We call it Good Friday. Then we realize it is only Good because of the horrendous torment,suffering, and agony Jesus allowed himself to experience for us. I urge you to read this account of the horrid suffering Jesus underwent.
Chapter 41
Malchus, continued
Caiphas might be the cause of Yeshua’s crucifixion, but he refused to attend. I had once heard Caiphas say that only once had he attended a crucifixion. The dismemberment of the body by the beating even before being placed on the cross had sickened him. He told me that he could still remember the vile odor when he had thrown up all the contents from his stomach. The gross mixture of puke still gave him shivers when he thought about that incident. As his primary lackey, I needed to be his representative at the beating and crucifixion.
I found a bench inside the praetorium at Pilate’s castle to witness the scourging. This open courtyard would allow any blood, vomit, pee, or defecation by the bowels to be easily cleaned up. The Roman guards chosen to scourge the body were experts at bringing the human’s body to the point of death without ending life. Pain, agony, every fiber of the body screaming in torment was their goal.
In this early morning hour, a rugged experienced punisher would handle the whip from the left side of the body, but a new trainee would whip from the right side.
Stripped naked, Yeshua offered no complaint. Instead, He had a look of complete surrender. When they were ready to begin the beating, Yeshua looked my way. Was I right? Was he mouthing the words, “I forgive you?” It was an unsettling moment that made me want to abandon my post.
With Yeshua’s hands tied to the whipping post. The experienced punisher carefully chose his cat-of- nine tails whip. Interestingly, besides the balls of metal and sharp-edged rock, it had numerous sheep bones interspersed. The new trainee gathered his whip and took his position.
With the first crack of the punishers whip, my body jumped out of shock. In my time of witnessing this torture, I always experienced the jolt of the first crack. The sound of the whip digging into the skin plus the sharp cries of agony from the punished always made sleeping later difficult. I was not the one suffering, but never-the-less I internally sensed the agony.
As soon as the expert pulled his whip with rocks, stones, and bones from Yeshua’s body, the trainee followed through from the other side. Although it still dug into the body, the expert was irate. “You fool,” he yelled at the trainee. “Crack that whip into him. Dig deep or someone else will finish for you.”
For excruciating minutes the pattern followed. After five or six whips by the trainee, the expert told him, “Begin aiming for the areas already lacerated. I want to see exposed muscles or else.”
By now other guards are regularly dumping water on the floor to drain the blood and pieces of flesh that were carved out of the body. After a few more cords into the body, vulgarities filled the courtyard. Yeshua had emptied his bowels. The contents of the Passover meal lay at Yeshua’s feet. I had to leave. This was more than I could handle.
I only came back inside when I heard the centurion’s words, “Stop. That is enough. We don’t want him to die here. He is ready for a brief time on the cross before death.”
As the guards prepared for Yeshua’s walk to Golgotha, Pilate’s aide delivered the placard to hang from the cross, announcing the reason for the crucifixion. The sign read, “Yeshua, the Nazarene, the King of the Jews.” Riotous laughter filled the guards. One of the guards bowed down low in mockery, “Hail oh King.” Someone else grabbed a scarlet robe and another a crown of thorns. Dressed as an honored king, the derision of Yeshua continued. The guards were having fun.
Then the walk to Golgotha, “place of the skull” began. The cross for the execution was already in place, having been used before. Yeshua carried the crossbeam, weighing at least seventy-five pounds. As they started up the hill to his execution spot. I saw the extreme effort Yeshua was exerting to walk with the extra weight. We had gone only a few yards when Yeshua stumbled, was helped up and continued. Again, he stumbled. The third time, the centurion overseeing the guards grumbled at how slowly the attachment was moving. “Grab someone to carry the crossbeam,” He ordered.
Within minutes an able-bodied man, named Simon, was ordered to carry it. “Good, now we can get this over with,” replied the centurion.
As we walked, a crowd gathered out of curiosity. Some were verbally tormenting him, while some grief-stricken Israelites trailed behind. When reaching Golgotha, Yeshua was laid on the ground and bound to the crossbeam. Spikes were driven through his wrist and into the crossbeam. Using ropes, the crossbeam was lifted into place and nailed to the base. Finally, the feet were nailed to the cross. The sign announcing his crime was affixed. Within three hours after daybreak, the true agony of the cross began.
The two criminals crucified beside him, begged for more wine mixed with gall to deaden the pain, but Yeshua refused the drink.
As a reward for carrying out the crucifixion, Yeshua’s garments were divided among the soldiers, with a valuable inner garment being the main prize.
As he hung there, people came and went from the site. Some paused for a few minutes, while others stayed for longer voicing sick mockery. Some even yelled at Yeshua, “Look at you now. You said you were going to destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days. Well then, if you are the Son of God, save yourself and come down from the cross.” Many of the religious leaders seemed to take even greater delight in the tirade. “He saved others, but he can’t save himself.”
As I watched him hang there, Yeshua was scanning the crowd. Then his eyes homed in on a haggard looking man and the tear-filled woman standing next to him. Recognizing them, Yeshua cracked out a request for the Israelite to care for this woman. “Maybe, Yeshua’s mother?” I wondered.
For an estimated three hours, Yeshua hung on the cross. Suddenly darkness fell across the whole land. The effect was total fear! Eclipses had happened in the past causing panic, but this was different. Previously they ended in a few minutes and at least there was some light. This darkness did not cease and seeing others near me was difficult. The darkness lasted for longer than I thought possible.
Then I heard him call out with a loud voice, “My God, my God, why have You abandoned me?” Shortly thereafter, Yeshua quietly whispered, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” His head slumped down. His legs relaxed making it impossible for him to breathe, and I knew death had overcome his mortal body. It is finished.
As Yeshua said his last words, it was as though all of nature was revolting against the loss. An earthquake hit. Before my very eyes, leading to the Temple mount itself, the earth opened a huge fissure. The shock of the last moments reverberated in me. Never had I witnessed anything as unsettling. My thoughts were exactly those of the centurion overseeing the event, “Certainly this man was innocent.”
Yet my observation was not done. While the Jewish leaders asked that his legs be broken to confirm death, there was no need. It was clear that he had succumbed. For certainty, a sword was drawn by the centurion overseeing the event. He pierced deeply into the criminal’s side until blood and water drained out. Death was then certain. “Wow,” I thought, “He died with a broken heart.”
The events of the last eighteen hours left me shaken. I had come to oversee the death of a criminal. Instead, my entire being began questioning what I witnessed. I had no choice but to disappear before being consumed with guilt over my part in this brutality.
Matthew 27:27-56 Mark 15:16-47 Luke 23:26-49 John 19:16-37
The Journey 