WHAT WAS CRUCIFIXION?

This examination of crucifixion has been part of our Easter devotions for some years.  It provides a quite different emphasis on the more traditional view that Jesus was treated like a "common criminal".  We hope it stirs fresh appreciation in you too!

Crucifixion was not practised in the OT.  But bodies were hung on a tree as a warning sometimes (lit. impaled on a pole); [eg. Deut 21:22 Jos 10:26].

In Roman times, crucifixion was a symbol of humiliation, reserved for rebellious slaves and the lowest class of criminals.  Roman citizens could not be crucified; hence Peter was, but Paul was beheaded.  It was especially the fate of insurrectionists (the film Spartacus brought this out, where the bodies were allowed to rot on crosses all the way along the main roads leading into Rome as a public reminder of how Roman rule treated all those who rebelled against the authority of the State).

Those sentenced to be crucified were stripped naked, flogged with a cat o’ nine tails (to weaken them), then they carried the cross (bar) outside the walls (always - to symbolise the community’s rejection of them and what they stood for - namely, disturbance of the society’s, and ruling authorities’, stable structure).  There they were laid down, and their arms or hands tied (or nailed, if death was to be hastened) to the crossbar.  This was dropped in place on the erect (permanent) pole.  A small seat of wood enabled the prisoner to sit sideways, while his ankles were tied or nailed (sideways, usually with one big nail) to the upright pole.  His feet were slightly off the ground (but not high up as usually portrayed in Christian folk art).  There, they died slowly, usually over several days, from hunger, shock, and exhaustion - a vivid reminder of the fate awaiting anyone who defied the Roman authorities.

INSURRECTIONISTS IN THE ROMAN WORLD

The Romans had taken away from the Jews the right to capital punishment.  The Romans reserved this cruellest type of execution especially for those involved in some form of rebellion against the Roman Authorities.

Palestine burned with anger against the occupying Roman Authorities, and their local representatives.  From time to time, there were popular uprisings, which produced folk heroes (not unlike Robin Hood).  Such movements particularly influenced Galilee, a less sophisticated region than Judea .

This helps explain, in part, the crowds’ response to Jesus’ miraculous ministry.  They saw him as a potential alternative leader to the hated Romans and their representatives [eg.  John 6:14-15].

Some biblical examples of insurrectionists around the 1stC are;

Theudas

Acts 5:35-36 Nothing is known of Theudas outside the biblical record.  Note the context that Gamaliel likens the Apostles to followers of other insurrection leaders [5:29-33].

The Zealots.

Acts 5:37 Judas the Galilean founded the Zealot Party in AD6.  It began at the time of a Roman census.  He opposed payment of tribute to Caesar as treason against God - Israel’s true King.  He followed the example of the Maccabees (167-164BC) when they threw off Antiochus Epiphanes IV’s yoke of oppression.  Two of his sons were crucified by the procurator, Alexander, in AD46.  The Zealots led the resistance against Titus in AD66-73, before they were finally overrun at Masada, committing mass suicide rather than surrendering to the Romans.

Simon, one of the 12 apostles, was almost certainly a member of this Party [Mat 10:4].

The Egyptian False Prophet

Acts 21:38 Josephus says this insurrectionist led a fanatical group of extremist Zealots - (lit) “dagger-men”, who concealed daggers and murdered enemies of Israel.  He led 4000 of them out of Jerusalem to the Mount of Olives in revolt, where the Romans killed hundreds of them.

Barabbas

John 18:39b-40  Luke 23:18-19  lit = “son of the father”.  What irony!  Mat 27:15-18,20-22.  He led a popular uprising in Jerusalem (lit = an eminent prisoner), and was no doubt a hero to the people - a Robin Hood-type hero - resisting the hated Romans.  The Pharisees played on his popularity with the people to get rid of Jesus. 

So, when the crowd yelled, “Crucify him (Jesus)”, they were acknowledging Him as an insurrectionist (rather than trying to stone Him).  The people were already aware that a crucifixion was imminent for Barabbas.  It is highly probable that the post Jesus was lifted up on, was in place already reserved for Barabbas (see note following on who the other two crucified ones probably were).  Crucifixions were not a regular event in  Jerusalem.

Jesus literally died in Barabbas’s place!

1stC VIEW OF DEVIANCE

Mediterranean societies viewed any threat to the prevailing status quo as being deviant.  Jesus’ claims (especially when He talked of His coming Kingdom) seriously threatened both Jewish secular and religious, and Roman authority structures.  Although He made no move to proclaim Himself a secular leader, He was continually challenged to declare Himself [Mat 26:55].  [1]

So, the Sanhedrim saw Jesus, and later, the Apostles, as deviant [Acts 5;20,29-32 >>> 5:33-37].  They interpreted them as common insurrectionists.  Similarly, Herod interpreted the Magi’s statements as a threat to the status quo [Mat 2:2,13].

Pilate interviewed Jesus on this basis too.  His questions sought to determine His potential threat to the Roman authority [Luke 23:2-3].  He satisfied himself it was out of envy that the Jewish leaders were trying to get him to kill Jesus.  Jesus had made no effort to mount a military presence [John 18:33,36].  Nevertheless, he deliberately mocked Jesus’ declaration of kingship [Luke 23:38]....  He was publicly stating, “this is what we Romans do to ‘kings’!”

Finally, the Jewish leaders declared their loyalty to the status quo (hypocritically) by declaring they had no other king but Caesar [John 19:15].

TWO MORE INSURRECTIONISTS

These were crucified with Jesus [Mat 27:37-38].  The Romans didn’t crucify robbers.  (As in Communist Russia and China, those who threatened the security of the State were viewed as the most dangerous criminals, because they threatened the corporate safety of society, not just the personal safety of an individual).  They were most likely two of Barabbas’s henchmen.  The three crosses had been prepared for them with Barabbas.  Initially, they both heaped insults on Him [Mark 15:32]. 

What about the description (in the KJV) of them being "thieves"?  Refer to the footnote for the difference between a kleptes (thief), and a leistes (robber) as used in the NT for the crucified two [2].

One repented later, as he watched how Jesus conducted Himself in the wake of such unjust dealings [Luke 23:39-43].  One asked Jesus if He was the true deliverer of Israel (cf. his leader, Barabbas).  The other had a revelation of the true Kingdom of God, and was given a promise of immediate entry!

APPLICATION TODAY

We are asked to take up our cross (bar) daily and follow Christ (outside the city).  That’s an insurrectionist profession!  We will be viewed as deviant to the status quo.  We have declared our intention to follow our Leader, and defy “the god of this world”, knowing he will seek to eliminate us.  Denying our “self”, we can cut off his evil influence and become agents of change to usher in the Kingdom that swallows up all the “kingdoms of this world”!

APPENDIX

Shifting From Shame to Triumph in History

It took time for the church to come to terms with the ignominy of the cross.  Church fathers forbade its depiction in art until the reign of Constantine, who had seen a vision of the cross, and then banned it as a means of execution.  According to historian Michael Grant, Constantine had little interest in the person of Jesus Himself and found the crucifixion an embarrassment.  In a remarkable piece of irony, seeing "the cross not so much as an emblem of suffering but as a magic totem confirming his own victoriousness," Constantine transformed the cross from a symbol of sacrificial love and humiliation into a symbol of triumph - he had it painted on the shields of his soldiers.  Thus, not until the 4thC did the cross become a symbol of the faith.  As C. S. Lewis pointed out, the crucifixion did not become common in art until those who had seen the real one died off.  (The Jesus I Never Knew - Yancey p202).

