GOLGOTHA

Three out of the four gospels refer to the place that is known as Jesus' execution ground as Golgotha, that is "Skull Hill" (Matthew 27:33, Mark 15:22, and John 19:17). There only one account in the New Testament that Jesus' execution is referred to as Calvary and you can find it in Luke 23:23. Both of these words (Golgotha and Skull Hill) are speaking about the same place. Golgotha is the directly outside the Jerusalem city walls. This "Place of the Skull" is Greek, and Calvary is Latin. Some says it got its name from its appearance as a skull and some says because it was a place of execution, but regardless of how it got its name it will always hold a place in the hearts of Christians as a place of importance.

After Jesus agonizes in the Garden of Gethsemane, Judas arrives with a great crowd that was sent by the Jewish leaders. Judas had told them to arrest the man that he greets. All in the Bible you see examples of people being betrayed. Example: Cain betrayed Abel and killed him. Absalom betrayed his father David and tried to have him killed. Jehu betrayed Joram and killed him. Servants betrayed Joash and killed him. Now Judas betrays Jesus. The mob lead Jesus to the home of Caiaphas, the High Priest. They met there because they was in a hurry to complete Jesus' trial and see His death before the Sabbath.

The next morning, the chief priests and the Jewish leaders met again, because they wanted to get the Roman government involve in sentencing Jesus to death. So they sent Him to Pilate, the Roman governor. The religious leaders had to involve the Roman government because they did not have the authority to do it themselves. The Romans had taken away the religious leaders authority to inflict capital punishment. Jesus stands trial before Pilate. Then Pilate sentenced Jesus to be crucified. He was forced to carry His own heavy cross, but as the procession nears the gate, He succumbs to exhaustion and falls to the ground, unable to carry the load of the cross. The cross is then forced upon Cyrene (in Africa Simon was his name).

The soldiers threw dice to divide Jesus' clothes among themselves. The soldiers customarily took the clothing of those they crucified. This was fulfilling the prophecy in Psalm 22:18, "They divide my garments among them and cast lots fro my clothing." They put a sign above His head that read, "This is Jesus, the King of the Jews." That afternoon the whole earth was covered in darkness from the sixth hour to the ninth hour. About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" When Jesus cried out again, he gave up his spirit" (Matthew 27:50).

Our Lord Jesus had been executed. He died as a criminal among criminals. This form of execution was not only shameful, but excruciating painful. No, this was not a mistake that Jesus was born, and when and how He died. God chose the cross before the world was ever created. The cross was the only death that could reflect the wrath of God for our sins. Hanging on that old rugged cross, naked and humiliated, our Lord suffered the most painful death known to the world. The pain He suffered is beyond description. Not only did Jesus bare our pain, when the soldiers gave him drugged wine to drink, He refused it. Jesus wasn’t going to allow anything to numb His pain. I dare anyone to say that Jesus doesn’t understand my pain!

We have no idea the incredible torture a person went through when they were crucified. In my research about crucifixion I have read that in ancient days the cross was thrown on the ground. The condemn is placed on the wood, normally looking like a "T". The crucifer feels for the depression at the front of the wrist. He drives a heavy wrought-iron nail through the wrist and deep into the wood. He then moves to the other side of the cross and repeats his action. The left foot is pressed against the right foot, and through both feet, a nail is driven through them. The cross is then lifted into place and dropped into the dug hole, thus tearing the tendons of the wrist and feet.

This is what a doctor says what happens when someone is crucified. As soon as the cross is upright, the body starts sagging from the weight of the body and the nails in the wrist causes excruciating pain because of the pain shooting along the fingers and up the arms, because the nails in the wrists are putting pressure on the median nerves. But as He is pulling upward, he is placing the full weight on the nail through his feet. Now he is tearing the nerves between the bones of the feet.

Fatigue is caused in the arms and cramps sweep through the muscles causing relentless throbbing pain. These cramps are so painful and it causes the inability to breathe. Air can be drawn into the lungs but you cannot exhale. So carbon dioxide builds up in the lungs and in the blood stream. Then there is more deep crushing pain from the chest, because the lining around the heart is slowly filling with serum to compress the heart. The heart is struggling to pump blood into the tissues and that is torturing the lungs, because the lungs are grasping for air. Finally the body dies in total and complete exhaustion. Psalm 22:14 says, "I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax; it has melted away within me."

Jesus was lead to Golgotha as a lamb. He didn’t make any resistance. Isaiah foretold the agony of Jesus long before He came to earth, "He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth" Isaiah 53:7).

Death was the only relief when it came to pain while on the cross. On the cross of crucifixion there are so many struggles with every imaginable kind of pain that sends waves of pain through the body. All the sins that was brought upon this earth, my sweet Savior experienced that day. While Jesus died at Golgotha it was through His death that we could have eternal life.

Golgotha and Calvary are in fact the same place and they are inseparable. Neither one of them can separate the ugliness of the cross from the glory of the cross. Where Golgotha will always mean death, but for a Christian it is the beginning of life. While Jesus crucifixion was at Golgotha, it is through His death that we can have eternal life. There was a battle going on the day of Jesus' death and Golgotha became its battleground. It was a battle between good and evil. It was a battle for the souls of all mankind. Justice and Grace met that day. Justice demanded payment for the sins of mankind but Grace paid it all.