DEATH ON CALVARY

Nailed to the cross, Jesus endured for three hours the ignominious and agonizing tortures of crucifixion, with a placard above His head, to the mortification of the Jews but insisted upon by Pilate, proclaiming Him as “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.”

Seven of His utterances from the cross have been preserved for us. He prayed for the forgiveness of His persecutors; promised paradise to the repentant thief who, together with another criminal, was crucified beside Him; entrusted His Mother to the care of St. John; expressed His own mental and bodily distress in the cry: “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me,” and in the words: “I thirst”; and then, after declaring that all had been “accomplished,” His final, strong and confident declaration: “Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit.”

So, at 3 p.m., on that Friday afternoon, Jesus died.

Nature itself paid the tribute His own people had refused. The sun was darkened, whilst the earth quaked, rending the Veil of the Temple and splitting open the tombs. The Jews were terrified and fled, beating their breasts. Even the Roman centurion exclaimed: “Indeed this man was the Son of God.”

The High Priests were not less terrified by these things than the others, but they were obsessed by yet another and greater fear. Jesus had said that He would rise again on the third day. They did not believe it possible; but they were determined to take precautions against any removal of His body by His disciples, with a subsequent claim that the prophecy had been fulfilled.

At sunset the Sabbath would begin. They must get everything done by then. At their request, the Roman soldiers hastened the death of the two thieves by breaking their legs; but when they came to Jesus, they found Him already dead. Still, to make sure, a soldier thrust a spear into His side. The bodies were taken down, and Pilate granted permission to Joseph of Arimathea to give honorable burial to that of Jesus. One concession he made to the Jewish priests. They could seal the stone at the entrance to the vault, and get Roman guards to remain on watch until after the third day, preventing any interference with it.