A look at the cross

Easter is the most significant festival of the Christian calendar. The Lenten period, which culminates in Good Friday and Easter Sunday, lends itself to reflection on Christ’s death and atoning sacrifice. Although the passion narrative is given an unusual amount of space in the Gospels, the evangelists are reserved when it comes to the crucifixion itself. Since the Christian gospel is “the word of the cross,” as Paul calls it, this short study focuses for a moment on Calvary.

Three of the four Gospels report that Jesus was crucified on Golgotha (Matthew 27:33; Mark 15:22; John 19:17). This is a Semitic word meaning “the place of a skull.” Matthew and Mark, after giving the Semitic place name, translate it into Greek. Luke omits the Semitic word altogether and gives only the Greek place name (23:33). The Greek word for skull is kranion (in English, cranium). The Latin word for skull is calva. Thus, it’s called Calvary in English. Calvary and Golgotha mean essentially the same thing.

We don’t know precisely where Golgotha is located, nor do we know why the place was called “the skull.” Perhaps executions had happened there before and the skulls of criminals were still lying about. Since criminals were often left unburied, wild animals and birds would eat the flesh of the deceased and their skulls and bones were left exposed.

There’s a Christian legend that claims Golgotha was called the place of the skull because Adam lay buried there. This legend has no basis in historical fact, but one can readily understand how such a tale might arise. The last Adam, Christ, atoned for the sin of the first Adam by his death on Calvary.

Others have tried to explain the origin of the place name, Calvary, in terms of topography. The hill on which Christ was crucified, it’s claimed, looks somewhat like a skull. In the fourth century the emperor Constantine ordered that the Venus temple be removed from the sacred ground on which Jesus was crucified and a church built in its place. However, in the 19th century, General Gordon identified Calvary as a hill close to the Damascus Gate.

There is no unanimity on the exact place of Jesus’ crucifixion. However, Christian tradition is almost unanimous on the point that Jesus was crucified on a hill. This conviction has become deeply embedded in our hymnody with phrases such as, “There is a green hill far away” and “On a hill far away, stands an old rugged cross.”

What can we learn about this place from the Gospels? John reports that it was near the city (19:20). Given its location, many were able to read the inscription affixed to the cross, written in the three common languages of the day. Moreover, Calvary lay next to a road or path. Matthew says, “those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads” (27:39).

Crucifixion was not a Jewish practice. For monstrous crimes, the Old Testament ordered that criminals be stoned to death and then hung on a stake for all to witness. Deuteronomy 21:23 says that everyone who hangs upon a tree is accursed of God, and this is no doubt the reason the Sanhedrin insisted Jesus be crucified.

Crucifixion was a shameful way to die. The Roman historian Cicero asks, “What shall I say about crucifixion? There is no word that can properly describe such a heinous act.” The Romans had taken over the cruel practice from Eastern peoples, but only slaves and rebellious provincials could be subjected to such a dishonourable death. Roman citizens were not to be punished in this manner.

Not surprisingly, therefore, the Gospel writers don’t give the gruesome details of Jesus’ crucifixion. Mark reports the process in three words: “They crucified him” (15:24). It seems he purposely avoided the shocking details. The Gospel writers don’t elaborate on the physical sufferings of Jesus, other than that he was thirsty. Neither the place of our Lord’s death, nor the physical torments he endured are at the centre of the Gospel accounts.

What mattered to the evangelists and apostles was that “he himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds [we] have been healed.” (1 Peter 2:24). And that’s what really matters for us as well.

Mark 15:22–24

²² They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull”). ²³ Then they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. ²⁴ And they crucified him. Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots to see what each would get.

David Ewert is a prolific writer, preacher, and teacher. He is a member of Bakerview MB Church, Abbotsford, B.C.