ROMAN SOLDIERS CRUCIFY JESUS AT CALVARY

MATTHEW 27:27–56; MARK 15:16–41; LUKE 23:33–49; JOHN 19:17–37

Jesus was severely scourged by the Roman soldiers in preparation for his crucifixion. The Romans did this by using a flagellum—a crude whip made from a wooden handle and leather straps. Metal balls and pieces of bone were affixed to the straps so the lashes would tear deeply into the flesh.34 The scourging was part of the torture associated with the execution and was designed to diminish the resistance of the one being crucified.35 When Pilate’s soldiers finished mocking Jesus, they led him away to be crucified. Initially, Jesus carried his cross (John 19:17), but later Roman soldiers forced Simon, a man passing by, to carry it (Mark 15:21). When they finally arrived at the place of execution, the soldiers nailed Jesus to the cross with the written charge fixed above his head: “JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS” (John 19:19). These are the events that brought Jesus to the place of the Skull or Golgotha,36 where he died as the sacrificed Lamb of God.

Two locations in Jerusalem, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and Gordon’s Calvary, are recognized as possible locations of the crucifixion and burial site of Jesus.37 A visit to either spot helps us understand that Jesus was crucified in a cemetery, along a public roadway, and on a cross for a reason.

First we note that Jesus was executed in a cemetery (John 19:41). Contact with the deceased and with a cemetery made one ritually unclean by Jewish reckoning. The Romans knew this, and they executed Jews in a cemetery because it added another layer of indignity to an already undignified death. Thus it was no accident that Jesus was crucified in a cemetery to further humiliate him and desecrate the Jewish tombs in the area.

Illustration of crucifixion on an olive tree.
© Dr. James C. Martin. Illustration by Timothy Ladwig.

Model of Golgotha (in the location of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher), outside the city wall of Jerusalem during the Gospel period.

Second, we note that this humiliation took place in a very public setting because Jesus was crucified alongside a public roadway. The Romans chose such public thoroughfares rather than remote locations because they wanted crucifixion, in all its horror, to act as a deterrent to future crime. So they crucified Jesus where an audience might gather. This meant his enemies had easy access to taunt and mock him. “Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, ‘You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God’” (Matt. 27:39–40). This verbal abuse was a fulfillment of the prophecy of Psalm 22, where the Lord said that the Messiah would face exactly the kind of treatment and hear exactly the language that Matthew reports (cf. Ps. 22:7–8; Matt. 27:39–43). Ironically, those who had wished to demean Jesus were actually validating his claim to be Messiah by fulfilling the prophecy of Psalm 22. All of this happened as Jesus was crucified alongside a public roadway.

Mosaic floor representing the Temple veil.
© Dr. James C. Martin. The Israel Museum.

Finally we note that Jesus died on a cross.38 This form of capital punishment was particularly reserved for those found guilty of treason against the Roman Empire, designed to shame and humiliate them.39 What is more, it carried a negative connotation within the Jewish culture: to be executed in this way was to be under God’s curse (Deut. 21:22–23). In many ways it appears to be a contradiction of the first order that the Messiah, God’s Son, should die in this way. But Paul helps us see that even Jesus’s death on the cross was part of the purpose of the Messiah: “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree’” (Gal. 3:13).

The Roman soldiers crucified Jesus at Calvary for a reason. There the Roman government could kill him in a cemetery in order to desecrate Jewish tombs, alongside a public roadway for a warning to others, and on a cross to undermine his claim to be the King of the Jews.

Traditional locations of Golgotha