CRUCIFIXION!

In my book, JESUS: THE FINAL JOURNEY, Chapter X1, I start with " ..what an ominous word!"  This was the method by which the Great God chose to kill His Son.

Why?

It is not only an excruciatingly way to die, but shameful, as well.  This was the method by which the Romans executed criminals and those accused of treason. The pretext used by Pontious Pilate, was that, because Jesus did not consider the Emperor a god, and instead insisted that there was only one God, He was sentenced to be crucified.

He went along witht he Jewish hierarchy, despite his apparent misgivings, so as to appease them and prevent further unrest.

Why shameful?

Hanging on a "pole "for the world to see was not the only shame attached.  In depictions of the crucifixion, we see Jesus modestly covered, but I believe that He actually hung on the 'cross" exposed to the world in all His nakedness..thus the "shame". 

 Why did God elect to have this happen?  Because by having His Son die in this manner, he was able to take on the sins of the world.  His crucifxion caused all sins and sinners to be justified.. blameless.

In my book, I went further to describe Jesus' time and what He experienced in some detail. I believed  death came from asphyxiation, but there have been a number of causes postulated, for instance death include cardiovascular, respiratory, metabolic, and psychological pathology.

In my one-man play ROAD TO BETHANY, The Passion Play, in which I portray Jesus, I actually "ascend the cross", and hang there for several minutes. My intention is to give people a small idea of what our Lord experienced.  It was oftentimes very effective..I witnessed tears.  

We should remember that, not only did Jesus suffer pain egregiously, He was made to experience all of the  sins of mankind, during those excruciating hours.  So, here was a man, without sin, made to experience all of our sins, as though He had committed murder, adultery, et al.

Paul goes on to explain why the majority of Jews would not accept Jesus as the Messiah, because He was crucified, saying".. Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block." They coudn't accept that the  Messiah, the Savior of the World would allow Himself to be be killed in such a shameful way.

But we know that the execution was not by His choice.  He did not choose to commit suicide. It was the will of the Father, for the good of Mankiind.

Paul reminds us that,  as Jesus was crucified, so we were too.  He teaches us that, as  part of Jesus' body, we have experienced what He has.  So, in practice we should live our lives as though "dead" to the "world". Our lot is not of this world.  Our's is to be in the Heavens and we should conduct our daily life accordingly..as Jesus would..paulnbob