April 4

There they crucified him.—Luke 23:33.

CRUCIFIXION was a Roman punishment, and was considered as only fit for the vilest of slaves and malefactors. It was therefore deemed by all, one of peculiar ignominy and shame. It was also a death of extreme torture and agony. "The sufferer was thrown down on his back upon the cross and his limbs were stretched to the utmost before they were fastened to the wood." Then after racking the limbs, nails, or rather spikes, were driven through the tender and sensitive parts of the hands, and it is highly probable that one large nail was driven through the crossed feet of the sufferer. Then the cross was raised in an upright position, and thrust violently into a hole prepared for the purpose, while the whole body was left sustained by the nails through the hands and feet. It was thus also that crucifixion was a most slow and lingering death. Thus suspended, the sufferer often lived for several hours, and sometimes violence had to be used to accelerate the tedious process. While we behold Jesus expiring on the cross, we are reminded of the paschal lamb, which when slain, was fixed on an instrument for the process of roasting, much in the shape of a cross, and hence the Apostle's declaration, "Christ our passover, who is sacrificed for us." We are reminded also of the brazen serpent, of which Jesus spake, when he said, "even so must the Son of man be lifted up." Thus too, we feel a particular interest attached to that passage. "Blotting out the hand-writing which was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross." (Colossians 2:14.) And finally we see a powerful reason for the Apostle's exclamation, "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ."