June 27, 2014.
“So he delivered him over to them to be crucified.So they took Jesus, and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them.”
(John 19:16-18)
What do you think about when you think about the crucifixion? I would imagine that you picture a very gory scene (as it undoubtably was) with whips made of bon shards and the blood stained cross. But why? Have you ever asked that question? Probably not. At least, I know I didn’t ask that question, until I heard someone bring it up.
Have you noticed that in the gospels, the crucifixion, while accurate and cohesive, doesn’t over dramatize the crucifixion. Most of what we think about when it comes to the death of Jesus comes from external sources than the bible. If you look at the passage above, you see that John simply writes “there they crucified him.” He does go in to it a little more later on, but not to the level that we see it depicted today. Honestly, it was probably a sore spot for the disciples.
Why do we know the crucifixion the way we do? It is probable due to the Catholic Church. In medieval times, it was not out of the ordinary for the church to use scare tactics to get a point across. Blood and gore were go to subjects to keep people in order and under subjection. However, due to this subjugation, we remember the crucifixion in all its gore.
Is this bad? I don’t think it is necessarily bad, but I do believe it can take away from a few things. The first of these things is the resurrection. Yes, Jesus died a horrible death, hanging on the cross for hours until he was too weak to push up for air. But the point of Christianity is not his death. The point is His resurrection. If Jesus had not been raised from the dead, He would not have the power over death, and thus could not promise us resurrection in the time to come. But He did. And we call Him Lord, for that He is. This is the point.
So, while it is alright to think about the circumstance of His death, it is more important to focus on the resurrection. The entirety of the bible points to this pivotable point in history. Let us not forget that His resurrection gives us the hope of our own in the end.
Suggested Daily Reading: Matthew 27, Mark 15, Luke 23, John 19.
Grace and peace.
-Walter
Twenty Eight Eighteen 
Actually, I think if pain, lots of pain and have thought of the “why” as in why did he have to go through all that pain and could there not have been another way. Unfortunately, I suppose that back then and even now today, it has to be like this for people to actually pay attention to an event and make it important in their minds. There has to be gore, pain and all the drama before people actually get it, and then sometimes, they don’t get it at all. This is just a sad commentary about humans, sad and barbaric.