RELECTIONS ON THE PASSION AND DEATH OF JESUS

Let us Pray:
“We adore you O Lord and we bless you, because of your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world.”
… 6 Mode of Crucifixion
As we have already seen there was no fixed type of cross, and likewise, the way they were crucified depended on the spur of the moment, just the way they fancied a way how to go about it. Some were crucified with their hands and legs tied on top of their head and suspended; others had their hands bound and their legs nailed. In the case of Jesus both arms (not hands), and feet were nailed.

                                                                         
 

Against the common belief, Jesus could not have had His hands nailed from the centre of the palm…it would have torn away with the weight. According to the studies of ‘The Shroud’, the nails passed just below the palm of the hand, in the wrist wounding the Median Nerve which, besides causing great pain, the fingers twisted inwards. The nails used were about 5 to 7 inches long (13 to 18cm). The head of the nail was only 1cm square, so it was very possible that who was hammering in the nail would have missed the head and hit the arm of the poor fellow being crucified.

                                                                 

On top of the ‘stipes’, the upright, they used to fix the ‘TITULUS’, a piece of wood with the name of the crucified person, and the crime committed. In the case of Jesus, there was His name: Jesus of Nazareth; and the cause of His crucifixion. Here we have a clear proof, if any is needed, how God works. God used the decision of a pagan governor for the accomplishment of the prophecy.

Yes, Pilate certainly knew what he was doing; he had a chance to hit back at the Jews and the Jewish leaders, who, if you remember had threatened to report him to Caesar, saying that Caesar was their only king. Now, Pilate is calling their bluff, knowing that the Jews were not happy under Caesar, so he declared, in an official way, that this Rabbi, Jesus was their true King, which, in fact He was, and still IS.      

                                                             MODEL

When they protested to Pilate he simply answered: “O gegrapha, gegrapha”, meaning, “What I have written, I have written.”

Let us meditate, and think…I should have been the one to be nailed to the cross, because it is I who have committed so many sins, not Jesus. Jesus took my place. Do I ever stop to THANK the Lord Jesus for taking my place … whilst I keep on sinning.
Thank you, Jesus, help me to appreciate, not by paying lip service, BUT by stopping from sinning and offending YOU.
“We adore you O Lord and we bless you, because of your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world.”

     
… /7