A Hindu fakir with matted hair and ash-besmeared body was sitting under a tree when he saw some leaves of a crumpled, discarded Book. He picked them up, smoothed out the wrinkled pages, and began reading. They were from the New Testament. As he read, strange thoughts came to his hungry heart and seemed to bring him peace. Then he set out to find someone who obeyed the Book. He found an Englishman who claimed to follow the Book, but the Hindu noticed that the Englishman had a black band on his arm, so he concluded that this band was the distinctive sign of the followers of the Book. Accordingly the fakir put a black band on his own arm. When people asked him what it meant, he told them of his avowal of Christianity. Later the Hindu attended for his first time a Christian church and listened to a gospel preacher. At the close of the service he told them that he too was a follower of the way and pointed to the black band as a proof. They explained that the blackband was an English sign of mourning for one of their own loved ones. The Hindu thought for a moment and then said: "But I read in the Book that the One who loved me best has died, so I shall continue to wear the black band in memory of Him." Before long, however, he grasped the truth of Christ's resurrection. When he realized that Christ was alive forevermore, a great joy filled his heart. He tore off the black band, for now he wore the true sign of a Christian — a joyful face. 

–  "Choice Illus." W.W. Clay

Crucifixion - part 3 of 3

The Romans most often used a T or an X-shaped cross. Crucifixion, Roman style began with a scourging of the prisoner. Following this the prisoner would be required to carry the cross, or at least the shorter part of it, to where he would die. A public place was chosen, often where two or more heavily traveled streets or roads crossed. Often the spot was also a place where there was a cemetery conviently close by. The upright portion of the cross was firmly fastened in the ground.

The condemned man was then stripped of his clothing, then either tied or nailed to the crossbeam. The crossbeam was then hoisted in place by ropes until the feet were off the ground. Sometimes a ledge-like support projected from the upright piece. The feet were nailed or tied. A military guard was then set in charge, where they remained until the death of the condemned.

No vital organs were harmed. The victim was rigidly held in one position unable to deal with heat, cold, muscle cramps, natural body functions, hunger or thirst. There the condemned remained to die in agony. After the body was removed, the cross was burned. Nails from crucifixion crosses were used by both Jews and Romans as means of healing. Pliny, in his Natural History, mentions crucifixion nails specifically as a treatment for epilepsy.  

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

Easter Quotations

I think of the garden after the rain;
And hope to my heart comes singing,
"At morn the cherry blooms will be white,
And the Easter bells be ringing!"

       — Edna Dean Proctor, Easter Bells
   

Ralph W. Sockman, Pulpit Preaching

Too vital to be lost in the midst of antiquity, too vital to be subjected to permanent misrepresentation, (Jesus) is, apparently too vital to die.

Ernest Fremont, Jesus After Nineteen Centuries