Crucifixion is the act of nailing a person to a cross for the purpose of effecting the person’s demise. It appears to have been originally devised and employed by eastern peoples: Persians, Scythians, and Assyrians. This in any case is the report that has come down to us from Herodotus, the Greek historian. Subsequently, Alexander the Great borrowed this usage, as did the Romans eventually. The Romans restricted crucifixion as punishment for slaves guilty of robbery or rebellion. Roman citizens could be subjected to this fate only for the crime of treason. Away from Rome, in the provinces, troublesome persons were also eliminated in this fashion. The Jewish writer Josephus reported mass crucifixions carried on in Judea by Roman authorities. Philo, a Jewish writer based in Egypt, recounted crucifixions conducted by the Romans in the Jewish sector of Alexandria. There are further indications of crucifixion practiced also by the peoples of northern and central Europe.
Death by crucifixion
The victim was obliged to carry the cross beam to the spot where the execution was to take place (Jn 19:17). Finally the person to be crucified was nailed hands and feet to the cross (Lk 24:30). At one point on the cross, a wooden block, a kind of seat, was fixed in place to support the weight of a body.
Death by crucifixion could be protracted. Since the vital organs were not damaged it might take days for the one crucified to finally expire. With respect to Jesus, since he was subjected to vigorous scourging, his death was brought on with relative haste.
The word “cross”
The typical Roman citizen felt a deep revulsion toward crucifixion. Even just to be threatened with death on a cross was viewed as ignominious. Cicero spoke of it as “that most cruel and disgusting penalty.” Another Roman of distinction, Rabirius, was also very direct in characterizing crucifixion: “the very word ‘cross’ should be removed not only from the person of a Roman citizen but from his thoughts, his eyes, and his ears.”
As noted above, the shame of dying on a cross was deeply felt, more even than the physical anguish entailed in crucifixion. This is reflected in the hymn cited in Philippians 2:6-11, where Christ’s shameful death on the cross is contrasted with Christ’s glory—a stunning paradox.
So keenly felt was the disgrace of crucifixion that one heretical group, the Docetists, sought to ward off the shame and scandal of crucifixion from Christ by contending that the real, spiritual Jesus remained unaffected by the crucifixion but looked on in amusement as his “image” was crucified. In response to that evasion, authentic Christians insisted, as did St. Ignatius of Antioch, that Christ was “truly crucified.”
Profound obedience
St. Paul finds the crucifixion rich in meaning. According to him, the crucifixion disclosed Jesus’ profound obedience to the Father (Phil 2:8), his love (Gal 2:20) as well as God’s wisdom and power (1 Cor 1:24; 2 Cor 13:4). It effects liberation from sin (Col 2:14) as well as peace and reconciliation (Col 1:20; Eph 2:16).
The first three Gospels often use crucifixion—more precisely, the cross—as a metaphor to put across all that discipleship implies. They speak of “taking up one’s cross” and following after Jesus. This is a way of defining Christian life as requiring one to deny oneself and, if need be, even to submit to death for the sake of Christ and in imitation of him.
©Magnificat March 2000
