. Weep not for me, says Jesus, but for your city, and for yourselves.
Where is "Golgotha"? While many, especially Evangelical Protestants, prefer to think of Gordon's Garden as the place of crucifixion and burial, attestation to the site is much stronger for the place now occupied by The Church of the Sepulcher. The Greek name for "Golgotha" is Kranion - a word from which the word cranium is derived. Whether the topography of the place looked like a skull, or the section of the city was simply called "the place of the skull", we are not certain.
Each gospel tells us Jesus was crucified between two others - "robbers" according to Mark and Matthew; "criminals" according to Luke. No specific reference to their crime or character is mentioned by John. Luke alone gives us the conversation between Jesus and the thief who comes to faith. That conversation has sparked much debate as to just what it means to be a follower of Jesus ... is faith at the last minute of life sufficient for salvation?
Crucifixion in the Roman world was a form of execution used only on slaves - it was not only a horrible physical punishment. It also signified the epitome of shame. This might explain the text in Paul's letter to the Philippians:
Philippians 2:7 He made himself nothing, by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likness. 8. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death - even death on a cross!
Each evangelist gives us a different rendering of the words of Jesus as he was dying. Each "remembers" the event in ways that speak to their particular community; but it may well be that each in conversation with the other gives us a clearer understanding of what the Christian Community was like - what they hoped for, how they experienced their Savior, and what they both remembered and had come to believe as the first century after the birth of Jesus came to a close.
What does his crucifixion mean to you?
For a discussion of various methods used for crucifixion, this descriptive (graphic) article that appeared in the Expository Times (February, 1973) may be of interest.
posted by Mark D at 5:14 PM
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