The air has a strange stillness. There is no wind. No birds sing, and an unusual odor fills the air. A man who only days ago was hailed as a king will today die a lonely death as a traitor and a heretic. This morning Jesus of Nazareth will be executed. The people chose a thief and murderer for freedom, screaming for the death of this teacher from Galilee.
The soldiers are business-like. They have carried out their task with the same grim determination of other crucifixions. They forced Jesus to drag His cross through the streets. This tired, weakened man collapsed several times until, finally, the guards forced a black man, a slave perhaps, to carry the heavy cross beam. Still, Jesus could barely walk to the hill known as "Golgatha," the place of the skull.
The disciples, that loosely knit band of twelve men, have mostly disappeared since his arrest. One young disciple named John stands beside the preacher's mother. She finds some comfort in his quiet presence. The widow will soon loose her oldest son. Her grief is obvious, but under control.
The Jewish religious leaders have all gathered to watch the execution. They want to see the death of this man who has been a thorn in their flesh for the last three years.
I can hear the sound of the hammers driving nails into the hands and feet of those who are to die. I can hear the screams from the two thieves scheduled to die with Jesus. The screams become even louder as the crosses and their victims are erected, then roughly driven into the ground, cruelly ripping skin and muscle tissue.
The morning light has all but disappeared, giving way to a strange darkness. Lightening streaks across the sky. The thunder sounds almost like God talking.
The ground is shaking! I can feel the rise and fall of the earth as an earthquake shakes the area. It is so quiet I can hear the sounds of the horses breathing in the corral five hundred meters away. The sobs from the preacher's mother fill my ears.
When the dying preacher sees his mother there with his disciple, he says to her, "Dear woman, here is your son." Then, to the disciple he says, "Here is your mother." The young disciple promises to care for her.
Jesus cries in a loud voice. Lightening flashes. "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit! It is finished" he shouts. Strangely, this shout sounds far more like that of a warrior declaring victory over the enemy than that of a condemned prisoner breathing his last breath.
Immediately, Jesus bows his head. His breathing has stopped. He is dead, only three hours after the start of all this. This is the strangest crucifixion I've ever covered. Even the guards recognize it. One just told me, "Truly, this man the Son of God." Today, did God's Son die in this lonely place of death? Only time will tell.
Vocabulary
arrest comfort condemn
criminal crucifixion determination
disciple earthquake execution
grief grim heretic
preacher sobs traitor
victory
Sentence Completion I
Sentence Completion II
Reading Comprehension
Discussion Questions