Crucifixion and Death of Jesus Christ on Good Friday
The crucifixion of Jesus Christ occurred at Golgotha, a site whose name in Aramaic means "the place of a skull," rendered in Latin as Calvary [6]. The Gospels locate this execution ground outside Jerusalem's gate yet near the city [6], along a major roadway where Roman authorities staged public crucifixions to shock and warn the populace [12]. Mark records that Jesus was crucified at the third hour [4], with two criminals executed alongside him [5].
Crucifixion itself was practiced by Egyptians, Carthaginians, Persians, Assyrians, and Greeks before the Romans adopted it [1]. Among Romans, this method was reserved for slaves and the vilest criminals, considered "the most horrible form of death" [1, 3]. The Mosaic law prescribed capital punishment by sword, strangling, fire, or stoning, but not crucifixion [3], which the Jews likely borrowed from their Roman occupiers [1]. For a Jew, crucifixion carried additional horror because Deuteronomy 21:23 pronounces a curse on anyone hanged on a tree—a text Paul later invokes to explain how Christ became "a curse for us" [7].
The victim typically carried only the crossbeam (Latin patibulum) to the site, where the vertical beam remained fixed [12]. The form used for Christ was likely the crux immissa, the Latin cross [8]. Execution on Friday is confirmed by multiple Gospel references to "the preparation," the day before the Sabbath when Jews readied food for the holy day [10, 11]. That particular Sabbath was "a high day" because it coincided with the first day of Unleavened Bread during Passover week [11, 13].
Early Christian theology identified Christ's death as both foretold in Isaiah 53 and Daniel 9 [7] and necessary for human redemption [7]. The mode of death was prefigured in Numbers 21:8, where Moses lifts up the bronze serpent [7]. Paul describes the cross as "a stumbling block to Jews" and "foolishness to Gentiles" [7], yet the instrument of reconciliation [8]. Romans 5:15 contrasts Adam's trespass, by which "the many died," with the grace of Christ that "abounded to the many" [2]. One Puritan tradition even held that Adam was buried at Golgotha, making the site symbolically apt for the Second Adam's death [9], though this remains legendary rather than historical.
Sources
- Smith's Bible Dictionary “Smith's Bible Dictionary: Crucifixion — was in used among the Egyptians, (Genesis 40:19) the Carthaginians, the Persians, (Esther 7:10) the Assyrians, Scythains, Indians, Germans, and from the earliest times among the Greeks and Romans. Whether this mode of execution was known to the ancient Jews is a matter of dispute. Probably the Jews borrowed it from the Romans. It was unanimously considered the most horrible form of death. Among the Romans the degradation was also a part of the infliction, and the punishment if applied to freemen was only used in the case of the vilest criminals. The one ”
- Romans “But the free gift isn’t like the trespass. For if by the trespass of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God, and the gift by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many. -- Romans 5:15”
- Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Crucifixion — A common mode of punishment among heathen nations in early times. It is not certain whether it was known among the ancient Jews; probably it was not. The modes of capital punishment according to the Mosaic law were, by the sword (Ex. 21), strangling, fire (Lev. 20), and stoning (Deut. 21). This was regarded as the most horrible form of death, and to a Jew it would acquire greater horror from the curse in Deut. 21:23. This punishment began by subjecting the sufferer to scourging. In the case of our Lord, however, his scourging was rather before the sente”
- Mark “It was the third hour, and they crucified him. -- Mark 15:25”
- King James Version “[KJV] Luke 23:33 — 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.”
- Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Golgotha — The common name of the spot where Jesus was crucified. It is interpreted by the evangelists as meaning "the place of a skull" (Matt. 27:33; Mark 15:22; John 19:17). This name represents in Greek letters the Aramaic word Gulgaltha, which is the Hebrew Gulgoleth (Num. 1:2; 1 Chr. 23:3, 24; 2 Kings 9:35), meaning "a skull." It is identical with the word Calvary (q.v.). It was a little knoll rounded like a bare skull. It is obvious from the evangelists that it was some well-known spot outside the gate (comp. Heb. 13:12), and near the city (Luke 23:26), contain”
- Torrey's Topical Textbook “Torrey's Topical Textbook: Death of Christ, The — Foretold -- Isa 53:8; Da 9:26; Zec 13:7. Appointed by God -- Isa 53:6,10; Ac 2:23. Necessary for the redemption of man -- Lu 24:46; Ac 17:3. Acceptable, as a sacrifice to God -- Mt 20:28; Eph 5:2; 1Th 5:10. Was voluntary -- Isa 53:12; Mt 26:53; Joh 10:17,18. Was undeserved -- Isa 53:9. Mode of Foretold by Christ. -- Mt 20:18,19; Joh 12:32,33. Prefigured. -- Nu 21:8; Joh 3:14. Ignominious. -- Heb 12:2. Accursed. -- Ga 3:13. Exhibited His humility. -- Php 2:8. A stumbling block to Jews. -- 1Co 1:23. Foolishness to Gentiles. -- 1Co 1:18,23. Demand”
- Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Cross — In the New Testament the instrument of crucifixion, and hence used for the crucifixion of Christ itself (Eph. 2:16; Heb. 12:2; 1 Cor. 1:17, 18; Gal. 5:11; 6:12, 14; Phil. 3:18). The word is also used to denote any severe affliction or trial (Matt. 10:38; 16:24; Mark 8:34; 10:21). The forms in which the cross is represented are these: 1. The crux simplex (I), a "single piece without transom." 2. The crux decussata (X), or St. Andrew's cross. 3. The crux commissa (T), or St. Anthony's cross. 4. The crux immissa (t), or Latin cross, which was the kind of cross o”
- Mark (Nonconformist/Puritan) “Matthew Henry on Mark 15:22: We have here the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus. I. The place where he was crucified; it was called Golgotha - the place of a scull: some think, because of the heads of malefactors that were there cut off: it was the common place of execution, as Tyburn, for he was in all respects numbered with the transgressors. I know not how to give any credit to it, but divers of the ancients mention it as a current tradition, that in this place our first father Adam was buried, and they think it highly congruous that there Christ should be crucified; for as in Adam all die, so ”
- Mark (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Mark 15:38: And now when the even was come,.... "Of the preparation", as the Syriac version reads; or "the night of the sixth day":, as the Persic version renders it, "Friday" night: because it was the preparation; of the passover, and of the sabbath, when they prepared their food, and got it ready for the ensuing sabbath, on which it was not lawful to dress any; that is, the day before the sabbath; that is, Friday; on which day, it is clear, Christ suffered, died, and was buried.”
- Matthew (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on Matthew 27:62: Now the next day, that followed the day of the preparation--that is, after six o'clock of our Saturday evening. The crucifixion took place on the Friday and all was not over till shortly before sunset, when the Jewish sabbath commenced; and "that sabbath day was an high day" (Joh 19:31), being the first day of the feast of unleavened bread. That day being over at six on Saturday evening, they hastened to take their measures.”
- John (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on John 19:17: 19:17 The vertical beam (Latin staticulum) of the cross was generally kept at the crucifixion site, and the victim was forced to carry only the heavy crossbeam (Latin patibulum). • Crucifixions were public executions that took place near major roadways. They were designed to shock and warn the people. • Place of the Skull (Hebrew and Aramaic Golgotha; Latin calvariae, “Calvary”): Most archaeologists agree that Jesus’ crucifixion was at the site of the present-day Church of the Holy Sepulchre, located in the Christian Quarter of the old walled city of Jerusalem. An ”
- John (Nonconformist/Puritan) “Matthew Henry on John 19:31: This passage concerning the piercing of Christ's side after his death is recorded only by this evangelist. I. Observe the superstition of the Jews, which occasioned it (Joh 19:31): Because it was the preparation for the sabbath, and that sabbath day, because it fell in the passover-week, was a high day, that they might show a veneration for the sabbath, they would not have the dead bodies to remain on the crosses on the sabbath-day, but besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, which would be a certain, but cruel dispatch, and that then they might be buried ”