The pyramids of Egypt are famous because they contain the mummified bodies of ancient Egyptian kings. Westminster Abbey in London is renowned, because in it rest the bodies of English nobles and notables. Mohammed’s tomb is noted for the stone coffin and the bones which it contains. Arlington Cemetery in Washington, D. C., is revered, for it is the honored resting place of many outstanding Americans.
   
There is, however, all the difference in the world between the tomb of Christ and these places which we have just mentioned. They are famous and draw visitors from afar because of what they contain; while the Garden Tomb is famous because it is empty. 

–  Christian Victory

Crucifixion - part 2 of 3

Crucifixion 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 to be crucified was stripped naked of all his clothes. Crucifixion then involved attaching the victim with nails through the wrists or with leather thongs to a crossbeam attached to a vertical stake. Sometimes blocks or pins were put on the stake to give victims some support as they hung suspended from the crossbeam. At times the feet were also nailed to the vertical stake. As the victim hung dangling by the arms, the blood could no longer circulate to the vital organs , and death by suffocation quickly followed. Only by supporting themselves on the seat or pin could victims gain relief. The unnatural position made every movement painful; the lacerated veins and crushed tendons throbbed with incessant anguish; the wounds, inflamed by exposure, gradually gangrened; the arteries, especially of the head and stomach, became swollen and oppressed with surcharged blood; and, while each variety of misery went on gradually increasing, there was added to them the intolerable pang of a burning and raging thirst.

The crucified was watched, according to custom, by a party of four soldiers, John 19:23, with their centurion, Matt. 27:66, whose express office was to prevent the stealing of the body. But for this guard, the persons might have been taken down and recovered, as was actually done in the case of a friend of Josephus. Gradually exhaustion set in, and death followed, although usually not for several days. If victims had been severely beaten, they would not live this long. To hasten death, the executioners sometimes broke the victims’ legs with a club. Then they could no longer support their bodies to keep blood circulating, and death quickly followed. This was most often done by the Jews.

Usually bodies were left to rot on the cross by the action of sun and rain or to be eaten by by birds and scavengers. Burial was generally therefore forbidden; but in consequence of Deut. 21:22, 23, an express national exception was made in favor of the Jews. The disciples were able to secure Pilate’s permission to give Jesus a proper burial.

Sources: The Dictionary of Bible and Religion, William Gentz | The Bible Almanac, White
| Easter a Pictorial Pilgrimage - Pierre Benoit |

Easter Quotations

Every bird that upwards swings
Bears the Cross upon its wings.

       —   John Mason Neale
   

He was (Christ) the personal embodiment of truths which are permanently central for the spiritual fife of mankind.  

EUGENE W. LYMAN, The Journal of Religion, IX, April, 1929

Spring bursts to-day,
For Christ is risen and all the earth’s at play.

Christina Georgina Rossetti, Easter Carol