Mar 31, 2012

Good Friday - The Act of Crucifixion

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In our calender year we normally have 52 or 53 Fridays since 52 weeks make a year. The next Friday falling on 6th of April 2012 is identified as 'Good Friday' from all the rest of the Fridays. The Christian significance of this day is established by the degree of vehemence that possesed the entire Jewish Nation(except a very few) in the act of Crucifixion of Jesus also known as Christ. The event is recorded by the Historians of two nations, the ruling Roman empire and the colonized Jewish nation. Crucifixion of Jesus is therefore an undeniable and undisputable fact. 

Normally the first Sunday after the fir- st full moon after the ve- rnal equinox, as calculated according to tables based in Western churches on the Gregorian calendar and in Orthodox churches on the Julian calendar, around March 20 is Easter Sunday and the Friday leading to Easter Sunday is known as 'Good Friday'. 

The act of crucifixion is packed with cruelty of highest kind.  The Jewish Elders demanded Crucifixion of Jesus and since the Romans were ruling, for a life-sentence  they had to seek the permission of the Roman Authority.

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Since Jesus was a Galiliean, Pilate sent him to Herod who was ruler of Galilee. Herod did not find any crime in Jesus and so sent him back to Pilate for necessary action. Pilate was the Prefect of the whole province of Judea.  Now scourging of prisoners was a separate form of punishment which consisted of flagellating the prisoner with a short, heavy whip made of leather thongs with lead balls at the end of each thong. According to the tradition 40 lashes would kill the victim and so 40 lashes was counted as Death sentence. Pilate the then Governor over the Jewish nation like Herod the ruler, understood that Jesus was not a criminal and that he had done nothing to deserve Crucifixion. He knew that Jesus had done good works for the community but the Jewish elders were pressing for his blood just because Jesus claimed Godship or Divinity! Pilate being a political person played  the situation wisely and he ordered 39 lashes thus appearing merciful. (The Jews under the Roman ruling knew the Traditions of Romans yet kept their fingers crossed for they wanted to ascertain the Death of Jesus). With 39 Lashes death was certain and yet it fell short of 40, thus Pilate would be seen as an able Commander, wisely settling the uprising in the whole nation of Israel. We have a saying that goes 'Be wise so that the stick will not break and the snake will also die'. Thus you remain free of being labled as Harsh and wicked and at the same time acheiving the target of appeasement. Pilate thought to work out the uprising for his highest gain since for him Jesus's living or Jesus's death had no significance. Pilate also had a family situation as his wife had a dream of Jesus and she advised Pilate  not to have the blood of Jesus upon his hands since Jesus was a good man. (We all know the fairer sex and how they are driven by the abstracts!) Thus Pilate had to attend the wishes of his wife and yet accumulate mileage on his political agenda. Thus we see that Pilate very wisely negotiated the 3 pronged situation for his own benefit.

But the Jews pressed on for the Crucifixion of Jesus. According to tradition during the time of Holy feast a Criminal on Death row would be freed by popular acclaim. The Jews wanted to do away with Jesus at all costs. Thus they  did not want to wait for the probable death of Jesus by result of the flogging (To everybody's amazement including that of Pilate's,  Jesus survived and lived thru the ordeal of 39 lashes) When Pilate declared that he nor Herod had found any reason to commit Jesus to be Crucified, the Jews were left with no choice but to take shelter in their Jewish Tradition of "popular acclaim'. From the death row prisioners the Jews demanded the release of  very hardened criminal called Barabas. The whole assembly shouted 'crucify Jesus, away with him, crucify Jesus'. Pilate then asked the assembly as to whom should he release, Barrabas the criminal or Jesus who is called Christ? The crowd responded vehemently 'Crucify Jesus, release Barrabas and added that the blood of Jesus be upon their heads and the heads of their children. 

Pilate then ordered a bowl of water to wash his hands in front of the assembly signifying that he is innocent of the blood of Jesus and that he had nothing to do personally with the Death sentence of Jesus by way of the Cross. Pilate ordered the release of Barrabas the hardened criminal on death row and gave Jesus away to the Jewish authorities to do with him as per their demands. 

The Cross, the instrument of execution, consisted of two beams of wood called the stipes and the patibulum. The stipes - is the upright beam which remained implanted in the ground at the place of execution. The patibulum or crossbeam was carried across the shoulders of the prisoner to the execution site. This crossbeam generally weighed approximately 110 pounds. He then is laid on the ground. The prisoner's wrists were nailed to each end of the patibulum by iron spikes five to seven inches long. These spikes were driven in by hammer through the median nerve as the prisoner's arms were stretched wide across the beam. The arms were not stretched utterly tight; a small amount of flexibility and movement was allowed to better enable the hanging process. The sufferer, nailed to the crossbar is hoisted up so that the crossbeam can be attached to the vertical stipes. A sign called atitulus is placed at the top of the crossbeam which identifies the prisoner.The sign Pilate wrote read : 'Jesus the King of the Jews' was placed on the Cross of Jesus Christ.

Now with the criminal's left foot pressed behind the right, another spike is driven through the arches and heels going through the lower portion of the upright beam. The knees are slightly bent; the body is turned unnaturally sideways. The prisoner is allowed a small seat, called a sedile, a small board attached to the cross. It offered little assistance, actually causing more pain as the person attempted to actually sit on it. The process of exhaling becomes very difficult for it requires the prisoner to lift up his body. The life of the crucifed is prolonged by few hours till the torture finally kills him. Normaly to reduce the suffering of the criminal the legs are broken so then the prisoner dies of suffocation. Jesus was crucified between two other  criminals, one on the right and the other to the left of Jesus. Since the next day was a Holy Day for the Jews called 'Passover Sabaath', the Jews asked the Roman Soldeirs to break the legs of the Criminals hanging on the Cross. To the surprise of the soldiers they found that Jesus had already died and so they did not break the legs of Jesus but they broke the legs of the other two. The significance of the Death of Jesus is the fulfilling of the prophecy that no bones of the Lamb of God are broken and that Jesus being VERY God, his life cannot be taken by any other agency. Only God has the authority to take up life and to lay down life. Jesus proved divinity by taking up life thru virgin birth. In death Jesus endured the 39 lashes and falsified the Roman tradition to the extent of carrying his own cross to the place of crucifixion about 0.6 Kms away! He then endured the nails in his hands and feet, promised Paradise to one of the criminal who asked for his favor, asked one of his beloved disciples to take care of his mother and in all Jesus lived  about 6 hours on the Cross before he laid down or gave up his life.

Natural events like earthquake and darkness covering the face of the earth from 12PM to 3PM in the afternoon are note worthy and yet all of these put together makes the Friday a Good Friday, for Jesus laid his life down for us and only thru him and only in him can mankind walk the paths to paradise!


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