His Crucifixion At Golgotha Series

The Echoes of Easter Pt 4

"His Crucifixion on Golgotha"

Luke 23:26-49

Luke 23:26 And as they led him away, they laid hold upon one Simon, a Cyrenian, coming out of the country, and on him they laid the cross, that he might bear it after Jesus. 27 And there followed him a great company of people, and of women, which also bewailed and lamented him. 28 But Jesus turning unto them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children. 29 For, behold, the days are coming, in the which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the paps which never gave suck. 30 Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us. 31 For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry? 32 And there were also two other, malefactors, led with him to be put to death. 33 And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left. 34 Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots. 35 And the people stood beholding. And the rulers also with them derided him, saying, He saved others; let him save himself, if he be Christ, the chosen of God. 36 And the soldiers also mocked him, coming to him, and offering him vinegar, 37 And saying, If thou be the king of the Jews, save thyself. 38 And a superscription also was written over him in letters of Greek, and Latin, and Hebrew, THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS. 39 And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us. 40 But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss. 42 And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. 43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise. 44 And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. 45 And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst. 46 And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost. 47 Now when the centurion saw what was done, he glorified God, saying, Certainly this was a righteous man. 48 And all the people that came together to that sight, beholding the things which were done, smote their breasts, and returned. 49 And all his acquaintance, and the women that followed him from Galilee, stood afar off, beholding these things.

Introduction: Let's begin our study with a question. How many of you are willing to walk with Jesus to Golgotha this morning because that's what I propose to do! I want to take you to the Cross; I want us to see Jesus there; see what He suffered and watch Him as He dies for the sins of all mankind. Let's begin:

I. The Description of the Crucifixion

a. The ascent to Golgotha

From the final verdict at Gabbatha (the Fortress of Antonio) we move to Golgotha (Hebrew) which is called Calvary in Latin Calvaria "the place of the skull". To get there Jesus must travel from Gabbatha which was in the Roman Quarter, likely near the area today underneath the Ecco Homo Covenant on the road Via Dolorosa 41. From there to the Lion's Gate (earlier Sheep Gate) it is a bit over 300 meters. Jesus would have carried the cross bar as far as He could, to the Sheep Gate, or a distance of 300 meters. And as they left the city, Simon of Cyrene carried his cross up the steep slope of Golgotha.

And coming out (of Jerusalem through the Sheep Gate), they found a man of Cyrene named Simon. They compelled him to carry his cross. Matthew 27:32

Since the base of Golgotha is directly at the Sheep Gate, Simon would not have carried the cross for more than 50 meters. That's a total of 350 meters. Answers.com

Doing the math it easy to determine that Jesus walked over a quarter of a mile to the Cross!

The Via Dolorosa, literally "the sorrowful way," is the traditional route in Jerusalem which our Lord traveled on the day of His crucifixion from the judgment seat of Pilate, also called the Praetorium (Gabbatha) (Matthew 27:2-26), to the place of His crucifixion on Mount Calvary (Golgotha). Gotquestions.org