Extract from Holman Bible Dictionary

Historical Development: Originally a cross was a wooden pointed stake used to build a wall or to erect fortifications around a town.  Beginning with the Assyrians and Persians, it began to be used to display the heads of captured foes or of particularly heinous criminals on the palisades above the gateway into a city.  Later crucifixion developed into a form of capital punishment, as enemies of the state were impaled on the stake itself.  The Greeks and Romans at first reserved the punishment only for slaves, saying it was too barbaric for freeborn or citizens.  By the first century, however, it was used for any enemy of the state, though citizens could only be crucified by direct edict of Caesar.  As time went on, the Romans began to use crucifixion more and more as a deterrent to criminal activity, so that by Jesus’ time it had become a more common sight (in Roman occupied territories).

The eastern form of crucifixion was practiced in the Old Testament.  Saul was decapitated and his body displayed on a wall by the Philistines (1 Sam.  31:9-10), and the “hanging” of Esther 2:23;  5:14 may mean impalement (compare Ezra 6:11).  According to Jewish law (Deut.  21:22-23), the offenders were “hung on a tree,” which meant they were “accursed of God” and outside the covenant people.  Such criminals were to be removed from the cross before nightfall lest they “defile the land.”  During the intertestamental period, the western form was borrowed when Alexander Janneus crucified 800 Pharisees (76 BC), but on the whole the Jews condemned and seldom used the method.  Even Herod the Great refused to crucify his enemies.  The practice was abolished after the “conversion” of the emperor of Constantine to Christianity.

A person crucified in Jesus’ day was first of all scourged (beaten with a whip consisting of thongs with pieces of metal or bone attached to the end) or at least flogged until the blood flowed.  This was not just done out of cruelty but was designed to hasten death and lessen the terrible ordeal.  After the beating, the victim was forced to bear the crossbeam to the execution site in order to signify that life was already over and to break the will to live.  A tablet detailing the crime(s) was often placed around the criminal’s neck and then fastened to the cross.  At the site, the prisoner was often tied (the normal method) or nailed (if a quicker death was desired) to the crossbeam.  The nail would be driven through the wrist rather than the palm, since the smaller bones of the hand could not support the weight of the body.  The beam with the body was then lifted and tied to the already affixed upright pole.  Pins or a small wooden block were placed halfway up to provide a seat for the body lest the nails tear open the wounds or the ropes force the arms from their sockets.  Finally, the feet were tied or nailed to the post.  Death was caused by the loss of blood circulation and coronary failure.  Especially if the victims were tied, it could take days of hideous pain as the extremities turned slowly gangrenous; so, often the soldiers would break the victims legs with a club, causing massive shock and a quick death.  Such deaths were usually done in public places, and the body was left to rot for days, with carrion birds allowed to degrade the corpse further.

STANDARD ROMAN Crucifixion
[Mat 27:16]  At that time they had a notorious prisoner, called Barabbas.

Barabbas (= son of the father) a popular insurrection leader.  1 "NOTORIOUS":  1978. episemos, from G1909 and some form of the base of G4591; remarkable, i.e. (fig.) eminent:--notable, of note.  a Ned Kelly kind of brigand!

[Mat 27:38]  Two robbers were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left.  [44]  In the same way the robbers who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him.

3027  lestes - one who deprives another of his property openly and by violence  cf, a kleptes does his work in a secret manner so he won't be detected.  Violence is the characteristic of a lestes; stealth of a kleptes (Judas was a kleptes)  (WSD).

But, robbers weren't normally crucified.  These two were most likely brigands - followers of Barabbas in his revolt  Mat 27:16  and were about to be crucified on either side of their leader.  He is called a lestes in  John 18:40  (cf. Mark 15:7).

[Mark 15:6-15]  Now it was the custom at the Feast to release a prisoner whom the people requested.  A man called Barabbas was in prison with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the uprising.  The crowd came up and asked Pilate to do for them what he usually did.  "Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?" asked Pilate, knowing it was out of envy that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him.  But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have Pilate release Barabbas instead.  "What shall I do, then, with the one you call the king of the Jews?" Pilate asked them.  "Crucify him!" they shouted.  "Why? What crime has he committed?" asked Pilate. But they shouted all the louder, "Crucify him!"  Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.

The connection between a lestes (openly violent bad person who takes property) and an insurrectionist is seen here.  Barabbas is described as both [insurrectionist - 4955. sustasiastes, from a comp. of G4862 and a der. of G4714; (to rise up together) a fellow-insurgent:--make insurrection with.].

A 'den of robbers' was a common idea in Palestine where the many caves afforded shelter and cover for leistes. Some of these robbers in Palestine were really zealots in rebellion against the Roman authority, so that there was an element of misplaced patriotism and even religion in their proceedings.  Josephus identified robbers with zealots.  The leistes (including the penitent one on the cross next to Jesus) may have been a person turned insurgent for some presumed righteous cause. Word Study Dictionary note.

[Luke 23:18-25]  With one voice they cried out, "Away with this man! Release Barabbas to us!" (Barabbas had been thrown into prison for an insurrection in the city, and for murder.)  Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate appealed to them again.  But they kept shouting, "Crucify him! Crucify him!"  For the third time he spoke to them: "Why? What crime has this man committed? I have found in him no grounds for the death penalty. Therefore I will have him punished and then release him."  But with loud shouts they insistently demanded that he be crucified, and their shouts prevailed.  So Pilate decided to grant their demand.  He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, the one they asked for, and surrendered Jesus to their will.

[Luke 23:32-43]  Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed.  When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him, along with the criminals--one on his right, the other on his left.  Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.  The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, "He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One."  The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar and said, "If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself."  There was a written notice above him, which read: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.  One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: "Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!"  But the other criminal rebuked him. "Don't you fear God," he said, "since you are under the same sentence?  We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong."  Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."  Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."

Criminals....  2557. kakourgos, from G2556 (kakos - bad) and the base of G2041 (ergon - to work); a wrong-doer, i.e. criminal:--evil-doer, malefactor.   Both Matthew 27:38-44 and Mark 15:27 use the word lestai (plunderers) of these two men.  While John calls them and their leader Barabbas insurrectionists  (John 18:40).

Refer to lengthy note at  Mark 15:7 for connection between criminal, violent robber (leistes), and insurgent (sustasiastes).

[John 18:39-40]  But it is your custom for me to release to you one prisoner at the time of the Passover. Do you want me to release 'the king of the Jews'?"  They shouted back, "No, not him! Give us Barabbas!" Now Barabbas had taken part in a rebellion.

John 18:40:  Barabbas was not a common thief.  lestes = "robber" cf kleptes who is one who does his work in a secret manner so they will not be discovered (Judas was a kleptes  John 12:6).  A lestes has the characteristic of violence while stealth is the mark of a kleptes.  Judas did no violence to anyone, stealing secretly.  Barabbas was a leistes.

[John 19:1-11]  Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged.  The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe  and went up to him again and again, saying, "Hail, king of the Jews!" And they struck him in the face.  Once more Pilate came out and said to the Jews, "Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him."  When Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, Pilate said to them, "Here is the man!"  As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him, they shouted, "Crucify! Crucify!" But Pilate answered, "You take him and crucify him. As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him."  The Jews insisted, "We have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God."  When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid, and he went back inside the palace. "Where do you come from?" he asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer.  "Do you refuse to speak to me?" Pilate said. "Don't you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?"  Jesus answered, "You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin."

[John 19:19-22]  Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS.  Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek.  The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, "Do not write 'The King of the Jews,' but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews."  Pilate answered, "What I have written, I have written."

So, two followers of an insurrectionist, attempting to overthrow the civic order, found themselves being executed alongside another insurrectionist, who was bringing in a new order too – by different means than armed resistance.  One recognised this (as did Pilate in his own way), admitted to the justice of his own fate, and surrendered himself to the authority of a dying King….  With eternal consequences!

And what of Barabbas?  About to die between his henchmen; then suddenly released?  Jesus died in his place.  Did Barabbas run away immediately?  I wonder…  Or perhaps he went up to Golgotha and watched his loyal followers as they hung on their crosses.  There would not have been a day for the rest of is life that he didn’t think about these amazing events and how an innocent man was substituted for him in taking the punishment for his guilty rebellion.